Gaelic Herblore

At the present moment, herbalism is going through a huge revival, partly I

believe because of a backlash against our own synthetic, over-mechanised world,
and partly because our Green World seems to stand as a symbol of a more healthy
and natural way of life. Our ancestors naturally enough used the plants around
them for food and they found through trial and error which ones were edible,
which ones had certain effects and which ones were fatal. Herbs (basically, any
useful plant) were and are used as a food, or medicine, and could also be used
to scent or flavour other foods. The leaves, flowers, stems and in some plants
the roots and seeds are useable. However, this does differ from plant to plant.
But how informed were our ancestors? The first herbal was the Chinese Pen Tsao,
or Great Herbal, written approximately 3,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence
also proves that early Man was very well educated, although most of the
information would have been confined to a few privileged people.
The Celts of the British Isles had their own uses of particular herbs,
especially the Highlanders, which on occasion differed from the standard uses,
and differed also from the usual uses on mainland Europe. A good example of this
is the lovely woodland foxglove, known as meuran sith. This is a poisonous plant
which in controlled doses is a world renowned cardiac remedy (also known as
digitalis). The Highlanders also used it to treat people after high fevers, and
also some skin complaints. People were rather limited to what was growing fairly
locally and naturally enough some cures became peculiar to certain areas.
One of the first characters we hear of in the legends concerned with healing is
Diancecht, the Danann physician. He belonged to a triad of deities, the others
being Oghma the champion and Gobniu the smith. They too were connected with
healing. Perhaps the most important deity to do with the craft of healing was
Brighid, (or later, St. Bride) one of the most ancient and revered of Celtic
deities. She was the goddess of bards, smiths and physicians.
There are also various animal associations and special places connected with
ancient healing lore. The cat is one animal associated not so much with healing
but with the healer. It was believed that a cat's form and shape could be
resorted to by a healer if need be. The Celts were fascinated by shape shifting
and cats and hares were two animals 'used' by humans. Other animals which also
feature with the healing arts are the raven and the horse. These animals are
connected with old legends to do with healing in a strangely symbolic way.
Horses are believed to have an affinity with deities who frequent water, magical
pools and springs. Because horses were held in such high esteem by the Celts,
there was a taboo on eating horse meat other than in ritual circumstances.
People in Britain still find it distasteful to eat horse meat. Epona was a very
popular European deity said to assist fertility, birth and death.
In Greek mythology, their god of medicine, Asclepius, was supposed to have been
brought up by a centaur who taught him all the healing arts. The centaur was
Cherion who also taught Hercules, Achilles and Jason. These three heroes are
also connected with tales of healing.
Cherion had a specially made spear, the shaft made of ash, and this is mirrored
in the Celtic stick of ash. Ash was a very special tree to the Celts in more
ways than one. In herbal medicine one use was to burn an ash stick and collect
the sap and feed this to a newborn infant. This was done by the midwife. Ash

leaves were used as a poultice for snake bite.

