CHAPTER XXI

PLANT NAMES AND NAMES OF ANIMALS

A few of the dialect plant-names have been noticed in previous chapters in connexion with superstitious beliefs, medical lore, &c., but there are a great many more, equally well worth considering. What one feels about them--and herein lies their chief attraction--is that they reflect the popular mind, and are not the result of mere peeping and botanizing. The rustic sees in the flower something which calls up in his mind a familiar object--a dish of eggs and bacon, the parson in the pulpit, a hen and chickens; or something which reminds him of a Bible story he has known from his childhood; or something akin to human nature, which draws forth a responsive recognition.

We naturally expect to find in the different dialects different names for one and the same flower, but it is strange to find up and down the country one and the same name attached to different flowers. An Oxford lady once pointed out to me some plants of the double garden daisy, which she called Bachelor’s Buttons. I declared this was a misnomer, for the Bachelor’s Buttons I had grown up with in Herefordshire were some kind of double ranunculus. Subsequent research, however, supported both sides of the argument, and showed further, that at least twenty more plants also bore the name of Bachelor’s Button in different parts of the country. Even a common name like Honeysuckle is not restricted to the fragrant climber _Lonicera Peryclymenum_ with which we of the standard speech always associate it. The following plants may all be called Honeysuckle: 1. The purple clover, _Trifolium pratense_. 2. The white clover, _T. repens_. 3. The bird’s-foot trefoil, _Lotus corniculatus_. 4. The dwarf cornel, _Cornus suecica_. 5. The great bindweed, _Convolvulus sepium_. 6. The white dead-nettle, _Lamium album_. 7. The lousewort, _Pedicularis sylvatica_. 8. The blossoms of the willow.

[Sidenote: _Plants associated with Biblical Names_]

The following are some of the names of plants associated with Biblical subjects: Aunt Mary’s Tree (Cor.) is the common holly; Virgin Mary (Lakel. Cor.), Virgin Mary’s Honeysuckle (Chs. Shr.), Virgin Mary’s Milkdrops (Mon. Wil.), Lady’s Milk-sile (Chs.), are names of the lungwort _Pulmonaria officinalis_, referring to the legend that during the flight into Egypt some of the Blessed Virgin’s milk fell on its leaves, as she nursed the infant Jesus. The same legend is also told to account for like spots on the leaves of the Blessed Thistle (War.), Our Lady’s Thistle, _Carduus Marianus_. Another legend says that the Virgin Mary, when thirsty, met with a cow, and after using the broad leaf of the thistle as a drinking-cup, willed that the species should ever after be called by her name, and bear the stains of the milk on its leaves. The lungwort is also called Mary’s Tears (Dor.), and the spots are traced to the tears shed by her at the Crucifixion. Legend tells that once the Virgin Mary plucked up a root of the crab’s claw, _Polygonum Persicaria_, and then threw it away, saying ‘that’s useless’, hence Useless (Sc.) has been its name ever since, and the blotches on its leaves are the marks of her fingers.

[Sidenote: _Plants associated with the Bible and with the Christian Seasons_]

Gethsemane (Chs.), the early purple orchis, _Orchis mascula_, is said to have been growing at the foot of the Cross, and to have received drops of blood on its leaves, the marks of which it has never lost. The same legend is attached also to the Calvary Clover, _Medicago echinus_, the leaves of which are marked with dull red, irregular blotches exactly like real blood-stains. The plant is much prized as a pot-plant, both for the sake of its leaves and for its curious seed-vessels, one of which was given to me a few weeks ago. It looks like a little prickly ball, and when thoroughly dry it can be unwound, spiral fashion, in two coils, an outer prickly one, and an inner smooth one which encases the twelve seeds. The ends can then be hooked one into the other, to form a miniature Crown of Thorns. The seeds, I was told, must be planted on Ash Wednesday, though probably an older version of the tradition would give Good Friday as the fitting date, but I have never heard of the superstition before. In parts of Cheshire Christ’s Thorn, _Crataegus Pyracantha_, is the accredited plant from which the Saviour’s Crown of Thorns was made. In parts of Yorkshire Christ’s Thorn is a name of the common holly, with its scarlet berries typical of His blood. The fame of having been cut to make the Crown of Thorns was given in Kent to the Jews’ Myrtle, the butcher’s broom, _Ruscus aculeatus_. The Eye of Christ (Wal.) is the germander speedwell, _Veronica Chamaedrys_, also known as Angels’ Eyes (Dev.).

