39 



"Leannail)h am foglinan." — OssiAN. 



Pursue the thistle-down. 

 " 'Feadh nan raointean lorn ud, 



Far nach cinn r\a.foth'nain." 



Among these bare hillsides, 



Where the thistles will not grow. 



M'Donald has another name, cliiarau oir, the gold thistle. 



" Gaoir bheachainn hhùi 's ruadha 

 Ri deoghladh chliiaran oir. " 

 The buzzing of yellow and red wasps 

 Sucking the golden thistle. 



It is tmcertain to which thistle, if any, the reference is made, 

 unless it be to Carlina vulgaris, the carline thistle. Cluaran, 

 occasionally means a daisy, CJirysanthcmum scgtiu/ii, one of its 

 names being liatJian. 



" Lialh chliiaran nam magh."— OssiAN. 

 The hoary thistle (or daisy) of the field. 



Here the reference is evidently to the corn-marigold ; in all 

 probability M'Donald refers to the same flower, and not to any 

 thistle (see Chrysanthetnum segetiim). 



The thistle, the badge of the Clan Stewart. 



Cynara scolymus — Artichoke. Gaelic : farusgag, horn far iisg, 

 the inner rind, the part used being the lower part of the recep- 

 tacle of the flower, freed from the bristles and seed-down, and 

 the lower part of the leaves of the involucre. Bliosan, not un- 

 likely to be a contraction from bli-liosan, — Mi {bligh), milk (with 

 its florets milk was formerly coagulated) ; and iios, a garden. 

 These names apply also to Heliantiuis tiibtrosus, Jerusalem arti- 

 choke, especially to the tubers ; Kwà plur tia g?-eifie, to the flower, 

 from the popular error that the flower turns with the sun. 



Centaurea nigra — Knapweed. Gaelic: cnapan dub/t, the black 

 knob (from cnap, a knob ; Welsh, Armoric, and Irish : aiap ; 

 Saxon: cncep ; Danish map.) Mullach diib/i, the black top. 

 Irish: niansgotJi, the daughter's flower [fiian, a daughter; sgof/i, 

 a flower). 



C. cyanus — Blue-bottle. Gaelic : gonnaii, the blue one. In 

 some places, gille-guirinean , the blue lad. Ciirac/id c/ii/b/iaig, the 

 cuckoo's cap or hood. Irish : airac na citig, the same meaning. 

 Welsh : pen/as wen, blue headed beauty. 



Artemisia vulgaris — Mugwort. Gaelic : Hath lus, the grey 

 weed. Mor viauta (Shaw), the large demure-looking plant {mor. 



