6o 



Atriplex hastata and patula — Common oiache. Gaelic and 

 Irish : praiseach mJiiii. Mm, meal, ground fine, small. Still 

 used by poor people as a pot-herb. Ceathrainha-luain-grioUog 

 (O'Reilly), loin-quarters. CeatJiramadii caorach (Bourke), sheep's 

 quarters. The name grioUog is applied also to the samphire. 



A. portulacoides — Purslane-like orache. Claelic and Irish : 

 piirpaidh, ])urple. A name also given to the poppy. Name 

 given on account of the purple appearance of the plant, it being 

 streaked with red in the autumn. 



Chenopodium vulvaria (or olidum) — Stinking goosefoot. 

 Irish : deflcog. El or da, a swan ; and fle or flcadh, a feast. It 

 was said to be the favourite food of swans. Scotch : olour 

 (Latin, olor, a swan). 



C. album — White goosefoot. Gaelic and Irish : praiseach 

 fiadhaiii, wild pot-herb. The people of the Western Highlands, 

 and poor people in Ireland, still eat it as greens. Praiseadi 

 glàs, green pot-herb, a name given to the fig-leaved goosefoot 

 {fidfoliniii). 



C. Bonus-Henricus— Good King Henry, wild spinage, English 

 Mercury. Gaelic and Irish : praiseadi bràthair, the friar's pot- 

 herb. {Bràthair means brother, also friar — frere). Its leaves 

 are still used as spinage or spinach, in defect of better. 



Laurace.í:. 



Laurus (from Sanskrit labhasa, abundance of foliage ; root 

 labh, to. take, to desire, to possess— akin to Greek, Xaiiftavn}, 

 lambauo). — Gaelic : lamh, a hand (Canon Bourke). 



L. nobilis — The laurel, the bay-tree (which must not be con- 

 founded with our common garden laurel, Prunus lauro-cerasiis 

 and P. hisitajiicus). Gaelic and Irish : labhras. Crann laoibh- 

 reil, the tree possessing richness of foliage. With its leaves 

 poets and victorious generals were decorated. The symbol of 

 triumph and victory. It became also the symbol of massacre 

 and slaughter, hence another Gaelic name, casgair, to slaugh- 

 ter, to hit right and left. Ur iiaine, the green bay-tree. 



" Agus e' ga sgaoileadh fein a mach mar ilr cìiraoibìi iiaiiic." 

 And spreading himself like a green bay-trcc. — Psalm .\xx\ii. 35. 



Ur = bay or palm tree, from the Sanskrit, ///•//, to grow up. 

 Palm Sunday is styled '■^ Donihiiach an /7//-," the Lord's day of 

 the palm. 



L. cinnamomum — Cinnamon. Gaelic and Irish : caineal. 



