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Celtic Dialects;
GAELIC. BRYTHONIC. PICTISH,
AND
Paper read
before
the
Gaelic
31st,
Society of Stirling,
March
1903,
BY
X. D.
IVIACDONAIvD.
/
.*'
STIRLING:
ENEAS MACKAY,
43
MURRAY PLACE.
1903.
CELTIC DIALECTS:
GAELIC, BRYTHONIC, PICTISH.
AND
On Tuesday evening, ISLircb 31st, 1903, in the Y.M.C.A. Rooms, Stirling, under the auspices of
the Stirling Gaelic Society, lli T. D. ISIacDonald
delivered
chair
The a lecture on the Celtic Dialects. was occupied by the Rv. Colin Mackenzie,
briefly
lecturer,
introduced
the
said
tlie
This
not an
still
aibtempfc
to -show
thcUt
various differ-
and which
exist, witihin
svuoh,
ei
and eu
is
of
the
in
Southern Highlands.
The aim
in-
to
show
some
degree
between
tongue,
the two main groups of the Celtic and why a Pictish, or would-be third
group,
need not be counted upon. Who were the Picts, and what was their language?
are questdons that have been the subject of
oarutroversy than
of Soobland.
To-day
it
ds
all
but
unammously
in
tJhe
agreed
tihafc
poasessiOiTi
of thia ooointry
first
on the arrival
tlhe
of
century of
Christian
also equally
however, divided as to
of Celtic
still
wMch
of the
known
lect's
are
a few
who contend
guage
diiatinobively their
and Brythonic
the guage,
ds lost,
Gaelic
all
was
Celtic.
Among who is
few
the latter
Dr
More extreme
still
are a
maintain that the Plots were not a Cekrio race at all. But the idea once held by those latter,
that the Picts were Goths or Teutons,
tirely
is
who
now
en-
is
now
nO'
authority
worth quoting who argues in favour of the nonCeltio extraction of the Piobs, with the single excep-
Professor
Rhys holds
but
i
this
be
left,
withstanding.
He
so-
his views.
Thus
:
Ttocuihotts
alheihhttmnnn
Ihcowew
nehhtonn,
truly a oonglomeraJtion of letters, non-representative
of
in this or
any other
The last word may resemble Gaelic, but as MaoBain truly says, "It is neither Welsh nor any other language under th.e moon," a dictum endorsed by Andrew Lang, when he &ays "It is not
world.
5
These iosoniptiione, says MacBeam, are the oldest monumen'ts of the Gaelic literature, and were out on the stones marking tiie graves of men of the GaeJio and certainly the examples deciphered by race
;
himse'lE
roots *
Piotisjh
Gaelic.
contends that
was not
Irish
MaoBean
them an
and
Wailes,
a ciroum-
itself
be suggestive
of tie close
between the different dialects of the Oelts, whether Gaelic or Brythonic, but MacBcan will
insist that Piotish
still
was not
Gaelic.
gnage
of
to.
The
writer
B. IJohn&tone,
Names
eelf t'he
instructive
to agree with
all
his conclusions
much.
finality
Mr
for
Johnston e
bis
does not
conclusions.
Indeed,
he
invites
and information w^hich may lead to the elucidation of problems, many of which he has touched very tenderly. When one considers that
criticism
Mr
tihe
cent
must have
tion.
It
is
unprejudiced in
* (See
treatment.
few of
liis
derivations of
invites,
He
as I
and diversity
of opanion, in recogni-
a few
of
"that two heads are alternative meanings the plaoe-names do not seem final, our
and
if
my
united conclusions
the solution
may
enalbde a
tlliird
party to see
we
fail to find.
Only
names, I
will
Two Main
Dialects.
Before, however, entering into details of the placeI aA onoe repudiate the idea
For
he says
tlhat
language
certainly
"their almost obliterated tongue had some Brythonic, especially Oornish affinities, but on the whole it must have been nearer to Gaeilio," and with this I entirely agree; but further on 'lie says, " Piotish is certainly one of the P. Group, and not one of the K. or G. Group of
Oeltio languages."
If Piotisih
Group
iit
what he calls the K. or G. Group, but w'hait is more oommonjly called the C. or G. and Q Group, as will be explained later on. The difficulty of the situation arises entirely from
refusing to recognise the fadt tihat Picitish contained
tlie
Brythonic,
the
mardh northwards.
Pursu-
fcinot
ia
like pur-
suing a piiantom
I believe
it,
give
it
tie
and the Brytlionio, and tihat all our Celtic place-names can be traced to one or other of these two, and a great deal of mysticism and consequent
conjecture will be avoidable.
Latin
Tongue.
Diuring the
wlhile
Roman
official and written language, waa sitill the_spoken language of tlie natives, and we have ample evidence that Roman-Britain contained a large native elemenit in its population, and also itihat itihas native element w^as not on
Celtic
unfelt force in
the
land.
"The
our
Britona," says
army with recruits, pay their taxes without a murmur, and perform all the ser\-ice of Government with alacrity,
pression.
Tacitus,
"willingly supjJy
provided they have no reason to complain of opWhen injured tlieir resentment is quick, sudden, and impatient; they are conquered, not
spirit
broken; they
may be reduced
to obedience,
not to slavery."
sometimes too
is
easily,
but
not be driven.
There
thus evidence of a
Romans
the
When
Ramans
as
come
was their wont, both before and after this event, burning and slaying all before them, they came to an extent at the invitation of the Roman-Britons, to aid them in the defence of their country from
the inroads of their erstwhile kindred,
the Piota
and Sooits of North Britain, w^ho, not having endured the unnerving influence of a foreign yoke,
as their kin in the
South
had
8 and mora untlhe manners, ousitoms, and even tihe language of the Romano-Celts miisit have undergone conaideraWe changes. Ob the advent of the Saxons, in the guise thus described, mixing and iTiter-marrying with the naitdves would immediately become prevalent, and ailthough, when the Saxoms began to make themselves the mastens imsitead of the allie ol tihe Romano-Britans, the more independemt, and ]>erhap9 the more civiwilder, ibardiier,
settled dispo'sitiion.
Romans, were of a
In the mearatdme,
and cultured of tlh latter, sought a safer asylum among tJhe glens and mountains of Wales, it is reasonable to assiune that a goodly -number found their way northwards as well, thus bringing
lised
on
and even the langiiage of tihe Piots. But even then ifc is safe to assume, and it need mot be mere assumption, tlhiftt a very large proportion of the Romano-Britons remained on fhe soil, and initer-married with the Saxons. The Saxons who invaded England were admittedly the most primitive of their race, and their language was noit adequate toi give expreaision to the ideas and the requirements of a more ladvanced and a more cultured people, such as tihe Romano-Britona undoubtedly were. It is computed that not one-half of the
Saxoii Ohronicle, limited as
it
is,
language of
tlhe
survives in the
it
would
oertaiinly surprise
the average Englishman were he to realise the proBriitisih words that go to make up the Anglo-Saxon tongue. Filibustering expesuah as hroug'ht the Saxons to our shores,
ditions,
would not be accompanied by wives and daughters in proportionate numbers, and it is only reasonable
to assxime
thart;
tihe
defioienoy
would be largely
if
not entirely
of the
made up by
their children
This fact
is
"
9
tone,
eajrly
when lie
English
describes
i.e.,
some words
as being either
Old Saxon
or Celtic.
The two
with Celtio roots or semiblaiioes are found in old Saxon, the infereuco need scarcely be a matter of
conjecture.
