264 The Scottish Naturalist. 



S. filipendula — Dropwort. Gaelic and Irish : greaban — prob- 

 ably from greadh, to prepare food. 



' ' A gread na cuilm." — Ossian. 

 Preparing the feast. 



Linnaeus informs us that, "in a scarcity of corn the tubers have 

 been eaten by men instead of food." Or from greach, a nut. 

 Welsh : crogedyf, — crogi, to suspend. The tuberous roots are sus- 

 pended on filaments; hence the Xizx^t^ filipendtila and dropwort. 



Geum rivale — Water avens.^ Gaelic: inachall iiisge ; in Irish : 

 jfiacha, a head, and all, all — /.<?., allhead — the flower being large 

 in proportion to the plant. Uisge, water. It grows in moist 

 places only. 



G. urbanum — Common avens. Gaelic : inachall coille, — coille, 

 wood, where it generally grows. 



Dryas octopetala — White dryas. Gaelic : inachall monaidh, 

 the large-flowered mountain plant. (The name was given by an 

 old man in Killin from a specimen from Ben Lawers in 1870.) 



Potentilla anserina — Silverweed, white tansy. Gaelic : bris- 

 geaii (written also briosglan, brislean), from briosg or brisg, brittle. 

 Brisgean milis, sweet bread. " The brisgean, or wild skirret, is a 

 succulent root not unfrequently used by the poorer people in 

 some parts of the Highlands for bread " (Armstrong). 



The skirret (Siiim sisaruni) is not native. The plant here 

 alluded to is Potentilla anserina. Bar bhrisgean, the flower. 

 Welsh : torlliaydd, from tori, to break. 



P. reptans — Cinquefoil. Gaelic : vieangach, branched or 

 twigged, — ineang, a branch; because of its runners, its long 

 leaf, and flower-stalks. Ciiig bhileach, five-leaved. Irish : cuig 

 inhear Mhuire^ Mary's five fingers. Welsh : blysiu'r pump, same 

 meaning. 



P. tormentilla — Common potentil, or tormentil. Gaelic: 

 leanartach (from leanar, passive of verb lean, to follow). So 

 common on the hills that it seems to follow one everywhere. 

 Barr braonan-nan-con, the dogs' briar bud. Braonan fraoch 

 ifraoch, heather). Braonan, the bud of a briar (Armstrong). 

 Braonan bachlag, the earth-nut {Buniuin flexuosuni) (M'Donald), 

 from braon, a drop. 



^ Avens, a river, from the Celtic an. Welsh : avon. Gaelic : ahhainn. 

 Many river names in Europe and Asia are derived from this root — e.g., 

 Rhenus, the Rhine — reidh-an, the placid water. Garuninus, Garonne — 

 garbh-afi, the rough water, Marne — marbh-an, the dead water. Seine, a 

 contraction o{ seimh-an, the smooth water, &c. 