A Gaelic proverb says: Theid an nathair troimh an teine dhearg, mu'n teid i
troimh dhuilleach an uinnsinn (The serpent will go through the red blazing fire
rather than through the leaves of the ash). The serpent, or snake, is
historically and mythologically a symbol of the healing arts, and used
universally as a symbol of wisdom. Some of the people who used this animal
symbol were the ancient Greeks and the druids. Sadly, the snake became used more
and more to depict evil and deceit due to its bad press in the Bible. It is
still the symbol of the British Medical Association.
The raven, like the cat and horse, is an animal of holy springs and water
shrines and had a very powerful deity association, the warrior queen The
Morrigan, who was also part of a triad of warrior goddesses, the other two being
Macha and Babh. In Ireland these raven warrior goddesses were very highly
regarded as the guardians of givers of fertility.
Again, unfortunately, the raven is thought of with not alot of sympathy. It is
considered to be a rather nasty, aggressive and aloof creature, when actually
they are surprisingly tender and affectionate towards their partners and young.
So far, then, we can connect certain deities with their animal associations and
special 'magical' places, in particular certain plants growing near water or on
steep hillsides, especially single trees or a group of three. A well known
combination is hazel growing beside water. The animal associations of wisdom,
healing and the Otherworld are represented by the serpent, cat, raven and horse.
As time went on medicine became linked with religion and magic, and was used to
scare or control the more simple folk. This in turn made people very
superstitious, and apart from the usual herbal remedies all sorts of chants and
invocations were used to aid healing. These chants eventually became a strange
mix of pagan and Christian symbolism often including Mary and Brighid. Well, it
has to be said, the Celts were a superstitious lot and wanted to make sure they
covered all eventualities and avenues of good luck!
People of thousands of years ago did not know the scientific reasons for a
plant's success in curing certain ailments. They did not know for example that
the Hawthorn contains the constituents of flavonoid glycosides, saponins,
procyanidines, trimethylamine and condensed tannins. However, they did know that
hawthorn had an amazing but gentle effect on the heart, regulating the blood
pressure and being a more sedate remedy than foxglove. Incidentally, that famous
odour given off by the flowers is due to the trimethylamine, and is to encourage
and attract insects for the purpose of pollination. Its modern name in Gaelic is
sgitheach geal or drioghionn geal, the ancient name is Uath. These translate as
'whitethorn' and 'frightful' respectively.
The hazel was a tree venerated by the Celts. An early coloniser after the last
Ice Age, approximately 10,000 years ago, along with the Scots pine. Growing
beside water, the hazel was considered sacred, it was connected with wisdom and
was worshipped by druids and healers. The milk from the hazel nut was thought to
be particularly good for children.
The rowan was associated with Brighid. This tree had many folk superstitions

attached to it. Often seen growing by the front door, it was used to protect
against bad influences. The bark was used in tanning and dyeing. The berries are
edible. Highland women used to wear a necklace of rowan berries threaded onto a
piece of red cotton. Elder too was grown near the house, and considered special
to the sidhe. It was, and still is, unlucky to harm an elder, used by country
folk for many ailments, it was a veritable medicine chest in one plant.
One use was to boil the flowers and pollen with some lard and almond oil. This
made an elderflower grease, a famous old Highland remedy, used on cuts,
abrasions and nettle sting.
My list of herbs begins with yarrow, its Gaelic name is cathair lair, and it was
a sacred plant. It was used as a vulnerary and was found to intensify the action
of other plants taken with it. It eliminates toxins and can help stop blood
flow. The little primrose (sobhrach) was a cure for many ailments. The leaves
were made into an ointment for wounds, bruises and burns. It was also used with
another herb called wormwood. A tea made from the flowers was good for
rheumatism, arthritis and nervous pains. Here's an old cure for the bite of a
mad dog: pound leaves together and mix with milk. Drink nine times throughout
the day.
The number of treatments were often in threes, sevens, nines and so on. Numbers
were significant to the Celts and certain numbers such as the ones mentioned
were considered sacred and beneficial to healing. A close relative of the
primrose was the cowslip, now sadly quite rare. Known as muisean by the Gaels,
its natural habitat, like the primrose, is woodland. It was used to treat palsy
and paralysis. Cowslip flowers, made into an ointment, was an excellent remedy
for treating certain kinds of skin condition, such as sunburn. The root which is
high in saponin and salicylates was used for whooping cough, bronchitis and
arthritis. Together with cowslip and sage it was supposed to be good for
vertigo.
A highly prized herb, excellent for use against skin eruptions (something the
vain Celts would not have tolerated) was bogbean, or water shamrock, also called
lus an laogh. It was also useful for rheumatism. It is a mild sedative and
tonic. Lesser celandine or lus an torranan was used to treat growths on the ears
and neck and small lumps in the breast and also piles. To make a poultice, chop
the leaves up finely and mix with a fatty base; this could also be used hot. The
strength of the poultice could be adjusted by adding more or less of the herb.
Chickweed, fliogh, was also good in a poultice for abscesses and inflamed
breasts.
One of Bride's plants was the dandelion or bearnan Brighdhe. It was used by the
Highlanders as a stomach tonic, to remove warts, and as a diuretic. It was very
highly regarded by the old healers. Foxglove as mentioned earlier was a
favourite plant of the Sidhe, and is renowned as a cardiac remedy. It was also
used by the Celts for skin ailments including Erysipelas and varicose eczema.
Pulp made from the root and heated up eased pain from internal swellings.
White horehound, grabhan ban, was a useful remedy for coughs, asthma and
bronchitis, and has been used for thousands of years. An important plant to the
Celts was the heather, growing now on open moorland, where ancient forests would
once have stood. In Gaelic the name is fraoch, and in the past it was used in
just about everything from making ropes, roofing, dyeing cloth, fuel, wall
insulation, basketry, flavouring ale and tanning leather. Honey made from
heather flowers is wonderful. Heather flowers were also used as bedding and gave

