whereas in Somerset^181 it has been deemed sufficient just to rub a leaf on one,
elsewhere drinking an infusion made from the roots has been the preferred
cure for those. In Merseyside,^182 for example, erysipelas has been treated with
this infusion, and in Cornwall^183 it has been mixed with bramble juice and,
with a suitable incantation, poured on the part of the body afflicted with
shingles. Similarly, whereas in Hampshire^184 it has been the leaves that, mixed
with lard, have produced an ointment for piles, elsewhere drinking a liquid
processed from the roots has been regarded as a curative tonic: for cleansing
the blood in Essex,^185 Oxfordshire^186 and Ayrshire^187 and for keeping scurvy
awayin the Highlands.^188 Still further uses of the plants have been for warts
in Norfolk^189 and for obesity as well as anaemia in the Isle of Man.^190
Ireland has not lagged behind in appreciating this range of virtues. Appar-
ently peculiar to it has been the drinking of a decoction of the seeds for
coughs of all kinds, colds and bronchitis. Records of this are virtually con-
fined to the border counties (if veterinary uses for those purposes are added
in, seven of them are represented in all). Similarly not met with in the records
for Britain is the drinking of a decoction of the roots for liver trouble
(Cavan,^191 Meath^192 ) and jaundice (Monaghan,^193 Limerick^194 ), and, in Wex-
ford,^195 bathing cancerous sores in that liquid. Further ailments for which
docks seem to have been employed in Ireland alone are heart trouble in
Cavan^196 and corns in Limerick.^197 On the other hand, staunching bleeding
with a leaf, though recorded from five widely separated counties (in one of
them in combination with the dung of asses^198 ) appears scarcely more wide-
spread than the even more scattered records suggest that it has been in Brit-
ain. The two countries are also alike in the small use made of the leaves for
alleviating rheumatism (Louth,^199 Westmeath^200 ) or headaches (Kildare^201 ).
In some places, particular potency has been ascribed to the whitish, slimy
sheath at the base of an unfurling leaf. In Donegal^202 this was selected for
poulticing ringworm, in Longford^203 for rubbing on a sting and elsewhere
in Ireland^204 has constituted a remedy for ‘a sore mouth’ (chapped lips?). A
marginal echo of the belief in Britain was the binding of the sheath over
wounds in Shetland.^205
Rumex palustris Smith
marsh dock
Europe, temperate Asia
There is a record from the marshland area of Norfolk of the use of the roots
of a type of dock expressly named ‘marsh dock’, i.e.Rumex palustris (and
Elms to Docks 99