Page:Glossary of words in use in Cornwall.djvu/272

 ▲ OLOBSABT OP DBYOIVBHIBB PLANT NAMES. IL Thb Globsabt. I have only occasioiially inserted oommon English names, although in regular nse in Devonshire ; such, for example, as Yarrow, Pimpemell, Agrimony, &a, as such a course would only swell the list unnecessarily, and add nothing new to our knowledga Occasionally I have found it convenient to in- troduce a name which may not be said purely to belong to Devonshire; but these names in nearly every case have been found in use in the county, though not always by natives. Aaron's Beard, (1) Scmfraga garmentosay L, one of the many names by which this plant is known in the west of England. (2) Hypericum ealycinum^ L, so named from the bundles of stamens, which have a very beard-like appearance. Many other plants have drawn their names from a similar peculiarity, as Old Man's-beard, Groat's-beard, &c. (Britten, p. 4.) Addsr's-msat, (1) Arum fnaculatunif L, applied, not to the spathe in its early stages, but when the bright red colour of the berries shows itself ^e same name is appUed to other red berries of a bright glossy appearance, but which are regarded, whether correctly or otherwise, as being poisonous; as for example the fruit of (2) Tamus communis^ L., which in Sussex is known as '' Poison- berries." An explanation of this term is necessary, not only because of its interesting etymological associations, but in order to correct a mistaken idea. Mr. Britten says, *' It will be observed that most of the plants connected with the adder appear in spring, when snakes are most generally seen.** I will not dispute the latter statement, although my own experience both at home and abroad leads me to believe that in summer and autumn these repulsive reptiles show themselves more than during the earUer seasons of the year. But the first statement is objectionable. In the west the name of adder is associated with plants which show peculiarities at any season, or every season, of the year ; the fruit of the briony, for example, being seen in the hedgerows only in autumn. We have to look for a more accurate explanation of the matter, and we find it in the fact that the name refers to the poisonous quality of many of the plants. Now, in our earlier language the word for poison was cUtor {cf, Earle's Plant Names, pp. Ixxiv. Ixxvi 12, 47), and tjiese red berries were originally called '^Attor-berries," or, as in Sussex, '^ Poison-berries." When the meaning of attor was lost, it was naturally supposed to refer to adders, especially as there is a latent association in the mind of adders and poison, and so adder-berries became *' Adder^s-meat^" and B 2