School: Finiskill (roll number 13075)
- Location:
- Finiskil, Co. Leitrim
- Teacher: Cathal Ó Floinn
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0219, Page 358
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- (continued from previous page)(Contd)The common belief is that this weed is only found in good land and this opinion is probably correct, as it is rarely growing in rugged or mountainous districts. Its roots are very strong and having a firm anchorage in the soil it is extremely difficult to uproot. Some farmers take the trouble of pulling every weed of this kind up by the roots as they believe that cutting them is useless as a preventive to their growth. The seed is feathery like that of the thistle, and if a field adjacent to one infested with the weed is tilled a fresh crop of Buachalláns will make its appearance in due course. A peculiar belief with regard to this weed is that it infects horses with that slow but fatal disease locally known as "the staggers" because of the dizziness and tendency to stagger which it produces in its subjects.The horse dislikes the taste of the Buachallán and cattle also fight shy of it; sheep however will eat it and suffer no serious injury thereby although some farmers think it causes stiffness and pains in the joints. The infection of horses with "the staggers" is caused, in a sense through their own aversion to eating it, because it is believed to be harmless when in its younger stage of growth. When the pollen falls, however, on the surrounding grass it infects the grass with the germ of the disease. Later, when the weed(continues on next page)
