74 



Juniperus — Said to be "from the Ct\úc joiepriis, which sig- 

 nifies rough or rude" (Loudon), a word 7iot occurring in any- 

 Celtic vocabularies that I have consulted. It seems to be the 

 Latinised form of the Celtic root iu, iubh, iur, yw (see Taxi/s). 

 From the same root comes ye7v in English. Irish : iitbhar- 

 beiime (O'Reilly), the hill yew ; iubhar-talamh, the ground yew ; 

 ubhar-chraige, the rock yew ; all given as names for the juniper. 

 Juniperus is mentioned by both Virgil and Pliny. Both the 

 Greeks and Romans reluctantly admitted that they were in- 

 debted to the Celts for many of their useful sciences, and even 

 their philosophy (see Diogenes Laertius), as they certainly were 

 for their plant and geographical names. 



J. communis — Juniper. Gaelic and Irish : aiieil, aiiiii7i, 

 aitiol. 



" Ach chaidh e fèiii astar làtha do'n fhasach agiis thàinaig e agus shuidh 

 e fuidh craolih aiteil." — 1 Kings xix. 4. 



And he went a day's journey into the desert, and he sat under a juniper 

 tree. 



The juniper of Scripture, Genista monosperma, was a kind of 

 broom. Aiteil, from ait. Welsh : aeth, a point, furze. Irish : 

 aitcanu, furze, from its pointed leaves. Bior leacain (in Arran), 

 the pointed hill-side plant. Staoin (in the North Highlands), 

 caoran staoin, juniper berries {staoin, a little drinking-cup). 



The badge of Clans Murray, Ross, M'Leod, and the Athole 

 Highlanders. 



J. sabina — Savin. Gaelic : sainhaii (Armstrong), alteration of 

 "sabina" the "sabina herba" of Pliny. Common in Southern 

 Europe, and frequently cultivated in gardens, and used medicin- 

 ally as a stimulant, and in ointments, lotions, «Sec. 



Taxus — According to Benfey is derived from the Sanskrit, 

 taksh, to spread out, to cut a figure, to fashion. Persian tak. 

 Greek : to^os, an arrow. Irish' and Gaelic : tuag/i, a bow made 

 of the taxos or yew, now applied to the hatchet used in place of 

 the old bow. 



T. baccata — Common yew. Gaelic and Irish : iut/iar, 

 iubhar, iughar, from iùi. Greek : lo's, an arrow, or anything 

 pointed. Arrows were poisoned with its juice; hence in old 

 Gaelic it was called iogh, a severe pain, and ioghar (Greek, 

 t^wp, ichor) pus, matter. The yew was the wood from which 

 ancient bows and arrows were made, and that it might be ready 

 at hand, it was planted in every burial-ground. 



