46 



Greeks, but these had other names for the various species as 

 balanos, aigilops, phellos, etc. The modern Greek vernacular 

 is halanidia for the species bearing edible acorns, while phellos 

 is still used for the cork oak in Greece. 



The Celtic name for henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) is deodha. A 

 play on words may be permissible here, since deodh means 

 everlasting, for whoever becomes too intimate with this plant 

 might experience a sudden awakening in eternity! 



E, or eadhadh, is the aspen {Populus tremula). 



F, or fear n, is the alder (Alnus glutinosa). This word is still 

 alive under the form vergne in France. 



Under F are found a number of interesting Celtic words, as 

 fern, woman, frag, also a woman or wife, — a word which recalls 

 the German word frau. Fuirneis means furnace or stove, and 

 fiiirne, "THE BIG STOVE"! ! Attention might be called here 

 to the fact that the Scandinavians dedicated their letter "F" 

 to the peace god, Frey. 



G, or gort, is Hedera helix, the ivy. The word has also another 

 meaning as: garden, standing corn, a field. In the latter sense 

 this word appears under many forms from hortus of the Romans 

 to gdrd of the Swedes. The original application of the word 

 gort has been lost. 



Gairleog is garlic {Allium sativum). This word is said to be 

 derived from the old Norse word geir-laukr. The plant, however, 

 is native of Asia but this fact does not conflict with the name's 

 being of Scandinavian or Gothic origin, for the daring Lords 

 of the High Seas roamed everywhere. 



Gasun, young boy, or gargon in French and, in Old English, 

 gossoon, appears to be another word surviving from ancient 

 Gallic times. Unlike the Irish language which survived, the 

 vocabulary of Old Gaul became incorporated more or less into 

 the resultant Gallo-Latin tongue, now the modern French. 



Giubhas is the Celtic word for iir; it recalls the Latin word 

 Abies, a probable derivative, since the common European silver 

 fir {Abies pectinata) is a native of the old Celtic domain, including 

 northern Italy. The Celtic dominions adjoined Macedonia at 

 the time of Alexander the Great. The people therefore lived 

 right within the range of the fir and this prominent species did 

 not escape the observant Celt. 



