According to a note from Co. Sligo contributed to the Irish Folklore Commission’s Schools’ Scheme, in 1937-8 (now in the National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin):

To cure baldness:  cut and bruise an onion [Allium cepa]. Rub the sap mixed with a
 little honey into a bald patch, keep rubbing until the spot gets red.  This concoction if properly applied would grow hair on a duck’s egg.

There are similar records of onions being used to treat hair loss from other parts of the British Isles.  Is the cure known elsewhere?

Comments

1.  Although not a cure for baldness, a simple remedy  for helping fight a cold, learnt from my father and mother (both Irish) when I was young, was to boil a whole white onion in milk, drink the milk and eat the onion [Anne Roach, 6 January 2015].

2.  For bad ear infections or earache I slice an onion in half and microwave it quickly to heat it up (but not cook).  Check it’s very warm, but not scalding hot, and hold over ear.  The onion is meant to draw out the infection and the heat relaxes and soothes the ear.  Amazing – I read it in an old herbal book, I think (although not the microwave part! It must have been heated another way) [Gemma Hindi, 9 January 2015].

Please send any information or comments to roy@plant-lore.com

Image:  Tooting, London Borough of Wandsworth; January 2014.