"The German,"
dine or
" could
only
never
eat.
he
dine
law,
could
He
Ihe
learned
sup
as
learned
comfort,
and and
The Germaa had no meats, be had only flesh; he knew notihiug of beef, or mutton, or pork.
Norman - French.
terms, however, were got, I from the Norman-French', who during many years supplaced the Saxons as tlie ruling race. Their language was tihe language of the Court, arnd of the nobility, and in tihe different circumstances under which bhey gained their footing it may eafeJy be asserted that during the period of the Norman ascendancy the Saxon race and the Saxon language would be relegated to a position below that to wlhich the race and tlie language of the Romano-Britons had previously been relegated by the Saxons. The Saxons, wihen they first came
latter
These
suspect,
to
tlhis
mals had nothing to learn from the Saxona. Ultimaitely the Saxon element, or the so-called Saxon
elemetnt, regained their supremacy, yet to this
tihe
bluest blood in
England claims
to be
day Norman.
Norman
blood.
is
not in
Ihis
Norman
leatlher
10
cooiiKtry. Thus, by acoidents, incidental to tli ohanging soenes of changing years, a name gains
eminence, and a
name
is lost.
T'Jie
Ceit
is
lost in
England.
he has
is
hiia
England the
G-aeldo lan-
guage explains topographicaily nomenclature more extensively than tlie Oymrio. Nearly all the enduring objects of nature, mountains, hills, lakes, and
only in some Celtic dialect."* Proof positive that the native element remained
rivers, are siignifioarat
after the
Norman.
advent of the Roman, the Saxon, and the In Scotland, did suoh as argue the non-
have their way, the Celt would be lost here also. Happily, suoh a gospel ia no longer preached, Professior Rhys excepted.
Oeltio descent of the Picts
"Qoidelic,"
"Qwyddyl,"
and "Qwyddyl
Ffichtic
"Modern
tribe in
who
in
than Gaels,
one or other
Soots,
Piots,
and
Britons
distin-
when referring to them, by a qualifying adjective. The tribal or provinoial names applied to tihem by olassioajl writers do not mean a different race. Rhys excepted, all authorities now agree that all three belonged to the same parent stock, the Celtic. It is true that Dr Macguished
tihe
other two,
tlhat
As
all
Celtic dia-
11
leols
sbook,
tihe
same paremt
a time
when they
were
ment, and when the differences that now exist were not at aill so acute, it seems like splitting atraws
to insist thait
"Alas, that
it
of the Piots,
fierce FingaJllians,
That thou
says Ossdan.
gailians kin,
This makea the Picts and the Finand no one will assert that the Finwrites of the British and
Piotish
Oamden
tongues as alike.
Gaelic.
Buohanan says he was conversant that it was with the Piotish of Galloway, and
historian,
calls
the
Galloway Scots who fought at the Battle of the Standard, A.D. 1138, Picts, and in no part of Scotland is the topographical amd other available evidemoe so strong in support of their Gaelic exitraotdon, tihat is, when the umnistakably Danish element is elimiinated. Enmenius, in a panegyric on the Emperor Constaotine, uses the phrase " Caledonians and other Piots," thus showing that the
one,
and
embraced
The
the
good reasons, they were newcomers at a time when Romans were already in the country. After all, there is no difference between Celtic and Gaelic. The former is a word of Greek origin, and the latter a word of Latin origin, both meaning the same thiing. There is no one branch of the race that lays any distinotive claim to the term Celtic, although the term Gaelic has been narrowed down so as to apply only to ooie out of the two great groups into which the race is popularly divided, the
12
Gr.
and Q. Group
a/iid
the P. Group.
Theae groups
C. or G.
and Q.
Group'^-Sootfcisli Gaelic.
Inish do.
Manx
P. Group
do.
Welsh.
Oornisb.
Armor io.
Beitween
tiie
Group
tihere is
languages,
'but
a differemt
dififerent
orthography, a difference in
and makes it necessary for spoken sentences to be compared word for word before the Albanmaoh, tlie Eirinnaoh, and
proimiuoiatdon,
the
anoibher.
The
relative positions of
P.
Group
are very
much the
so near.
eenltative of tihe
may
Welsh as representative ol the P. Group, and compare the general affinities of tihe two groups. I give a list of Gaelic and Welsli
be
tlie jjurer;
words in
lents
parallel columns,
wifcli
after eacli.
Gaelic and
Welsh words
to-day,
have
slightly
stiLU
different
meanings
although
near
in
enoug'h to sihow that the roots are identical. There are other columns where the only difference
is
the initial
letter.
initial
to
the
or vice-versa,
idenitical,
and
keep-
mind the
and Welsh alphabets, particoilarly the sounds represented by the don.ble ff's, dd's, and ll's in Welsh, and the bh and mh and adih, agh, &o., in Gaelic.
15
IDENTICAL ROOTS.
Gaelic
English.
of
Welsh.
English.
Aber
Acreth
cvith
chaol
A tionail
Tionail
waters Shaking, trembling The narrow, the strait or kyle Narrow, lean
Confluence of waters
Trembling
Achul
Narrow, lean
The
tie
Achwlwn
AdgjTiull
Tie
Collect again
Tie Collecting
Collect,
Aidmheil
gather Creed,
religion
Addaladwy
Aer
Adorable,
divine Slaughter, battle
Ar
Abhuinn or
Battle
River
Afon
,
River
Ambainn Eag
Lach
Ag
Alarch
Allt
An opening,
AUt
Aintn
A swan A cliff
Name
Animal Ploughed
land Clamorous,
noisy
Silver
cleft
Name
Animal Ploughed
land Arrogance,
pride
Silver
Enwan
Anifel
Ainmhidh
Ar
Ardan
Airgiod Araichdeil
Ar
Ardan
Arian Aruchel
Bata
Bat'-fhear
^ (properly
Important A boat
A boatman
Break,
fracture
Bad Badwr
Breg
A boatman
Rupture,
fissure
Cam
Canntaireaclid
Crooked
Cam
Cann
Crooked
Humming,
chanting
Say, sing, express
To
sing
Can
Cearbach
Cam
Carnach
Cairdeil
Clumsy A heap
of
Carbwl Carn
Clumsy
stones Full of earns Carnedd or Caims, stony Friendly, Cariadol kind, con-
A heap A heap
of
stones
Loving, endearing
Picture,
nected
Dealbh
Picture,
Delw
Deas
image
Order, rule
14
IDENTICAL ROOTS
Gaelic.
(Continued).
Welsh.
English.
English.
Gun-bhlas
Di.bhlas
Dun
Diot
Without taste Diflaa Wanting taste Hill, fort, or Din heap A meal Diod
1
Tasteless
Hill, fort, or
Deoch
Direach
heap
drink
drink Straight
Diwyr
Straight
(An)de Dul
Draighionn
Draighion-
A loop
Yesterday
Doe
Doli Dreiniog
Thorns Thorny
A loop Prickles
Thorny
Yesterday
Dreinach
nach Drisan
Dubh
(pron.
Brambles Black
Black pool
Drysn
Du
Dulyn
Brambles Black
Black water
Doo) Dubb-linne
Domhan
Deep
1
Dwfn
Deep
Fist Rule, order
Dom
(pron.
DoynJ
Fist
Dwrn
Doigh
Dwy Dwy
Dychan
Da
Deuchainn
>Duin'
Two
Distress,
Two
Groan
misery
Man
Between us.
