54 



of hands. Liis niharsalaidh^ the merchant's weed, may only be 

 a corrupted form of marjoram, from an Arabic word {marya- 

 inych). Seathb/iog, the skin or hide softener {seathadh, a skin, a 

 hide, and bog, soft). "The dried leaves are used in fomentations, 

 the essential oil is so acrid that it may be considered as a caustic, 

 and was formerly used as such by farriers " (Don). Welsh : y 

 benrudd, ruddy-headed. 



0. dictamnus — Dittany. The Gaelic and Irish name, his a 

 phiobaire — given in the dictionaries for " dittany " — is simply a 

 corruption of lus apheubair, the pepperwort, and was in all prob- 

 ability applied to varieties of Lepidiuin as well as to Origanum dic- 

 tamni creti, whose fabulous qualities are described in Virgil's 12th 

 ' ^neid,' and in Cicero's ' De Natura Deorum.' 



Hyssopus officinalis — Common hyssop. Gaelic: z'i"^/. French: 

 hysope. German : isop. Italian : isopo (from the Hebrew name, 

 yw^i ezob, or Arabian, azzof). 



" Glan mi le K isop, agus bithidh me glan. " 

 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. 



Ajuga reptans — Bugle. Gaelic : vieacan dubh fiadhaiti (Arm- 

 strong), the dusky wild plant. Welsh : glesyn y coed, wood-blue. 



Nepeta glechoma — Ground-ivy. Gaelic: iadh shlat thalm- 

 hainn, the ground-ivy. (See Hedera helix, and Bunium flexiio- 

 swn). Nathair lus, the serpent-weed, — it being supposed to be 

 efficacious against the bites of serpents; hence the generic name, 

 Nepeta, from fiepa, a scorpion. Irish : aigneati thabnhuin {aigne, 

 affection, thalmhuin, the ground); eid/inca?i thahnhuin (see Hedera 

 helix). 



Ballota niger — Stinking horehound. Irish and Gaelic : gra- 

 faii oxgrdbhan dubh, the dark opposer {grab, to hinder or obstruct). 

 It was a favourite medicine for obstructions of the viscera : or it 

 may refer to grab, a notch, from its indented leaves. 



Lycopus europaeus — Water-horehound. Irish : feoran curraidh, 

 the green marsh-plant {currach, a marsh). 



Marrubium vulgare— White horehound. Gaelic and Irish : 

 grafan or grabhan ban, the white indented, &c. (See Ballota 

 niger). 



Lamium album — White dead - nettle ; archangel. Gaelic : 

 teanga inJitn, the smooth tongue. lonntag bhdn, white nettle. 

 lonntag mhdrbh, dead nettle. (For lonntdg see Uriica.) 



L. purpureum — The red dead - nettle. Gaelic : ionntag 

 dhearg, red nettle. 



