The Scottish Naturalist. 



Do chumadh a caoran dearg fear gun bhiaclh gu ceann naoi trath 

 Bleadhna air shaoghal gach fir do chuir sin is sgeul dearbh." 



355 



A rowan-tree stood on Loch Mai, 

 We see its shore there to the south ; 

 Every quarter, every month, 

 It bore its fair, well-ripened fruit; 

 There stood the tree alone, erect, 

 Its fruit than honey sweeter far, 

 That precious fruit so richly red 

 Did suffice for a man's nine meals ; 

 A year it added to man's life. " 



— Translated by Dr M'Lauchlan. 



Ribes grossularia. The prickles of the gooseberry-bush were 

 used as charms for the cure of warts and the stye. A wedding- 

 ring laid over the wart, and pricked through the ring with a 

 gooseberry thorn, will remove the wart. Ten gooseberry thorns 

 are plucked to cure the stye — nine are pointed at the part 

 affected, and the tenth thrown over the left shoulder. 



Meum athamanticum — Muilceann. The Inverness local 

 name for this plant, "Brian" is probably named after St Brian, 

 who flourished about the year 637. He had a great establish- 

 ment at Tuaim Drecain. His reputation as a saint and "ollamh" 

 or doctor, extended far and wide; to him Cennfaeladh, the learned, 

 was carried to be cured after the battle of Magh Rath. He had 

 three schools for philosophy, classics, and law. It seems very 

 strange, however, that this local name should be confined to 

 Inverness, and be unknown in Ireland, where St Bricin was 

 residing. 



Pastinaca sativa — {Curran geal) The white wild carrot, 

 parsnip. The natives of Harris make use of the seeds of the 

 wild white carrot, instead of hops, for brewing their beer, and 

 they say it answers the purpose sufficiently well, and gives the 

 drink a good relish besides. 



" There is a large root growing amongst the rocks of this 

 island — the natives call it the ' Curran petrisj the rock- carrot 

 — of a whitish colour, and upwards of two feet in length, where 

 the ground is deep, and in shape and size like a large carrot." 

 — Martin. 



Daucus carota — Curran buidhe. "The women present the 

 men (on St Michaelmas Day) with a pair of fine garters, of 

 divers colours, and they give them likewise a quantity of wild 

 carrots."— Martin. 



