4 16 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 



III. Some English Plant Names. 



Bent or Bint. — Psamma arenaria R. & S., Marram Grass. At Bartra, Clew 

 Bay ; also used for the same species in Co. Dublin. In English dialect 



applied to this and to many other species. 

 Bore-tree. — Sambucus nigra Linne, Elder. In general use in Clare Island. 



A common name in North English and Border dialect in Yorkshire, 



Cumberland, Ayr, &c. 

 Brier. — Bubus fruticosus Linne, Blackberry, Bramble. General on the island 



and round Clew Bay, as it is in Kerry, Sligo, and Dublin, in all of which 



counties it appears to supplant the word Bramble in folk-speech. 

 Burdock. — Arctium Lappa Linne. Clare Island ; but used there quite rarely 



in comparison with the Gaelic qnvoAn. 

 Coral. — In general use round Westport Bay as a name for Lithothamnion 



calcareum, 

 Docken. — Bumex obtusifolius and B. crispus. Clare Island and Clew Bay 



generally, the old plural form being used in the singular and a new 



plural, Dockens, formed from it. 

 Fifes, Flutes. — Applied in Clare Island to the hollow stems of Angelica, syhestris. 

 Juniper. — The Crowberry, Empetrwm nigrum, is known by this name in 



Clare Island. 

 May Flower. — Primula vulgaris Hudson, Primrose. This is the only name 



I could find in use for the Common Primrose at Belclare and Murrisk on 



Clew Bay. 

 Millgrass. — The Grass Wrack, Zostera marina. Used at Belclare. A com- 

 pound Irish-English name meaning ' Sweet Grass.' 

 Rush. — In use on Clare Island and Clew Bay for the Soft Rush (Juncus 



cffusus). At Mulranny I heard the old plural, rushen, used. 

 Thorn. — Applied to the Spear Thistle (Cnicus lanceolatus) near the abbey, Clare 



Island. 

 Thristle. — This variant for thistle I heard used at Annagh Island, Clew Bay. 



It is also used in Co. Dublin and in the Scotch Border counties. 

 Whin. — In frequent use in Clare Island and round Clew Bay for Ulex europaeus, 



the word Furze, so common in East Ireland, being apparently unknown 



in the Clew Bay area. 

 Wild Coral. — Used in the Rossmindle district, southern Clew Bay, as a 



distinctive name for Lithophyllum fasciculatum, the large roughly globular 



form of " Coral." See Wild Shellistring (p. 14) and Wild Bornj r ack 



(p. 19). 