the most refreshing night's sleep. The flowering tip is the bit used for
medicinal purposes and was a good tonic for the heart and nerves. It was also
considered a remedy for coughs, mental depression, arthritis and rheumatism, and
was often prescribed for invalids. An excellent plant!
The Gaelic name for groundsel, am bualan, means 'the remedy' and this plant was
made into a poultice said to be good for boils and acne. Herb Robert, a member
of the perennial geranium family, also called lus an rois or righeal righ, was
used to treat the nasty skin disease erysipelas. The flowers of honeysuckle
(feithlean) were said to be good for freckles, sunburn and skin infections
generally.
The diminutive houseleek (Latin - sempervirens) is a charming little plant that
was often grown on a roof and was supposed to keep lightning and fires away from
the house. It was also soothing on burns and shingles and used to cool fevers.
It is obviously a plant that has strong associations with fire.
Ivy is an important plant in Celtic symbolism, a plant of the feminine aspect.
Due to the way it grew around and eventually choked vines, it was considered a
cure for drunkenness! Soaked in vinegar it was a remedy for corns. One of my
favourite plants is Lady's Mantle, which was used all over Europe in folk
medicine for women's problems. It was believed to have all sorts of magical
properties, probably because it was good for a number of ailments. In the
Highlands it was also used on sores and for healing wounds. Mugwort was a plant
used in two ways. A strong dose was a vermifuge (expels worms) and a weaker dose
was a tonic.
Stinging nettles is another herb used everywhere, and rightly so. They could be
taken as a tea, broth or poultice. Nettles were also a spring tonic, used like
greens, especially after a long dark winter. Plantain, slan lus, is a small
plant with a long list of attributes (its name means 'health plant'). The main
uses were for cuts, stings and insect bites. Taken internally it was excellent
for catarrhal bronchitis and other lung problems. It was also thought to protect
children from the fairies.
The resin from the Scots pine was a very good astringent used on boils and
sores. Vervain was a herb considered to be sacred by many different cultures,
including the Celts. They called it dragon's claw, or crubh an leoghain, and
used it as an eye compress and hair tonic. It was also an anti-coagulant and
sedative. Scientific reasons have been found for the old belief that vervain
increased the flow of a mother's milk. This is due to the glycosides found in
the plant. Traditionally it was prescribed for disorders of the liver.
Another 'wonder plant' was the remarkable comfrey, called meacan dubh by the
Gaels. It is an excellent vulnerary, used in poultices for aching joints, sores
and sprains and good for reducing swellings. The amazing healing powers of
comfrey are due to a substance in the plant called allentoin, which is a cell
proliferent. It promotes the growth of connective tissue, bone and cartilage and
is easily absorbed through the skin.
Apart from the primrose and cowslip mentioned earlier, a few more woodland
plants are the sanicle or buine (an indicator of ancient woodland, now sadly
rare). It is good for green wounds and ulcers. Wood anemone, bainne bo bliatain,
made into a poultice and placed on the head for headaches. Dog violet or brog na

