Ixxviii PROCEEDINGS — PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
The Duckweed (Lemna) is the Son without a Father (mac gun 
athciir). In Irish it is the Plant without Father or Mother. 
Legends and Superstitions. 
In conclusion, I shall notice some of the legends attached to 
plants. The Ash ( crciobh uinnseann) was frequently used for charms 
and enchantments. When a child was born the end of a green stick 
of ash was put into the fire and the juice which oozed from the other 
end was administered to the new-born babe. Serpents had a special 
horror of the leaves, for, as the old poem says, “The serpent will go 
through fire rather than through the leaves of the Ash.” In connec¬ 
tion with this reputed virtue of the Ash, we may remember that, in 
Scandinavian mythology, the Ash was a lightning tree, and sacred to 
Odin; that the court of the gods was held under the great ash 
Ygdrasil; and that from it the first man was made. 
Perhaps because it somewhat resembled the Ash, the Rowan or 
Mountain-Ash ( Pyrus Aucuparia ), the Wood Enchantress ( fuinseag 
coille), or Berry Tree ( crciobh chaoran ), which, to the Scandinavians, 
was also a lightning tree, was full of power. Its uses against witch¬ 
craft have already been noticed. Its fruit conferred long life on him 
that ate it. In the Dean of Lismore’s book is a very ancient poem, 
thus translated by Dr. M‘Lauchlan :— 
“A rowan tree stood on Loch Mai, 
We see its shore there to the south; 
Every quarter, every month, 
It bore its fair, well-ripened fruit; 
There stood the tree, alone, erect, 
Its fruit than honey sweeter far— 
That precious food, so richly red, 
Did suffice for a man’s nine meals ; 
A year it added to man’s life.” 
Another tree of power was cailtin , the Hazel (Corylus), but it 
was generally thought to be unlucky. If, however, two nuts were 
found joined together ( cno chomblaich ) good luck was certain. 
Of the Elder or Bour Tree ( Scimbucus nigra), ruis (wood) or 
druman (tree), an old writer, dating from the Camp at Athole, June 
30, 1651, says that the Highlanders “keep as a great secret in curing 
wounds the leaves of the Elder, which they have gathered the first 
day of April, for the purpose of disappointing the charms of witches. 
They affix them to their doors-and windows.” The Ivy (. Hedera ), 
eidheann (that which clings), was credited with similar powers. 
Some superstitions are connected with cows and milk. Of the 
River Leaf (duiliasg na Kaibhe ), i.e., the Floating Pondweed (Potamoge- 
ton natans), “Nether Lochaber” writes that, particularly in the West 
Highlands, “it is gathered in small bundles in summer and autumn, 
and kept until New Year’s Day (old style); it is then put for a time 
into a tub or other vessel of hot water, and the infusion is mixed 
with the first drink given to milch cows on New Year’s Day morning. 
This is supposed to keep the cows from witchcraft and the evil eye 
for the remainder of the year! It is also supposed to increase the 
yield of milk.” 
