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There are several cures to be obtain from herbs:
Hock when boiled down is a great cure for sprains.
Parsley boiled down and the water drunk is a cure for
consumption.
Another good cure is celery boiled down and eaten.
There are also several cures to be had from seawater. In
September the seaweed bursts and there is iodine in the water
which is a great cure for rheumatism.
A great cure for a sting is a butter dalk leaf rubbed on the
sting.
A tank containing water that has become rusty and the hands
dipped in the water is a cure for warts.
Every morning if seawater is sniffed up the nose it is a good
cure for a stoppage of the nose.
To cure bleeding of the nose put a key down your back.
Desmond Potter, 7 The Harbour (BNS, 1937-`38)
Long ago people had no use for doctors. They had some
healing powers of their own, and these are some of them.
Garlic is an old cure for weak lungs. They boil it and drink
the juice of it. It grows in the fields.
There is a holy well about two miles from Skerries at
Balcunnin. The water in it is a cure for sore throats.
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Carron oil is a cure for burns or scalds.
An old cure for the toothache is a horseshoe nail. Prod the
nail into your tooth and after that bunk it into the wall and as
long as it stays there, you will never have the toothache.
The old cure for styes is a gooseberry thorn. Point the thorn
into the sty every morning and make the sign of the cross with it.
The person has to be a Mary.
An old cure for warts is a Dandelion Stalk; rub the juice on the
wart.
There is an old saying; if you are the third Mary in the family,
when you grow up, you are supposed to have healing powers.
If seven sons or daughters are born, one after the other, the
seventh is supposed to have healing powers.
There was a man in Loughshinney whose name was Ryan. He
was called the bone settler and people used to go to him when
they broke their leg or arm, and he would settle them.
There is an old cure for coughs; get a Spanish onion and slice
it, put brown sugar on a slice and put another slice over it and
make it like a sandwich, and leave it till morning and it will
change into syrup and take a spoonful every morning.
Essie Fanning; 23rd. November 1937- '37 GNS
Collected from her grandmother, who died two yrs. ago - aged 78
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