72 The Scottish Naturalist. 



( mari oran a I 

 Origanum , > — Marjoram. Gaelic and Irish : ora- 



gan, the delight of the mountain. Greek : opos, oros. Gaelic : ord, 

 a mountain ; and Greek, yavos, ganos, joy. Gaelic : gain, clapping 

 of hands. Lus mJiarsalaidh, the merchant's weed, may only be 

 a corrupted form of marjoram, from an Arabic word (rnarya- 

 mych). Seathbhog, the skin or hide softener (seathadh, a skin, a 

 hide, and bog, soft). " The dried leaves are used in fomentations : 

 the essential oil is so acrid that it may be considered as a caustic, 

 and was formerly used as such by farriers " (Don). Welsh : y 

 benrudd, ruddy-headed. 



0. dictamnus — Dittany. The Gaelic and Irish name, lus a 

 phiobaire — given in the dictionaries for " dittany " — is simply a 

 corruption of lus apheubair, the pepperwort, and was in all prob- 

 ability applied to varieties of Lepidium as well as to Origanum dic- 

 ta mni creti, whose fabulous qualities are described in Virgil's 12th 

 ' ^Eneid,' and in Cicero's ' De Natura Deorum.' 



Hyssopus officinalis — Common hyssop. Gaelic: z.r<?/. French: 

 hysope. German : isop. Italian : isopo (from the Hebrew name, 

 2lTtf, ezob, or Arabian, azzoj). 



" Glan mi le /z' isop, agus bithidh me glan." 

 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. 



Ajuga reptans — Bugle. Gaelic •: meaca/i dubh fiadhain (Arm- 

 strong), the dusky wild plant. Welsh : glesyn y coed, wood-blue. 



Nepeta glechoma — Ground-ivy. Gaelic: iadh shlat thalm- 

 hainn, the ground- ivy. (See Hedera helix, and Bunium flexuo- 

 sum). Aithir lus, the serpent-weed, — it being supposed to be 

 efficacious against the bites of serpents; hence the generic name, 

 Nepeta, from nepa, a scorpion. Irish : aignean thalmJiuin (aigne, 

 affection, thai/// hit in, the ground); eidhnean thalmhuin (see Hedera 

 helix). 



Ballota nigra — Stinking horehound. Irish and Gaelic : gra- 

 fan or grdbhan dubh, the dark opposer (grab, to hinder or obstruct). 

 It was a favourite medicine for obstructions of the viscera : or it 

 may refer to grab, a notch, from its indented leaves. 



Lycopus europseus — Water-horehound. Irish : feoran ciwraidh, 

 the green marsh-plant (currach, a marsh). 



Marrubium vulgare— White horehound. Gaelic and Irish : 

 grafan or grdbhan ban, the white indented, &c. (See Ballota 

 nigra). 



Lamium album — White dead- nettle ; archangel. Gaelic : 



