a gash made by the hoof or teeth of a hog.^72 Also, to the seventeenth-century
English antiquarian John Aubrey we owe an unlocalised record of the use of
the heads for relieving cramp.^73
The Irish records have yielded only one additional use: for burns in
Westmeath.^74
Mycelis muralis (Linnaeus) Dumortier
wall lettuce
Europe, Asia Minor, north-western Africa; introduced into North
America, New Zealand
According to the Dublin botanist Caleb Threlkeld, writing in 1726, ‘the poor
people’ in Ireland boiled Mycelis muralis in a posset to take against fevers.
Taraxacum officinale Weber, in the broad sense
dandelion
Eurasia; introduced into North America, Australasia
Vying with elder and nettles as the wild plant drawn on most widely and
heavily in the British Isles for folk medicine, dandelion also rivals the docks
in the extent to which it is used and known for one purpose in particular: in
this case for promoting the flow of urine and thus assisting kidney and asso-
ciated troubles in general. Renowned all over Europe for that diuretic effect,
Taraxacum officinale features in the folk records too near-universally for log-
ging of those in terms of individual counties to serve any useful purpose.
Even with that group of ailments set aside, there still remain 333 British
and Irish records traced for dandelion’s numerous other uses. Chief among
those, by a big margin, accounting for almost exactly one-quarter of that
total, is the plant’s application to warts, a practice known from most parts of
both countries. After that in popularity of use come coughs, colds and respi-
ratory troubles (55 records). All the remaining leading uses are mainly or
wholly Irish except for the plant’s service as a tonic to ‘cleanse the blood’ and
purge the system of skin complaints and boils; the combined total of 38
records for that include several from southern English counties and parts of
Scotland. Britain’s share of the large number of minor applications is also
markedly smaller than Ireland’s. These include indigestion in Dorset^75 and
Essex,^76 corns in Devon,^77 stings in Somerset,^78 scarlet fever in Leicester-
shire,^79 lip cancer in Norfolk,^80 ulcers in Argyllshire^81 and internal pains in
general in the Highlands.^82
Ireland’s use of the dandelion has been markedly more diverse than
Britain’s. The two countries’ combined total of 55 records for coughs, colds
Daisies 287