MEDICINAL PLANTS in Folk Tradition

(Darren Dugan) #1

Myrica gale,bog-myrtle. Red-water fever and collar sores on horses
(Mayo^141 ); fluke in calves (Leitrim^142 ); fits in dogs, and worms (West-
meath^143 ); gravel in horses (Mayo^144 ); appetiser for horses (Limerick^145 ).
Myrrhis odorata,sweet cicely (Plate 16). Inducing flow of milk in cows
(Teesdale^146 ).
*Narcissus pseudonarcissusLinnaeus subsp.major(Curtis) Baker, Spanish
daffodil. South-western Europe; introduced elsewhere. Worms (Colon-
say in the Inner Hebrides^147 ).
Oenanthe crocata,hemlock water-dropwort (figure on page 185). Saddle
galls (Cumberland^148 ); ‘foul’ (Westmoreland^149 ).
Ophioglossum vulgatum,adder’s-tongue. Inflamed ulcers of cows (Surrey
and Sussex^150 ).
Origanum vulgare,marjoram. Stitches and pains in horses (Highlands^151 ).
Oxalis acetosella,wood-sorrel. Ticks and lice in sheep (Wicklow^152 ).
Peucedanum ostruthium,masterwort. Tonic for sick cattle and to induce
milk in cows (Teesdale^153 ); sore udders of cows (Cumberland^154 ).
‘Fellon-grass’, a name recorded for this in Cumbria and Roxburghshire
and assumed to be applied to the cold-induced skin sores on cows
known as felons,^155 seems more probably a corruption of ‘felling-girse’, a
name in that region ofHelleborus species once used there for ‘felling’.
Pinguicula vulgaris,common butterwort. Chapped udders of cows (West
Riding of Yorkshire^156 ); cattle bitten ‘by any venomous worm’ (York-
shire^157 ).
Plantagospp., plantain. Cuts on legs of horses (Somerset^158 ).
Plantago coronopus,buck’s-horn plantain (figure on page 246). Bites by
rabid dogs (Cornwall, in a mixture^159 ;Norfolk,^160 Suffolk^161 ).
Plantago lanceolata,ribwort plantain. Coughs in wild birds (Devon^162 ).
Polygonum aviculare,knotgrass. Swine fever (Kilkenny, as ‘pigroot’^163 —
most likely this—widely known in England by similar names).
Potentilla erecta,tormentil (figure on page 145). Diarrhoea in cattle and
horses (Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides,^164 Orkney,^165 Donegal,^166 Wick-
low^167 ) and in cats (Isle of Man^168 ); red-water fever (Londonderry^169 );
white scour (Cavan^170 ); braxy, a fatal bacterial infection of sheep, and
‘louping ill’, acute encephalitis in sheep resulting from a tick-borne virus,
characterised by leaps and jerks (Berwickshire^171 ).
Potentilla reptans,creeping cinquefoil. Diarrhoea in kittens (Isle of
Man^172 ).


354 Veterinary Remedies
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