Yes, gold is heavy metal,and yes, eat enough of it, and it has bad side effects. but small amounts, (gold salts!) are used even today as a treatment for arthritis. and some times wedding cakes and aniversary cakes are decorated with gold leaf-- meant to be eaten. (silver (???)draggies? are small silver "balls" used to decorate cakes and cookies,and can commonly be found, some supermarkets carry them.)
and yes usquebaugh is erse. two words.
usque baugh
usque means water
baugh is usually translated as "life" making usquebaugh water(of)life
but i read in some book on gaelic that baugh was related to the word for navel-- it was the idea of "being born" or born again.. of continuing life..
in the expression "erin go brah" brah is a related word, and is usually translated as "forever"
so usquebaugh could be "the water that makes you for get about all time" -- or even "the water that make you act like a newborn"
one of the special places in ireland is mountain (low hill by any reasonable standard!) called "St briget's Navel"
like a charkra, the navel was considered a mark of "life" -- the center core of a being...
but, all of this could be wrong... i don't speak gaelic, or know enough about the word etemology, roots, etc.. and the person writing the book could have been just making up fanciful stories...(the book did include a number of irish folk tales.)