The name Aaron’s Beard is applied to several plants; so is Aaron’s Rod, the latter name being perhaps most commonly given to the mullein, _Verbascum Thapsus_, because of its long, straight stem. The mullein also goes by the name of Adam’s Flannel (Yks. Chs. Lin. Nhp. War.), so called from the soft, flannel-like appearance of the leaves. The Solomon’s Seal, _Polygonatum multiflorum_, is named David’s Harp, from the resemblance of the long curved flower-stalk with its pendent blossoms to the harp as it is portrayed in old pictures, where David is represented playing on an instrument shaped like half a pointed arch, hung with metal bells, which he strikes with two hammers. The Drops of Abel’s Blood (Dur.) are unopened flower-buds of the red fuchsia; Jacob’s Ladder is a name shared by various plants, garden-plants, and wild; Joseph’s Flower (Sus.) is the goat’s beard, _Tragopogon pratensis_, probably a reminiscence of pictures of Joseph as an old man with a long beard; Joseph’s Walking-stick (Hmp.) is another name for one of the Jacob’s Ladder flowers, _Polemonium caeruleum_; Lazarus Bell (Dev.) is the fritillary, _Fritillaria Meleagris_, Saint Peter’s Herb (Yks.) is the cowslip, the flower-head suggesting a bunch of keys; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Lin.) is a name of the garden comfrey, _Symphytum officinale_, as well as of other plants having flowers of different shades of colour on the same stem; several plants bear the name of Adam and Eve; Cain and Abel (Wil.) is the columbine, _Aquilegia vulgaris_, and other flowers in other localities; Mary and Joseph (Lin.) is the name of a garden variety of the forget-me-not; the common Virginian stock, on account of its numerous small flowers, is called the Children of Israel (Wil. Dev.); a kind of dark blue campanula is known in Sussex as the Twelve Apostles; the Rose of Sharon (Lan. Chs. Lin. War. Suf. Dor.) is the large-flowered St. John’s wort, _Hypericum calycinum_; the name of Good-Friday Flower (Dor.), given to the tuberous moschatel, _Adoxa Moschatellina_, is supposed to be due to the four-cleft corolla of the topmost flower, which suggested the Cross, and not to refer merely to the date of flowering, as is the case with the Good-Friday Grass (Sur.), the field woodrush, _Luzula campestris_; the Alleluia Plant (Dor.) is the wood-sorrel, _Oxalis acetosella_, so called because it blossoms between Easter and Whitsuntide, when in the Catholic Liturgy psalms ending with ‘Alleluia’ were sung in the churches. It is a very old name, cp. ‘Allelujah, wood-sorrel, _Oxys_,’ Coles, 1679, and one which occurs in other European languages. The name Epiphany (Cor.) for the hell-weed, _Cuscuta Epithymum_, is formed by popular etymology out of the French _epithin_, ‘the weed Dodder, especially that kind thereof, which grows twining about the branches of Time,’ Cotgrave. In the same way anemone has been corrupted sometimes into Enemy, and a single plant of phlox has been termed a Flock.

There is a touch of poetry in such names as: New Year’s Gift (Ess.), the winter aconite, _Eranthis hyemalis_; Summer’s Farewell (Dor. Som.), a variety of the Michaelmas daisy, _Aster Tripolium_; Fair Maids (Nrf. Hmp.), or February Fair Maids (Wm.), the snowdrop, _Galanthus nivalis_; Golden Chain (Midl. s. and sw.Cy.), the laburnum. The reminiscence of the Northern god Balder in Balder’s Brae (Nhb.), a name for the wild camomile, _Anthemis cotula_, is probably a borrowing from Scandinavia, cp. O.N. _Baldrs-brā_. The same name occurs also in Swedish and Danish dialects. ‘Thou may’st have some idea of the beauty of his hair when I tell thee that the whitest of all plants is called Baldur’s brow,’ Mallet, _Northern Antiquities_, 1770.