Dyn
Eddrin
to
Man
Whispering
Jealousy
Eadar-fhuinn
(pron.
unknown
others
Ederin)
Ead
Earran
lasg
Border
portion Fish
Eog
Erbarch
Salmon
Respect, deference
Erbach
Caise
Trustworthy
Cheese Going away
Caws
Ffoad
Cheese
Falbh
Fosgladh
Running
away
opening
Fospan
A breach,
\ lolence
Fearg Fuighleach
Anger
Refuse (n) Taking
Gabhal
Gap
Gaing Galar
An
a
aperture.
cleft
Gag
Gaing Galar
An aperture.
Gairm Garbh
Glaimh Glan
Glas
Glassan Gaorr
A wedge
Mourning,
grief
cleft
Garm
Garw
Glaif
A
A
shout, an out-cry
Rough
Rough, a tor
rent
sword
sword
verdancy
greyling
Glan Glas
Glassan Gorddi
Clean
Blue,
A greyling
To gore
To impel
15
IDENTICAL ROOTS
Gaelic.
(Continued).
Welsh.
English.
Foolish,
English.
Frantic,
G orach
Grad
Greinachal
mad
Quick, hasty
Sun-shiny,
Gorwyllt Graid
Gwreichionol
mad
Ardency,
vehemence
Sparkling
Girl,
sunny
Og-nighean
Cuilein
Young
girl
Hogen
Cel>-n
damsel Hollywood
Chariot
Generate
Craft
Cu
Clagh
Goirid
A A
Go
dog
burying
place
Claddfa
A dog A burying
place
Short
Coraidd
Dwarfish
Approxima-
Cu
Cul Cul Cuole
Approximation
Cu
or
tion
Cul Caol
A corner A strait,
narrow Love Dogs
Narrowness
strait
Gaol
Love
Con
Cuachtach
lorguill
Cwn
Cwta
ladedd
Isaad
Isel
Dogs
Short Rage, grieviousn6ss Rendering
Stumpy
quarrel
Islead
Iseal
Liath
Llai
Lann
Leughadh Leathad
sword, a blade
Llain
blade
Reading
Width, breadth
Lleain
To read
Width, breadth A naked man A She Fox
Lied
Ll>nnan
Lomanachd
Madadh
Madadhruadh
Maden
Math Marbh
Mellis
Good Dead
Sweet Sea
Mad Marw
Melys
Good Dead
Sweet Sea
Muir
Og
Beith
Young
Birch
Mor Og Bedw
Youth
Birch
Mac
Son
Mab
or
Map
Son
Addysg
Elach Ceinach
Instruction A fellow
Giomach Caoimhneas
Deir
Lobster
Lobster
Kindness
Say, afHrm
Hyneas Ger
Gres
Kindness
An
utterance,
aery
Teas
Oriosacb
Heat
Fire embers
What Ls warm
16
English.
Welsh.
English.
Sgread Uir
Seilg-cu
A scream
New, fresh Hunting dog A Hare
Of fluent
utterance
Gryd
scream
hare
Gwyr
Helgi Ceinnach Ffraethaidd
Ffraethder
Pure, fresh
Hunting dog
Maigheach
Briatharach
Of fluent
utterance A speaker
Briathardar Coiinhead
Seall Ciall Ciall
A speaker
Look Look Reason
Understanding
Gwedd
Syllu
Dwl
Dyall
Banail
Maidenly,
Cynwyl
Modest
Welt
Cautiously
modest
Bait Feachaileach
Fiar or feur
"VVelt
Cautiously
Hay, grass
Hay
Feeble, faint Shelter
Fann
Fasgadh
Fiarachd Fear
Paisg
Fearail
Weak,
faint
Gwan
Gwasgod
Gweiriad
Shelter
Gwr
Gwasgu
Gwrol Llamag
Manly
Manly
Stride, step
Oamag
stride,
step
These Gaelic and Welsh, words of evident identibe multiplied threefold. It is not contended that all of them are pure Celtic, far from it. A large percentage are admittedly from Latin roots, but this percentage was adopted by the Celtic at so early a period, and without any
Saxon
influences, that their afSnities in their Celtic garbs are equally applicable in illustrating the
aflBnities of
We
know
that the
Roman
auxiliary troops in
Britain
Belgians, Germans, Batavians, and Spaniards, and it is possible to conceive of many words belonging to all of these becoming common among the Romano-Britons, while a hybrid Latin vocabulary would doubtless
included
Gauls,
be
general.
Subsequently,
to
when
over
the the
Saxons
began
domineer
Pagan Romano-
17
Britons,
tlie
own
elsewhere.
their
The great majority doubtless found way to the more convenient fastnesses of
hemmed
in in Cornwall,
but a considerable number must have come northwards, bringing with them the useful arts, the manners, and the customs learned from the
Romans. Such arrivals would enrich the civilisation and the language of the Picts, and the Pagan Saxons would be all the poorer in losing them. Thus separated, and anything like continued intercourse
dialects
would
would undoubtedly be
among the Celts of Wales and Cornwall than among their kindi-ed in Pictavia. We know that such was the condition of matters among the Saxons when they were overcome by the Normans. Not only did the nobles of the
Saxon race seek asylums
in Scotland, but
a large
and
found homes in the Scoto-Pictish kingdom. Simeon of Durham gives us ample evidence of this when he tells us that "when Malcolm harassed the English borders in support of the Saxon claims,
so
many Saxon
to this day the kingdom was stocked with English men and maidservants,
of the Scottish
King that
so that there
is
where they are not to be found." Similar conditions must have existed among the Picts, first, at the time of the Roman Conquest, and again at the time of the Saxon Conquest of South Britain. Is it any wonder, then, that the language of the Picts
should contain non-Gaelic elements, that
it
should
18
differ
from that
when
made
their
appearance on the shores of Old Argyle and founded their kingdom of Dalriada?
The
general
idea
is
by the succeeding waves of other races that were following in its wake westwards, and it may be reasonably assumed that the Picts, under whatever name they were then known, found their way into South Britain much about the same time, gradually spreading themselves to the extreme north, and to the islands of Ultima Thule beyond. It would be about a thousand years after this when the Celts of ancient Caledonia and the Celts of ancient Scotia (latterly Erin, or Ireland) found themselves again in contact with one another. There is no evidence that there was at any time much intercourse between these kindred races during these thousand years. It is not conceivable that the language, customs, and manners of these people could be exactly the same as they were when they parted, say a thousand years before, on
to sea
public
life
and
manners
but he says,
that
re-
the
The
When
that
Iberians.
whenever
sup-
the
may
have
been,
it
is
generally
19
them, the supposed Iberians. There would doubtbe intermarrying, although more in the way
less
of taking than giving. It would be the stranger taking and marrying the native's daughter, not the stranger's daughter manying the native's son.
Thus would
through the Iberian mothers of the Pictish children. Hence the supposed stratum of the preCeltic element in the Gaelic of to-day.
If,
then, there
is
still
a perceptible element
in
it
came
is
it
in contact
more than a few hjqjothetical words existing of a language that must have been in full vigour less
than a thousand years ago, a language existed at all.
if
we grant
that such
Welsh Designation
In the Welsh Records
of the Picts.
Picts
the
are
called
Gwyddyl Ffichtic. MacBean says that the word Gwyddyl means nothing, but had the Welsh Records called them Ffichtic without the Gwyddyl doubtless MacBain would have made a very strong
point of the omission.
