Could dill dull pain?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

November 17, 2003

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Suggested Reading—>Click here.

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Killer Picks: A Dilly of a Death, & Dead Man's Bones—>Click here.

Dill (Anethum graveolens Linnaeus) has been both a medicinal and a culinary herb since ancient times. The generic name is derived from its Greek name anethon. This annual is native to southwest Asia from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean to the Caucus Mountains.

A Dilly of a Death: A China Bayles Mystery

Chelsie's Choice: I...Love...Mysteries. Susan Albert has done it again with A Dilly of a Death. If you aren't familiar with Albert's mysteries, each has an herbal link.

China Bayles left the big city and a law practice for a small town and an herb shop. Just days before the annual Picklefest, Phoebe disappears. And now it's up to China to search for her—and for clues in a case that promises to be a real dilly! —>Click here to order your autographed, personalized copy now. [Click here to view the series...]

John Gerard recommended dill, both the leaves and the seeds to "ingendereth milke in the brests of nurses, allayeth griping and windinesse, increaseth seed, stayeth the yeox, hicket, or hicquet (hiccough)." If drinking a dill tea did not help the "yeox", then dill, wormwood, and rose leaves "boyled in...wine...and the stomacke bathed therewith."

For those worried about their libido, Gerard offered this recipe, "Common oyle, in which Dill is boyled or sunned...doth digest, mitigate paine, procureth sleepe...and provoketh bodily lust." Perhaps it was a feel-good solution, how would one know if one fell asleep first? (The Herbal or General Historie of Plants, John Gerard, 1633 edition)

Dill was introduced to Europe probably during Roman conquests, perhaps earlier. In Anglo-Saxon, the plant was called dile, in Old High German, tilli. During the Middle Ages, dill was an amulet carried for protection from evil. An Old English proverb stated, "Vervain and dill hinder witches of their will." (Century Unabridged Dictionary, 1889)

The meaning of the name, dill, is uncertain. Mrs. Grieve (A Modern Herbal, 1931) suggested dill came from a Teutonic language and meant "to blunt", a reference to its carminative powers--expelling gas and hence blunting or easing abdominal griping. By Middle English, the herb was called dylle, a noun, but a verb meaning "to soothe, calm, or blunt" was dyllen or dullen--dulling.

The Cooperative Extension Service of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, North Carolina State University has a great photograph of dill in flower. To view the photograph, click on the link:

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/herbs/anethum_graveolens.html

killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

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A Dilly of a Death

Barnes & Noble®

by Susan Wittig Albert
"China Bayles is in a pickle. The daughter of her best friend, Ruby, has turned up on her doorstep, pregnant and in need of a place to live. And her otherwise sensible husband has announced that he's bored with teaching and ready for a career change." "Say "hello" to P.I. Mike McQuaid and Associates. There aren't actually any "associates" - unless you count Ruby and China, of course. But the title does have a nice, official ring to it.

His first client is Phoebe the Pickle Queen, owner of the biggest little pickle business in Texas. According to Phoebe, her plant manager is embezzling, and she wants McQuaid to follow the money." Meanwhile, Pecan Springs is hosting the annual Picklefest - and this year, China and Ruby are on the planning committee, along with Phoebe. But just days before the festival starts, the Pickle Queen disappears. Some say she sold her business and split; others think the answer may lie with her missing boyfriend. It's up to McQuaid and China to search for the Pickle Queen - and for clues in a case that promises to leave a very sour taste. A Dilly of a Death, Click here.

Dead Man's Bones: A China Bayles Mystery

Barnes & Noble®

by Susan Wittig Albert
Texas ex-lawyer and herbalist China Bayles digs into murders past and present, as a dead man's bones are uncovered-and a community gathering is interrupted by murder...

China Bayles already has her hands full balancing her job, her family, and her friends' romantic entanglements. Then her teenage son finds some skeletal remains during a local cave dig-remains from a not-so-distant, not-so-accidental death. Dead Man's Bones

Author Biography: Susan Wittig Albert grew up on a farm in Illinois and earned her Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley. A former professor of English and a university administrator and vice president, she now lives with her husband, Bill. In addition to the China Bayles mysteries, she writes the new Beatrix Potter series as well as a mystery series set in the Victorian/Edwardian era, along with her husband, under the pseudonym of Robin Paige.