worthy of notice that all the letters were called after trees or 

 plants : — 



Gaelic Alphabet. — Antecedent to the use of the present 

 alphabet, the ancient Celts wrote on the barks of trees. The- 

 writing on the bark of trees they called oghmfti, and sometimes- 

 trees, feadha, and the present alphabet litri or letters. 

 "Cormac Casil cona churn, 



Leir Mumu, cor mela ; 



Tragaid im rlgh Ratha Bicli, 



Na Litri is na Feadha. '' 



Cormac of Cashel with his companions 



Munster is his, may he long enjoy ; 



Around the King of Ratha Bicli are cultivated 



The Letters and the Trees. 



The " letters" here signify, of course, our present Gaelic 

 alphabet and writings ; but the "trees" can only signify the oghuim, 

 letters, which were named after trees indigenous to the country."' 

 —Prof. O'Curry. 



RHAMNACE/E. 



Rhaninus (from Gaelic ramh, Celtic ram, a branch, wood). 

 " Talamh nan ramh." — Ossian. 

 The country of woods. 

 The Greeks changed the word to pa>vos, and the Latins to ramus.. 



R. catharticus — Prickly buckthorn. Gaelic : ramh droighionn, 

 prickly wood. Welsh: rhafnwydd — rhaf, to spread; wydd, tree, 

 Brenahal (Threl) — This name should have been Brenabhal, or in 

 our Gaelic Breun ubhal, putrid apple. The fruit is fleshy, but 

 more a berry than an apple. It is a violent purgative, and yields- 

 a dye varying in tint from yellow to green. 



Juglans regia — The walnut. Gaelic : craobh ghall-chno—gall, a 

 foreigner, a stranger; crib, a nut. 



