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will be so kind as to send us plenty of sea-ware for enriching our 

 ground the ensuing year." And he then threw the cup into the 

 sea. This was performed in the night-time; they afterwards 

 returned to spend the night in dancing and singing. 



Shony (Sjoni) the Scandinavian Neptune. This offering was a 

 relic of pagan worship introduced into the Western Isles by the 

 Norwegians when they conquered and ruled over these islands 

 centuries ago {see footnote, p. 55). 



Fucus vesiculosus — Sea-ware, kelp-ware, black tang, lady-wrack. 

 Gaelic : propach, sometimes prablach, tangled ; in some places 

 grbbach, grbb, to dig, to grub. 



This fucus forms a considerable part of the winter supply of 

 food for cattle, sheep, and deer. In the Hebrides cheeses are 

 dried without salt, but are covered with the ashes of this plant, 

 which abounds in salt. It was also used as a medicinal charm. 

 " If, after a fever, one chanced to be taken ill of a stitch, they 

 (the inhabitants of Jura) take a quantity of lady-wrack and red fog 

 and boil them in water; the patients sit upon the vessel and receive 

 the fume, which by experience they find effectual against the dis- 

 temper." — Martin's " Western Isles." 



F. nodosus — Knobbed sea-weed. Gaelic : feamainn bholgainn, 

 builgeach, — bolg, builg, a sack, a bag, from the vesicles that serve to 

 buoy up the plant amidst the waves. Feamainn bhuidhe, the 

 yellow wrack. It is of an olive-green colour ; the receptacles are 

 yellow. 



F. serratus — Serrated sea-weed. Gaelic : feamainn dubh, black 

 wrack. Aon chasach, one-stemmed, applies to this plant when 

 single in growth. 



F. canaliculatus — Channelled fucus. Gaelic : feamainn chirein. 

 This plant is a favourite food for cattle, and farmers give it to 

 counteract the injurious effects of sapless food, such as old straw 

 and hay. 



Laminaria cugitata — Sea-girdles, tangle. Gaelic and Irish : 

 stamh, slat-mhara, sea-wand. Duidhean, doirean in Lismore, the 

 liaghag or leathagan, barr stamh, and bragair, names given to the 

 broad leaves on the top. Doire (in Skye and Islay), tangle. 

 Though not so much used for food as formerly, it is still chewed 

 by the Highlanders when tobacco becomes scarce. It was thought 

 to be an effectual remedy against scorbutic and glandular diseases, 