[Sidenote: _Old Names of Plants_]

We may still hear the plant-names Shakespeare knew, such as: Honey-stalks (War.), the blossoms of the white clover, _Trifolium repens_; and Love in idleness (Midl.), the pansy, a name often corrupted into Love and idols, or Loving idols; and many which Dr. Johnson included in his Dictionary, for example: Ale-hoof (Yks. Shr. Sus. Dev. Cor.), the ground ivy, _Nepeta Glechoma_, cp. ‘Alehoof ... Groundivy, so called by our Saxon ancestors, as being their chief ingredient in ale’; Ayegreen (Wm. Lan.), the house-leek, _Sempervivum tectorum_, cp. ‘Aygreen ... The same with houseleek’; Prick-madam (Cum.), the crooked yellow stonecrop, _Sedum reflexum_, cp. ‘Prickmadam ... A species of houseleek’; Herb of grace (Yks. Der. Lin. Som.), the rue, _Ruta graveolens_, cp. ‘Rue ... An herb called herb of grace, because holy water was sprinkled with it.’

Here did she fall a tear; here in this place I’ll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace: Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen, In the remembrance of a weeping queen. _Rich. II_, III. iv. 104-7.

There are other old names which can be traced even further back, for example: Way-bread (Sc. n.Cy. Wor.), the greater plantain, _Plantago major_, O.E. _weg-brǣde_, literally way-breadth, cp. O.H.G. _wege-breita_, the plantain; and Withy-wind (w. and sw.Cy.), the great bindweed, _Convolvulus sepium_, and also the field bindweed, _C. arvensis_, O.E. _wiþe-winde_, bindweed. ‘He bare a burdoun ybounde with a brode liste, In a withewyndes wise ywounden aboute,’ _Piers Plowman_, B. v. ll. 524, 525.

[Sidenote: _Miscellaneous Plant Names_]

The smell of the common buttercup was formerly supposed to induce madness, hence the name Crazy (Midl. w. and sw.Cy.). In the same way poppies are called Headaches (Irel. Midl. e.An.), because it is believed that the smell of them will cause headache. Pick-pocket (Midl. Nrf. Sus. Wil. Dev.), the shepherd’s purse, _Capsella Bursa-pastoris_, is so named because it impoverishes the farmer’s land. Children gather it and repeat: Pick-pocket, penny nail, Put the rogue in the jail. The same plant is also called Pick your mother’s heart out (War.), or simply Mother’s Heart (Sc. n.Cy. Midl.). Children play a kind of game with the heart-shaped seed-pods. They get one another to pick one of these off, which done, there follows the accusing cry: You’ve picked your mother’s heart out. In parts of Yorkshire the derisive cry is: Pick packet to London, You’ll never go to London. In Dorsetshire Break your mother’s heart is the hemlock, _Conium maculatum_; and Pick your mother’s eyes out is the field speedwell, _Veronica agrestis_. In the Lake District certain curative properties are attributed to the Solomon’s Seal, _Polygonatum officinale_, whence it is called the Vagabond’s Friend. It is said to be a remedy for black eyes, bruises, and broken noses. Courtship and Matrimony (Cum.) is the meadow-sweet, _Spiraea Ulmaria_, so called from the scent of the flower before and after bruising, which is thought to be typical of the two states in life.

