176 The Scottish Naturalist. 



A. cepa (cep, Gaelic : ceap, a head) — The onion. Gaelic : 

 uinnean. Irish : oinninn. Welsh : wynwyn. French : oignon. 

 German : onjon. Latin : unio. Gaelic : siobaid, sioba?in. Welsh : 

 sibol. Scotch : sybo. German : zwiebel, scallions or young 

 onions. Cutharlan, a bulbous plant. In Lome, and elsewhere 

 along the W. Highlands, frequently called Srbnamh (probably 

 from Srbn and amh, raw in the nose, ox pungent in the nose). 



A. porrum 1 — Garden leek. Gaelic and Irish : leigis, leiceas, 

 leicis. German : lauch, leek. 



" Agus na leicis agus na Yfuinneinean." — Numbers xi. 5. 

 And the leeks and the onions. 



Irish : bugha (Shaw), leeks, fear. O'Clery, in his ' Vocabulary,' 

 published a.d. 1643, describes it thus: " Bugh, i.e., luibh gorm 

 no glas ris a samhailtean sliile bhios gorm no glas." That is, a 

 blue or grey plant, to which the eye is compared if it be blue or 

 grey. The resemblance between a leek and the eye is not very 

 apparent, as the following quotation shows : — 



" Dhearca mar dhlaoi don bliugha, 

 Is a dha bhraoi cearta caol-dhubha." — O'Brien. 



His eyes like a bunch of leeks, 



And his two eyebrows straight, dark, narrow. 



Although Shaw gives the name to the leek, probably the plant 

 referred to is the bluebell (see Scilla non - scripta). Irish : 

 coindid, coimie, cainnen. Welsh : renin (cen, a skin, peel, scales, 

 given to onions, garlic, leeks). 



" Do roidh, no do cohidid, no do ablaibh." 

 Thy gale, nor thy onions, nor thy apples. 



Coindid, though applied to leeks, onions, &c, means seasoning, 

 condiments. Latin : condo. 



A. ursinum — Wild garlic. From the Celtic. Gaelic and 

 Irish : garleag. Welsh : gar/leg, from gar, gairce, bitter, most 

 bitter. Gairgean. Creamh (Welsh, era/), cream, to gnaw, 

 chew. Lurachan, the flower of garlic. 



" Le d' lurachain chreamhach fhason 

 'Sam buicein bhan orr' shuas." — M'DONALD. 



The feast of garlic, " Feisd chreamh," was an important occasion 

 for gatherings and social enjoyment to the ancient Celts. 



1 a 



Porrum " from the Celtic, port, to eat, to graze, to browse. 



