H: Irish Healing Skill Hereditary.

May, 1922 THE PHARMACEUTICAL ERA
Page 175 (but you may enjoy reading the whole issue)

Irish Healing Skill Hereditary.
Centuries of Celtic and Druidic Practice and Tradition Back of Medical and Pharmaceutical
Systems of Today—Potions, Charms and Religion Associated in Ancient Beliefs

By GEORGE NILES HOFFMAN

Although the practice of pharmacy in the land of Saint Patrick did not come under any
special laws until the passage of the Pharmacy Act of Ireland in 1870 and the subsequent
organization of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland in 1875, the Emerald Isle is rich in
medical and pharmaceutical lore. The legends and traditions of the curative power of roots, herbs and fairy plants of "Old Erin," the bardie potion and the elf stone, come down from a remote past, each emphasizing in its own way the popular beliefs and practices of preceding generations of the Celtic race. For thousands of years the fortunate possession of the four-leafed shamrock of the Emerald Isle has been supposed to bring to the possessor good luck in gambling and racing, and to ward off the incantations of those who practiced witchcraft and magic. The horse-shoe, as an emblem of good luck, even at this late date to be occasionally found tacked over the door of a prescription room in some pharmacies, finds its origin in the legend that the horse and the ass were present in the stall where Christ was born, and for this reason were blessed forevermore. Indeed, if one should care to do so, he might uncover in the practice of every art the strange beginnings of customs indicative of a remote past.

The healing art among all primitive peoples has been associated with religion. For the wonderful effect produced by certain herbs and methods of treatment the Irish, as well as all other ancient races, relied to a certain extent upon the supernatural or magical powers which the drug seemed to impart when it was administered. As a result all medical men who practiced the healing art were treated with respect and awe.

The ancient power of the Irish race has always been an interesting subject of discussion. However, it is said by some historians to be the last of the 305 great Celtic nations of antiquity spoken of by Josephus, the Jewish historian, and that it alone preserves inviolate the ancient venerable language, minstrelsy and bardic traditions and the strange and mystic secrets of herbs, the potency of which is still believed. In addition to the healing virtues, the Irish gave these herbs credit for mystic powers, such as being associated with the causes of love and hatred and the discovery of hidden mysteries. Drug plants were said to dominate over the wiles of the fairies and enhance the power of malific demons. Said they: "The virtue of herbs is great, but they must be gathered at night and laid in the hands of a dead man to hold. There are herbs that produce love, and herbs that produce sterility, 'but only the fairy doctor knows the secret."

Reflect Beliefs of the Past
The employment of these mystical herbs throws a curious sidelight on the activities and beliefs of the past. The herb known as "Fair-Gotha," or the hungerstricken sod, was much feared by the Irish people. If the weary traveler happened to tread upon it he would become ravenous with hunger, and unless he could get something to eat at once, he would certainly die. The herb of Connemara was supposed to enable one to foretell whether a sick person would recover or not. The nearest relative of the stricken one must go out at the moment of sunrise in the morning and hunt for the plant. When found, he must hold it in his hand and repeat the ancient incantation. If the herb remained fresh and green, the sick person would recover, but if it withered, the patient would never get well.

From the most remote antiquity the Irish were devoted to medicine, and possessed a remarkable knowledge of cures and remedies for disease by the use of herbs. Many of the old Irish medical manuscripts are preserved in English and Irish libraries, and these go far to prove that the ancient Hibernian physicians had a thorough knowledge of the works of Hippocrates, Galen and Aristotle. The physicians of the pagan era formed a branch of the Druid priesthood and were treated with great honor. They had a special place set aside for them at the royal banqueting table at Tara, and a certain revenue was secured to them.

Famous Hospital at Tara
There was a famous hospital at Tara, called the House of Sorrow, which is said to have been in existence before the Christian era. Once, it is said, a nurse became angry with a patient and sewed a poison herb in his wounds. The great physician Fioneen was hastily called to treat the patient who was groaning in terrible agony. The physician, who was credited with the ability of being able to tell the cause of a patient's troubles from the sound of the groans, Brought with him, as was the custom, a few of his apprentices or young medical students. In this instance, the physician decided to give his students a try-out. The first said the groans were evidence of a poison bark, the second, that a reptile was hidden in the bed of the patient, but the third declared that a poison seed was sewn up in the patient's wound. This proved to be the case, and Fioneen had the wounds opened, the poison washed out, and the wounds then cauterized with red hot irons, a method, although applied about one thousand years ago, not so very far behind present day practices. The customs and beliefs of the Celtic inhabitants of the West coast islands, it is said, are scarcely different from those Obtaining when Saint Patrick left them fourteen centuries ago. The Irish physician's keen knowledge of medicines and herb cures in those days is largely attributable to the conditions under which he practiced and the customs of his age. The doctor was entitled by law to his board and keep, and he was allowed to bring with him four students who were also kept. All went well, unless the physician failed to cure the patient owing to a deficiency in skill. If such a deficiency was proved, he was obliged to refund all of the fees he had collected, as also the cost of his keep. As a result, he attended to business strictly and controlled his pupils effectively.

