The Scottish Naturalist. 357 



Thrice dog's age, age of horse ; 

 Thrice horse's age, age of man ; 

 Thrice man's age, age of deer ; 

 Thrice deer's age, age of eagle ; 

 Thrice eagle's age, age of oak. 



"The natives of Tiree preserve their yeast by an oaken wyth, 

 which they twist and put into it, and for future use keep it in 

 barley straw." — Martin. 



Chrysanthemum leucanthemum — Ox-eye daisy, called in 

 Gaelic " Breinean brothach." Breinean or brainean also means 

 a king ; Welsh, brenhin. The word is now obsolete in the 

 Highlands. The plant was a remedy for the king's-evil. 



Achillea millefolium — Earr thalmhainn. The yarrow, cut 

 by moonlight by a young woman, with a black-handled knife, 

 and certain mystic words, similar to the following, pro- 

 nounced — 



" Good-morrow, good-morrow, fair yarrow, 

 And thrice good-morrow to thee ; 

 Come, tell me before to-morrow, 

 Who my true love shall be." 



The yarrow is brought home, put into the right stocking, and 

 placed under the pillow, and the mystic dream is expected ; but 

 if she opens her lips after she has pulled the yarrow, the charm 

 is broken. Allusion is made to this superstition in a pretty song- 

 quoted in the ' Beauties of Highland Poetry,' p. 381, beginning — 



" Gu'n dh'eirich mi moch, air madainn an de, 

 'S ghearr mi'n earr-thalmhainn, do bhri mo sgeil ; 

 An diiil gu'm faicinn-sa ruin mo chleibh ; 

 Ochoin ! gu'm facas, 's a cul rium fein. " 



I rose yesterday morning early, 



And cut the yarrow according to my skill, 



Expecting to see the beloved of my heart. 



Alas ! I saw him — but his back was towards me. 



The superstitious customs described in Burns's " Halloween " 

 were common among the Celtic races, and are more common on 

 the western side of Scotland, from Galloway to Argyle, in con- 

 sequence of that district having been occupied for centuries by 

 the Dalriade Gaels. 



Fraxinus excelsior — Craobh uinnseann (the ash-tree) was a 

 most potent charm for cures of diseases of men and animals — 

 e.g., murrain in cattle, caused, it was supposed, by being stung 

 in the mouth, or by being bitten by the larva of some moth. 

 " Bore a hole in an ash-tree, and plug up the caterpillar in 



