3« 



" Tha do phog mar iibhlan garaidh, 

 'S tha do bhraighe mar an neoinean."— M'Intyre, Ovan Gaoil. 

 Thy kiss is like the apples of the garden, 

 And thy bosom like the daisy. 



" If it was used by the French for rubbing the breasts, nothing 

 seems more likely than that it would be also so used by the 

 Celts of Ireland and Scotland, which would at once give it the 

 name oi dulleog braghad'' (Fergusson). 



Arctium — Celtic : ^r/, a bear. Greek : apKTos, from the 

 rough bristly hair of the fruit. 



A. lappa — Burdock. Gaelic and Irish : suiiHchean suirich, the 

 foolish wooer {suiriche, a fool ; suirich, a lover or wooer); seircean 

 suirick, affectionate wooer {seirc, affection). Mac-an-dogha,^ 

 the mischievous plant {niac-an for ineacau, a plant) ; dog/iadh, 

 mischievous (Shaw). Mcacaii-tobhach-dubh, the plant that seizes 

 (tobhach, wrestling, seizing, inducing; djibh, black, or large). 

 Leadan liosda {leadan^ a head of hair ; liosda^ stiff). Irish : copag 

 tiiaithil, the ungainly docken ; ceosaji, the bur, or fruit. 



"Mar cheosan air sgiathan fhirein." — OssiAN. 

 Like bur clinging to the eagle's wing. 



Welsh : cynghau, closely packed. Cribe y bleidd, wolfs comb. 

 Caca nmci, puck's dung. Lappa, from Celtic, iiap (Loudon). 

 Gaelic (for hand) Icwih. Welsh : llatnh. 



Carduus heterophyllus — Melancholy thistle. Gaelic : cltias 

 an f/ieidk, the deer's ear. 



0. palustris — Marsh-thistle. Gaelic : duaran leana {chiaran, 

 a thistle ; /can, a swamp) ; 



" Lubadh chiaran mil Lora nan sion." — OssiAN. 

 Bending the thistle round Lora of the storms. 



Cluaran, a general name for all the thistles. Welsh : ys gallcn. 



C. lanceolatus — Spear-thistle. Gaelic : an duaran ddlgneadi, 

 the prickly thistle {dei/gne, prickle-thorn). 



C. arvensis — Corn-thistle. Gaelic : aigheannach, the valiant 

 one (from aighe, stout, valiant). 



C. marianus — Mary's thistle. Gaelic : fothannan beannuidite. 

 Irish : fothannan beanduighte (Latin : benedktus), the blessed 

 thistle (so called from the superstition that its leaves are stained 

 with the Virgin Mary's milk) ; fothannan, foghnan, fonndan, a 

 thistle. Danish : fon, thistle-down. 



^ Dogha also means burnt or singed. It was formerly burned to procure 

 from its ashes a white alkaline salt, as good as the best potash. 



