- adder. This and other snakes are supposed to have been chased out of Ireland by St Patrick. There are no adders in Orkney and Shetland either, but St Patrick does not get any credit for this.
An etherstane or adderstone is a small, perforated prehistoric stone or bead used as an amulet. J. Leyden in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (edited by Sir Walter Scott 1802) explains:
The adderstone, among the Scottish peasantry, is held in high veneration... the name is applied to celts, and other round perforated stones - The vulgar suppose them to be perforated by the stings of adders.