The flower of the foxglove mixed with lard is a cure for all skin diseases.

her trouble, so he advised her to gather some leaves from the Foxglove or the Fairyfinger as it is often called and to boil these leaves and after boiling them to give the water to the baby to drink telling her that by doing this her own baby would be returned to her. So the mother did as she was told and the poor little baby died because the Foxglove is a poisonous plant.

Around the district where I live there is a huge number of herbs to be got, for instance. Foxglove, Canaban Beg, Greathairy Willow Herb and Pennyleaf. Canaban Beg is to be given as a cure for worms. Foxglove or as it is often called Ladyfinger is a very good cure for the heart.

The most harmful weeds are the dockleaves, nettles, thistles dandelion and crowfoot. They make the soil poor and interfere with the crops. Nettles and thistles grow where the soil is good, crowfoot and foxglove grow where the land is poor. Nettles and watercress are good for the blood, Gilcock when boiled and the water drank is good for the kidneys. Foxglove is used for poisoning. Some of these herbs have flowers with colours on them. Some herbs are used for dyeing clothes and others are used for food for people and animals. Herbs were used to cure people in former years.

The place where I live is called Coolboa. It is in the Barony of Decies within Drum. There are fourteen houses in Coolboa, twelve slate and two thatch. The schools and Church are also in Coolboa. There are no rivers or lakes in Coolboa, only a large pond which is called 'Poll an Tairbh', it is called this because it is said that two bulls had a fight near the edge of the pond and one of the bulls fell in and got drowned. There are no people in Coolboa over seventy years. There are no ruins of old houses there. The place is called 'Cúl Bugha' which means 'foxglove'. Because the foxglove plant is growing wild on every ditch and field. The flowers on the plant are like the fingers of a glove.

Foxglove:
Foxglove is a corruption of ''Folk's Glove'' probably fairy-folk. Its flowers fit like thimbles on the fingers and children love to pull on those handsome white and red blossoms and use the fairies' gloves for themselves.

Common weeds
The following are the weeds that are common in this country, benweed, chickened,dock,thistle, dandelion,corn slurry or year, foxglove,scutch grass,nettle etc... The weeds that give the farmers most trouble are the benweed, year and chickened.
The chickened and dandelion and benweed always grow on good land.
The foxglove always grows on bad land.
The chickened is used as a remedy for sprains and dandelion is a cure for warts. The foxglove is a cure for the heart.

HerbsThe weeds that grow on our farm are thistles, nettles, dockroots, chickenweed, robin-run-the-hedge, ferns, praiseach weed, wild spearmint, cupog weed, crowfoot and scutch grass.The herbs that grow on our farm are foxglove, dandelion, rib grass nightshade and hemlock.The most harmful weeds are thistles, dockroots, praiseach weed and scutch grass.They spread quickly and make the crops poor. Their seeds remain in the ground for years.The praiseach weed grows in crops of oats and wheat. It also grows in a place where thistles grow. The dockroots grow in all sorts of land.Nettles grow in gardens, by walls and by ditches.The poisonous herbs are foxglove, nightshade and hemlock. If any beasts ate these herbs they would kill them.
The foxglove and nightshade grow in ditches.If a person got a sting of a nettle andif he cut a leaf of a dockroot and

foxglove where I was sitting and you'll find as much treasure as you can carry away. Let me go Patsy darling and go home for a spade".
But Patsy grinned wider than ever. "I'll mark the foxglove before I do", he said, "but I'll not mark it with a red garter! And now, since you've behaved like a gentleman, I'll set you at liberty and thank you kindly".
As soon as he was free the wee lad swept off his hat, "I'd be saving my thanks for a while, Patsy, if I were you", he said with a wink and picking up his stool he disappeared.
Calling at the top of his voice his small sister heard him and came towards him. To make sure of the foxglove he decided to tie Judy to the one mentioned by the leprechaun with the aid of a piece of twine. This done he set off for home for the spade. His feelings can be imagined more easily than described with visions of a bucket-full of gold.
On his return the sight

that met his eyes left him speechless for tied to every foxglove was a small girl shouting "Patsy! Patsy!" at the top of her voice. Unable to speak he looked wildly from foxglove to foxglove - the babies were all exactly alike.
"The leprechaun has tricked me after all", he wailed on regaining his speech. "I've lost my fortune, and whatever can I do with a field full of babies. I'll never be able to tell which is Judy". "Patsy, Patsy", they shouted.
He held his hands to his ears. Suddenly he had an idea and began to laugh. "Why didn't I think of it before", he exclaimed. "Even if I can't tell which is Judy surely she will know which is herself".
So he took out his knife and loosened all the babies by their strings as fast as he could. No sooner done than all the youngster stumbled and rolled abut. Then he stooped and held out his arms,
"Judy, Judy, darling! Come

