Red Hair: Potions and Alchemy

In a previous article we mentioned that, supposedly, the urine of redheads was used to make swords and stained-glass windows in medieval times. This bizarre notion probably needs some fleshing out. After all, it’s not the sort of thing you just drop into casual conversation without context. In fact, I first heard the claim regarding sword-making on a BBC Four documentary, and I thought, “What? Did I hear that right?”

It does seem to be a common thread when it comes to red hair though. For instance, the fat of a red-haired person was said to have been an ingredient used to make poison. I guess the thinking being that the foulness or evil-nature embodied in the redhead would infuse the concoction. An echo of this can be found in the line, “Three ounces of the red-haired wench.” From a song in Thomas Middleton’s play The Witch (c. 1615), where the witches in question list the ingredients for their brew. Alongside the flesh of the red-haired girl goes the juice of a toad, the blood of a bat, and the oil from an adder.

[Image: The Sorceress by John William Waterhouse.]

Likewise it was thought that the blood of a red-haired man was needed to turn copper into gold. The copper colour of red hair, in contrast to golden blond, naturally springs to mind here. (The title of this very Substack plays on this - cyprium being the Latin name for copper. So a slightly less obvious rendering of Copperlocks. Not quite Goldilocks.)

It’s also worth noting that red hair is said to have a higher sulphur content in relation to other hair colours. And Sulphur, traditionally called brimstone, was often viewed as one of the most important constituents in alchemy. Along with salt and mercury. Sulphur associated with the fiery Sun. Mercury with the mirror-like Moon, and salt with the earth below.

So there’s this strange alchemical undertow. That deems red-hair something akin to a magical potion. With hellish fire and brimstone going neatly alongside the stereotypical fiery (and evil) nature of the redhead. 😈