92 



and breaketh those that are hard to be dissolved " — Culpepper. 

 Dit/iean, darnel ; perhaps from dith, want, poverty. It may be 

 so named from its growing on poor sterile soil, which it is said 

 to improve. " They have lately sown ray-grass to improve cold, 

 clayey soil" — Dr Platt, 1677. Roillc. Irish: raid/ileadh, ixom 

 raidhe, a ray — hence the old English name i-ay-grass. French : 

 ivraie, darnel. Welsh : efr — perhaps alterations of the French 

 ivre, drunk. The seeds of darnel, when mixed with meal, cause 

 intoxication, and are believed to produce vertigo in sheep — the 

 disease that maketh them reel j and for this reason the grass is 

 often called sturdan, from stiird, — hence Scotch sturdy grass. 

 Siob/iach, from siobhas, rage, fury, madness. " It is a malicious 

 plant of sullen Saturn : as it is not without some vices, so it 

 hath also many virtues " — Culpepper. Cuiseach (M'Alpine), 

 rye-grass. Ruijitealas (O'Reilly), the loosening, aperient, or 

 purgative grass — from riiinnec, grass, and tealach, loosening. 



Nardus stricta — Mat - grass, moor - grass. Gaelic : beitean 

 (perhaps from beithe), was refused. Cattle refuse to eat it. It 

 remains in consequence in dense tufts, till it is scorched by 

 early frosts. In this condition it is frequently burned, in order 

 to destroy it. Borrach (in some places), parching. Carnin 

 (Stewart), a name given also to Spcrgula arvetisis. To this 

 grass and other rough species, as rushes, sedges, &c., the name 

 riasg is given. 



" Cuiseagan-a's riasg 



Chinneas air an t'sliabh." — M'Lntyre. 



Aira flexuosa — Waved hair-grass. Gaelic : moin-fhcur, peat- 

 grass. It grows generally in peaty soil. 



CRYPTOGAMIA. 



FiLICES. 



Filices — Ferns. Gaelic : raineach, roineach. Irish : raith^ 

 raii/ine, raithneach ; also, reathnach. Welsh: rhedyn. Perhaps 

 formed from reath^ a revolution or turning about, or 7'at, motion, 

 from the circinate evolution of the young fronds — an essential 

 characteristic of ferns. 



Polypodium vulgare — Clock - rcathncach (Armstrong), the 

 stone-fern ; clock, a stone. It is common on stone-walls, stones, 

 and old stems of trees. Ceis-ckràun. Irish : ceis ckrainn, — 

 cis, a tax, tribute, and crànn, a tree, because it draws the sub- 

 stance from the trees ; or from the crosier-like development of 

 the fronds, like a shepherd's crook, " cis-cean.'" Sgcamk na clock. 



