The Gaelic names of plants (Scottish, Irish and Manx) / collected and arranged in scientific order, with notes on their etymology, uses, plant superstitions, etc., among the Celts, with copious Gaelic, English, and scientific indices, by John Cameron.
- Cameron, John
- Date:
- 1900
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The Gaelic names of plants (Scottish, Irish and Manx) / collected and arranged in scientific order, with notes on their etymology, uses, plant superstitions, etc., among the Celts, with copious Gaelic, English, and scientific indices, by John Cameron. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![it off with a golden knife; it is received in a white sheet. Then,, and not till then, they sacrifice the victims, praying that God would render His gift prosperous to those on whom he had bestowed it. When mistletoe is given as a potion, they are of opinion that it can remove animal barrenness, and that it is a remedy against all poisons.” Druidh-lus, the Druids weed. Sugh an daraich, the sap or substance of the oak, because it derives its substance from the oak, it being a parasite on that and other trees. (Sitgh, juice, substance, sap ; Latin: succus). Irish: guts, viscous, sticky, on account of the sticky nature of the berries. French: gui. “The mistletoe,” says Vallencey in his ‘Grammar of the Irish Language/ ‘ was sacred to the Druids, because not only its berries, but its leaves also, grew in clusters of three united to one stalk.” The badge of the Hays. Capri foliace/E. Sambucus nigra—Common elder. Gaelic and Irish ; ruts, meaning “wood.” “ The ancient name of the tree, which in the vulgar Irish is called trom ” (O’Reilly); druman or droman. Welsh : ysgawen, elder ; Manx: trainman. “ The common people [of the Highlands] 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.”—C. de Iryngin, at the Camp of Athole, June 30th, 1651. Used also as an emetic and purge, frequently planted near houses, hence another name, Rath fas. {Rath, a town, and fas, growth). It was considered efficacious against witches, and from it a blue dye w-as made. S ebulus—Dwarf elder. Gaelic and Irish : fliodh a' hhalla, the wall excrescence. Mulart “seems to be the same as the Welsh word nvwyllartaith (mwyll, emollient). It was esteemed a powerful remedy for the innumerable ills that flesh is heir to. Mulabhur. Old English name—Bourc tree for the elder, burr, a clown. Welsh: ysgawen Main, Mary’s elder. Viburnum opulus—Guelder-rose, water-elder. Gaelic: ceir- iocan, heal-wax (Latin: cera; Greek, XW»*S Welsh: 'va^’ the healing, wax-like plant, from the waxy appearance of the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24879368_0068.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