[Sidenote: _Popular Names for Flowers_]

For the rest, the following miscellaneous list may serve as a fairly representative sample: Babes in the Cradle (Wil.), the water figwort, _Scrophularia aquatica_; Lords and Ladies (in gen. dial. use), the wild arum, _Arum maculatum_; Milkmaids, or Milkmaidens (Yks. Midl. Ess. Wil. Dev.), the cuckoo flower, _Cardamine pratensis_; Painted Lady (I.Ma. Wil.), the sweet pea; Mournful Widow, or Poor Widow (Dev.), the sweet scabious, _Scabiosa atropurpurea_; Ranting Widow (Chs.), the willow-herb, _Epilobium angustifolium_; Pretty Maids (Brks.), the white meadow saxifrage, _Saxifraga granulata_. Babies’ Shoes (Wil.), the common bugle, _Ajuga reptans_; Bird-een (Cum. Wm.), _Primula farinosa_, e.g. The lockety gowan [globe-flower] an’ bonny bird-een, Are the fairest flowers that ever were seen; Bleeding Heart (Wm. Wor. Glo. Som. Dev.), _Dielytra spectabilis_; Ear-drops (Sus. Som. Dev.), the flowers of the garden fuchsia; Geslins, or Goslins (common), the blossoms of the willow; Golden Knobs (Brks.), the marsh-marigold, _Caltha palustris_, much used for May-morning garlands; Grandmother’s Bonnets (Som.), or Grandmother’s Night-cap (Yks. Chs. Nrf. Ken.), the monkshood, _Aconitum Napellus_; Grandmother’s Slippers (Hmp.), the bird’s-foot trefoil, _Lotus corniculatus_; Money in both pockets (Lakel. Ken. Wil. sw.Cy.), the common honesty, _Lunaria biennis_; Mother Shimble’s Snick-needles (Wil.), the greater stitchwort, _Stellaria Holostea_; Puppy-dog’s Mouth (Wil.), the yellow toadflax, _Linaria vulgaris_; Tailor’s Garters (Sc.), the ribbon-grass, _Phalaris arundinacea variegata_; Two faces under a hat (Sus.), the common columbine. Peace and plenty (Wil.), the London pride, _Saxifraga umbrosa_; Pretty and little (Dev.), the Virginia stock, _Malcolmia maritima_; Wink-a-peep, or Wink and peep (Lan. Chs. Stf. Shr.), the scarlet pimpernel, _Anagallis arvensis_. Aunt Hannah (e.An.), the white arabis, _Arabis alpina_; Bloody Warrior (common), the dark-coloured wallflower; Bobbin Joan (Nhp.), the wild arum; Bouncing Bess (Dev.), the red valerian, _Centranthus ruber_; Delicate Bess (Dev.), the white valerian, _Valeriana celtica_; Bridget in her bravery (Lin.), the rose-campion, _Lychnis chalcedonica_; Gill run by the ground (Lin. Bck. Som.), the ground-ivy; Grim the collier (War. Shr. Glo. Som. Sus.), the orange hawkweed, _Hieracium aurantiacum_; Jack in green doublet (Stf.), a variety of _Primula vulgaris_ in which the calyx is transformed into leaves; John go to bed at noon (Chs. Nhp.), the scarlet pimpernel; Sweet Nancy (Lan. Chs. Nrf. Hmp.), the pheasant-eyed narcissus; Pink-eyed John (Midl.), the pansy; Robin Hood (w.Cy. Dor. Som. Dev.), the red campion, _Lychnis diurna_; Trembling Jock (Yks.), or -jockies, the quaking-grass, _Briza media_, dried in bunches, and kept on the mantel-piece, because it is supposed to be obnoxious to mice: A trimmling-jock in t’house, An’ you weeant hev a mouse.

