63 



and the tops upwards — and formerly tanned leather, dyed yarn, 

 and even made a kind of ale from its tender tops." Langa 

 •(M'Kenzie), ling. Fraoch gorm. 



The badge of the M 'Donalds. 



C. Vulgaris variety Alba — Fraoch geal, white heath. This is 

 only the common ling heather that blooms so profusely in August. 

 Occasionally other species are also white, but the ling most 

 frequently. Colour alone does not form a distinctive variety. 

 There must be something more, and in this case the flowers are 

 less crowded and smaller. It has always been considered an 

 emblem of good luck, and became recently more so by the fact 

 that the late Emperor of Germany is said to have presented our 

 Princess Royal with a bunch of white heather, gathered on Craig 

 Gowan, when he made a momentous proposition to her. 



Phyllodoce Menziesia — Fraoch nam Meinnearach (Logan), 

 the yew-leaved heath, called Menzie heath by Logan, and 

 he assumes that it was so called because it was the badge 

 •of that clan. It was named Menziesia in honour of Archibald 

 Menzies, F.L.S., &c, surgeon and naturalist to the expedi- 

 tion under Vancouver, in which voyage he gathered many 

 plants new to botany on the west coast of America, New- 

 Holland, and other countries. Specimens of this heath 

 were discovered on the Sow of Athol and a few near 

 Aviemore and Strathspey. The Menzies Clan may have had a 

 heath for their badge, but most certainly not this one. It is 

 extremely rare, if not now extinct in our country, though dis- 

 tributed widely in other countries. For a similar reason the 

 Mackays may claim Tetralix Mackayi as their badge if they are 

 so minded. 



Azalea proeumbens — Lusan Albannach. No English name. 

 Yet Logan* gives this most indefinite Gaelic name, Lusan Alban- 

 nach t (Scottish plant). It is a pretty little, heath-like, trailing 

 plant, with pink flowers, not uncommon in the Highlands at an 

 -altitude of 1500 to 3600 feet. 



Arbutus TTva-TJrsi — Red bearberry. Gaelic : grainnseag, small, 

 grain-like. It has small red berries, which are a favourite food 

 for moorfowl. Braoileag nan con, the dogs' berry. Lusra na 

 .geire boirnigh (O'Relly), the plant of bitterness ; boirnigh, feminine. 

 (See p<zonia.) 



The badge of the Clan Colquhoun. 

 * James Logan, F.S.A.S., author of "The Scottish Gael," Vol. I. p. 300-1-2. 



