The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

234
The Highland Monthly,
While dealing with amulets I will refer briefly to
ACHLASAN-CHALUM-CHILLE,
or, as it is sometimes called, Seiid-Chalum-Chille. This
plant is described by Lightfoot in his " Flora Scotica
(p 416), where it is given as St John's Wort, Hypericin
Perforatwn. On the Highland mainland the plant is called
"Lus-Eoin-Bhaiste." It is also called " Ealabhuidh."
This latter word is mentioned in " Miann a' Bhaird
Aosda," a poem first published by Ranald Macdonald
of Eigg, in 1776. The name " Ealabhuidh," how-
ever, is not generally known in the Highlands, as
as is illustrated by the fact that Mackenzie, in the " Beauties
of Gaelic Poetry," considered it necessary to explain it by
means of a footnote.^ The word is given in O'Reilly's
Dictionary, from which the inference may be drawn that it
is Irish. The plant, according to the same authority, is
also called " Allas-Mhuire." It is noteworthy that while
it is generally named after St John, we have it in the
Highlands named after St Columba, and in
Virgin Mary.
Ireland after the
We have numerous descriptions, in folklore books, of the
ceremonies on St John's Eve, the plucking of St John's
Wort, and the foretelling of one's destiny, much in
the same way as our Hallowe'en observances. Bassardus
Viscontinus, an ancient writer, commends that plants
gathered on a Friday, about the full moon in July, and
worn around the neck, as a cure for melancholy, and
calculated to drive away all fantastical spirits. {Vide
Burton's " Anatomy of Melancholy"). A German poet
beautifully describes the ceremony in connection with this
plant, in lines of which the following are a translation :
The young maid stole through the cottage door.
And blushed as she sought the plant ofpower —
" Thou silver glow-worm, oh lend me thy light,
I must gather the mystic St John's Wort to-night
The wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide
If the coming year shall make me a bride."
^ Vide '' Beauties of Gaelic Poetry," page 14.
:
—
"