\ 7. JJffVZ THE NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND PUBLISHED BV JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, GLASGOW, jpttbliehers to tht ©ntberstig. MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON. New York, • • The Macmillan Co. Toronto \ - - - The Macmillan Co. of Canada. London, • ♦ • Simpkin, Hamilton and Co. Cambridge ', - • Bowes and Bowes. Edinburgh, - • Douglas and Foulis. Sydney, - - - Angus and Robertson. MCMX. THE NORSE INFLUENCE CELTIC SCOTLAND GEORGE HENDERSON ^ M.A.(Edin.), B.Litt. (Jesus Coll., Oxon.), Ph.D. (Vienna) KELLY-MACCALLUM LECTURER IN CELTIC, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW EXAMINER IN SCOTTISH GADHELIC, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON BOSTON COLLEGE LIBRARY CHESTNUT HILI^ MASS. GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY I9IO ON BY Is buaine focal no toic an t-saoghail. A word is 7nore lasting than the world's wealth. * Gadhelic Proverb. ' Lochlannaich is armuinn iad. Norsemen and heroes they. ' Book of the Dean of Lismore.' Lochlannaich threun Toiseach bhur sge"il Sliochd solta o freuvih Mhanuis. Of Norsemen bold Of doughty mould Your line of old from Magnus. ' Mairi inghean Alasdair Ruaidh. '* PREFACE Since ever dwellers on the Continent were first able to navigate the ocean, the isles of Great Britain and Ireland must have been objects which excited their supreme interest. To this we owe in part the com- ing of our own early ancestors to these isles. But while we have histories which inform us of the several historic invasions, they all seem to me to belittle far too much the influence of the Norse Invasions in particular. This error I would fain correct, so far as regards Celtic Scotland. Even in the case of England, — and its language lacks not many competent investigators, — the Norse influence has often been slurred over, and this in spite of the many new words which came in with the Danes and the impetus given by that people, in especial towards the ridding of the old English case-endings. Mr. Bradley in his Making of Eng- lish points out that it is only by the indirect evid- ence of place-names and of modern dialects, that we learn that in some districts of England the popula- tion must have been at one time far more largely Scandinavian than English. Important Scandinavian settlements existed in almost every county north of the Thames : in 1017 vi PREFACE Cnut of Denmark conquered the throne of England, and ' 'his strong rule gave to the country a degree of political unity such as it never had before. Under succeeding kings, — even under the Englishman, Edward the Confessor, — the highest official posts in the kingdom continued to be held by men of Danish origin." English, however, is a much investigated lan- guage. Skeat in his Principles of English Ety- mology devotes a special chapter to the exposition of the Scandian, or properly Scandinavian element ; and there is also a recent treatment of the Scan- dinavian Loan Words in Middle English by Erik Bjorkman. But there is no single accessible volume to render a parallel service to the student of Gadhelic/ — to use an older form of the word Gaelic, — that branch of Celtic which has for so many centuries formed the proper speech of the Highlands of Scotland. The Norse influence here also has been alike overlooked too often and underestimated, although it imparted an impetus which has tended towards making case-endings in several districts at least uncertain, and certainly brought many new words. Not that there has not been investigation. On the contrary when an Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language appeared, some were heard to murmur that its author, the late Dr. Alexander MacBain, derived too many words from the Norse. I would rather add to them. There are some few reciprocal influences likewise between Gadhelic and Old Norse. In the Edda, for instance, Irish geilt 'mad, wild/ becomes gialti; 1 1 Saga- Book of the Viking Club, v. 400. PREFACE vii Gadhelic Idm ' hand,' appears in the Fljotsdaela Saga as Idmr in describing the giant's paws : m standing for the later mh in Gadhelic shows the early date of the loan, and Mr. Colling wood points out that the only other use of the word in Icelandic seems to be in the Edda. 1 Gadhelic cro 'pen,' airigh 'shelling,' are borrowed as Norse krd, aerg. A list of about a score of Icelandic place-names formed on Gadhelic originals has been made by Dr. Stefansson. 2 Some of these contain in part the Old Irish personal names, Brian, Dubhtach, Dubhgus, Colman, Cel- lach, Ciaran, Colcu, Coelan, Mael Curcaigh, Patric. Others, such as Cormac and Faelan, appear in Ice- land as Kormakr, Feilan, while Nfal is immortalized by the Saga of Burnt Njal. Legends too were taken over at times, if we may judge by a legend of Shetland in the Flj6tsdaela Saga, which appears to Mr. Collingwood 3 to be a piece of Celtic folk-lore transplanted into Iceland. Irish Episodes in Ice- landic Literature have been treated of by Miss E. Hull in an interesting paper, and Bugge has elabor- ately expounded the influence of the Westmen upon the Norse. If I cherish the conviction that in the Highlands we have more Norse elements in our making than we may have thought, I do so on a chain of evidence which confirms the fact that this influence has been well absorbed in the richness of Gadhelic speech. Gadhelic, ancient and modern, is exceedingly copious in word-forms, and as rich in its way as any of the speech-groups within the Indo- European family. But it is false to suppose that it shows no external influences : such are found in 1 lb. 273. 