What's in a name

Both our grandsons have been given names with roots in the Celtic fringe - a payoff from all those family holidays on west coast cliff paths and heather moors. Short, simple, spellable words, but unusual, and with highly personal resonances - no celebs, princes or saints here - these boys summon more ancient spirits. In their etymology they inherit rocky hilltops and alder marshlands. Already, I have visions of them trecking across Scottish bogs and Welsh peaks together - old man's dreams. But names do not confer destiny, no matter how many funny coincidences you encounter; they will pick their own paths

Names can sometimes tell you something, though. I'm not sure, but I think this is a 'yellow slug' (Limacus flavus) - so far, so pedestrian. The rookie toe-in-picture is deliberate - to privide some scale - the nearest thing to hand (if you see what I mean) when I needed something in a hurry in pouring rain. If I'm right, its other names are 'cellar slug' and 'tawny garden slug'. It can live on detritus and mould in cellars but, unlike some large slugs, it is not a predator and not carnivorous. So, when it picks garden life, it will be living on garden vegetation! Definitely not a gardener's friend, then, but nevertheless, it loves living with us, as its names betray

It is usually nocturnal so, although common, it is still a surprise to see one. I think it had come out to celebrate and relish the rain, as boys of the mountains and marshes must learn to do