Red heather promised passion. White heather offered protection from rash, passionate acts.
In late summer, the rosy purple cover of heather spreads over the heath and moorland of northern England and, especially, Scotland. So northerners, come south to find work, felt nostalgia at the thought of heather and yearned for home.
Heather stuffed in a mattress makes a springy bed. Such mattresses, shipped across the Atlantic, brought wild heather to the Americas, where it flourishes today.
Bees fed on heather produce a dark and tangy honey.