THE PLANT THAT BEAT THE DEVIL
– & another for amorous ladies!
– & another for amorous ladies!
The Devil was so furious at the success of the Devil’s bit scabious in curing all sorts of ailments that he bit away part of the root, hoping to put an end to its good works. The legend says this left the plant with the abruptly shortened root it has today.
But the Devil’s bit scabious continued to cure. Nicholas Culpeper, the 17th century herbalist, prescribed a concoction made from the boiled root for snake-bite, swollen throats, wounds and the plague.
In Ireland it was believed that cows that ate a lot of the Devil’s bit scabious produced very creamy milk. It was also believed that it was an important ingredient in a potion to cure the ‘evil eye’ and could be used to cure afflictions caused by magic. A woman was cured of a crooked lip caused by enchantment. The cure involved taking an infusion of nine plants boiled in urine!
Legend tells of the flat white flower-heads of the yarrow flower being used to cure wounds made by iron weapons. In this country it was also used to drive away evil and sickness; to increase physical attractiveness; and protect people from being hurt by the opposite sex.
In an old Irish chant a woman says: ‘I will pick the green yarrow that my figure may be fuller … that my voice will be sweeter … that my lips will be like the juice of the strawberry … I shall wound every man, but no man shall harm me.’
The three main rooms in Killarney House were officially opened yesterday. The formal gardens are at their best now. The endless herbaceous border – the longest in Ireland – the red and blue of the formal beds leading to the great variety of flowers in the round centerpiece. The gardens have matured impressively in twelve months.
In the constant turnover of new growth, in this special year of blossom, the last of the foxgloves, bog cotton and heath orchids can still be seen.
Kerry won the Munster gaelic football championship again in a game that lacked edge – but Killarney’s Fitzgerald Stadium’s mountain backdrop compensated. On this American Independence day the 7am ‘Dawn Chorus’ Shire Male Choir singing of the Star–Spangled Banner slipped my mind but there is the great parade around town at 8 and spectacular fireworks after 11.
– Frank Lewis
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