cuthaig, a febrifuge. A concoction was made by boiling in whey and this was used
to break fevers.
Another woodland plant, although nowadays found more often in the hedgerow, was
the sacred St. John's wort, Achlasan Challum, attributed to St. Columba. This
plant has been used since the most ancient times and has a wide variety of
medical uses. It was effectively used as a compress for dressing wounds and was
commonly used to heal deep sword cuts. Recent experiments in Germany have proved
the anti-bacterial action of this plant. It was a sedative and good for
neuralgia. It was also good for burns as it lowers the temperature of the skin.
On an empty stomach, it was a cure for gastritis and stomach ulcers. A very
effective healing ointment made by the ancient Highlanders was a combination of
St. John's wort, golden rod and germander speedwell, and was a well known wound
remedy. Golden rod, or fuinseadh coille, was used to join and heal broken bones
and was also used in another ointment with a herb called all-heal (clubhan ceann
dubh). It was a similar remedy to the previous one and was used on Skye.
The recipe for the next ointment is very ancient and is said to have come from
Diancecht himself. Make a gruel of oatmeal, and to it add dandelion, chickweed,
hazel buds and sourock. This should be taken morning and evening for such ills
as colds, phlegm and throat problems. Tansy was another good old folk remedy for
the heart, bruises and strains. It was also used to expel worms and was a
strewing herb due to its efficacy as an insect repellent. However, tansy today
is, we now know, high in thujone, which made it very dangerous in high doses.
Although sage was used by the Gaels, I do not know how far back this particular
partnership goes. Sage is a Mediterranean plant and not a native of the British
Isles, but this does not mean they did not know of it or use it. Having come
across Europe to get to Britain, the Celts must have been familiar with many
plants which were not actually found here. Sage (saisde) was a herb sacred to
the ancient Greeks, a plant representing longevity. According to a Gaelic
proverb, it was thought that no harm would come to those in whose garden it
grew: Carson a gheibheadh duine bas, aig am bheil saisde fas 'na gharadh. The
Chinese held it in such high esteem that they were happy to trade with the Dutch
three times the amount of their best tea for European sage. Because of its
oestrogenic properties, it is very useful for 'women's problems'. Again, though,
a dangerous plant in high doses.
An interesting little plant used by the Celts was the herb of enticement, lus an
talaidh, or purple orchis. This was a magical plant used in love charms. It had
two roots representing man and woman, and had to be pulled up by the roots
before sunrise, and facing south. Whichever root was used (the larger root was
considered to be male) should be immediately placed in spring water. If it sank
the person in question would be the future husband or wife.
Mullein, another of our native wildflowers, known as lus mor, the great herb,
was a herb of folk magic as well as folk medicine. It was believed to bring
children back that had been abducted by the fairies. It was also an excellent
herb for respiratory problems, asthma, bronchitis, whooping cough as well as
urinary and ear problems.
Agrimony, or mur dhruidhean, was a plant of the spirit. It was a 'druidical'
plant and one which affected spiritual troubles (hopefully in a positive way!)

There were other cures and remedies used by the Gaels such as goats milk and
mares milk. Goats were at one time very common as livestock, and the milk was
particularly considered to be very beneficial to health and beauty. The Iron Age
Celts used goats for meat and the hides for clothing and bags. The belief in the
health giving properties of goats milk is many centuries old. For health, there
is a saying:
Is leigheas air gach tinn
agus l am fochair siud
A cure for every patient
and drink along with that,

cneamh agus m na
'm bainne ghobhar
is garlic and may
the milk of white

Mighe;
bn.
butter
goats.

