Records differ greatly in their degree of precision. Very few, and those
mostly in works of a general character, are entirely unspecific either geo-
graphically or about the use or uses to which the plant in question has been
put (though even if a medicinal use is mentioned, that may be in unhelp-
fully vague terms). Records collected in more recent years by those versed in
‘best practice’ as folklorists represent the opposite extreme in normally iden-
tifying the informant, his or her location down to the level of a village or
parish, and the date when the information was gathered Most records, how-
ever, probably even including a majority of these latter ones, rest on oral
statements unchecked by first-hand observation by whoever noted them
down, who in any case may not have had sufficient botanical knowledge for
that purpose or not have sought it from someone who had. A plant familiar
to the informant may be known to him or her by a name that rightly belongs
to some other one, or by a name peculiar to just the one family or commu-
nity. Mishearing of names, too, can easily occur. Anomalous records must
often have arisen from such causes, but they seldom betray their untrust-
worthy character and there is no alternative but to take them at face value.
A further weakness special to a study of the present kind is that a use
mentioned by an informant may have been learned of in some quite differ-
ent area, perhaps even a different country, from where he or she was living at
the time the information was communicated, but without that being made
clear. This must be a particular risk with records from towns and cities, where
people are liable to call on their memory of an earlier rural period in their life.
Though the great majority of folk records come from those living in country
areas, fortunately, many even of them may have lived in other counties or
regions for periods. Usually, though, such an experience is likely to have been
within the same region, so the attribution of a record to just the one county
may be relatively unimportant in such cases.
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN NOTES
The following abbreviations for frequently cited sources of records are used
in the Notes at the end of each chapter:
CECTL Centre for English Cultural Tradition and Language,
University of Sheffield
IFC S Irish Folklore Commission, Schools’ Survey
PLNN Plant-lore Notes and News Introduction 35