Seo àm math dhen bhliadhna airson a bhith a’ faicinn agus a’ cruinneachadh lus a tha co-cheangailte ri fear de na gaisgich as ainmeile againn / This is a great time to see and forage a plant named for one of Gaeldom’s greatest warriors

Crios Gaisgeach Gàidhealach, Aspirin agus Tì

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) © Lorne Gill/SNH

Tha beul-aithris a’ ceangal an Eilein Sgitheanaich gu làidir ris an t-seann ghaisgeach Ultach, Cù Chulainn – agus tha lus sònraichte a’ comharrachadh sin aig an àm seo dhen bhliadhna. ’S e sin Crios Chù Chulainn (Filipendula ulmaria) a tha aithnichte ann am Beurla mar ‘meadowsweet’ (oir bhathar a’ mìlseachadh mil-dheoch no mead leis). Thàinig Cù Chulainn mar dheugaire don Eilean Sgitheanach far an d’ fhuair e oideachadh ann an sgilean sabaid aig cùirt na Banrigh Sgàthach (no Sgiath mar a their feadhainn). Bha Cù Chulainn gu math crosta, caiseanach na nàdar, agus chaidh leigheas a dhèanamh air turas leis an lus seo, nuair a bha e an impis bàs fhaighinn leis a’ chuthach.

Ged a bhios sinn a’ ceangal nar n-inntinn an droga aspirin leis an t-seileach (salix ann an Laideann), thàinig am facal aspirin fhèin bho sheann ainm saidheansail aig Crios Chù Chulainn – Spiraea ulmaria – oir gabhaidh an droga a thoirt às an lus sin cuideachd.

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). © Lorne Gill/SNH

Le aspirin ann, cha bhi e na iongnadh gum biodh daoine a’ cleachdadh Crios Chù Chulainn mar leigheas airson ceann goirt, ach bidh luibheanaich an latha an-diugh fhathast ga chur gu feum airson iomadach tinneas – fiabhras no ain-teas nam measg. Bidh feadhainn a’ dèanamh tì de na flùraichean agus duilleagan. Bidh daoine a nì mil ann an Nirribhidh gan suathadh fhèin le Crios Chù Chulainn mus làimhsich iad an cuid sheilleanan oir tha stuthan ceimigeach ann a’ fàgail nam meanbh-fhrìdean nas socraiche.

Chan eil fios le cinnt an do dh’ionnsaich Cù Chulainn mu bhuadhan an luis ann an dùthaich a bhreith, ach tha e nas coltaiche gur ann an Alba a thachair e, oir thathar a’ gabhail ‘airgead luachra’ air a leithid ann an Gàidhlig na h-Èireann. ’S ann an Gàidhlig na h-Alba a-mhàin a thathar a’ dèanamh ceangal eadar an gaisgeach Gàidhealach agus an lus sònraichte seo.

‘Cuchullin’s Belt’, Aspirin and Tea

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria).
© Lorne Gill/SNH

The folkloric connections between the Isle of Skye and the ancient Gaelic warrior Cuchullin are many and varied – and highlighted at this time of year by the impressive flowering, in Skye’s abundant damp meadows, of a plant intimately connected with him – Crios Chù Chulainn (‘Cuchullin’s belt’), generally known in English as ‘meadowsweet’. An Ulsterman who was easily raised to temper, Cuchullin came as a young man to Skye where he fell in with the redoubtable Sgàthach (also known as Sgiath), a warrior queen who trained him in the skills of combat. The plant’s Gaelic name originates in the story that it was used to save his life by curing an apoplectic rage, following which he would gratefully carry a sprig of the shrub in his belt.

While we might more immediately associate aspirin with the willow tree (salicylic acid being derived from salix ‘willow’, the seileach of the Gaels), the word aspirin itself comes from an old scientific name for the meadowsweet, Spiraea ulmaria, from which the drug could also be obtained. The species’ modern name is Filipendula ulmaria.

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria).
©Lorne Gill/SNH

Meadowsweet is an important plant in the herbalist’s toolkit. Some people make the flowers and leaves into a tea, others take it as required as an anti-inflammatory or painkiller, or to treat fevers. Norwegian beekeepers believe that rubbing their hands and clothes with the shrub before handling bees will make the insects calmer and more compliant.

It is not known for certain if Cuchullin learned of the powers of meadowsweet in his native Ulster, but the likelihood is that it happened on Skye, for the connection between warrior and plant is only known in the Gaelic of Scotland, and not in Ireland.