The Scottish Naturalist. 169 



VlOLACE^. 



(From Greek tor, ion^ a violet, — the food given to the cow lo, 

 one of Jupiter's mistresses.) 



Viola odorata — Sweet violet. Gaelic : fail chuach, scented 

 bowl; fail, scent, and cuach, a bowl hollow as a nest — (Scotch : 

 qiiaich, cogie (dim.), a drinking-cup), or cuach, a cuckoo. 



" Fail chuackaig zv uachdar a fheoir." — M'Farlane. 

 Scented violet on the top of the grass. 



V. canina — Dog-violet. Gaelic : dail chuach, field-bowl {dail, 

 a field. Danish : dal, a valley.) 



" Gun sobhrach, gun dail chuach, 



Gun lus uasal air carnn. " — M'Intyre. 



Without primrose or violet, 

 Or a gay flovi'er on the heap. 



Sail chuach, — sail, a heel (from its spur), cuckoo's heel. 



" Coille is guirme sail chuach.''^ — Old Song. 

 A wood where violets are bluest. 



Irish : biodh a leithid, the world's paragon ; also fanaisge, pro- 

 bably from fan, weak, faint, agreeing in meaning with the Welsh 

 name, crinllys, a fragile weed. 



V, tricolor — Pansy, heartsease. Gaelic : spog na cubhaig, the 

 cuckoo's claw. Irish : gorman searraigh. 



Droserace^. 



(From Greek Spoa-epos, droseros, dewy, because the plants appear 

 as if covered with dew.) 



Drosera rotundifolia — Round-leaved sundew. Gaelic : ros 

 an fsolais, sun rose or flower ; geald-rtiidhe or dealt ruaidhe, very 

 red dew; lus na fearnaich, the plant with shields (its leaves have 

 some resemblance to shields). ^ Irish : eil druich {eil, to rob, and 

 druich, dew), the one that robs the dew ; druichdiii viona, the dew 

 of the hill. Welsh : doddedig rudd, — dod, twisted thread, and 

 rudd, red, the plant being covered with red hairs. 



POLYGALACEiE. 



(From Greek irokv, poly, much, and yaXa, gala, milk.) 



Polygala vulgaris — Milkwort. Gaelic : lus a bhdine, milk- 

 wort. Irish : lusan baine, the same meaning, alluding to the 

 reputed effects of the plants on cows that feed upon it. 



1 Fearnaich, a distemper among cattle, caused, it is supposed, by eating a 

 poisonous herb, for which the suiulrdi is supposed to be an effectual remedy. 



