6o 



a plant which does not perish — a name far from applicable to 

 this species). It is also called lus an righ, the king's plant. Lus 

 na fecog (O'Reilly and others). It looks as if "fecog" was the 

 •digammated form of the old Irish ec or eug, death. 



Eupatorium cannabinum — Hemp agrimony. Gaelic and Irish : 

 xndib uisge or canaib uisge, water-hemp (from Greek Kavvaf3is ; 

 Latin: cannabis, hemp. Manx: Kennip. 



Bidens cerrnia — Bur marigold. Irish : sceachog Mhuire, 

 Mary's haw. 



Achillea ptarmica — Sneezewort. Gaelic : cruaidh /us, hard 

 weed. (Latin : crudus, hard, inflexible). Meacan ragaim, the 

 stiff plant Lus a' chorrain (Threl), sickle weed. Roibhe, 

 moppy. Welsh : yslrew/ys, sneezewort. 



A. millefolium — Yarrow. Gaelic: lus chosgadh na fo/a, the 

 plant that stops bleeding. Lus na fola, the blood weed ; lus an 

 t-sleisneach (Carmichael). Earr tha/mhuinn, that which clothes the 

 •earth {earr, clothe, array). Athair tha/mhuinn, the ground 

 father. Cathair tha/mhuinn, the ground seat or chair. Probably 

 alterations of earr (for tha/mhuinn see Bunium flexuosum). Manx: 

 airh-hallooin. Welsh: milddail — milfoil (thousand-leaved). 



" Cathair thalmhuinn^ carbhin chroc-cheannach." — MACINTVRE. 

 The yarrow and the horny-headed caraway. 



Earr thalmhuinn — The yarrow, cut by moonlight by a young 

 woman, with a black handled knife, and certain mystic words, 

 similar to the following, pronounced : — 



" Good-morrow, good-morrow, fair yarrow, 

 And thrice good-morrow to thee ; 

 Come, tell me before to-morrow, 

 Who my true love shall be." 



The yarrow is brought home, put into the right stocking, and 

 placed under the pillow, and the mystic dream is expected ; but 

 if she opens her lips after she has pulled the yarrow, the charm 

 is broken. Allusion is made to this superstition in a pretty song 

 -quoted in the "Beauties of Highland Poetry,'' p. 381, beginning — 



" Gu'n dh'eirich mi moch, air madainn an de, 



S ghearr mi 'n earr thalmhuinn, do bhri mo sgeil, 



I rose yesterday morning early, 



And cut the yarrow because of my misery, 1 



An duil gu'm faicinn-sa rilin mo chleibh ; 



Ochoin ! .gu'm facas, 's a cul rium fein." 



