Thus Threlkeld wrote in 1726 of his experience in and around Dublin. The
species involved could have been either the native Barbarea vulgaris or the
introduced B. intermedia (which appears to have been a widespread cottage
garden herb in the west of the British Isles). That no record of any more cer-
tainly folk use of this common herb has been found suggests that Threlkeld’s
informant took the idea from some learned source.
Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum (Linnaeus) Hayek, in the broad sense
Nasturtium officinale R. Brown
water-cress;biolar
western and central Europe, western Asia, North Africa; introduced
into North America, Australasia, etc.
Although Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum is so familiar a plant and so widely
common, it appears to have been curiously little-used in Britain, and espe-
cially England, as a folk remedy, to judge from the paucity of records: as a
tonic and general cleanser of the system in Norfolk^124 and the Highlands,^125
to allay fevers by cooling the blood in the Isle of Man^126 and (once exten-
sively) the Highlands,^127 to act as an antiscorbutic (it is less bitter than scurvy-
grass,Cochlearia spp.) in Mull and in the Inner Hebrides^128 and to correct
barrenness among Highland women.^129 There is also an unlocalised record of
its use as a wart cure.^130
In Ireland, by contrast, this has occupied a central place in the folk reper-
tory,and in two main ways, both on record from a goodly scattering of at
least nine counties: as a purifying tonic and as a remedy for colds, coughs
and chest complaints. Other, much more minor applications, all apparently
unrecorded from Britain, have been to stomach trouble (Cavan,^131 Kildare,^132
Tipperary^133 ), kidney ailments (Cavan,^134 Limerick,^135 Wicklow^136 ) heart
trouble (Donegal,^137 Sligo,^138 Longford,^139 Westmeath^140 ), rashes (Mayo,^141
Galway,^142 Clare^143 ), rheumatism (Cavan,^144 Roscommon^145 ), cuts (Mona-
ghan^146 ), scrofula (‘Ulster’^147 ), swellings (Roscommon^148 ) and sore eyes
(Louth^149 ). Though most frequently eaten raw, the plant has frequently been
boiled instead, even though that allegedly weakens its efficacy.
Cardamine pratensis Linnaeus
cuckooflower, lady’s-smock
Europe, north Asia, North America; introduced into New Zealand
Cardamine pratensis shared with mistletoe (Viscum album) a reputation for
nervous afflictions, though by comparison with mistletoe apparently only a
minor one. Claims by physicians that the flowering tops have powerful anti-
118 Barbarea vulgaris