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A family story about curing a case of tapeworm by forcing it...

Date 19 May 1977
Track ID 63937
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1977.122

Original Tape ID

SA1977.122

Summary

A family story about curing a case of tapeworm by forcing it to come out for water.

Betsy Whyte's mother told her, as true, about her own mother curing a girl who was wasting away. The doctors had given up on her, and as a last resort the family followed Betsy's grandmother's instructions. For three days the girl was forced to eat salt herrings without liquids. On the third day she was held over a basin of water, and a worm, perhaps a tapeworm, came out to get the water. A woman pulled six or seven feet of it out, and the girl recovered. Peter Cooke draws comparisons with worm treatments for dogs, which force the worms to evacuate themselves.

Language

English, Scots

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good