47 



evergreen shrubbery-tree, /'/v'í'/w/í/ (M- Donald). (Latin : //7- 

 vatiis \ Irish : priobhaid, secrecy, privacy). Its chief use is to 

 form hedges that are required for shelter, ornament, and privacy. 

 Fraxinus excelsior — Ash. Gael and Irish : craobh uinn- 

 seann. Irish: i/hiscanu, uimhscann, alter ed into /ninse, /if I'/iseafi, 

 fuinseog. 



" Gabhaidh an t' niiniscaun as an àllt 



'S a chàlltuinn as a phreas." — Proveri!. 



The ash will kindle out of the burn, 



And tlie hazel out of the bush. 



Welsh : oncti, corresponding to another Irish name, nion. 

 Gaelic : nuiu., and also oinsean. The names refer principally 

 to the wood, and the primary idea seems to be lasting, long- 

 continuing, on (in Welsh), that which is in continuity. Uhn/i, 

 number ; seann, ancient, old ; lime, time, season. Ntci?i, also 

 the letter N. Heb., nun. Fuinnseann (see Cinoza), though from 

 the same root, may have been suggested by its frequent use in 

 the charms and enchantments so common in olden times, espe- 

 cially against the bites of serpents, and the influence of the 

 " Old Serpent." Pennant, in 1772, mentions : " In many parts 

 of the Highlands, at the birth of a child, the nurse puts the end 

 of a green stick of ash into the fire, and while it is burning, 

 receives into a spoon the sap or juice which oozes out at the 

 other end, and administers this to the new-born babe." Serpents 

 were supposed to have a special horror of its leaves. 



" Theid an nathair troimh an teine dhearg 

 Mu'n teid i troimh dhuilleach an iiinnsinn." 

 The serpent will go through fire, rather than through the leaves of the ash. 

 The same superstition was equally common in other countries, 

 and the name " ash," which is said to be from the Celtic word 

 cesc, a pike, is more likely to be frorn the word asc, a snake, an 

 adder. 1 German : die esche. 

 The badge of Clan Menzies. 



Gentianace.e. 

 Gentiana campestris — Field gentian. Gaelic : his a chridmin, 

 the crouching plant, or the plant good for the disease called 

 crnbain, " which attacks cows, and is supposed to be produced 



1 In Scandinavian mythology the first man was called Ask, and the first 

 woman Ambla — ash and elm. The court of the gods is represented in the 

 Edda as held under an ash— Yggdrasil. Connected with these circumstances 

 probably arose the superstitions.— Chambers's Encvclop.í:dia. 



