68 



C. betulus — Hornbeam. Gaelic : leamhan bog, the soft elm. 

 (See Ulnius ca7npest7ds). 



Corylus avellana — Hazel. Gaelic and Irish : calltuinn, call- 

 dainn, callduinfi, cailtin, colluinn. Welsh : callen. Cornish : col- 

 widen. Perhaps from Armoric : call. Gaelic : colli. Irish : 

 coill^ a wood, a grove. New Year's time is called in Gaelic, 

 coin ; " oidhche coille^^ the first night of January, then the hazel is 

 in bloom. The first night in the new year, when the wind blows 

 from the west, they call dair 7ia coille, the night of the fecunda- 

 tion of trees ("Statistics," par. Kirkmichael). In Celtic supersti- 

 tion the hazel was considered unlucky, and associated with loss 

 or damage. The words call, col, collen, have also this significa- 

 tion ; but if two nuts were found together [cno chomhlaicJi), good 

 luck was certain. The Bards, however, did not coincide with 

 these ideas. By it they were inspired with poetic fancies. 

 " They beHeved that there were fountains in which the principal 

 rivers had their sources ; over each fountain grew nine hazel 

 trees, caill crinmon {crina, wise), which produced beautiful red 

 nuts, which fell into the fountain, and floated on its surface, that 

 the salmon of the river came up and swallowed the nuts. It was 

 believed that the eating of the nuts caused the red spots on the 

 salmon's belly, and whoever took and ate one of these salmon 

 was inspired with the sublimest poetical ideas. Hence the ex- 

 pressions, ' the nuts of science,' ' the salmon of knowledge.' " 

 O'Curry's ' Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish.' 



The badge of Clan Colquhoun. 



Alnus — Name derived from Celtic. Al, a growth ; and Ian, 

 full. According to Pictet, it is from alka, Sanskrit for a tree. 



A. glutinosa — Common alder. Gaelic and Irish : fearn — 

 /earn, same origin as vardna (Sanskrit), a tree. Welsh : gwernen 

 — givern, a swamp. It grows best in swampy places, and beside 

 streams and rivers. Many places have derived their names from 

 this tree, Gleafin Fearnaite. Fearnan, near Loch Tay ; Fearn, 

 Ross-shire, &c. Ruaim (O'Reilly) {ruadh, red), it dyes red. 

 When peeled it is white, but it turns red in a short time. The 

 bark boiled with copperas makes a beautiful black colour. The 

 wood has the peculiarity of splitting best from the root, hence 

 the saying 



" Gacli fiodh o'n bharr, 's am/cdrna o'n bhun." 

 Every wood splits best from the top, but the alder from the root. 



Betula alba — Birch. Gaelic and Irish : beatha. Welsh : 



