HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



271 



stalls, I saw a label marked Reckless. My curi- 

 osity was excited to know what plant bore this 

 vernacular name; and I accordingly asked for a 

 specimen, and found that the label was iutended to 

 designate " Auriculas " ! Similarly the " Geum 

 cocciueum" becomes "Scarlet Gem." "Poten- 

 tilla" figures as "Eortune-teller," &c. 



One of the most interesting of these phonetic 

 corruptions is the "Primrose." Originally, and 

 properly, the name of the daisy, the old Italian 

 word for which is " la Primaverola," the flower 

 of spring (Primavera) ; this becomes in Prench 

 "iPrimverolles," and first appears amongst us as 

 "the Primrolles," the perversion of which into 

 "Primrose" (meaning, as some instructive school- 

 books tell us, the Prime Pose— the first rose, or 

 flower, of the year) is easily accounted for. In fact, 

 it is an illustration of the way in which many of 

 these phonetic corruptions are brought about. A 

 foreign or scientific name is introduced, which to 

 the uneducated is simply unmeaning ; but it hap- 

 pens to bear a similarity in sound to some ver- 

 nacular word, which has a meaning, and although 

 the meaning word has no conceivable connection 

 with the thing, the commune valgus prefer to use it, 

 rather than one which is to them vox et praiterea 

 nihil. Instances are afforded by such words 

 as " Jerusalem Artichokes " (from " Girasole ") ; 

 " Sparrow-grass" for " Asparagus," as well as the 

 Scarlet Gem and Portune-teller above referred to, 

 and innumerable others. It is to a similar principle 

 that we may trace the practice of the French of 

 planting a poplar as the " Tree of Liberty" ; under 

 the impression that "populus," "le peuplier," 

 means the tree that represents "the people" 

 (populus), and the supporter of the people's rights. 

 I was once very much amused by a fly-driver at 

 Ufracombe, who knew the whereabouts of all the 

 specialities in the fern way, telling me of a cave 

 where I should find some fine specimens of the 

 " Serma." Not being acquainted with any plant of 

 this name, I betook myself to the cave in question, 

 and there found several fine plants of Aspleuium 

 marinum, the Sea Spleenwort. So that my friend, 

 or some one who taught him, had by tacking on the 

 tail of the botanical name to the head of the ver- 

 nacular, made up the not ill-sounding word of 

 "Serina," or "Sea-riner" (I am sure I do not 

 know how he would have spelt it). 



I remember in one of the early comic annuals 

 some amusing lines of Hood, describing how a 

 country nurseryman had made a large sum out of 

 the sale of a simple little flower, which he sold under 

 the name of the " Phodum Sidus." This charming 

 name had proved quite an attraction to the ladies, 

 and the flower had become the rage of the season. 

 At length a pertinacious botanist, who found that 

 the flower was a not uncommon weed (say the 

 Erythrcea Centaurium), insists on knowing where the 



nurseryman got his name from, and elicits the 

 following reply: — 



" I found this flower in the Road beside us, 

 So christened it the Rhodum Sidus." 



C. B. 



SKETCHES IN THE WEST OF IRELAND. 



No. 10. — Aran. 



{Post-Christian Antiquities.) 



THE crosses and pillar-stones next require con- 

 sideration. The erection of pillars is a very 

 ancient custom, which the Christians adopted ; on 

 the pagan pillars cutting crosses, and thus sanctify- 

 ing them. Subsequently the carved massive crosses, 

 not uncommon in Ireland, seem to have been intro- 

 duced. The crosses in Aran are varied in character, 

 some being plain, cut on liagan or pillar-stones ; 

 others are elaborately carved out of blocks ; while 

 some are incised on flat slabs or flags. The large 

 carved crosses have been disgracefully used. Of 

 some only a few pieces can be found, and all are 

 broken. The accompanying figures (figs. 16S, 169, and 

 170) represent some common'.West of Ireland forms 

 of crosses observed in different places, cut in or 

 raised on monumental slabs or pillars. Fig. No. 

 169 is the form of the cross that usually was in- 

 scribed by the bishop while consecrating a 

 building for sacred purposes. It has been called 

 by the late G. V. du Noyer, M.R.I.A., " The 

 Cross of the Redemption," because, as he pointed 

 out, it is a rude representation of the Holy Ghost 

 descending in the bodily shape of a dove to light on 

 our Saviour. The typical Irish cross, which is often 

 most elaborately carved, like those at Clommacnoise, 

 Moristenboise (fig. 172), and many other places, is a 

 combination of the Cross of the Redemption with 

 the Cross of the Passion. In pagan times the Irish 

 had their Tiodh Neimheadh, or sacred groves, 

 to which criminals fled for refuge : these were 

 marked by liagan. The early Christians adopted 

 many of the pagan temples and other sacred places, 

 and, among others, the sacred groves, which by 

 them were called " Tearmons" ; crosses being in- 

 scribed ou the liagan, which they afterwards called 

 " Terminal crosses " (fig. 171). Such a tearmon 

 seems to have existed at Monasterkieran, on Aran- 

 more, and is thus described by Kilbride :—" Four 

 tall pillar-stones formerly surrouuded the buildings. 

 One now stands within a few paces of the south- 

 east gable of the church, another in a wall a few 

 feet west of the church, while the other two have 

 been dug up, and now lie in an adjoining field. 

 These two, and probably all four, have been removed 

 from their original sites. Each pillar is about five 

 feet long and a foot in breadth. The usual cross 

 cut on these pillars is two circles about a foot 



