BANNOCKS. 



BANNOCKS. A provincial name for hedg- 

 ing-gloves. 



DAPPLE. A term sometimes used to sig- 

 nify marked with various colours. 



D ARGUE. A local word signifying the quan- 

 tity of peat turf one man can cut and two men 

 wheel in a day. 



DARNEL (Bromus secalinus). Smooth rye 

 brome-grass. (Bromus mollis, PI. 7, 6.) Soft 

 brome-grass. Both these grasses pass in Eng- 

 land under the common name of darnel. Pro- 

 fessor Martyn supposes the annual bearded 

 rye-grass (Lolium temulentum, PI. 7, c), to be 

 the darnel of the Romans (Virg. Georg. i. 153). 

 Mr. Holdich, of the Farmer's Journal (Essay on 

 Weeds'), observes that he never found this grass 

 among corn crops. Sinclair (Hort. Gram. p. 32), 

 says, " I have found the Bromus mollis and Jllo- 

 pecunts agrestis, with the Bromus secalinus to be 

 the most prevalent weeds (of the annual grass 

 kind) in corn fields ;" these, therefore, may be 

 considered the darnel of the British farmer. 

 In the Essay of Mr. Pitt, he treats of darnel as 

 a plant which he had often seen in wheat 

 crops, and perfectly well knew. Dr. Wither- 

 ing, in his Botany, also mentions this darnel 

 (Lolium temulentum), as "common in corn-fields, 

 mostly among barley and flax;" and that it is a 

 very troublesome weed among wheat, in Nor- 

 folk and Suffolk. The doctor also describes 

 another species of Lolium (L. arvense), as being 

 much like the other, only it is smooth, and calls 

 it white darnel. (PI. 7, rf.) He observes that 

 it is common in many parts and places, and 

 " very injurious to a crop of wheat," for which 

 he quotes Mr. Pitt's authority. Mr. Pitt, indeed, 

 names his darnel white darnel, but immediately 

 calls it L. temulentum. Both these are annuals, 

 and flower in July and August. Now it seems 

 never to have occurred to writers on this sub- 

 ject, that, when they were in any difficulty about 

 agricultural weeds, they should have recourse 

 to the characters of the seeds of the plants. It 

 is quite impossible that any grass seed should 

 be darnel, either ancient or modern, unless the 

 seeds are heavy enough to resist the operation 

 of dressing, and to remain in the wheat in part, 

 in spite of all efforts to get rid of them. The 

 ancients had wind and sieves, and they no 

 doubt exerted themselves as much as possible 

 to rid their wheat of such seeds as those of the 

 L. iemulentum, while such deleterious effects are 

 ascribed to them if baked in bread, &c. Whe- 

 ther these plants be common in corn fields in 

 any part of England, or whether, if they be, 

 their seeds are heavy enough to remain in sam- 

 ples of wheat and barley, must here be left un- 

 decided. I can only say that, in all my expe- 

 rience, and as far as I have ever seen or heard 

 from practical authority, I know of no darnel 

 in England but the Bromus secalinus, and, less 

 generally, the Bromus mollis. (Eng. Flora,vo\. i. 

 p. 151-3; Hort. Gram. Wob.; Sinclair's Weeds, 

 p. 4.) 



DARNEL (Lolium}. There are in England 

 three species of darnel enumerated by Smith 

 (Eng. Flora, vol. i. p. 173). The perennial darnel 

 (L. perenne), common in meadows, pastures, 

 and waste ground, and well known to the far- 

 mer by the name of rye-grass or ray-grass. It 

 yields an early crop of hay upon high or sandy 

 400 



DARNEL. 



lands, and makes a fine turf, which, however, 

 is said not to be lasting except upon a rich 

 soil. Much valuable information concerning 

 its cultivation and merits is collected by Pro- 

 fessor Hooker in his continuation of the Flora 

 Londinensis. The result seems to be, that the 

 grass is best suited to the light land of Norfolk, 

 where it first obtained its reputation. See RTE 

 GRASS. 2. The bearded darnel (L. temulentum'), 

 the seeds of which are of very evil report for 

 causing intoxication in men, beasts, and birds, 

 and bringing on fatal convulsions. Haller 

 speaks of them as communicating these pro- 

 perties to beer. 3. Short-awned annual darnel 

 (L. arvense), rather smaller and smoother than 

 the preceding, of which it is probably but a 

 variety. (Eng. Flora, vol. i. p. 172-5.) 



It would appear that different countries 

 attached the name of darnel to different 

 plants. Thus, in England darnel is referred 

 to under the head of Rye-Grass, or Lolium, 

 and also described as a species of Bromus. 

 In some parts of continental Europe it appears 

 the seeds of darnel have the reputation of 

 causing intoxication in men, beasts, and birds, 

 the effects being sometimes so violent as to 

 produce convulsions. In Scotland the name 

 of Sleepies, is applied to darnel, from the seeds 

 causing narcotic effects. In England and 

 America these effects have never been known 

 to arise from eating flour made from wheat 

 containing cheat. It is evident that the enemy 

 of the grain crops called darnel, chess, and 

 cheat is not the same plant in all countries, 

 probably for the reason that different species 

 of grasses somewhat resembling each other 

 in external characters may be more favoured 

 by circumstances of soil and climate and ex- 

 posure in some places than in others. Cheat 

 or chess is evidently a more hardy plant in re- 

 sisting the effects of frost than wheat or rye, 

 which often die in situations exposed to cold 

 or other unfavourable influences, leaving the 

 darnel, which, from some resemblance in the 

 plant before heading, is thus supposed to be 

 degenerated wheat, barley, or rye. When, 

 however, the soil is rich and the other circum- 

 stances favourable to the growth of wheat and 

 other winter grains, these spread first over the 

 ground and keep down the cheat or chess, or 

 brome and rye-grasses, at least until after 

 harvest. Not only does the idea prevail that 

 wheat and other cereal grains degenerate to 

 darnel, but also to spelt, well known to be a 

 peculiar and very inferior species of wheat, of 

 hardy growth, and much cultivated in some 

 parts of Europe, especially in mountainous 

 districts. Thus, we find that to believe the 

 evidence of common observation, wheat de- 

 generates into spelt in some countries, and in 

 others into a species of bromus, fescue, or that 

 species of rye-grass (the lolium temulentum') 

 which is endowed with intoxicating qualities, 

 all being designated as the wheat enemy, darnel. 

 Nothing analogous to such metamorphosis can 

 be found in nature, neither can it be fairly 

 believed that such degeneration is possible, 

 until some one makes a crucial experiment. 

 It belongs to the credulous to afford the de- 

 monstration. For more particular information 

 in regard to cheat or chess in the United 



