PROCEEDINGS-PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE, lxxix 
But, if you wish to have a cheap supply of milk without keeping 
cows, you may try the plan of the old woman mentioned by Martin. 
She was found on a May morning at a spring well cutting the tops 
of Water Cresses ( dur-lus —the Water Plant), muttering strange words 
and the names of certain cowkeepers, and saying, “ S’liomsa hath do 
choud sa ” (half thine is mine). She repeated these words as often as 
she cut a sprig, which personated the individual she intended to rob 
of his milk and cream. Martin is obliging enough to inform us, 
however, that “ some women make use of the root of Groundsel as 
an amulet against such charms by putting it amongst the cream.” 
The Yarrow ( Achillea Millefolium ), earr thalmhainn (that which 
clothes the earth)—also called the plant that stops bleeding (Jus 
chosgadh na fold), —was used for a different purpose. Young women 
cut it with a black-handled knife, by moonlight, repeating certain 
mystic words. The Yarrow is then brought home, put into the right 
stocking, and placed under the pillow, with the result that the maid 
will see in a dream her true love. If, however, she speaks after 
gathering the Yarrow the charm will be broken. An old Gaelic 
song says— 
“ I rose yesterday morning early, 
And cut the yarrow according to my skill, 
Expecting to see the beloved of my heart; 
I-saw him, but alas ! his back was towards me.” 
Ferns were also frequently used in charms, 
was— 
‘ ‘ Get nine branches of ferns 
Cut with an axe, 
And three old man’s bones 
Pulled from the grave ; ” 
A receipt for one 
but for what purpose I know not. Fern seeds gathered on mid¬ 
summer eve were full of magical power. 
I do not think that there are many legends connected with the 
Oak ( Quercus Robur) — darach , the Tree, and righ na coille , the King 
of the Wood,—though it is frequently mentioned in old poetry 
Thus, Ossian— 
“Silent and great was.the prince, 
Like an oak tree hoary on Lubar, 
Stripped of its thick and aged boughs 
By the keen lightning of the sky ; 
It bends across the stream from the hill, 
Its moss sounds in the wind like hair.” 
Whilst regarding the age of the Oak, it was said that— 
“ Thrice dog’s age, age of horse ; 
Thrice horse’s age, age of man ; 
Thrice man’s age, age of eagle ; 
Thrice eagle’s age, age of oak ; ” 
which would make about 630 years. With this estimate Dryden’s 
may be compared— 
“ Three centuries he grows, and three he stays 
Supreme in state, and in three more decays. ” 
