33 



common name for the chervils (from cost, an aromatic plant ; 

 Greek : koo-to^, kostos, same meaning). Costag a bhaile gheamh- 

 raidh {bhaile ghea?nkraidh, cultivated ground). " A. vulgaris 

 was formerly cultivated as a pot herb" (Dr Hooker). 



Myrrhis (from Greek : /xrpov, myron, perfume ; Gaelic : 7iiiri\ 

 — tus agiis mirr, frankincense and myrrh). 



M. odorata — Sweet cicely or great chervil. Gaelic : cos uisge 

 (Shaw), the scented water-plant.^ " Sweet chervil, gathered while 

 young, and put among other herbs in a sallet, addeth a marvel- 

 lous good relish to all the rest " (Parkinson). 



Coriandrum (a name used by Pliny, derived from Kopts, coj'is, 

 a bug, from the fetid smell of the leaves). 



C. sativum — Coriander. Gaelic : coireinian, — lus a choire, cor- 

 ruptions from the Greek. It is still used by druggists for various 

 purposes, and by distillers for flavouring spirits. 



LORANTHACE^. 



Viscum album — Mistletoe. Gaelic and Irish : iiile- ice 

 {uile, Welsh: hall or all; Goth.: alls ; German: aller ; A. S.: 

 eal ; English : all ; ice, Welsh : tare, a cure or remedy), a nos- 

 trum, a panacea (M'Donald), all-heal. Armoric : all-yiach. 

 Welsh : oll-iach. Irish : uile iceach. This is the ancient Druid- 

 ical name for this plant. Pliny tells us, " The Druids (so they 

 call their Magi) hold nothing in such sacred respect as the 

 mistletoe, and the tree upon which it grows, provided it be an 

 oak. ' Omnia sanantem appellantes suo vocabulo.' (They 

 call it by a word signifying in their own language All-heal.) 

 And having prepared sacrifices, and feast under the tree, they 

 bring up two white bulls, whose horns are then first bound ; the 

 priest, in a white robe, ascends the tree, and cuts it off with a 

 golden knife ; it is received in a white sheet. Then, and not 

 till then, they sacrifice the victims, praying that God would 

 render His gift prosperous to those on whom He had bestowed it. 

 When mistletoe is given as a potion, they are of opinion that it 

 can remove animal barrenness, and that it is a remedy against 

 all poisons." Druidh-lus, the Druid's weed. " The proper 

 etymology is the ancient Celtic vocable dru, an oak, from which 

 8/}vs is taken " (Armstrong). Siigh dharaich, the sap or sub- 

 stance of the oak, because it derives its substance from the oak, 

 it being a parasite on that and other trees. {Silgh, juice, sub- 



^ In Braemar it is commonly called wz'rr. — Ed. 'Scottish Naturalist.' 



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