402 
A DICTIONARY OF 
Ribwort. Plantago laneeolata^ L. — Lyte. The leaves are ribbed 
for the most part with five nerves or sinews.’ Ger. 341. Also called 
Ribwort Plantain. Ger. Prior, p. 195. 
Riband- weed. Laminaria saccharina^ Lam. Treas. Bot. 
Ribbon-grass. See Grass, Ribbon. 
Ribbon-tree. Betula alba, L. — N.-W. Line. E. D. S. Gloss. C. 6. 
‘ So called because the hark of the young tree can be pulled off in 
long, ribbon-like strips.’ 
Rice, White. Pyrus Aria, L. — Hal. Hants. (New Forest) ; Wight, 
FI. Vect. Rice, or Rise., is a Hants, term (also North. Hal. and Scotl. 
Jamieson) for brushwood or underwood; this shrub is called White 
Rice from the silvery colour of the undersides of the leaves. 
Ridweed. See Redweed (1). 
Riely. Lolium temulentum, L. Ireland (Co. Tipperary) : see 
Gard. Chron. 1874 (i.) 639, for an account of its use in that county. 
‘ Well known in most counties in Ireland by the name of Rileh and 
Rivery, for its intoxicating quaHty, whether taken in bread or drink.’ 
W’ade’s Plantae Eariores in Hibernia inventse (1804), p. 6. This is 
evidently a corruption of the Gaelic name, which Threlkeld gives as 
Ruinhelais, Mr. Cameron (Gaelic Names, p. 92) has ‘ Ruintelais, the 
loosening or purgative grass, from ruinnec, grass, and tealach, loosen- 
ing ; ’ he also gives Riolle as a Gaehc name. 
Rilts. Berberis vulgaris, L. (fruit). — Hal. South and East, Eay. 
Ringe Heather. Erica Tetralix, L. — Scotl. Jamieson. From its 
use in making ringes, i. e. ^whisks made of heath.’ 
Ring Finger. Orchis mascula, L. — S. Buchs. 
Ring o’ Bells. Soilla nutans, Sm. — Lane. (Wigan). An expressive 
name derived from the resemblance of its flower spike to a sym^honia, 
or Ring of Bells, which consisted of a number of tuned bells hung on 
a curved staff, to be struck with a hammer. 
Ringo-roots. Eryngo roots, roots of Eryngium maritimum, L. — 
Ellis, Modern Husbandman, V. iii. 120. 
Ripple, or Ripplin Grass. See Grass, Ripple. 
Rish. A rush : various species of Juncus. Hal.' dies. ; Cornio. ; 
Hants. Holl. Prior, p. 195. The word occurs in the ancient poem. 
The Turnament of Tottenham : 
“ All the wyves of Tottenham came to se that sy 3 t 
With wyspes, and kexis, and ryschys there ly 3 t.” 
Percy’s Rehques, ed. v. vol. ii. p. 23. 
In Cornwall rish also means a list or tally, and it has been conjec- 
tured that a primitive way of keeping a tally may have been by 
stringing beads on a rush. The saying ‘ I’ll begin a new rish ’ is also 
equivalent in Cornwall to, ‘ I’ll turn over a new leaf.’ 
Risps. Fruit-bearing stems of Rubiis Idmis, L. — Norf. Holl. 
Rivery, See Riely. 
