Magus Genetics
Biddy Early is named for a 19th century woman accused of
witchcraft, whose story became the subject of folk ballads and
entered Irish legend (see opposite page). Magus—from the
Latin for “priest” or “sorcerer”—felt kinship with Biddy Early’s
plight given the similarity between the witch hunt hysteria in
times past and the current war on drugs.
Biddy Early is the first variety that Magus Genetics
specifically formulated for outdoor gardening in temperate
regions. Although an even mix of sativa and indica, this plant
exhibits the strong lateral growth typically seen in sativas.
Biddy likes to branch out. The branches are very elastic and
pliable, easily trained or tied like vines to suit the available
space. Outdoors, this suppleness makes the plant “storm proof
” or resilient to harsh weather.
Biddy Early shows her talents outdoors, but may create
trouble when grown indoors either for bud or as mothers for
cloning, due to her low flowering trigger. Biddy often flowers
prematurely if stressed by a lack of sufficient light, nutrients,
or root space.
At maturity, Biddy Early is a medium-sized plant that delivers
a respectable yield of sugary sweet colas. The buzz mixes
sativa headiness and indica power for a somewhat unbalancing
broomstick ride into an enjoyably floaty high. Warm ears are a
common side effect.
The Biddy Early plant has gained renown in Europe and
beyond, winning multiple awards in recent years—the Silver
(sativa category) at the High Times Cannabis Cup in 2003, and
second place (outdoor category) at the Highlife Cup in 2004.
Biddy Early – The Legend
Struck by the similarity between the war on drugs and the
witch hunts of times past, Magus Genetics named its Biddy
Early strain for a legendary “witch” of County Clare, Ireland.
In the 19th century, County Clare was one of Ireland’s
poorest districts. Its Gaelic peasants suffered the full weight of
famine, evictions, emigration and punitive laws forbidding the
native Irish language and Catholic faith. For religion, cultural
lore and medicine, peasants turned to “hedge doctors”—social
outsiders who offered a mixture of folk medicine and
superstition.
Brighid “Biddy” O’Conner, known by her mother’s maiden
name “Early,” was orphaned and evicted from her family home
in 1814 at the age of sixteen. She wandered Western Ireland as
an itinerant laborer at one point working for a physician, who
may have taught her some conventional medicine – before
settling in the village of Feakle.There, she lived with a series of
husbands and lovers and worked as a hedge doctor or wise
woman, telling fortunes and curing ailments in return for food
and whiskey.
Countless legends and ballads celebrate Biddy Early’s
generosity to travelers, her ageless allure to men, and the
magic she could work with the blue bottle she always carried,
said to contain the spirit of her dead son,Tom. Biddy’s alleged
powers included the ability to stop sheriffs from carrying out
evictions; perhaps because of this, the Anglo-Irish authorities
tried her under a medieval witchcraft law in 1865, but she was
acquitted because nobody from Feakle would testify against
her. Biddy Early died in 1874. Her name lives on in pubs and
tourist landmarks, and in the writings of literary giants like
Augusta Gregory and W.B.Yeats, both of whom collected
stories about Biddy from the villagers of Feakle.
