4 



Notes on Vernacular Plant- Names. 



Cymatophora dnplaris, etc., etc. Among - various Coleoptera 

 Saperda popitlnea was beaten out on the Brathay river. It may 

 be added that the special object of my visit to the district, 

 Drepanopteryx phalcenoides , which has on several occasions been 

 taken there in odd specimens, unfortunately completely baffled 

 me, and I could find no trace of it. 



NOTES on VERNACULAR PLANT-NAMES. 



Vernacular Names and Folk Lore. — Editorially we may perhaps be 

 allowed to say that much of the interest and- value of notes on vernacular 

 names and folk-lore is lost for want of geographical precision. We not 

 only require to know what names are used, but in what particular districts 

 or localities, and whether by real natives or passing- visitors. Scientific 

 precision as to names of species, and phonetic or orthographical precision, 

 are also considerations to be borne in mind. 



We shall be glad to insert notes on these topics, especially if districts 

 are indicated with more minute precision than 'Yorkshire,' 'Northern 

 Counties,' etc. — Eds. Nat. 



Plant-Names and Folk-Lore in the North of England : 4 Mother- 

 Die,' etc. — The notes in 'The Naturalist' by Mr. Booth (p. 229) and 

 Mr. Wattam (p. 268) on the local name ' Mother-Die ' were interesting to 

 me, and as i can add a little more regarding the name, perhaps it may 

 prove acceptable and interesting to others. I have never heard the name 

 ' Mother Die' applied to either Anthriscus sylvestris (Wild Beaked Parsley) 

 or Stellaria holostea (Greater Stitch wort) in the North of England, but the 

 same name under the" local provincialism of 'Mother-Dee' is given in 

 Cumberland ('dee' being the north-country pronunciation of 'die') to the 

 Red Campion {Lychnis diurna), in which county exists the similar supersti- 

 tion referred to by Mr. Booth — that if the flower be plucked some serious 

 misfortune will happen to ' mother.' This local name and piece of folk-lore 

 are connected with different plants in different counties. In Cumberland it 

 is — as stated above — the Red Campion {Lychnis diurna) ; in Essex, the 

 Hawthorn {Cratcegus oxyacantha) ; in Gloucestershire, the Purple Orchis 

 {Orchis mascula) ; in Norfolk, the autumn Apple Flower; and in Yorkshire, 

 the Germander Speedwell ( Vero?iica chamcedrys). The flowers of any of 

 these plants, if pulled by a child and taken into the house, in certain parts 

 of the above counties, are said to bring either some serious misfortune, or 

 illness, or death to one of the parents. — J. W. Fawcett, Satle)', Darlington, 

 6th September 1901. 



Plant-Names in the North of England.— Messrs. Booth and Wattam, 

 in 'The Naturalist,' pp. 229 and 268, give some Lincolnshire and Yorkshire 

 names of two different plants. It may interest them and others that the 

 following is a list of local names which I have heard applied to the same 

 plants :— 



Anthriscus sylvestris (Wild Beaked Parsley). ' Hemlock,' ' Humlick,' 

 ' Humlock,' ' Kellick ' (in South Durham), ' Kelks ' (ibid), ' Kelksies ' (ibid), 

 and ' Rabbit Meat.' 



Stellaria holostea (Greater Stitchwort). 'Adder's Meat," ' Satin Flower,' 

 'Thunder Flower' (in Cumberland), 'White Star Flower.' 



Lychnis diurna (Red Campion). ' Red Catchfly,' ' Red Robin,' ' Mother- 

 Dee' (in Cumberland), 'Scarlet Campion.' 



Perhaps other readers could make additions. — J. W. Fawcett, Satley, 

 Darlington, 6th September 1901. 



Naturalist, 



