The Scottish Naturalist. 233 



pyseu y ceirch, — ceirch, oats. Gaelic : gall pheasair, a name for 

 lentils or vetch. Gall, sometimes prefixed to names of plants 

 having lowland habitats, or strangers. 



*' Lan do ghall phcasaii-.''' — Stuart, 2 Sam. 

 Full of lentils. 



Faba vulgaris — Bean. Gael ic : ponair. Irish : poneir. Cor- 

 nish : ponar (from the Hebrew ^!|2, ////, a bean (Levi). Gaelic : 

 ponair frangach, French beans; ponair airneach, kidney beans ; 

 pOJiair chapiiill, buckbean {Menyanthes trifoliatd). 



" Gabh thugad fos cruithneachd agus eorna, agns />dnair, a.gus peasm'r, agus 

 meanbh-pheasair, 2ig\\% peasair fhiadhain, agus cuir iad ann an aon soitheach, 

 agus dean duit fein aran duibh. " — Stuart, Ezekiel iv. 9. 



Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and 

 millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof." 



Orobus tuberosus — Tuberous bitter vetch (from Greek, opw, 

 oro, to excite, to strengthen, and ySoi)?, an ox). Gaelic and Irish : 

 r^/;7;/(f<2/ (Armstrong), — cair., dig; meal., enjoy; ?i\so mall ; Welsh : 

 moel, a knob, a tuber — i.e., the tuberous root that is dug ; corra- 

 meille (M'Leod and Dewar). 



" Is clann bheag a trusa leolaicheann ^ 

 Buain corr an co's nam bruachagan." — M'Intyre. 



Little children gathering . . . 



And digging the bitter vetch from the holes in the bank. 



Corra, a crane, and meillg, a pod, the crane's pod or peas. 

 Welsh : pys y ga7'anod, crane's peas ; garan, a crane. " The 

 Highlanders have a great esteem for the tubercles of the roots ; 

 they dry and chew them to give a better relish to their whisky. 

 They also affirm that they are good against most diseases of the 

 thorax, and that by the use of them they are enabled to repel 

 hunger and thirst for a long time. In Breadalbane and Ross-shire 

 they sometimes bruise and steep them in water, and make an 

 agreeable fermented liquor with them, called cai7'm. They have 

 a sweet taste, something like the roots of liquorice, and when 

 boiled are well flavoured and nutritive, and in times of scarcity 

 have served as a substitute for bread" (Lightfoot). 



^ Leolaicheaiin, probably Trolliits etiropcctis (the globe flower), from 01, 

 blachan, drink, drinking. Children frequently use the globe flower as a 

 drinking-cup. Scotch : luggie goiuan. L2iggie, a small wooden dish ; or it 

 may be a corniption from t?-ol or troUen, an old German word signifying 

 round, in allusion to the form of the flower, hence Trollius. 



( To be continued.) 



