lxxx PROCEEDINGS—PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
A firm belief in fairies was held by the Highlanders, and between 
the fairies and several plants there was a close connection. Certain 
plants, as the Fox-Glove ( meuran sithe ), the Cow Parsnip ( odhran ), 
and the Docken ( copagcich ), could ward off or break the fairy spell or 
influence, whilst others, such as the Water-Lily ( rabhagach and buillite 
—meaning beware, or warning), were on the side of the fairies. 
A good harvest was as important then as now, as was also the 
desire of knowing the future. For the latter a peculiar divination 
was practised on the 2nd of February. The mistress and servants 
dress a sheaf of Oats ( coirc ) in women’s apparel, place it, with a 
wooden club beside it, in a large basket, which is called Briid’s bed. 
They then cry three times that Briid is come and is welcome, and 
in the morning they look in the ashes for the print of Briid’s club. 
If it is there a prosperous year will follow. 
In the Western Islands the harvest of sea-weed was very im¬ 
portant, and, to ensure its being good, a sacrifice was made to the 
sea-god Shony (the Scandinavian Sjoni, whose worship was introduced 
by the Lochlannach or Norwegians). At Hallowtide the inhabitants 
of Lewis came to the church of St. Mulvay, and, selecting one of 
their number, sent him into the sea in the middle of the night. In 
his hand he carried a cup of ale, and, crying with a loud voice, 
“ Shony, I give you this cup of ale, that you may send us plenty of 
sea-ware,” tossed it into the sea. This combination of a Christian 
church and the invocation of a heathen deity is rather curious. 
With some plants Christian legends are associated. The Aspen 
(critheann , trembling) has leaves that are always quivering, because 
from the wood of that tree the Cross was (they thought) made. The 
Spotted Knotgrass (. Polygonum Persiccirici ) has a dark spot on the 
centre of each leaf. It grew at the foot of the Cross, and drops 
of blood fell on it, the mark of which it still retains. Hence it is 
called the Blood-Spot (am boinne-fola ) and the Herb of the Tree 
of Crucifixion (lus chrann ceusaidli). 
In conclusion, I submit to your consideration whether I have 
made out my case that, in a study of the Gaelic names of plants, 
much of the ways of life of the ancient Highlander may be learnt. 
We have seen that he had an observing eye—quick to detect differ¬ 
ences of form and colour—for the plants around him. That, not 
possessing, as we of a later age possess, facilities for procuring articles 
from all parts of the world, he had to use those which nature had 
provided in his own neighbourhood, and by experiment to find out 
the qualities and uses of every plant. In the woods and on the 
moors, in the glens and on the hills, he found plants to feed him 
when he was hungry, to flavour his drink, to dye the garments with 
which he was clothed, to furnish weapons of war and of the chase, 
to heal his sicknesses and to cure his wounds, and to many of these 
he gave names indicative of their uses and qualities. That he was 
religious we have proof, not only in the plants dedicated to deities 
and saints, but from his belief in magic and divination, in the exist¬ 
ence of supernatural beings, and in the connection of certain plants 
with these; that from being a heathen he, in the course of ages, 
became a Christian, is shown also by the names of the plants, when, 
