LL-L "Traditions" 2008.01.27 (11) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  27 January 2008 - Volume 11
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From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at scotstext.org>
Subject: LL-L "Traditions" 2008.01.26 (07) [E]

> From: Tom Mc Rae <t.mcrae at uq.net.au>
> Subject: LL-L "Traditions" 2008.01.26 (03) [E]

> On 27/01/2008, at 3:42
> AM, heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk <heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk>  wrote:
> > Subject: LL-L "Traditions" 2008.01.25 (02) [E
> >
> >
> > You'll be pleased to know Tom that the tradition is alive and well
> > and continues in our family at least! I shall be introducing my
> > grand daughter to it this May ( aged 13 months!) as soon as our
> > fields are in bloom with them.

> Delighted to learn that at least one old tradition is still on the go.
> Dandelions, of course, served as our inaccurate clocks when the
> produced seed parachute balls we'd blow on
> saying "one o' clock etc. At school we sang...
> "When I'm playing down the lane and want to know the time.
> I pick a dandelion clock and say this little rhyme.
> 'Fairy clock so light and gay,
> Oh tell me , please,  the time of day,
> Before you fly away.'

I don't think we had any rhymes - we used to blow on them to tell the
time of day but of course we knew that this was just more Santa Claus/
Tooth Fairy style nonsense that kept the adults happy. Also we held
buttercups under our chin, and a yellow shine on the skin of the neck
meant you liked butter. Is that because butter gives you greasy
skin?  :)

In Scots, the word for any little bright pasture flower is
"gowan" /gauan/, so dandelions, daisies and buttercups all come under
the same name.

Refining a bit, blooming dandelions are called "clock gowans" and the
yellow form maybe "witch gowans", though I've never actually heard
anybody saying "witch gowan".

Of course you must remember buttercups are quite poisonous and will give
you severe indigestion, so I don't know if redness of the skin should be
too surprising if they're rubbed on!

Sandy Fleming
http://scotstext.org/

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From: Theo Homan <theohoman at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Remembrance" 2008.01.27 (09) [E]

> From: foga0301 at stcloudstate.edu
> Subject: LL-L "Remembrance" 2008.01.26 (08) [E]

[...]
> Not sure
> about the redness that comes from touching such
> flowers. I'll ask my
> botanist (expert) friend. Those flowers grow only in
> the wet mountain
> meadows here. [...]

Hi,

Buttercups only grow on wet grounds.

And they make the skin red:
in former centuries the beggars had a secret they were
rather unwilling to tell to other beggars.
But this beggar is willing to give you the
prescription.
In the morning you take a shard and you give yourself
a firm scratch on the arm; then you rub in some
buttercups. The result will be a beautiful big red
ulcer, and this will double or triple your day-income.

I'm glad -finally- to share this secret with my
fellow-lowlanders; and if you are in need to triple
your day-income, don't hesitate. No royalties on this
prescription.

vr.gr.
Theo Homan

•

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