Names for the common pansy are: Jump up and kiss me (Sus. Hmp.); Meet her in the entry kiss her in the buttery (Lin.); Kiss me behind the garden gate (Wor. Nrf. Suf.), or Kiss me at the garden gate (Nhp. e.An.); Kiss me John at the garden gate (Suf.); Meet me Love behind the garden door. Kiss behind the garden gate (Brks. Glo. Wil.), and Meet me Love (Dev.) are names also given to the London pride. Kiss me quick and go (Dev.) is a name for lad’s love, _Artemisia Abrotanum_; Lift up your head and I’ll kiss you (Wor.) is the _Dielytra spectabilis_; Kitty come down the lane jump up and kiss me (Ken.) is the cuckoo-pint, _Arum maculatum_; Granny jump out of bed (Wil.) is another name for the monkshood; Welcome home husband tho’ never so drunk (Suf.) is the yellow stonecrop, _Sedum acre_.

The hail-fellow-well-met spirit of the rustic towards the world of Nature and all that is therein, which shows itself in plant-names like Saucy Betty, is still more noticeable in his use of personal names for living animals--toads, and even insects included. According to Dr. Smythe Palmer in his book on _The Folk and their Word-lore_, some of these names are due to popular etymology, as for instance, Isaac, the hedge-sparrow, from _hay-suck_, O.E. _hege-sugge_, i.e. the hedge-sucker. In the same way Sweet Alice is said to be a corruption of _sweet allison_, _Alyssum maritimum_. But even if a few of the names admit of this prosaic derivation, it does but enhance their interest, by making them proofs of the common tendency towards individual names.

[Sidenote: _Personal Names for Birds_]

Amongst the names for the common sparrow is Philip (Chs. Nhp.), a name of very old standing. Skelton wrote an elegy entitled _A litle boke of Philip Sparrow_, being the lament of a nun for the untimely death of her pet sparrow, slain by a cat. The hedge-sparrow is Betty (War.), and Juggy (Not.), the latter name being given also to the wren (Lei. Sus.). It is a derivative of Jug, formerly a favourite female name, cp. ‘Jug, _Johannicula_’, Coles, 1679, and Shakespeare’s ‘Whoop, Jug! I love thee’, _K. Lear_, I. iv. 245. The missel-thrush is called Charlie-cock (e.Yks.); the starling, Jacob (Nhp.); and Joey (Oxf.), a name shared by the green linnet (War.), and the toad (Ken.); the redwing is Jan Shewall (Cor.); the goldfinch is Jack-a-nickas, or Jack Nicol (Chs. Wal.). A curious little instance of the way in which Dr. Johnson’s knowledge and love of his native dialect crops up in his Dictionary occurs under the heading ‘Goldfinch’, cp. ‘Goldfinch.... A singing bird, so named from his golden colour. This is called in Staffordshire a _proud taylor_.’ In most of the Midland counties, including Staffordshire, and in others to the north and south-west, the goldfinch still bears the name of Proud Tailor. The redstart is Katie bran’-tail (Shr.); the owl is Josey (Wor. Dev.); Madge-howlet (Wor. Nrf.), a name found in Jonson’s _Every Man_, 1598; and Billy-wix (e.An.). Maggie-monyfeet (Sc.) is a centipede. The very common name of Maggot, or Magotty-pie, for the magpie is the same word as Magot, a pet form, now obsolete, of the name Margaret, cp. Fr. _Margot_, ‘diminutif très familier de Marguerite, nom vulgaire de la pie,’ Littré. The heron is Moll-hern, or Molly-heron (Midl. Wil.), pronounced in Oxford Mollern, with the accent on the first syllable; Joan-na-ma-crank (Cum.); and Frank (Sc. e.An.), from its harsh cry which sounds like Frank! Frank! The whitecap is Peggy-whitethroat (Nhp.); the raven is Ralph (Chs. Nhp.): the cock bird in the poultry yard is Richard (Som.); the pied wagtail is Polly-dishwasher (Wil.), or Polly-wash-dishes (e.An. Dor. Som.). It is interesting to note in connexion with the geographical distribution of this name in modern times, that Dr. Johnson includes ‘Dish-washer’ in his Dictionary as: ‘The name of a bird,’ without being able to specify the kind of bird to which it belonged. No doubt he had heard the name casually, but neither he nor his Scottish assistants were familiar with its use.