2 lb. 293. 3 lb. 272. viii PREFACE every language that has been a medium of thought and life. Highland place and personal names admittedly shew strong Norse influence ; and there are many words in the spoken language that are not in any dictionary, as well as many words for which no derivation has been offered. While giving a re- sume of achieved results, my purpose is to point out further Norse linguistic influence on the Gadhelic vocabulary (especially where words seem difficult of explanation from the native side or have escaped attention), and to unfold the continuation of Norse influence in belief, archaic ritual and literature ; and, by giving an historic picture within brief compass, to introduce the student to a comprehensive survey of facts which persuade that the Norse element is of permanence in Celtic Scotland. For its own sake this influence is well worthy of study. It is a chapter in international history and deserves a connected record. My obligations I record throughout the work. But I must specially acknowledge the great help I have received from the late Dr. MacBain's paper on the Norse Element in the Topography of the Highlands and Isles. 1 In painting a description of an important movement in the national life I could not avoid touching on scenery ; and in that section I have very largely followed his masterly guidance ; supplementing other examples relating to Skye, from his Place-Names of Inverness- shire? with other instances of my own. His Dictionary I 1 Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, vol. xix. pp. 217- 245. 2 lb. vol. xxv. PREFACE ix have used throughout. I have not been forgetful of living sources, and make such additions as seem to me in place. I cite the best witnesses to enable the reader to form an historical judgment from reliable facts. Previous investigation was useful. Professor Mackinnon treated the subject in my student days in a manner to me interesting and fresh. My memory thereof, refreshed from papers quoted, is a pupil's obligation to a master's pains. I was fortunate in having Mr. W. J. Watson's treatment of Norse-Gadhelic phonetics, in his Place- Names of Ross and Cromarty \ which was of great service for the amplified synopsis I append — often quoting his work with some of his examples, so successfully explained, as results already attained. Even if some instances I give provisionally be queried, the total impression will but slightly alter. On the whole, the sound-changes work out with regularity and reveal the mechanism of lingual inter- change with the self-evidencing certainty of law. I thank Mr. J. Maclean, Glasgow, for the Tiree folk-tale, an after-echo, I fancy, of the ' Red Woman ' {An Inghean Ruadh), whom Prof. Bugge believes to have been among the Viking invaders of Ireland ; but perhaps in Innse-Gall a different one. For the use of illustrations, it is my pleasant duty to offer my sincere acknowledgments to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland ; to the Viking Club and to Mr. W. G. Collingwood for the Galley Inscribed Cross at Iona ; to Mr. P. C. Kermode, with per- mission of Messrs. George Allen and Sons, for the Sigurd Slabs at Malew, Jurby and Andreas ; and to the Rev. R. L. Ritchie for the offer of photographs, X PREFACE which I regret I was unable to use. To Mr. James MacLehose I am grateful for his skilful oversight ; and to the Carnegie Trustees I am obliged for a grant in aid of publication. To distinguished predecessors I owe a noble example and more : Dr. Magnus Maclean, who well embodies the influences I portray, and who by, his published Kelly-MacCallum lectures has contributed to a better understanding of Highland letters — a boon to many ; and Dr. Kuno Meyer, from whose works I am ever learning : wer immer strebend sick bemilht y den konnen wir erlosen. My authorities and my obligations must be numerous as the people whose speech has been mine since boyhood. The University, Glasgow, January, 19 10. » CONTENTS PAGE I. The Historic Background - i II. Relics of Scoto-Norse Art - ... 40 III. Scoto-Norse Personal Names 49 IV. Norse Influence in Belief and Ritual - - 66 V. Norse Linguistic Influence - - - 108 The House, Household and Family Life - - 113 Dress and Armour 116 Pasture and Agriculture 117 Peat - - 118 Carpentry 119 Fish and Fishing 121 Birds - - - -122 Animals 130 Time and Measure 131 Government 134 Trees 136 Sea and Ships 136 Scenery (Landscape and Seascape) - - - 149 Miscellaneous 204 xi xii CONTENTS VI. Continuation of Norse Influence on Alba 219 Norse traits in Alex. Macdonald - - - 219 Mac-Codrum 260 Mairi inghean Alasdair Ruaidh - - - - 267 Rob Donn - 268 Alex. Nicolson 270 Livingstone 274 The Lays of the Feinn 275 Traditions 279 The Mock- Weeping 284 The Red-lipped Maiden 288 The Adventures of King Magnus - - - 294 Resume 303 Appendices. Mills with Horizontal Water-Wheels - 311 The Old Name for Dunrobin - - 314 The Fearchar Lighich Tradition- - - 316 An Old-World Rite 319 Door Pillars of Saetersdal - - - - 321 GlLLE-ClNN CHON FHINN 323 An Caoineadh Magaidh 327 Additional Examples of Linguistic Influence 331 Eachdruidh Mhanuis 334 Gadhelic Sounds in Loan-Words from Norse 342 Index 358 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Runic Inscribed Cross, Inchmarnock 24 Galley Inscribed Cross, Iona 32 Runic Inscribed Cross from Barra 40 Runic Inscribed Brooch (Hunterston) 48 Viking Sword from Eigg 56 Sigurd Slab, Malew 64 Sigurd Cross-Slab, Jurby 72 Sigurd Slab, Andreas 80 Church Door, Saetersdal 320 I. