Page:Glossary of words in use in Cornwall.djvu/322

 i. GLOSSARY OF DEV0N3HIRB PLANT NAMES. 53 told me he never knew any other name for it. The leaves are gathered by children, and placed in book& When dry they have a very grateful ameU. (Cf, Titsum.) Taokbr Obass, Polygonum avietdaref h. (See Man Tie.) Tatt, Tattjib, Tbttt. Potatoe. A word which has suffered as nnmercifcdly at the hands of our peasantry as any name we have in our language. {Cf. Prior, p. 189 ; Trans, Devon, Assoc, x. 121, XL 143.) Tat, Tbt. The old pronunciation of the word Tea, and cor- responding more nearly to the original than the modem pronunci- ation does. In Foochow and Amoy, whence tea was first exported, I was delighted to hear the familmr old word te, or tay^ as I had learned it from my grandmother. (See Douglas, Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular, p. 481 ; Earle's Philology of the English Tongue, p. 170, seq.; Trench, English Past and Present, &c,) Thistle. (1) The Btudock is sometimes so called by mistake ; and (2) the Thistle proper is more usuaUy called Dashel, which see. Thob-martle. "The Hhormantle,' excellent as a medicine in fevers." — Borders of Tamar and Tavy, L p. 274. It would be interesting to know exactly what flower is meant, since traces of the old Northern mythology in our Devonshire and South-country flower^names are very scanty, and evety additional name is a prize to be eagerly caught up by the student We know that Thor left hia name on a number of different plants in Germany, Holland, Scandinavia, and Russia. I believe thd Burdock {Arctium Lappa, L.) to be here intended : for (1) "mantle" would apply well to its leaves ; (2) the plant has long been regarded as " g<]iod in fevers " (Hill's Herbal, p. 50), pills being still largely made from the plant ; and (3) its Dsmish name of Tordeiiskreppe comes very near the name given by Mr& Bray. For other plants sacred to Thor, see Grimm's TeiUonic Mythology, L p. 183, and European Flower Lore, chap, v., by the present writer. (See Draoon Flower, Dun Daisy, Thunder Daisy.) Thunder Daisy, Chrysantheimim LeucaTUhenmm, L. One of the tew flowers connected with the Thunderer in the South of England. In the west of England the Red Poppy, or Com Poppy {Papa/ver Rhoeas), is called "Thunder-bolt" (Halliwell) ; and in the Botany of the Eastern Borders Mr. Johnston tells us (p. 31) that about Wooler the same flower was wont to be called Thunder-flower, or lightnings. Children were afraid to pluck the flowers ; for if the petals should chance to fall off during the act — a very common event — the gatherer woidd be in danger of being struck by lightning. (See Thor-mantle.) In Earle (p. 46) we find : ^^Gonsolida media, Thundre clovere. Ticklers, Tickling Tommy. The rough seeds contained in Hips, or the fruit of Rosa canina, &c. Boys put them down one another's backs, when the tickling sensation is very vexatious. In Lancashire they are called Itching Berries. (Britten, p. 275.)