STYE (Neònagan).
A stye on the eye (pron. sleònachan) was cured by putting one end of a stick in the fire, pointing the burning end towards the sore eye, and whirling it round rapidly in a circle, saying, “A stye one, a stye two, a stye three,” etc., down to “a stye nine,” and then adding, “take yourself off, stye.” The charm was also performed by repeating, while the stick was being whirled, “Go back, go back, go back, stye” (air ais, air ais, etc.). Others placed great faith in rubbing the eye with gold.
TETTER (Teine-dé, HERPES LABIALIS).
Boys troubled with eruptions on the mouth were infuriated by a rhyme:
“A tetter on your mouth,
Your step-mother laid an egg,
And you hatched the brood.”[20]
The first part of the name is teine, a fire, and a curious question arises as to what dé is. It occurs also in dearbadan dé, a butterfly. It looks like the genitive of dia, god.