Dr's Casebook" Dr Keith Souter: Folk Medicine and Folk Lore in the Outer Hebrides

The remoteness of the Western Isles from the mainland inevitably meant that crofters did not have immediate access to medical care in days gone-by. A measure of this is shown in the 1881 figures for the number of uncertified deaths returned from Scottish parishes.

The island parishes recorded 52 per cent deaths as being uncertified, meaning that no doctor attended at death or was available or give a cause of death. This compared with 10 per cent with the whole of Scotland in that year.

I came across an interesting piece of folk lore that people used on Islay in the 19th century if someone was really ill and the household wanted to know whether to call a doctor or not. If there was little money that could be a critical decision. The head of the household would go outside and turn over a stone. If here was something living under it, be it a beetle a worm or a toad, then it would be worth getting help. Perhaps this folk practice may have contributed to the above statistics.

In the past, Illicit whisky distilling was not uncommon. Uisge beatha is the Gaelic for whisky and means literally 'water of life.' Indeed, whisky was inevitably used for all sorts of ailments, from gumboils to chills and respiratory illnesses. Apparently the foreshot, which was the first liquor to come off the whisky still was used to rub on rheumatic and arthritic joints. People knew not to drink this foreshot as it contained highly toxic methyl alcohol, which could make one go blind.

Some folk were thought to have the gift of blood-staunching by laying on of hands. If no-one in the neighbourhood had the gift, then herbs were used. Shepherd's purse, nettles, ribworts, yarrow and spider's webs were all used.

Herbal febrifuges, agents that could reduce fever were relied upon. One such plant was called 'Bog-na-cuthaig,' the bluebell which was boiled in whey to reduce fevers. It literally means Cuckoo Shoe, and was thought to bloom when the cuckoos started to sing out.

The folk medicine of the Western isles is a fascinating study, but I would not advise anyone to rely upon it. As I said, I have been studying it with my crime writer's hat on!