Bog Myrtle

I love walking through bog myrtle on a warm, sunny day when the friction of my boots against the leaves causes the most delightfully potent, resinous aroma to waft into the air – like wild Mediterranean sage, thyme, eucalyptus and pine all captured in one whiff!

It used to be a Highland practice to put sprigs of bog myrtle in drawers to keep away moths and to cast sprigs across the floors of old crofts to reduce the smell of working dogs and sheep-smelling clothes. Also known as Sweet Gael, perhaps because of its aromatic scent, it has more recently been used to flavour beers and spirits and is a requisite component in some midge repellents, but it is not sweet to taste. To the nose it is warming and resinous but to the palate it is slightly bitter. It is a useful herb, though, growing well in boggy, marshy moorland, which means that for many of us in the Highlands it is right on our doorstep.