1. I’m over 70 years old and was born and bred in Inverness-shire. I spent many summers in the company of my grandmother who was very knowledgeable about potions and cures from indigenous plants and flora …
In very early times children did not wear nappies during the day but at night they had a wad of bog-cotton heads to help keep them dry [Aultvaich, Iverness-shire, April 2012].

2. Bog cotton, or cotten sedges – lukki-minnie’s oo – very unlucky to pick and bring indoors [Lerwick, Shetland, March 1994].

Image: common cottongrass, Eriophorum angustifolium; Helm Crag, Grasmere, Cumbria, May 2014.