The Scottish Naturalist. 175 



Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cucidi), of which it is written : 



" Robin loves to prank him rare 

 With fringe and fiourice and all." 



Perhaps the fringe has given its name to the flower. 



Cowslip and Oxlip are held by some to refer to the animal's lip, 

 but it is with more probability held by Mr. Skeat that the true 

 derivation is from A. S. Cu-sloppe (meaning Cow's slop or 

 dung), which name is actually met with in yElfric's vocabulary. 

 Hare-bell (wild hyacinth) gives rise to a conflict of derivations. 

 While Dr. Brewer says it is a corruption of Ayr-bell from 

 Welsh awry-pel, meaning distended globe ; Mr. Skeat holds 

 that it is simply from hare and bell, and that all other deriva- 

 tions are fables. 

 Holly-hock is similarly placed. Brewer derives it from tokos «x*w, 

 while Skeat says it is a hybrid name compounded of holly, 

 A. S. for holy and hock, Celtic for mallow — so-called, because 

 indigenous to Palestine. 

 Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum), is probably named from the 



arrangement of the stamens and pistils round the spadix. 

 Horse Chestnut, Horse Mint, and Horse Radish are conjectured to 

 have been originally named gorse (corrupted to horse), and 

 meaning rough, although Taylor states that the Horse Chest- 

 nut was formerly ground and given to horses — hence the 

 name. The prefix horse seems at times given to denote large 

 size. 

 Jenneting Apple, an early apple. The etymology from "June-eat- 

 ing" has been called "a miserable jest," since they come in 

 July. The origin of the name is unknown. 

 Ifeet-her-i'-th'-entry-kiss-her-i'-th '-butte?y ( Viola tricolor), is probably, 

 say Messrs. Britten & Holland, the longest plant name in 

 English. It is a Lincolnshire name, and still waits explana- 

 tion. 

 Before closing this paper, I must express my large obligations to 

 the recent works of Mr. Skeat, Mr. C. J. Keary, and others too 

 numerous to mention. 



There are thousands of plant-names which the limits of an 

 hour's paper preclude from being discussed now, although full of 

 interest and well worthy of investigation. While it is often urged 

 superficially that botanical study is " dull and crabbed," judging 

 from the technical phraseology employed, it may be of use to point 

 out that the popular and scientific names of plants have an inter- 

 esting history, not only forming an additional attraction to the 

 student, but also greatly assisting his memory, inasmuch as what 

 before seemed a dry and lifeless catalogue of names to be learned 

 by rote, is now seen to be fraught with meaning and to be linked 

 very closely, and at many points, to the history and pursuits of 

 humanity. 