There are many weeds or herbs grown on the farm, the most common of which are, dockleaf, thistles, nettles, spurge, yarrow, daisies, clover, wild sage, dandelions, honeysuckle, cornflower, water mint, shamrock, tansy, scarlet pimpernel, foxglove, mushrooms, and horse-buttons.
The weeds that spread rapidly are thistles, dockleaf, nettles, yarrow, and horse-buttons. The seeds of these weeds get ripe in August and September, and are blown yards away by the wind, thus there are about a thousand or more weeds around where there was one the preceding year.
The weeds that grow on good land are thistles, nettles, clover, dockleaf, daisies, and wild sage. Yarrow, mushrooms, horse-buttons and tansy grow in poor land; while dandelions, scarlet pimpernel, spurge, foxglove and honeysuckle grow beside country roads. The herbs to be found near the river bank or stream are watercress,

The most harmful weeds growing on our farm at home are, the Ragweed, the Dock leaf and the nettle. They are harmful because they impoverish the soil and they spread quickly. The plants that grow on good land are, The yellow Iris, The Thistle, The Rock Rose, The Eyebright, The wild Thyme, The Carline Thistle, The Foxglove and the Colts foot. Those that are only found on poor land are, The Rock sea Lavender and the common Heath. The herbs that have medicinal properties are, The yarrow, The Carline Thistle, the loseline, the eyebright, and the colts foot. The Yarrow is said to be a cure for Bronchitis. It is boiled first and the the juice of it has to be drunk whilst quite hot. The Carline thistle is used to cure a skin disease which spreads over the body by rubbing this to it. The Loseline is used to cure sciatica a disease in the bones. The Eyebright is a cure is a cure for sore eyes. This was rubbed to the eyes every morning after rising. The Foxglove is a cure for consumption. The Colts foot is a cure for coughs and chest complaints. It was rubbed every night

The flower of the foxglove mixed with hogs lard is a great ointment for all skin diseases, and the juice of the leaves of foxglove is a cure for heart diseaseThe leaves of the alder tree put under the bare feet galled by travelling give reliefThe leaves of the alder tree put in a bed banish the fleasCabbage which is to be used for dinner the following day should be cut at night when the moon is shining as it is then fresh and crisp but during the day it is

The woody Nightshade is a deadly poisonous plant. There comes a berry on it and if anything or anybody eats these they will die immediately and for this reason it is called Deadly Nightshade.
Also the Foxglove or Fairy-finger is poisonous to animals and the berries that come on the Honeysuckle. Long ago people made medicine for the heart from Foxglove and it was the peoples best cure.
The stems leaves and bulb of the Bluebell served old people for glew long ago. The Colts Foot is a

The most harmful weeds in this district are the nettle, the thistle, the dock-leaf, the chick-weed, the foxglove, scutch-grass, rushes, the crowfoot, the groundsel, the capawn, cat's tail, chicken weed, colt's foot, fern, comfrey, broom, dandelion, hurts, blackthorn, forauns, crane-bill, glasarlean and praishte.
Some of them are harmful because they spread too fast and make the land poor. Others poison things like the nightshade and the praishte destroys the oats and all kind of seeds. Broom and capawn grow in poor places. The thistle grows only in good land.
Dandelion is used for making drinks and its milk will cure warts. People pick it and give it to sows. Young thistles are also cut and given to sows when they are deadened by warm gruel. Some people cut the tops of whins and pound them up and give them to horses. They say it is good for worms. The milk of the dandelion is used for curing warts.
Slanlus when the green leaves are bruised stops blood. The roots of the rushes, of the foxglove, the groundsel, and the bog-lily are used to make a cure for the yellow jaundice. The tops of the blackthorns are used for curing scour in cattle. They are boiled.

Stinking Roger steamed and pounded and stewed in unsalted butter for burns.Mullen plant boiled in milk cure for consumption This is a very tall plant something like a foxglove in shape with a long spike of yellow flowers.
Ali Compaign drawn like tea a cure for coldsHouse leek pounded a cure for worms in horses.The leaves of the Fairy Finger or Foxglove are poisonous, but if a little are drawn like tea and given in very small quantity to young pigs, it presents convulsions

The wood sorrel is an Easter herb and for that reason it was called "Hallelujah". The dandelion got its name because it hs petals like big teeth. Dandelion is a French word which means lions teeth. Foxglove is sometimes called "throatwort" because when it is boiled it will cure a sore throat. Sheep eat buchalans and cows eat thistles. If a person has rheumatism and eats dandelion he will be cured.

of one foot. The foxglove commonly called "Fairy Thimbles" has a red flower. The dockleaf would cure a burn of a nettle. The inners part of an Alder would cure a burn.

Moss, ferns, wildroses, nettles, thistles, briars, honey suckles, dock and whins are harm-ful to the grazing fields and crops growing on our farm. Ragweeds and chicken weeds are also harmful on our farm. Some of them spread rapidly and they are harmful.Ragweeds, wildroses and briers only grow on good land. Moss and ferns only grow on poor land.Foxglove, broom, whore hound and poppy heads are used for medicine. Foxglove is used for making medicine for the heart. Broom is used as medicine for putting away any skin disease. Poppy heads are used for making sick people sleep.Moss is used for dying and in the war time moss was used for bandaging.Nearly all the medicines were got from plants long ago.

The lepreachan is known locally as the geanncanach. He works under a mushroom. He wears a red cap which is supposed to be a flower off the foxglove.