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Meuran 1 nan daoine marbh, dead men's thimbles. Meuran nan 

 xailkacha marbha, dead women's thimbles. In Skye it is called 

 .dochan nan cailleacha marbha (Nicolson), the dead old women's 

 paps. Irish: sian (or sionn, Threl) sleibhe. (Sian, a charm or 

 spell, a wise one, a fox; sleibhe, a hill). Welsh: menyg ellyllon, 

 fairy glove. O'Reilly gives another Irish name, bolgan beic (diminu- 

 tive of bolg, a sack, a bag. And frequently in the Highlands 

 the plant is known by the familiar name, an lus mbr, the big 

 plant. Lus a' bhalgair (in Aberfeldy), Meregan na mna sidhe, 

 '(Threl), the fairy woman's thimbles or fingers. Manx: sleiggan- 

 shleeu, cleaver sharpener. Its leaves were applied to bring boils, 

 -&c, to a head (Moore). 



OrOBANCHACE^E 



(From Greek, opofibs, orobos, a vetch, and p\x* iv > t0 strangle, in 

 .allusion to the effect of these parasites in smothering and destroy- 

 ing the plants on which they grow.) The name muchog (from 

 much, smother, extinguish, suffocate) is applied to all the species. 



0. major and minor — Broom-rape, and Irish Gaelic: siorra- 

 Jach (Shaw) — sior, vetches, being frequently parasitical on legu- 

 minous plants; or siorrachd, rape. 



VeRBENACEjE. 



Verbena officinalis — Vervain. Gaelic and Irish : trom- 



J>hbid, — trom, a corruption of drum, from Sanscrit ddru, 



wood ; hence Latin, drus, an oak, and bbid, a vow. Welsh : 



.dderwen fendigaid, literally, blessed oak — the " herba sacra " of 



the ancients. Manx : vervine. " It was the most potent of all 



herbs in nullifying the effects of all malign influences. Vervain 



was taken by the fishermen in their boats to bring good luck. 



Mr. Roeder says it was sewn into babies' clothes, to protect them 



against fairies, and a tea was made of it by grown-up people for 



the same purpose " (Moore). Vervain was employed in the reli 



gious ceremonies of the Druids Vows were made and treaties 



ratified by its means "Afterwards all sacred evergreens, and 



-aromatic herbs, such as holly, rosemary, &c, used to adorn the 



altars, were included under the term verbena " (Brockie). This 



1 Meuran and digitalis (digitabulum), a thimble, in allusion to the form of 

 the flower. 