Besides, there is every reason to suppose that the Welsh learnt the term
Ffichtic from Roman sources, or in any case through sources influenced by the Romans. It was not a native teim. The Scots, when they arrived on the coast of Argyleshire, called themselves Gael ; subsequently the mixture of Scots and Norse in the Western Isles came to be known as
first
known as the Dubh-Ghaels, came latterly to be known under the same name Gall-Gaels; hence
the
years
term
after
Galloway.
the
It
was
of
close
founding
the
20
King
government was removed from Dalriada to Pictavia, and the palladium of the Scots, their Stone of Destiny, was removed from Dunstaffnage, Kenneth also removed the Argyle, to Scone. venerated relics of Saint Columba from lona to a church which he built for the purpose at Dunkeld,
and thus attested his zeal for the now professed by Scot and Pict.
faith that
was
Indeed, most
subsequent references make mention of Kenneth as King of the Picts, although he was in reality the
King
of
the
Scots,
who
The Picts
the Scot.
are
still
by Kenneth mentioned by Nenius, the English historian, who wrote shortly after the union of the Picts and the Scots, and a few years also by Asser, the after the death of Kenneth biographer of Alfred the Great of England, who wrote nearly half-a-century after the union. In like manner they are mentioned by the Saxon Chronicle, and by Ethelward and Ingulphus in
They are
the tenth
and eleventh
centuries
surely
sufficient
con-
Common
common
traditions,
a common language
the
two peoples
a,
a century
later
name
The Caledonians
before them
it
;
21
remained.
In
the
Charters
is
of
I\Ialcolin
and
is
made
of the different
not
among them.
(NormanFrench), English (of the south-eastern counties the Lothians), Scots, Galwegians, and Welsh (the Britons of Strathclyde). It is also on record that during the reign of Iklalcolm none of the clergy
could understand the Saxon tongue, their language It is admitted that the Picts had waa Gaelic. adopted Christianity before their union with the
Scots.
It is inconceivable, had they spoken a language other than Gaelic, it could have so mysteriously Consider the habits of the times. disappeared.
Their
manners and tribal patriarchal did not lead to much intercourse with government strangers, or -with the various districts among
simple
themselves.
They could not be supplied within themselves. had fish from the rivers and the sea, and on the
they had game from the woods and hills coast and they had their cattle in the valleys. How could their language possibly disappear so suddenly and
; ;
so silently?
turies past.
case of the Gaelic for cenSuccessive Governments of Scotland and Great Britain endeavoured to weaken the
Take the
Gaelic sentiment of the country by promulgating laws against the Gaelic language and the High-
land
dress.
The Lords
all
of
Council,
in
1616,
ordained "That
the children of the ffighland Chiefs who were over nine years of age were to be sent to schools in the Lowlands, to learn to read,
write,
and
spell
not been so instructed should be excluded from their inheritance." My Lords expressed the desire that by such measures the Gaelic
children
who bad
abolished
and
removed."
The same antagonistic spirit towards the native language and the native sentiment has been alive
22
ever since.
An
English education
;
and
it is also
a necessity
thought fashionable (although, thanks to the Celtic revival, a knowledge of Gaelic is now considered an accomplishment), but the Gaelic has not died cer;
tainly
it is less
pearance
it will
Yet
the
we
tinctive
and
that
under
time.
Gaelic
little
was
the
itself attaclced
more than a
union
of
couple
Picts
of
centuries
after
the
and
the
Scots,
of
English
Court,
having
become
Avas
the
language
the
to
and
Gaelic
henceforth
unable
SmaU
Gaelic
exclusively Gaelic-speaking.
is
Public and
compulsoiy education
mercial transactions
com-
outside
their
own
is
districts
must be
Gaelic,
in English.
But
divine worship
conducted in
exclu-
The
Hebrides,
and
At one time nothing but Norse could have been spoken in the Hebrides for upwards of four hundred years, and although it was subsequently
Norse place-names still by about three Norse to one Gaelic in Lewis, to about two Norse to three Gaelic in farther South Islay.
floui-ish
The
Gaul
still re-
23
main in abundance, although the spoken language must have been superseded for upwards of two place-names years. Celtic remain thousand scattered all over England and the Lothians, although the spoken Celtic language must have been superseded for more than fifteen hundred years. Little more than a thousand years have elapsed since Pictish, did it ever exist, must have been in the full vigour of its vitality, yet only a few hypothetical place-names can be pointed to as probable remnants of its existence.
The Languas:es
of the
Church
in
Pictavia.
MacBean
tries to
make much
of his contention
that the Scots forced their language on the Picts because theirs was the language of the Court and
the Church, but it could not be the language of the Church in Pictavia, as the Picts had adopted
Christianity long before their union with the Scots.
ross,
Saint Ternan, a Culdee and a Pict, bred in Culwas ordained by St Palladius in a.d. 455.*
the
assistant
his
He was
the
latter
and
during
life-time,
companion and
of his
successor afterwards.
He became known
Archbishop
they had a Pictish clergy then they must have been numerous in King Kenneth's time, too numerous for that shrewd monarch to replace them wholesale
by
Scots.
would be
[*Ant.
of
Spalding
Club
the shires of Aberdeen and Banff, Pub., vol. ii. p. 52; King's
Kallendar, 1588.]
24
favoured, but that would be a slow process, which would take centuries before it could influence the language of the Picts, were there any such langu-
age to be influenced. While it is recorded that St Columba required an interpreter on two occasions among the Picts, a fact already commented upon, it is nowhere recorded that the Scoto-Irishman, St Palladius, at any time required an interpreter Frein the course of his labours among them. quent references is made in Charters of the 11th and 12th centuries to the religious houses, the abbots and the monks of Pictavia, but never a hint
as to their having at
The Druidical remains in the Parish of language. Deer, Aberdeenshire, were knoAvn among the natives in days of old aa "the houses of the
Plots," and there
is
was a
change in religion between the occupants of these temples and the first Christian community in the ancient and venerable Monastery of Deer.
Bede.
Bede, a.d, 731, makes mention of four nations,
Britons, Picts, Scots,
adda a
truth."
fifth,
Latin,
The same could be said of the Christian Church in the Highkinds and in Ireland to-day, but it would be wrong to call the Gaelic of Alba, and the Gaelic of Erin two different languages, yet an Irishman would require an interpreter in the Highlands to-day just as St Columba required one
says,
Professor Meyer among the Picts, a.d. 565. and Dr MacBain agrees with him, "That no
soil
except in a boat
This
it is
may
be quite
as
is
of the Dalriadic
Kingdom, but
25
I
believe, the
the Britons.
Adamnan.
There is an evasion of awkward but pertinent argument in the manner in which Dr MacBain glosses over Adamnan's silence regarding the existence of a Pictish language. "Adamnan," he says, "did not require to mention it, -oTiting for people who knew that Pictish was different from Irish." Just so, but if Adamnan had mentioned
it,
proof postive of
his
To argue
from
(Adamnan's) silence is going too far. Onlytwo words of what are supposed to be Pictish are recorded anywhere, one of these, Peanfahel, is
the other, Cartit, is menmentioned by Bede tioned by Cormac of Cashel. But even MacBain admits that Pean may be a corruption of the Welsh Penn, Gaelic Cenn (Anglicised Kin), mean;
may
be allied to Gaelic
Welsh gwawl, meaning a rampart. Cartit, Cormac writes of as meaning a pin or a brooch, and Stoke compares it with the old Welsh garthon. "The P in Mons Grapius," MacBean says, "argues a non-Gaelic root, and in favour of its Picto-Britonic character." But why not Britonic without the Picto, and is not Mons Grapius after
all
I do not bePict.
lieve it
of
by a
As
of have already maintained, Pictavia became necessity the asylum for speakers of every Celtic dialect spoken in Britain, native and corrupt.
