"To Give Some Ease"
The purest natural remedies literally grow on trees. Sometimes more powerful and often more accessible than synthetic drugs, thousands of America’s herbal remedies dwell in the foothills of the Appalachians, our oldest mountain range. But folk herbalists are a dying breed, and sustaining their knowledge is as important as sustaining the plant life itself.
In Mountain Medicine: The Herbal Remedies of Tommie Bass, Clayton College’s Natural Reader Press documents an herbal wildcrafting tradition spanning two centuries and many generations. Told by CCNH adjunct faculty member Darryl Patton, an elementary school teacher and unofficial apprentice of Arthur Lee “Tommie” Bass, Mountain Medicine spins a tale of how he survived poverty while preserving many people’s health.
In this book, teachings from Patton’s 12 years with Tommie Bass continue the healing traditions of medicinal teas, tonics, poultices, salves and tinctures: of natural remedies that simply worked, one family at a time.
“I don’t claim a cure,” Bass would say. “I just try to give people some ease.”
Stretching from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico, the Appalachians shelter this country’s richest biodiversity in the roots of erosion from a chain of parallel valleys, ridges and streams. Here the ancient herbal traditions of three cultures—Native Americans, European settlers and slaves from Africa—mesh into a strong herbal belt.
During Bass’ childhood in Rash, Alabama in the early 1900s, herbal wisdom was nurtured by word of mouth, shared as freely as the plant cuttings themselves. From age eight he lived by his wits, developing an encyclopedic knowledge of herbs, their uses and sustenance.
In Tommie
Bass’ garden, crossvine was a
powerful tonic. Lobelia and
maypop helped calm the nerves
and induce sleep, and sourwood
was called a “vegetable antacid.”
Sweet gum helped with coughs
and colds, Devil’s walking stick
was applied to toothaches and
plantain leaves soothed a bee
sting. Sage and peach tree leaves
were said to restore color to
graying hair.
Winter huckleberry helped regulate blood pressure, cucumber tree bark eased arthritis, and red root was used for prostate discomfort. Bass even had his own opinion about cancer prevention: eat low on the food chain.
As news of his down-home wisdom and healing results achieved world acclaim via university textbooks, The Wall Street Journal and TV film documentaries during Bass’ 87 years, people with severe chronic illnesses traveled to his rural shack from near and far, without an appointment and without insurance to pay for the herbs.
Patton as teacher and storyteller brings a contemporary voice to Bass’ ageless herbal wisdom. Bass’ optimistic mantra, “Just get ready to feel better soon,” sounds as soothing in the city as it did in the country.
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