For beauty the saying goes:

Sail chuach is bainne ghobhar suath ri t' aghaidh
'S chan eil mac righ air an domhan nach bi air do dheidh.
Violets and goats milk rub on your face
and there's no king's son in the world that won't be after you.
There were also things to ward off evil or to assist in good health such as
snail stones, adder stones and eagle stones. Particular illnesses inspired awe
and wonder, such as epilepsy. People with the 'sacred disease' were thought to
be filled with some sort of Otherworld spirit. The main cure for epilepsy was to
drink one's own blood. There were also many invocations and chants to 'chase
out' the Otherworld spirits.
History proves time and time again that when any knowledge was gained it was
guarded jealously. There was also intense competition and rivalry between people
indulging in the same crafts. So it proved with Diancecht, the Danann physician.
The story of the battle of Magh Tuiread shows the professional jealousy
displayed by Diancecht towards his son and daughter because they were a threat
to him as a healer, especially since his son, Miach, repaired the hand of the
injured high king Nuada. The story of how Miach and his sister Airmedh gained
access to the palace, and the king, is an amusing little tale in itself. They
bribed the half blind doorkeeper by saying they could return the sight to his
blind eye. This they did by replacing the blind eye with a cat's eye. The only
trouble with that was it stayed open every night looking for mice!
Miach had Nuada's hand dug up from where it had been buried for a while. He
placed it back on the stump and incantations were sung over the hand as each
sinew was joined and each bone was joined. After three days the hand was as good
as new. Diancecht was livid that his son had shown himself to be the better
physician, so attempts were made to kill him. However, Miach always managed to
heal himself until finally in the second battle of Magh Tuiread, Diancecht cleft
his head in two.
Even in death, Miach was not finished. Where he was buried, many plants grew,
each one for healing the part of the body from which it grew. Airmedh attempted
to catalogue these herbs and as she picked them she laid them out on her cloak
in a certain order. Again, though, Diancecht could not stand the thought of
anyone getting more knowledge than himself, so in a fit of temper he shook up
the cloak. Luckily some plants she remembered and, by trial and effort, would
have found more.

This story shows the craft of healer being placed within the feminine domain,
thus beginning the long standing tradition of the fairy doctor and the hen-wife,
known in Gaelic as cailleach nan cearc. Archaeological evidence on one of the
Danish islands of North Zealand has found that Bronze Age healers were mostly
women. There is similar evidence in the Highlands. It is highly likely that
these ancient healers were the ancestors of the fairy doctors and hen-wives,
wise women who assisted in midwifery, herblore and various charms and potions.
They could also combat fairy magic, but were also, on occasion, asked to help
the sidhe themselves. This sort of craft would be handed down and kept within a
family and guarded quite strongly. These women were much revered and highly
respected within their communities.
Today's modern life style and hectic pace of life is very unhealthy. The
pressures placed on us are often overwhelming, leaving us very little time to
relax. Past centuries of experiments by medical herbalists and aromatherapists
have proved that certain herbs can have a powerful effect on the mind and body
in a soothing, calming way and also in a stimulating and invigorating way, so
they are more useful to us than ever. Unfortunately, in the west, herbal
medicine has lost both the spontaneous ecological instincts and the basis in
observation that really characterised sympathetic magic.
During the Middle Ages European scholars did little more than rewrite the
classical herbals, thereby perpetuating a mass of errors, misinterpretations and
superstitions. After the seventeenth century a new type of commercial herbalist
started to exploit and corrupt the sympathetic magic of the old healers into the
Doctrine of Signatures. In the Green world, science meets myth and magic but
cannot totally dispel it. There are still many questions unanswered, and one in
particular keeps cropping up in my mind. What was it about the diminutive
houseleek that nurtured the belief that it was a good lightning deflector?
References
Trees of the Celtic Alphabet by H. McSkimming
Gaelic Herb Lore (Dalriada Celtic Heritage Trust)
Making the Cure (a series of articles by Mary Beith in the West Highland Free
Press).

Copyright: 1996 Maria Palmer

[First published in Dalriada magazine - May & August 1996]