The So-called
J^IacBean admits
Pictish
Pictish Prefixes.
to be
many names
common
to
and
Irish.
of nature,
Pictavia,
are
the high mountains and the rivers of more akin to Gaelic than to
26
There are many Celtic place-namea names of crofts and smail townships, and they are Gaelic, not Brythonic and in the days when Celts were there, the Scots v^ere not heard of those Celts were Picts, and euch traces as they have left behind them are Gaelic. The prefixes "Mel," as in Mel Fea, a hill 1061 feet high, and Mull Head; "Mon," as
Brythonic.
still
in the Orkneys,
and
Monivey
;
'
'
Tor,
' '
as
Torness
the
unmistakable
tautology in
of
"Row Head," a point of the Island Hoy, and "Ruecoe;" then there are "Lochs," "Bals, " "Straths," "Ti-es," "Coils," and a "Craig" or two as prefixes, all descriptive in the
Gaelic
of
name, yet no Gaels set sail from Ireland. All th'e Celts who were there were Picts. There is still a "Plot's Well" in Orkney, and a "Pict's Ness" in Shetland, memorials of their predominance of old.
the places they
arrived there in
a boat that
It is also significant that in nearly all the few place-names for which a Pictish element is claimed,
prefix
or suffix
as:
is
said to be Pictish.
Pettendreich. Fettercairn.
Fettei-near. &c., &c.
Would
if
it
a foreign element were to be wedded to the native in a place-name, such foreign element would form the prefix or suffix tacked on to tie native stem. But here we are asked to believe that the so-called foreign element forms the stem, and that the native
Pictisli is represented
by the
the
prefix only.
The
fugitives
from
various
tribes
who
27
doubtlesa found refuge in Pictavia at the time of Roman Conquest would have a fellow-feeling
the
with the northern natives born of the fact that they were pursued by a common enemy, and they would thus more readily blend than would be possible for Pict and Scot when they were being amalgamated. The latter would have tribal jealousy,
the
memory
mon
religion,
new
in its fervour
their
common
manners and customs could have rendered it at all possible for them to have become blended into one people in what could not have been more than
two, or at most three generations. A nation doea not lose its identity or its name without a struggle
and a lengthy
is no evidence and death struggle between Pict and Scot, and certainly no lengthy lapse of time went by before they appear in history as one people with a common language, and hav-
life
common knowledge
mouths
for
that a language
of its speakers,
and
there
is
no accoimting
the
if
eccentricities of
the
P was
foreign
it
undoubtedly was,
not so to-day.
instances.
It
is
in
many
bun, root, and tata, the Scottish tattie, it is commonly pronounced puntata and as an extreme instance of localism we find the Skyeman doing away with an initial consonant entirely, and saying am unata. What with Latin, Saxon, and French, and
;
the
many
and perhaps the admitted stratum of distorting and corrupting a primitive, and therefore a not very elastic language, is it any wonder that there are a few words that
the Latin
Iberian influences,
28
bafi3e the derivaitive ingenuity of the etjtaologist?
Such place-names
don,
in
Findon,
Finderne,
Dunross,
Duncow, Dunchidoch, Caunock, Dunsby, Dunsden, Dunyatt, and the innumerable place-names with the prefixes Cal, Cam, Car ; the
CaneAvdon,
river-names Esk, Avon, Dee,
etc.,
from the purely Brjiihonic dialect, and yet we have no account of a boat-load of Gaels having at any time arrived in England in a boat that set sail Place-names with more of the from Ireland.
Gaelic than of the Brjiihonic element are common even in Wales. These names are so spread over that country that they cannot be attributed to the Colony of Gaels who are said to have made
their
home
in
North Wales
Scottish raids into South Briton after the departure of the Romans.
They
are in
We
clude
will
now
take the
following
Stirlingshire
derivations other
than
in-
Mr
Johnstone.
They do not
Mr
Johnstone's collection
to which alternative meanings could be given, but they are sufficiently numerous to show how very difficult it is to arrive at a definite conclusion with regard to words that have been to a great extent
murdered by Latin and Saxon scribes of old by the clumsy efforts of the Saxon tongue to pronounce Celtic names and in more recent times by the clumsier efforts of the Ordinance Survey scribes to give spellings to Gaelic words in which there is
;
left.
'
29 In the following
stone's book,
all
"The
Allan R.
1187 Strathalun.
Either G. ailean
fair,
"a green
do.
for
meaning "the
river rock."
Allan,
and Han, a
'
meadow, meaning
the
meadow
rock.
tidal ford."
a corruption
of Eillan,
an "island."
Arnotdale and Arnothill (Falkirk). Said to be fr. "earth nut," 1551 ernut, the pig-nut,
foi-merly
shire.
dug up
here.
Cf. 1429
"Amut, "
Fife-
Johnstone.
itself
Ar, while by
battle,
land,
" and dale as a suffix, ; very often a corruption of various Gaelic suffixes with similar sounds, so Arnotdale, may after all
ruption of Ard, "height of
is
1164 Calentare, 1296 1350 Callanter. Falkirk, Polmont, and Muiravon parishes were once called Calatria (e.g., in ^thelred of Rievaux, c. 1145), in the
(Falkirk).
c.
"
30
Irish Annals, Calatliros, said to be Ir. calath ros,
' '
hard wood
'
'
and
this
name
is
often thought
encourage this
an
full
tir,
"wood on
so
the land."
This sounds
G.
awkward;
of
perh.
oailleanaoh
"region, land
caillean.
Johnas
Callander
the
Gaelic
may
article
Torwood,
Mr
Johnstone points out, was originally Coill-an-tor, in A.D. 1140 it was written Keltor, the article
"an" having
then been dropped. The "Kel, " or "Coill" was subsequently translated "wood" but
the "tor" was
it
left in
as
Callander,
Eng.
"wood
Can
of
the
hill."
Croftamie (Balfron).
"croft of the foolish
is
Doubtful.
it
be
woman,"
G. amaid?
Croft
Johnfool,"
stone.
G.
the
"oinseach. "
By
"amaid," ;Mi- Johnstone probably has in his mind the work "aimaideach, " meaning "foolish," but it is no more applicable to a woman than it is to a man. While it is quite true that croft as applied to a small holding of land is an English word, although
it is
now made
Parliament, "Ci-oit, " pron. almost alike, is purely Gaelic, meaning a hump or an eminence, hence Croftamie may or may not be Croit-an-taimhaich, "the resting hump " or it may have been Croit'n;
tamie
would
be
plural of "torn.
'
31
Either fr. old G. ailp "a (Fintry). lump, a protuberance," or ailp "white," or the
Croftalpie
name
albin.
Alpin.
Johnstone.
i.e.,
Croftalpie,
I
and
it
eminence.
1215 Craighorth, 1327 (Stirling). Cragorth, "Hill by the Forth " the f. in 1215 Johnstone. lost by aspiration.
Craigforth
;
The
is
that the
Craig must have had a distinctive name before the term forth was known, just as the Abbey CVaig
Stirling had before there was an abbey there. rock. Abbey Craig, and Craigforth must have had their distinctive names, and it is possible that the
"el"
rock,
fact that
would
I
will attempt
none
in
the
meantime.
Aucheneck (Killearn). G. achadh an ec, "field with the water; " of lochs Eck and Oich. The old Keltic root ec or oc is no longer in use.
Johnstone.
The
root
is still
in use.
We
As
likely,
rivation would be "Achadh-an-each, " abbreviated and pronounced "Ach'an-each, " the horse's field. Compare with the next in Mr Johnstone's list,
viz.
:
Auchengean
Achingein
;
(Falkirk).
1458
pron.
ingavenis,
;
c.
1620 G.
Modern
Auchengayn.
achadh na gamhainn, "field of the yearling cattle;" cf. Auchtergaven the is in form 1458 is the common Eng. plural. Johnstone.
