54 



of hands. Lus iiiharsalaidh, the merchant's weed, may only be 

 a corrupted form of marjoram, from an Arabic word {inarya- 

 iiiych). Seathbhog, the skin or hide softener {seathad/i, a skin, a 

 hide, and bog, soft). "Tlie dried leaves are used in fomentations, 

 the essential oil is so acrid that it may be considered as a caustic, 

 and was formerly used as such by farriers " (Don). Welsh : _>» 

 bcnn/dd, ruddy-headed. 



0. dictamnus — Dittany. The Gaelic and Irish name, lus a 

 phiobaire — given in the dictionaries for " dittany " — is simply a 

 corruption of his aphei/bah', the pepperwort, and was in all prob- 

 ability applied to varieties of Lepidium as well as to Origanum dic- 

 tainui crefi, whose fabulous qualities are described in Virgil's 12th 

 ' yEneid,' and in Cicero's ' De Natura Deorum.' 



Hyssopus officinalis— Common hyssop. Gaelic: /><?/. French: 

 hysope. German : isop. Italian : isopo (from the Hebrew name, 

 31TX5 t'Si?/^, or Arabian, azzoj). 



" Glan mi le Ji isop, .igus bithidh me glan. " 

 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. 



Ajuga reptans — Bugle. Gaelic : vieacan dubh Jiadhain (Arm- 

 strong), the dusky wild plant. Welsh : glesyn y coed, wood-blue. 



Nepeta glechoma — Ground- ivy. Gaelic: iadh shlat thabn- 

 /laiun, the ground-ivy. (See Hedera helix, and Bunium flexuo- 

 suin). Nathair lus, the serpent-weed, — it being supposed to be 

 efficacious against the bites of serpents; hence the generic name, 

 Nepeta, from iiepa, a scorpion. Irish : aignean thahnhuin {aigne, 

 affection, thahnhuin, the ground); eidJmean thahnhuin (see Hedera 

 helix). 



Ballota niger — Stinking horehound. Irish and Gaelic : grà- 

 fan oxgràbhan dubh, the dark opposer {grab, to hinder or obstruct). 

 It was a favourite medicine for obstructions of the viscera : or it 

 may refer to grab, a notch, from its indented leaves. 



Lycopus europseus — Water-horehound. Irish : feoran curraidh, 

 the green marsh-plant {ctirrach, a marsh). 



Marrubium vulgare— White horehound. Gaelic and Irish : 

 gràfan or gràbhan ban, the white indented, &c. (See Ballota 

 nigcr). 



Lamium album — White dead-nettle; archangel. Gaelic: 

 tcanga mhin, the smooth tongue. lonntag bhàn, white nettle. 

 lountag mhàrbh, dead nettle. (For lonntag see Uriica.) 



L. purpureum — The red dead - nettle. Gaelic : ionntag 

 dhearg, red nettle. 