The Bardic Potion
 The sweet and thrilling voices of Irish singers are characteristic of the race which legend ascribes to the use of a mysterious herb potion which the bards or ancient priests administered to children at birth. Once the Irish youngster received this miraculous draught, he was ever after endowed with a sweet voice like unto that of fairy music which would sway the hearts of those who heard him as he might will. A real old time Irish lady will account for John McCormack and his  "Ireland Must Be Heaven," by recalling the case of Finn Ma Coul, who resided with the King at Almheim and sat next to him at the royal table because of his sweet and musical voice. "His mother," it is said, "gave him the bardic potion and his voice is like the harp of old Tara's halls."

The ancient people of Ireland practiced the art of divination through the use of herbs, a knowledge of which had come down to them through the earliest traditions of the human race. Those who practiced the art were the bards, the priests and collectors of medicinal herbs, who were the precursors of the early pharmacists of historic times. They foretold future events, of victory in war, of success in love, of recovery in sickness and of the approach of death. They were adepts in herb lore.

An ancient Irish prescription calls for seven balls of ground ivy, vervain, eye^bright, groundsel, foxglove, bark of elder tree, and young shoots of hawthorn well mixed together. These are made into a potion with bog water and salt and boiled in a vessel with a piece of money and an elf stone. The elf stone was an ancient arrow head dug up on the site of an old battlefield. When once lifted, it must never be permitted to touch the ground if it was to retain its wondrous virtues. If it was allowed to fall from the spade to the earth, it lost its magic power. Most of the plants named in the prescription are used more or less commonly today.

Other medicinal herbs which the ancient Irish knew and employed were the wood anemone or "mead cailleath" as a plaster for wounds, and the yarrow, which was used not only in cures and potions, but was sewn in the garments of persons exposed to disease. Vervain, eye-bright, mallow and other remedial herbs were familiar to the race more than a thousand years ago;
to exert their full power the plants must be pulled at noon on a bright day near the full of the moon! Not very much different, the reader may say, from present day practices, for many farmers in New York State will not plant seeds or butcher a pig unless, as they profess to believe, "the moon is right."

An Ancient Sovereign Remedy
Modern patent medicine manufacturers are not the first to attempt to market a cure-all or sovereign remedy for all diseases. More than three thousand years ago, at the great battle of Moytura, County Mayo, Ireland, a great Irish apothecary and Druid priest prepared a bath of herlbs and plants of such wonderful curative properties that the wounded were plunged into it and came out healed—at least so the story affirms. In this battle the Irish King, Nuad,
lost his hand. Dianect, the physician, replaced the hand with one of silver, and the king was ever afterward known as "Nuad of the Silver Hand." The modern practice of placing silver braces in the skull and as framework to the body where bones are diseased, was anticipated thousands of years ago.

Love Potions
Modern requests for the pharmacist to prepare love potions are not common, and there is even a law against the practice. In old Erin, however, there was demand for these mixtures. An old formula which was claimed to do the trick directed that ten leaves of hemlock be taken, dried and powdered, and then mixed with the food or drink of the would be lovers. Instructions were also given as to the proper procedure at the time of courting. A sprig of mint was to be held in the hand until the herb grew moist and warm, and then, when the ardent swain grasped the hand of his lady love, she was sure to reciprocate his affection.

Irish Use of Charms
Besides the use of herbs to cure disease, great reliance was placed upon the employment of charms,signs and appeals to the saints. An old time treatment for the red rash directed the healer to repeat the following words three times over the patients, each time making the sign of the cross: "Bridget, Patrick, Solomon, and the Great Mary, banish this redness off you." Butter was then taken and breathed upon, the healer directing the patient to rub himself with the
butter thus treated.

Another invocation used in the treatment of poisons or wounds is the following. "The poison of a serpent, the venom of a dog, the sharpness of a spear, doth not well in man. The blood of one dog, the blood of the hound of Fliethias—these I invoke. It is not
a wart to which my spittle is applied. I strike disease; I strike wounds. I strike the disease of the dog that bites, of the thorn that wounds, of the iron that strikes. I invoke the three daughters of Fliethias against the serpent. Benediction on this body to be healed; benediction on the spittle; benediction on him who casts out disease. In the name of God, Amen."

Transfer of Maladies
A belief not even yet entirely absent from some parts of the United States is that which prompts one to cause a sick child to sleep with a healthy dog, the theory being that the dog will taken the disease and thus free the youngster. An old Irish custom for treating a child with the mumps was to take the litte patient to the pigsty and there rub him over the back of a fat porker. This treatment was supposed to cure the ailment and to give the disease to the pig, which would naturally recover.

The herbal lore of Ireland undoubtedly extends back to the heathen era, for frequent mention is made in the old traditions of the cures accomplished by the Druids, especially with the mistletoe obtained from the oak. Again, it would seem that many of the remedies obtained from the animal kingdom had their origin in the superstitious belief of the prehistoric hunters and nomads. That these traditions and beliefs still hover about the practice of medicine and influence the treatment of disease is not so strange when one considers the tenacity of purpose and virility of the Irish race. It may be that America has borrowed more from Old Erin than many of us realize, certainly more than some of our statesmen would lead us to believe. For hundreds of years Irish pharmacists and physicians have made their presence felt wherever the healing art has been practiced.


Reference: Books.Google.com
THE Pharmaceutical Era
(ISSUED MONTHLY)
EDITED BY
EZRA J. KENNEDY, Ph. C.
VOLUME LV.
January to December, 1922
NEW YORK
D. O. HAYNES & CO., Publishers
No. 3 Park Place

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