Auchentroig (Buchlyvie).
of the children" G. trogh
1393
;
introig,
"Field
G. troich. Johnstone,
" ;
32
applied to children.
do not know the word "trogh" as Say " Achantreabhaiche, " or "Achadhantreabhaiche, " pron. Achantro-ich,
I confess I
'ploughman's field."
Balgrochan (Lennoxtown and Torrance). 1428 Bargrochan. (G. barr, a height), 1458 Ballingrochane, 1486 Balgrochquenis. Doubtful possibly, "Village of the fork" or "wide
throat,"
G.
glocan,
or
graidhean.
Johnstone.
here,
" Ballachruachan " immediately suggests itself and I have the impression confirmed by the
conical-shaped
or farm of
has
also
and "cruachan, " the hip, also a hence "the township, hamlet, the conical-shaped hill." "Ciuachan" a meaning similar to "guallan,
hill,
"shoulder,"
features.
in
application
to
physiographical
Ballat (Balfron).
Prob.
c.
1350 Buchlat
(cf.
Baldemock),
pion," G.
I
1494
Ballatis,
"Village,"
or
or
"cham-
Johnstone.
many
ca.ses
am
an acquaintance with them to-day might only to mislead, as their appearance, shape, and the situation or first site of not a few of them be quite different to what they were when
got their names, ages ago.
tend
even
may
they
and
is
to the ear,
although I
am
pronunciation, strikes
of course silent),
me
farm,
all).
steading,
"Lang Toon"
(Kirkcaldy).
Branzert (Killeam).
Branert.
33
nasty height,"
breanan,
fr.
brean or breun,
"a
stink,"
and
-ie.
"a
dunghill. "
The
Johnstone.
"Breunach" means a turbulent, indelicate, or immodest female. I presume Mr Johnstone refers to the -word "breunachd, " indelicacy, rottenness,
putridness, but I fail to see
how
it
applies
to
would be more appropriate. G. Braigh, "brae;" an airde, "of the heights," an Eng. rendering would be "The
"Branzert. "
"Braigh-"n-airde, "
nird heights" or "braes.
"
or
word on
this
"Ard"
"Aird"
so frequent in
place-names.
high, but as
"Ard"
it
a noun
is
the horizon
seen,
as an adjective means means a height over which and will not apply to a height
its
equivalent
of
i>art
the
G. "Aird-an-
" the west; " Aird-an-ear, " the east; "Airdin "
" Aird-a-tuath, " the north. Cruachanard " is an adjective, but in "Ard-a-Chruachan" is a noun.
Bonny-Water, so puzzling to Mr Johnstone, would be equally puzzling to the writer were it not for the accidental discovery by him of the name in another form. About two years ago, in the course of a stroll through the Old Churchyard of Lasswade, Midlothian, I saw the tombstone of an erstwhile resident of BonnjTigg, in the same distiict, with the inscription of a date about the first decade of the 17th century. Bonnyrigg was then written Bannockrigg. jMay not our bonny in Bonny^vater have been written the same way,
although allowing that
into
it
softened
bonny much
earlier.
we have
34
But
what
is it?
Bannock, 1215 Banoc, and Bannockbum, sic Keltic ban 1314, but 1494 Bannockysborne. Oc is the same 00, "white, shining stream." root as in Eck and Oich and Bannockburn is a tautology parallel to Ockbrook, Derby. John;
stone.
The root "oc, " meaning "water," is not dewe still have it in the word "Uisge," water and it is questionable whether our modern
fuEct
; ;
"uisge"
is is
word as
scholars.
"oo"
of
our
severely
classical
Although one should not be too dogmatic in such matters, the meaning for Bannockburn given by Mr Johnstone in his earlier work, "The Place-Names of Scotland," is preferable to
the above.
It
is
G.
"Ban,"
white, or glistening
and Gr. Cnoc. Anglicised Knock, and contracted "rock," a hillock or knoll. Thus Bannock Avould mean, the "white," "light-coloured," or "glistening hillock," and the burn running by it would ha the Bannockburn. Eng. et. lit. Whitehill, quite a coimmon place-name. This would give us a Blackhill, a Greenhill, and a Whitehill in what is almost the same neighbourhood. In the immediate vicinity there was the Bannock water (Borniy water), and in almost the siime district
is Fintry, " Fionntrath, " the white, or "glistening strath," giving the same idea, as does
there
also Glenfinnich,
in the county, the white, or "glistening glen," showing this characteristic of the district to have been pretty general.* Another
[*
Since
writing
the
above
have
got
the
"white" characteristic of the district further confirmed by being informed that the present Laurel
Hill, Stirling, in the near neighbourhood, is called
"
"
35
derivation given
is
that the
"Bannock"
in
this
name means
the G. bonnoch, Sc. bannock, an oatmeal cake, and in support of this it is stated that there has been a meal mill on the banks of
since
the
immemorial. But other streams with meal mills on their banks generally take their name from the mill itself, and not from
its
Uannock
time
product.
They
are
all
of
them
"Alt-a-
mhuilans," or "Millburns.
Balfron
above).
a.
1300 Bafrone
Prob.
' '
(?
1503 Buthrane
of.
bail-a-bhron
"village
mourning.
Johnstone.
of
Mr Johnstone would have it do. I believe the "frone" to be a comiption of the Gaelic bhtaon, the gen. of braon, a "drizzling rain," or "rain and
blast.
bh is often replaced in The meaning would be "Rainy town," "Hamlet," or "Farm," the Gaelic "Bal" applies to them all. We have the same word in Lochbraon, Anglicised Lochbroom, meaning "the rainy loch," a very appropriate term. The name would be very applicable to a township in an exposed position on a hillside.
"
Gaelic
The
Anglicised forms by
f.
Canny Rinns
;
(Kilsyth), said to
be "canny" or
"gently-flowing stream."
this
The
"Whitehill" in all old charters and documents. original term may have been "Ban-Chnuic" instead of "Ban-chnoc," which' would mean
not
"whitehill."
wbitehills,
The
Anglicised
form of both would be the same. The plural form would make the name applicable to the district at Bonny krge, embracing the Bannockbum and
Water.]
"
36
tion of Ceann-a-Raon, the
"head"
or
"end
of the
mossy plain," or it may be a dale, or merely a " "Ceann-a-raon" is j)ron. " Ken-a-rinn. field. The s is the Eng. plural, and an interloper. Compare with "Penrhyn" and "Penryn" in Wales and England.
Cringat
Law
(Fintry).
"a mound, a
hill."
the
Gr.
and meaning just the same as "Law" in 0. Eng., "a mound," or "small ridge." Hence Cringate
Law
is
a tautology.
(Fintry).
fr.
Dalhilloch
Perh.
"hilly
field,"
hill.
fr.
G. mheallach
Johnstone.
I
less
suspect
it
to
be
nothing
pron.
'
more
or
than "Dalsheillach,"
"Dalhellach,
and
Mr JohnEng. for willow. Seileach is Gaelic for willow to-day. There is also the G. Sileach, or Silteach, meaning rainy, and it and Seilach form the root or stem of numerous
meaning
' '
willowfield.
is
'
E.
-are.
Prob. "field of
dis-
"shame," G.
nothing
naire.
Johnstone.
of
There
is
more
characteristic
the
almost invariable dropping of the Gaelic article or "an, " and where it is not dropped entirely,
just as invariably corrupted into er or ter.
"a"
it is
is
it seems to me a slight contraction of the Gaelic Darnathair, the "field of the serpent," and I think it a more probable meaning.
