The Scottish Naturalist. 23 



heather is still applied to many important domestic purposes, 

 thatching houses, &c, and " the hardy Highlanders frequently 

 make their beds with it — the roots down and the tops upwards 

 — and formerly tanned leather, dyed yarn, and even made a 

 kind of ale from its tender tops." Langa (M'Kenzie), ling. 



Arbutus uva-ursi — Red bearberry. Gaelic: grainnseag, 

 small, grain-like. It has small red berries, which are a favourite 

 food for moorfowl. Braoilcag nan con, the dogs' berry. 



A. alpina — The black bearberry. Gaelic : grainnseag dhubh, 

 the black grain-like berry. 



A. unedo — Strawberry-tree. Irish: caithne (O'Donovan). 

 Caithim, I eat or consume. 



Vaccinium myrtillus — Whortleberry. Gaelic: lus nan dearc, 

 the berry plant (dearc, 1 a berry). Gearr-dhearc, sour berry. 

 Fraochan, that which grows among the heather. The berries 

 are used medicinally by the Highlanders, and made into tarts 

 and jellies, which last is mixed with whisky to give it a relish for 

 strangers. Dearcan-fithich, the raven's berries. 



V. vitis - idaea — Cowberry; red whortleberry; cranberry. 

 Gaelic : lus nam broighleag. Irish : braighleog (from braigh, top, 

 summit, a mountain), the mountain-plant ; ordinary signification, 

 a berry. Bb-dhearc, cowberry. ( u Bb, a cow, from which the 

 Greeks derived poos, an ox" — Armstrong.) Latin: vacca and 

 vaccinium. 



" Do leacan chaoimhneil gu dearcach brioghleagach." 

 Thy gentle slopes abounding with whortleberries and cowberries. 



Badge of Clan M'Leod. 



V. oxycoccos — Cranberry. Gaelic and Irish : muileag, a word 

 meaning a little frog ; the frogberry. It flourishes best in boggy 

 situations. Fraochag, because it grows among the heather. 

 Monog, bog or peat berry. Mionag, the small berry. 



V. uliginosum — The bogberry. Gaelic : dearc roide, the gall 

 or bitter berry. The fruit abounds with an acid juice ; when 

 the ripe fruit is eaten, it occasions headache and giddiness. 



Ilicine^e. 



Ilex aquifolium — Holly. Gaelic and Irish : cuilcann. Welsh : 

 celyn. A.-S. : Iwlcgn. (C in Gaelic corresponds with h in the 

 Germanic languages.) Cul, guard, defence ; ciiil, that which 



1 Originally from dearc, the eye ; Sansk., dare, to see. The dark fruit 

 resembling the pupil of the eye — hence the frequent comparisons of the eye 

 (suit) to this fruit {dearcag) in Gaelic poetry. 



