386 SHARK— SHELLFISH 



Baskinfr shark, blue shark, bragda, bripfda, brigde, brigdie, 

 brugda ; Cairban, carf, carfin ; Fox shark ; Hobriii (bhie), hoe- 

 mother or tuck (basking), homer, hound-fish ; Jerusalem haddock ; 

 Mother of the dogfish; Nautilus; Opah ; Pricker; Sailfish, sea-ape 

 fox or pert, slasher, sunfish ; Thrasher, thresher. 



Supposed to be derived from Latin carcharus, a kind of dogfish, 

 so called from its sharp teeth. The dogfish is vulgarly supposed 

 to be nothing but a small shark. Indeed the shark is well known 

 under the title of the huge dogfish, etc. Lightfoot gives it as 

 being named in Skye " Bluid-hive," and says it is supposed when 

 eaten to be a great restorative. Nowadays, at any rate, it is 

 only eaten in extreme cases, though quite edible to a strong 

 stomach. 



SHELLFISH. — Balloch, biorasg (bait), blaosgan, bollogiasc 

 (Ir.) ; Caochag (spiral), carrachan ; Da-mhogullach (bivalve), 

 donnag ; Garroclian ; lasc-bollog (Ir.), iasgan, iasg-sligeach, 

 maighdeag, maighdealag (cowrie), maora, maorach, maorach-ban, 

 moireag, moirneag (teredo), muasgan (boot); Nasag (empty); 

 Paiteag (small) ; Sparnag, spairneag ; Tuarasgar, turasgar, 

 turasgair. 



Aikens (small white spiral) ; Cockspur (small) ; Ministers, 

 myatruncata ; Roother ; Screwbox, smircelin, smurlin, smuthlin. 



The above term " maighdealag " really means small assorted 

 shellfish, smaller far as a rule than winkles. The empty shells are 

 often cast ashore. They correspond with the small cowrie or 

 kouri shells of India, which are, as told us by Lieut.-Col. J. 

 MacGregor, still used in the remoter villages as the equivalent of 

 the smallest coins. The term " blaosgan " for shellfish seems far- 

 fetched. It may be, of course, traced to the word "blaosg" or 

 plaosg, a shell, a husk. It is spelled bloesc in Irish. We have an 

 obsolete word blaosg for skull, which certainly is a shell ; the 

 Irish word bollog or ballag also signifies a skull. A term 

 " murroch " is used in Ayrshire, which is, of course, a corrupted 

 form of the Gaelic word "maorach." In Folk-lore we find reference 

 made to a shellfish under the name "fuoitrag," as being thought 

 in the Hebrides lucky to possess. This word is new to us and we 

 cannot trace it. A word similar is "fuidearag," which, however, is 

 a term for trolling for lythe, etc. Shellfish are always in better 

 condition during the increase, ^' fas," of the moon than at the 

 decrease, " earradhubh " or wane, and also during a south-west 

 or north-east wind. Shells or shellfish are said to have given its 

 name to County Sligo, from the Gaelic word "sligeach," shelly, 

 i.e., the river bed. 



An uair a bhios sinn ri maorach, bidheamaid ri maorach. 



When we are gathering shellfish let us be gathering shellfish. 

 That is, attend to the business in hand at the time. 

 This saying is attributed to MacLeod's fool. 