Keepthat "Dalnair"
but
"
"
5?
Perh. deagh rod, G. Dechrode (Fintiy). "good, excellent road" or "path." Johnstone.
I confess I feel
that there
is
something unsatis-
"deagh rod" as a derivation for "Dechrode," and I will venture to assume that the article has been dropped here also, and that the original Graelic was "An t-each-rathad. (The D and T, it is commonly known, are interchangeable in the Graelic). This would make it mean "the horse road," and it would also make it not only the good, but the best "road," distinguishing it from some other road, perhaps shorter as a footpath, but not suitable as a pony track, on account of rocks or swamps, or other causes. It is said that there are very few good roads in the
factory with
district.
of Allan).
"Hill of the tribe ^liati," (sic in Adamnan), outliers of the Damuonii cf. Devon. Miati is
prob.
stone.
fr.
W.
meiddio to dare
so Rhys.
John-
The derivation here given is a commonly known and is generally taken for granted. The Uiime, Miati, however, is a mere classical one, at anyrate in this fonn. It is supposed to mean men of the plains, from the G-. "Magh, " plain. But I
one,
think
its
we may take it for granted that the hill got name from the natives, who did not cjiU them-
How would "Dniim-fhad," pronounced Drim-att, suit. I think it more likely than the other. This would mean "the long
selves Miati.
ridge.
Duntreath (Kilsyth).
1497
-treth,
"Hill" or
Johnstone.
I would suggest Dun'srath, pron. Duntrah, the dun " or " fort in the Strath. Duntreath Castle is actually in the strath of the Blane valley, and
' '
'
'
38
the site is believed to have been occupied by a stronghold since time immemorial.
Fintiy.
1238 Fyntrie
cf.
c 1203 Fintrith, a.
of
Fintray,
(G.
fiionn)
Kintore.
"White"
tref,
or "fine
land,"
tir land,
forms of G.
W.
tre,
village,
house.
Johnstone.
"Tir," or "land," is not, to my mind, suitable It would to apply to a small circumscribed spot. be well enough if a county or province were meant, or an island, or the possessions of any Would not particularly mentioned individual. Fionn'srath (the s is silent, pron. "Finn-trah"), the "white" or "light-coloured Strath," be nearer
Hence the common characteristici the mark? throughout the districts of Bannockbure, Bannock Water, Fintiy, and Glenfinnich, all in the county. Dub, found in So from Fouldubs (Falkirk).
1500 onwards, means a stagnant,
Origin unknown.
muddy
pool.
Johnstone.
"A
pholl-dubh, " with the
interloper.
Eng. Blackpool.
Dundaff (Fintry). Sic 1237, 1480 Dundafmure ; and perhaps Chron. lona ann. 692 Duin Deauae. Dee, in If this last then prob. same as R. Ptolemy c 120, Deoua, in G. Deabhadh, which
means
ness."
lit,
Some connect
goddess," and see a reference to river-worship, which certainly existed among the early Kelts.
fr.
G.
dubh
black.
"Dundamb,"
and appropriate,
hill."
pron.
i.e.,
Dundaff,
"the ox"
Faughlin
Bum
(Kilsyth).
Doubtful:
G.
Johnstone.
" "
"Faich-Hon, "
corruption,
an
easy
Gartinavber (Buchanan).
but 1497
and
so the
same as Gamgaber,
Lenzie.
John-
stone.
were not confined to fields (A gart is an enclosed field). Cabair does not necessarily mean deer, and even
I
am
in
those
days.
in their connection
it is
Cabair
couples
is
used aa
houses,
hence Gartanbabair
"Cabars" were
common
use in
forming palings or enclosures around a field. " Gart-an-Cabair " might have had a cabar enclosure round it, hence the name.
Iconkil
(hill,
Balfron).
a corrupt form.
i.e.,
Icolmkill, "island of
lona.
Johnstone.
really Ach-an-coille, "Woodfield.
I
is
am
the
name were
Dochfour, Inverness.
Ceardoch (C hard) meaning "smithy," seems to as simple and as probable a meaning for this name.
me
Gartcows (Falkirk).
ruption.
If
Johnstone.
to
Thia
is
just aa likely
be
" Gartgiubhas,
"
"
"
40
prom.
GartgGoose, i.e., "park with the firs."' Compare with Mr Johnstone's next. Gartfairn (Buchanan). Prob. 1458 -ferin "Park with the
alders," G. feam.
Gartwhinnie
thicket,"
(Plean).
"Enclosiire
with
the
G.
-a-mhuine,
or -a-choinnimh,
(G.
"of
dail
conneamh).
is
But M'Bain
chuinnidh,
'
thinks
Dahvhinnie
G.
which
field.
'
Johnstone.
possibly
means
"narrow
It
may
Inchyra Grange (Pohnont). Perh. fr. Inchyra, Perthshire, 1324 Inchesyreth, G. innis iar or siar, "western meadow;" iar the West. Cf. Abbotsgrange. Johnstone.
be "Innis reidh" the clear (ed), or smooth meadow. "Innis-reidh" may be pron. "Inchray.
This
may
Mye
(Balfron).
Sic.
1510.
Doubtful. John-
Btone.
Is this not a corruption of the better-known Moy, of which there are two in Inverness-.shire, and which is derived from the Gaelic Magh, "a
plain.
Parkfoot
Pont's
and Parkhead
c.
(Falkirk).
Here
in
Map
1620
is
"The
Parck. "Johnstone.
The
trates
what
is
idiom
The
is
an
the
of
Gaelic for "Park." "Am Pairce," The Park; "Geann a Phairce," Parkend " Bailameanach, Middleton, are all township names quite common
;
and in the writer's first recolwere known in no other than their Gaelic forms. To-day their English equivalents
lection they
in the Highlands,
are in use.
"
'
41
instead of Balameanach
Athleathan
to
Redburn instead
Barnhill instead of
to
Lence
and that
all
they
still
May
why
mostly
the
farm names
Kildean
English?
(Stirling).
' '
of refuge.
Johnstone.
Kildean
is
or fort.
so situated
or
it
may be
the
"the
.side
sheltered
from
weather.
Geographer of Ravenna, Cindocellun fr. G. ceann "head, height." c 850 Bk, Lecan, Sliab Nochel, G. sliabh, a hill 1461 Oychellis. In France near the modem Besancon, and in two places in the W. of Spain were hill-ranges called by the Romans, Ocellum, evidently the same Keltic root, cognate with old Ir. achil, W. uchel "high." Cf. Achilty, StrothpefiFer, Auchelchanzie, Ci'ieff, and Glen
Ochils.
i.e.,
cind ochil,
Ogle.
Johnstone.
is
There
(modern
' '
for
'
and uachdar, over, "the top of;" and iochdar, "under." "the bottom of " iochdaran, an "underling " and hence
;
;
There
is
also G.
be a corruption and a contraction of Uchdishilteach, the rainy uplands, or heights, appropriately de-
42
scriptive of the range of the Ochils.
The Saxons'
plural
of
the
is
reminded
of another of the so-called sign-manuals of Piotish, the prefix Auchter, already briefly referred viz.
:
to,
Ochils.
Auohtertyre,
known
face,
' '
to
the natives
of
as
the
Uchd-a-fhrith-reidh,
cleared
"the
forest.
or ascent
or
level
Here
we have
corrupted the
article
"a"
Auchter.
