Tha lus a tha ceangailte ri meadhan an t-samhraidh cuideachd a’ cuimhneachadh Naomh Ceilteach ainmeil / A plant connected to midsummer also recalls a famous Celtic saint …

Tha Lus Chaluim Chille co-cheangailte ri Naomh Eòin ann am Beurla (‘St. John’s Wort’ a th’ air sa chànan sin) agus ri Calum Cille ann an Gàidhlig. Bidh cuid a’ gabhail Achlasan Chaluim Chille air; tha an t-ainm a’ buntainn ris mar a chleachdadh daoine e le bhith a’ ceangal badan dhiubh fon achlais chlì às am faigheadh stuthan ceimigeach a-steach don bhodhaig. A rèir beul-aithris chleachd an naomh ainmeil an lus anns an dòigh seo le buachaille òg a bha a’ gabhail eagal ro na madaidhean-allaidh ann am Muile. ’S e as coireach gu bheil e ceangailte ris an dithis naomh gu bheil na làithean-fèille aca le chèile anns an Ògmhios.

Eadhon anns an naoidheamh linn deug, a rèir an fhir-chruinneachaidh beul-aithris, Alasdair MacIlleMhìcheil, bha fèill aig daoine air an lus airson leigheas a dhèanamh air an dà-shealladh, geasan, buidseachd, an droch-shùil, bàs, sìth … agus iomadach rud eile. Ach bha na seann daoine a’ cumail a-mach gur ann as cumhdachaiche a tha e nuair nach eilear ga sireadh no iarraidh. Tha stuthan ceimigeach làidir ann, agus cha bu chòir a chleachdadh gun stiùireadh proifeiseanta.

Slender St Johns Wort. Beinn Eighe NNR, Wester Ross ©Laurie Campbell/SNH

Slender St. John’s Wort might recall, for English-speakers, St. John the Baptist but, for Scotland’s Gaels, it is connected to that most famous of Celtic saints, Columba or Calum Cille (‘dove of the church’). In Gaelic it is Lus Chaluim Chille ‘Columba’s plant’ or Achlasan Chaluim Chille ‘Columba’s little armpit package’, the latter name referring to its medicinal application by tying it under the left armpit (where it is exposed to the lymphatic system), a use first reputedly demonstrated by the great saint on Mull, when he restored the courage of a herd-boy who had been unnerved by the presence of wolves.

The Christian saint Columba featured in a stained glass window in Iona Abbey. By VeganSoldier, licensed under Creative Commons

The connection to both saints derives from its status as a midsummer plant, being most obvious and efficacious at this time of year, close to St. Columba’s and St. John’s feast-days. Folklorist Alexander Carmichael recorded that it was ‘cherished by the people to ward away second-sight, enchantment, witchcraft, evil eye and death, and to ensure peace and plenty in the house, increase and prosperity in the fold, and growth and fruition in the field.’ It’s important to note, however, that the plant contains powerful chemicals and should only be used medicinally under professional supervision.