9° 



Trout {Saliiw fario) eat the seeds greedily. The name viillteach 

 is frequently applied to grass generally as well as to TrigiocJiin 

 paliistre (which see). Feur nisge, water-grass. 



Briza. — Quaking-grass. Gaelic and Irish : coiiati, — couan, a 

 hound, a hero, a rabbit, — may possibly be named after the cele- 

 brated " Coiian Maol," who was known among the Feine for his 

 thoughtless impetuosity. He is called " Aiiulisg na Feinne" the 

 mischief of the Fenians. This grass is also called feur goriach, 

 hungry, starving grass. " A weakness, the result of sudden 

 hunger, said to come on persons during a long journey or in 

 particular places, in consequence of treading on the fairy grass " 

 — (Irish Superstitions). Feur stihein sithe, — literally, a blast of 

 wind ; a phantom, a fairy. The oldest authority in which this 

 word sithe occurs is Tirechan's ' Annotations on the Life of St 

 Patrick,' in the Book of Armagh, and is translated " Dei terreni^' 

 or gods of the earth. Crith fhèur, quaking-grass. Grigleann 

 (in Breadalbane), that which is in a cluster, a festoon ; the 

 Gaelic name given to the constellation Pleiades. 



Cynosurus. — Etym. kvwv, a dog, and ovpá, a tail. 



C. cristatus — Crested dog's-tail. Gaelic : goinear, or goin 

 f/ieur, and sometimes conan (from coin, dogs, and feur, grass). 

 Irish : fhir c/ioinein, dog's grass. 



Festuca. — Gaelic : féisd. Irish : féiste. Latin : fastiis and 

 festus. French : feste, now fete. English : feast, as applied to 

 grass, good pasture, or food for cattle. 



F. ovina — Sheep's fescue - grass. Gaelic and Irish: feur 

 cJiaorach. 



'^ Minfheur chaorach." — M'Intyre. 

 Soft sheep grass. 



This grass has fine sweet foliage, well adapted for feeding sheep 

 and for producing good mutton — hence the name. But Sir 

 H. Davy has proved it to be less nutritious than was formerly 

 supposed. Minfheur (Armstrong), is applied to any soft grass 

 — as Holcus mollis — to a flag, a bulrush; as ^^ minfheur gun 

 uisge," a bulrush without water (in Job). 



Triticum, according to Varro, was so named from the grain 

 being originally ground down. Latin : tritus, occurring only in 

 the ablative {tero). Greek : rei/jw, to rub, bruise, grind. 



T. aestivum (and other varieties) — Wheat. Gaelic and Irish : 

 cruithneachd — cruineachd. This name seems to be associated 

 with the Cruithne, a tribe or tribes who, according to tradition, 

 came from Lochlan to Erin, and from thence to Alban, where 