In
many
cases,
however,
"Auchter" is a corruption of Uachdar, meaning "the upper," or "the tops of," equivalent to the "uppers" and the "uplands" so frequent in placenames in England. Auchter may be either the G. Uachdar, "up" or "upper," or /the G. lochdar, "low," "lower," or "nether," all common
English prefixes.
ia
no reason to suppose tkxt Auchter belongs to' a There is no non-Gaelic element lost language.
attached to
it.
There is still another of the so-called signmanuels of Pictish mentioned by Mr Johnstone which I have not commented upon. This is the "Fetter," as in Fettercairn, Fetternear, etc. Fetter, according to pro-Pictish writers, means, like pette, "a bit of land. " This is surely a most
unsatisfactory meaning.
line of prose or poetrj' If Pictish
it,
has not
left
behind
How
"a
of
has
bit of
it been land?"
an invarying characteristic
place-names
"A
bit of
is
land"
is
nondescriptive
any
sense.
There
word Feithir
or Fothir,
and, as
Mr
Johnstone acknowledges,
"
43
Pettercairn
is
document of the 10th century, as "Fotherkem. I would suggest Feithir and not Fothir, as the modern form, and the meaning I believe to be from the two Gaelic words feith, "a swamp," and tir, "land," the latter aspirated in the gen. to thir. Thus Feith-thir (the t's are silent), contracted into Feithir, which answers the pronunciation just as well, and which means " swamp -land. " This would be descriptive, and most likely descriptive of the low country on the east coast in the time of the Picts. It would answer to the "Fens" in England. Fettercaim would thus mean, "the swamp-land of the cairn." This I take to be a more probable as well as a most appropriate meaning, and it has no lost language, Pictish, or other,
about
it.
Pendreich
dreich,
(Bridge
of
Allan).
1288
G.
PentenPitte-naCf.
1503
Pettyn-.
Pictish
droieh,
the
surname
stone.
and
Bantaskin.
John-
Yet another
of
the
so-called
sign-manuals of
which this Pen is bu,t a coiTuption. It is an admitted fact that the B. and 0. of the Gaelic are invariably replaced by the P. in the Brythonic or Brittonic. This being so,
Pictish, the pit or pette, of
Pictish Gaelic
numerous instances.
Gaelic
"
44
fi.,
and we have
or a very high
hill
hence, whereas
we have
Pettecoulter in Pictavia,
;
we have Biod
in Pictavia,
a Choltraiche in Dalriada
Piteairn
;
Pitand Biod-a-Charn in Dalriada caple in Pitavia, and Biod-a-Chabeil in Dalriada, and so, for every Pette or Pit in the east, you Penwill find a corresponding Biod in the west.
dreich,
dreich,
therefore,
which was
originally
Petten-
may be
Powfoulis
1483.
(S.
of the
like
Pow Bum,
Airth).
Sic
a curious tautology. Pow is the Sc. softening of G. poll, "a stream, a muddy bum, a pool " and Foulis or Fowlis, which occurs as a place-name in Easter Ross and near Cl-ieff, looks like G. phuill (the aspirated genitive of poll) with the common Eng.
Looks
plural.
fodh n
'lios,
Johnstone.
"Poll fodh
'n lios,"
may
which would make it mean, "the pool below the garden. " Pollfaileis also sugguests itself, which would mean "the image pool,"
or
reflection, mirror-like.
Snabhead (Bannockbum).
So. neb.
Johnstone.
Would not
of the entire
be avoided.
name, and thus the tautology would This would mean "the needle," not
an unknown name for natural objects in country places. It would also answer to the same description as Snabhead.
We
45
we do
ing to
not
tJie
know what may have been there answername hundreds of years ago.
(Kilsyth),
c
Tomrawer
cf.
1620
-rawyr.
Prob.
Johnstone.
Tomrawer may be Tomramhar (nih. equivalent to w.), which would mean the thick, fallow, or rich heap, or knoll or it may mean Tomi'abhadair, pron. like the former, and meaning "the beacon knoll," "a lookout;" or it may mean "Tom'n radhadair, " which would mean "the Speakers
;
Tomtain (Kik^ih).
cattle" or "flocks."
G.
tom
tain,
"knoll of the
Johnf?t-one.
This
may mean
"fire."
" There
a Tomatin in Inverness-shire.
Torrance of Campsie. L. toiTens, "a torrent, a burn." Cf. Water of Torrance, Drumblade.
Johnstone.
Torran,
is
hill
"an."
I
The
is
plural
applied to a collection of
small knolls
"na
in
torran,"
Glcnelg,
Eng.
"Torrans. "
;
know
in
one
Inverness-shire
and another
Skye,
near Broadford, both Anglicised "Torrans." Is it not more likelv to have the same meaning in
Stirlingshire,
although
spelt
all
differently?
The
name
is
pretty
common
Tygetshaugh (Dunipace). Local pron. TiggAtshugh. Formerly a roadside inn. Said doubtfully
to
be
corruption
of
G.
tigh-an-deoich,
"house
of the drink."
Johnstone.
at this
name
hugh,
"Tigh-a-ghead-thuigh,"
prou,
46
"the house
on
the
thick
ridge" does not seem quite satisfactory, and perhaps Tigh-a-ghead-dubh, "the house on the black ridge," would be better, although not so near the
If the "hugh" Anglicised phonetic rendering. does mean "deoich, " as Mr Johnstone suggests,
"Gead, " as
has been already explained, is pron. gat-e, and means a bed in a garden, or a small ridge of land.
alternative meanings to have confined myself to such names as I believed to be Gaelic ; but I have not Modem English names exhausted this class.
Mr
early Saxon there need be no question about names axe insignificant in number Roman names do not count at all Norse names in the county are few and doubtful, and I hold that there is not Pictish was such a thing as a Pictish name. Gaelic, strongly influenced by the Brythonic, in the manner aoid for the reasons I have given.
;
ITiese circumstances
certainly led to
the formaIt
tion of
a language.
near enough to the Gaelic of the Gael of Dalriada to be understood by him, after the manner and to the extent that the native Aberdonian
was
still
Easier, indeed, than the Irishman can be understood by the Highlander when speaking in
their native tongues,
albeit
they
be
the
same
language.
The
(Comunn Gaidhlig
President.
Rev.
COLIN MACKENZIE,
Vice-Presidents.
St. Ninians.
Prof.
Rev.
Glasgow.
Bridge of Allan.
CRAWFORD,
Bruce Street,
Stilling.
MACDONALD,
A.
Hon. Treasurer.
J.
GORDON,
Barnton Street,
Stirling.
Hon. Librarian.
ENEAS MACKAY.
Piper.
Pipe-Major
AITKEN, The
of
Castle,
Stirling.
Members
J.
Committee.
MUNRO, Stirling. J. M. MACLUCKIE, Stirling. RONALD WALKER, Stirling. M. DINGWALL, Stirling. Bailie MACEWEN, Stirling. J. S. MACKAY, Stirling.
J.
J.
A.
ERASER, NORRIS,
Stirling. Stirling.
Stirling.
ANGUS SUTHERLAND,
District Representatives.
of Stirling.
Shruidhla.)
..(r2"s*5
Objects, Consfitufiorj,
TITLE.
and
7{utes.
I.The
title
"
The Gaelic
Society of Stirling."
OBJECTS.
II.
The
servation and cultivation of the Gaelic Language, and of the Music, Poetry, Folklore, Literature, and History of Scotland, and the cognizance of all matters
of special interest to the Celtic race.
CONSTITUTION^
III.
The
sectarian,
and
elected in
accordance with
annum
for
for
and sixpence
All
ladies
be payable in advance.
shall
single
constitute a
Life-Member.
desire to cultivate or
PB 1014 SMC
T.
.T55 1903
^HN-8507 (awih)