67 



Om, oi/uia, the oak (O'Reilly). " Cormac, King of Cashel, Ire- 

 land, A.D. 903, says of omjia that it equals fuatn/ia, sounds, or 

 noises, because the winds resound when the branches of the 

 oak resist its passage. According to Varro, it is from os, mouth, 

 and inen, mind, thinking — that is, telling out what one thinks is 

 likely to come. Cicero agrees with this, ' Osmen voces hom- 

 inum ' " — Canon Bourke. Compare Latin : omen, a sign, a prog- 

 nostication, — it being much used in the ceremonies of the 

 Druids. Omna, a lance, or a spear, these implements being 

 made from the wood of the oak. Greek : hopv, a spear, because 

 made of wood or oak. Eit/ieach, oak, from eithtm, to eat, an 

 old form of it/i. Latin: ed-ere, as " oak" is derived from ak 

 (Old German) to eat (the acorn). The "oak" was called 

 Qut'/riiS esculus by tlie Latins. Rail, railaidh, oak. 



" Ni bhiodh achd, aon dhearc ar an j-alaidk." 

 There used to be only one acorn on the oak. 



Canon Eourke thinks it is derived from jv, exceeding, and ail, 

 growth ; or ri, a king, and al or ail — that is, king of the growing 

 plants. The Highlanders still call it righ na coille, king of the 

 wood. The Spanish name roble seems to be cognate with 

 robiir. 



Q. ilex — Holm-tree. Gaelic and Irish : craobh ihuilm, gen- 

 itive of tohn, a knoll, may here be only an alteration of "holm." 

 Darach sior-uàine, ever-green oak. 



Q. suber— The cork-tree. Gaelic : cfàun àirceai/i. Irish : 

 craini aire. Aire, a cork. 



Fagus sylvatica — Beech. Gaelic and Irish : craobh fhaibhile. 

 'Welsh : ffawydd. Fai, from ^ayw, to eat. (f>rjyós, the beech-tree. 

 This name was first applied to the oak, and as we have no 

 Qtiercus esculus, the name Fagus is applied to the beech and not 

 to the oak. Oruiii (O'Reilly), see Thuja articulata. Beith na 

 measa, the fruiting birch. Meas, a fruit, as of oak or beech — like 

 "mess," "munch." French : manger, to eat. 



F. sylvatica var. atrorubens — Black beech. Gaelic : faibhile 

 dubh (Fergusson), black beech, from the sombre appearance of 

 its branches. The "mast" of the beech was used as food, and 

 was called bachar, from Latin, bacehar ; Greek, ^á.Kyapi<i, a 

 plant having a fragrant root. A name also given to Valeriana 

 celtica (Sprengel), Celtic nard. 



Carpinus— Celtic : car, wood ; and ////, a head. It having 

 been used to make the yokes of oxen. 



