THE AGRIMONY. 171 



Some trace it to two Greek words, signifying, 

 to inhabit a field, from the stations in which it 

 occurs ; while some suppose that it is derived 

 from two others in the same language, signifying 

 alone and a field, from its being the " chief, or 

 superior, of all the herbs for its excelling qualities." 

 The trivial, which was formerly in fact the specific 

 name, is taken, as Pliny tells us, from Eupator, 

 the " finder of it out, and it hath/' he continues, 

 "a royal and princelie authority/'* The name of 

 philanthropos is said to have arisen from the 

 circumstance of the seeds adhering to the garments 

 of the passer-by, as if desirous of accompanying 

 him ; but it would appear far more probable that 

 it was bestowed in allusion to its beneficial pro- 

 perties ; for otherwise it might be, with much 

 greater propriety attached to a variety of other 

 plants. 



The extraordinary number of Welsh names 

 attached to " Egrimonie yat nobyl gres," afford, in 

 themselves, testimony of its supposed value, though 

 the greater part of them do not refer to any of its 

 qualities. Tryw, y Drydon, and Troed y dryw, 

 all alluding to the wren (and the latter signifying 

 wren's foot, to which no part of the plant bears 

 any resemblance), suggest a relationship to some 

 legend, or superstition, now untraceable ; as this 

 bird (the symbol of the aspirant to the dignity of 

 druiclical priesthood) is still connected with certain 

 mysterious associations in the mind of the Welsh 

 peasant. 



* See Hollande's Pliny." 



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