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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
143
As
the
authors
of
"English
Plant
Names"
remark
(Intr.
xv.),
many
north-country
names
are
derived
from
Swedish
and
Danish
sources,
an
interesting
example
occurring
in
the
word
kemps,
a
name
applied
to
the
black
heads
of
the
ribwort
plantain
(Plantago
lanceolata).
The
origin
of
this
name
is
to
be
found
in
the
Danish
kaempe,
a
warrior,
and
the
reason
for
its
being
so
called
is
to
be
found
in
the
game
which
children
in
most
parts
of
the
kingdom
play
with
the
flower-stalks
of
the
plantain,
by
endeavouring
to
knock
off
the
heads
of
each
other's
mimic
weapons.
Again,
as
Mr.
Friend
points
out,
the
birch
would
take
us
back
to
the
primeval
forests
of
India,
and
among
the
multitudinous
instances
of
names
traceable
to
far-off
countries
may
be
mentioned
the
lilac
and
tulip
from
Persia,
the
latter
being
derived
from
thoulyban,
the
word
used
in
Persia
for
a
turban.
Lilac
is
equivalent
to
lilag,
a
Persian
word
signifying
flower,
having
been
introduced
into
Europe
from
that
country
early
in
the
sixteenth
century
by
Busbeck,
a
German
traveller.
But
illustrations
of
this
land
are
sufficient
to
show
from
how
many
countries
our
plant
names
have
been
brought,
and
how
by
degrees
they
have
become
interwoven
into
our
own
language,
their
pronunciation
being
Anglicised
by
English
speakers.
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