356 The Scottish Naturalist. 



'•'Tha do pbog mar iibhlan garaidh, 

 'S tha do bhraighc mar an neoinean.'" — M'Intyre, Oran Gaoil. 



Thy kiss is like the apples of the garden, 

 And thy bosom like the daisy. 



'' If it was used by the French for rubbing the breasts, nothing 

 seems more likely than that it would be also so used by the 

 Celts of Ireland and Scotland, which would at once give it the 

 name oi diiUeog braghad'' (Fergusson). 



Arctium — Celtic : a?i, a bear. Greek : apKros, from the 

 rough bristly hair of the fruit. 



A. lappa — Burdock. Gaelic and Irish : snirichcan stnrich, the 

 foolish wooer [suiriche, a fool ; snirich, a lover or wooer); sei7rea?i 

 sim'ichj affectionate wooer {seirc, affectionate). Mac-an-dogha,^ 

 the mischievous plant {niac-an for vicacan, a plant) ; doghadh, 

 mischievous (Shaw). 3feacan-tobhach-dul)h, the plant that seizes 

 (tobhach, wrestling, seizing, inducing; dubh, black, or large). 

 Lea dan liosda {leadau, a head of hair; Hosda, stiff). Irish : copag 

 timithil, the ungainly docken ; ceosan, the bur, or fruit. 



"ISIar chcosan air sgiathan fhirein." — OssiAN. 

 Like bur clinging to the eagle's wing. 



Welsh : cynghau, closely packed. Cribc y bieidd, wolfs comb.' 

 Caca muci, puck's dung. Lappa, from Celtic, Ilap (Loudon). 

 Gaelic (for hand) lainh. Welsh : llamh. 



Carduus heterophyllus — Melancholy thistle. Gaelic : chias 

 anfheidh, the deer's ear. 



C. palustris — INIarsh-thistle. Gaelic : chiaran Icana {climj-an, 

 a thistle ; Icaji, a swamp) ; 



" Lubadh chiaran mu Lora nan sion." — OssiAN. 

 Bending the thistle round L>ora of the storms. 



Cluaran, a general name for all the thistles. Welsh : ys gallcii. 



C. lanceolatus — Spear-thistle. Gaelic : an chiaran dcilgneach, 

 the prickly thisde (deilgne, prickle-thorn). 



C. arvensis — Corn-thistle. Gaelic : aighcannach, the valiant 

 one (from aighe, stout, valiant). 



C. marianus — Mary's thistle. Gaelic : fothannan bcaiumichic. 

 \ns\\\ fothannan beandiiighte (Latin: l^cncdictits), the blessed 

 thistle (so called from the superstition that its leaves are stained 

 with the Virgin Mary's milk) ; fothannan, foghnan, fonndan, a 

 thistle. Danisli : /////, thistle down. 



1 Dogha also means Inn-nt or singed. It was formerly Inirned to procure 

 from its ashes a white alkaline salt, as good as the best potash. 