[Sidenote: _Names for Birds and the Hare_]

The name Wat (Nrf. Cor.) for the hare occurs in Shakespeare’s _Venus and Adonis_, cp.:

By this, poor Wat, far off upon a hill, Stands on his hinder legs with listening ear.

In Cumberland the hare is Katie. In Herefordshire it was Sarah, so the gardener said, that came in the early morning hours, and while men still slept, browsed on the young green of the pinks in the big bed on our Rectory lawn. In Norfolk the marshmen call her Old Aunt. The rabbit in Cumberland bears the nickname of Johnny Wapstraw. A Berkshire mouse is sometimes called Moses, a name given in Kent to a young frog. In parts of Scotland the pig is familiarly addressed as Sandy Campbell. The toad is Thomas (Chs.); the cockchafer is Tom Beadle (Cum. Lan.); the guinea-fowl is Tom-pot (Dev.), so named from its peculiar cry. For the same reason it is called Swap-hats (w.Som.), and Come-back, this last being the most widely known dialect name for the bird.

[Sidenote: _Names given to Animals_]

The donkey goes by a number of names: Balaam (e.An.); Jeremiah (Suf.); Peter Moguz (Cor.), &c.; a female donkey in Lincolnshire is a Jen-ass. A tom-cat in Suffolk is a Jim-cat; and a she-cat is a Betty-cat. One is tempted to suggest that this last name is due to association of ideas--the domestic cat, the fireside, and the kettle singing on the hob--for in East Anglia the kettle is nicknamed Betty, and the common proverb takes the form of: That’s the saucepan calling the kettle Betty Black.

When the author of that delightful book _The Rose and the Ring_ tells us how Valoroso XXIV, King of Paflagonia, gave a small family dinner-party in honour of Prince Bulbo, he writes: ‘You may be sure they had a very good dinner--let every boy or girl think of what he or she likes best, and fancy it on the table,’ with the added footnote: ‘Here a very pretty game may be played by all the children saying what they like best for dinner.’ So here I will leave my readers to amuse themselves by thinking of all the choice morsels of dialect lore, which they specially love, and which have not been recorded in the foregoing chapters; knowing as I do full well, that many a feast can yet be spread before the store of good things is exhausted.

Transcriber’s Note:

The following addendum was printed at the end of the book, and has been incorporated into the text: “To VIII on p. 149 add: The stressed form of the nominative is generally _ðē_ or _ðeə_, but in some midl. and s. dialects it is _ðai_ or _ðei_, and in Sh. and Or.I. n.Ken. Sus. _dē_, rarely _dei_. The unstressed form is generally _ðe_ or _ðə_, rarely _ði_.” The reference to the addendum “See p.342.” has been removed from page 149.

In the original sometimes the abbreviation “c.” is italicized, and sometimes not. They have been left as they were printed.

Some words have been abbreviated in more than one way (e.g. s.w. and sw. for south-west). These have not been standardized.

In the original, citations for quoted poetry were printed on the last line of the quotation if there was room, with a long dash between the poem and the citation; if there was not room, the citation was printed on the following line. This convention has been followed here, where, for reasons of space, a citation has had to be moved up or down a line.

This book contains inconsistent hyphenations which have been left as printed. A few minor changes to punctuation have been made without comment, and the case of roman numerals in references has been made consistent.

Other changes that have been made are:

Page 36: “ s” has been changed to “is” in “it is a Norse word”.

Page 244: “tall” has been changed to “tail” in “To safeguard a child from the infection of measles, place it on the back of a donkey, facing the animal’s tail ...”.

The page headings from the original book have been transcribed as side notes, e.g. [Sidenote: _Popular Meteorology_], and are normally shown at the start of the paragraph in which they occur, but occasionally after a quotation from a poem. The use of quotation marks in these page headings does not appear to be consistent, however they have not been changed. In some cases the left-hand page heading represents a division of a chapter (e.g. “Accidence”), and the right-hand page heading a sub-division (e.g. “Pronouns”), these have been combined with a colon, (e.g. “Accidence: Pronouns”).