Dragons and Fairies...as promised!

Ever heard the multitude of rumours surrounding Macbeth? There are a few. For example, most people know that in a "playhouse" (or theatre of any sort) you must refer to it as "The Scottish Play". Supposedly Shakespeare used actual witch's curses in the cauldron scene, which is why it is considered very unlucky to mention the name.

Just on a side note here, if you must call it 'The Scottish Play', how on earth is it ever performed??
"The Scottish Bloke from The Scottish Play! The Scottish Bloke from The Scottish Play! Beware Macduff!"
Really doesn't have the same ring to it now does it...

Anyway, yes, Dragons. I do have a point here! Ages and ages ago, I wrote a paper on the Cauldron Scene and on whether or not the rumours had any truth in them. I came to the conclusion that yes, they probably did have a small fraction of truth. Mr S may well have pinched a bit of it from something resembling "actual witch's curses", or rather from herbalism.
I shan't go into the full details here, but I will give a few of the examples which led me to this conclusion.
For example, the second list of gruesome ingredients for the cauldron begins;

"Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."

Now, it sounds like a load of gory nonsense Shakespeare invented, and for the most part, I don't doubt that's what it is. But "Tongue of Dog" is quite interesting. It was once a colloquial name for "Cynoglossum officinale", a plant native to europe, now commonly known as 'Hounds Tongue' due to its bad smell! According to Wikipedia, it's still in use;

"Herbalists use the plant as a treatment for piles, lung diseases and persistent coughs. Houndstongue ointment is said to cure baldness, and can be used for sores and ulcers. Not all of these uses are supported by scientific evidence.^[3]"

"Adders Fork" is also interesting. It could refer to the herb "Stitchwort", or botanical name 'Stellaria' and if you click this link, you'll see why its called Adders Fork, the petals do resemble a snakes tongue! However, although there are some variants native to Europe, its mostly an american plant.

This next ingredient however, I believe is probably just an incredibly gory invention of Shakespeare's! I doubt very much its a herb...

'Finger of birth-strangled baebe,
Ditch-delivered by a Drab'

(Or in english, 'finger of baby born to a prostitute is a ditch and strangled at birth')

You're probably wondering what all this has to do with Dragons. Well, it just so happens that my favourite incense bears the colloquial name of "Dragons Bloode" this is due to the fact that when you burn the resin to release the scent it bubbles blood red. And generally just looks a bit like blood. The Latin name for it is "Dracaena draco".
However I do take great pleasure in informing unsuspecting guests who may notice the little bottle on the shelf labelled 'Dragons Bloode' that its something quite different...
It usually starts with me saying;
"Ooh be careful with that stuff! Its very rare and expensive! You know when Saint George killed the dragon..."


(Oh and sorry for this post having nothing to do with fairies. It just sounded cool!!)