belief that jelly-like masses that appear on the ground after rain are the
remains of shooting stars fallen to earth and, as such, possess special medic-
inal potency. Known as ‘star-shot’, ‘star-jelly’ or ‘star-fall’n’, these were appar-
ently most often either Nostoc commune,a member of the blue-green algae
(or cyanobacteria) fairly common in bare dry places, or a gelatinous fungus
of the genus Tr e m e l l a^36 (q.v.). While there is reliable evidence that the latter
has featured in British Isles folk medicine, records attributable to Nostoc are
less certain. The most probable comes from Skye: ‘a jelly-like shiny stuff...a
kind of lichen or mould which grew on the rocks at the burn mouth’ and, in
accordance with a recipe passed down in one family from a ‘wise woman’
ancestor, was brewed (but not boiled) and given for puerperal fever.^37
In Ireland the ‘green slime’ from the top of stagnant water which has been
applied to burns in Meath^38 is presumably some other member of the blue-
green algae.
RED ALGAE
Chondrus crispus Stackhouse
colder northern Atlantic
Mastocarpus stellatus (Stackhouse) Guiry
Gigartina stellata (Stackhouse) Batten
Irish moss,carragheen
colder northern Atlantic
Chondrus crispusandMastocarpus stellatus,both generally distributed around
the British Isles, are very similar in appearance, often grow together and are
not distinguished by present-day harvesters of Irish moss. Extensively col-
lected for eating and the source of a former teetotal beverage (‘Sobriety’),
they have been popular in the coastal counties of Ireland as folk cures for
colds, coughs, sore throats and chest and lung ailments (including tubercu-
losis). The plants were boiled in milk or water, strained and drunk hot. They
have also been used for burns in Leitrim^39 and for kidney trouble in Cavan.^40
British folk uses of Irish moss have been recorded much more scantily, for
different purposes and apparently only from the Hebrides: for poulticing a
sore stomach in South Uist^41 and as a rub for tired feet in Skye.^42
Palmaria palmata (Linnaeus) Kuntze
Rhodymenia palmata (Linnaeus) Greville
dulse, dillisk,duileasc, crannach, creathnach
colder northern Atlantic, Arctic
44 Nostoc commune