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND. " Iochd is Gradh is Fiughantas * 'Nar triuir gur h-e ar n-ainm Clann nan uaislean curamach A choisinn cliu 's gach ball ; 'N uair phaigh an fheile cis do'n Eug 'S a chaidh i-fein air chall Na 'thiomnadh dh' fhag ar n-athair sinn Aig mathaibh Innse-Gall.'" LACHLAN MACKINNON. The designation Innse-Gall 1 for the Hebrides has never died entirely out of popular memory. It means the isles of the stranger or, in this case, of the Norsemen. Such is its meaning in the poem by Lachlan Mackinnon, a Skye bard ; such is its meaning everywhere in Celtic Scotland. I use the term Celtic here to connote the mixed race of Gaidheal and Cruithneach, Scot and Pict, who were in process of being amalgamated by many influences as the Norse were about to emerge upon the coasts of Alba. This latter name of old embraced the whole of Britain, but here I use Scotland as a name not only known to the Norse, but the name in their 1 The depraved spelling Enchegal also occurs. Skene's Celtic Scotland, i. 396. A 2 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND sagas as the term for the Minch, viz. Skotlands- fjord, to distinguish it from Petland or Pentland Firth, the Pictish Firth. The country of the Scots of old was Ireland ; the testimony of Bede would suffice to prove that: haec [Hibernia] autem pro- prie patria Scotorum est. 1 Adamnan in the first preface to the Life of Colum Cille uses the adjective Scotica of his own native language, but this we know was Gadelic or Old Irish, for he was a native of Eriu. With the spread of the Scotic language and people the old kingdom of Albyn made way in history for the kingdom of Scotland, and though the name Alba has never died out it is convenient to use the later name Scotland, as covering the period when the men from Lochlann or Norway descended on our coasts. The influence was so mighty that had the Gaelic language not been one of the most vigorous forms of speech it must have died out ; but the Gaelic people at the time were martial and powerful to an extent that afterwards made the perfervid genius of the Scots proverbial in Europe. But the result of this racial fusion is that the Celtic Scotland of to-day holds a mediating position in point of race and is much better equipped than it otherwise could have been for adapting itself to the requirements of the world. Carlyle once called the Highlanders a Norse breed, and he was in a rough way nearer the truth than many imagine, for, so far as the evidence of names go, there are many Macs that are not purely Gadelic, while there are very many other names with no trace of Mac, or Maol, or Gille, as 1 Hist. EccL i. I. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 3 known in their English form, which yet are as Celtic or Gadelic as they can be. And others which show the Mac have a pre-Gadelic element which reveals the Celtic genius for absorption. What, however, are we to understand by influence ? It may be taken in a wide and vague sense ; then there is a danger of ascribing qualities which are universal — human to a single channel of influence ; the ascription may be correct while the proof may be unclear or elusive. Bugge, for example, in his Norwegian work which won the Nansen prize in 1903, says that the nature-descriptions in the Old English poem of the Sea-Farer have their roots not in Germanic but in Celtic poetry. The elegiac- lyric descriptions of nature in Anglo-Saxon poetry are due to Irish poetry ; he specifies vv. 48-55 of the Old English poem mentioned. The Sea-Farer is the most beautiful of the Old English half-lyric poems, and its character is so unique that competent critics assign it to a poet otherwise unrepresented. Certainly melancholy notes and tender nature-descriptions are not charac- teristic of old Germanic poetry : the cry of the raven and the eagle hovering over the slain would usually be more in keeping with the spirit of their fighters than lines such as these : Bearwas blostmum nimaS, byrig faegriaft, wongas wlitigiaS woruld onetteS : ealle >a gemoniaS modes fusne sefan to siSe, J>am ]>e swa ]?enceft, on flodwegas feorr gewitan. Swylce geac monaS geomran reorde singeS sumeres weard, sorge beodeS bittre in breosthord. 4 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND I.e. Trees rebloom with blossoms ; again the burgs are fair ; winsome the wide plains, the world is gay : all doth but challenge the impassioned heart-courage for the voyage whoso thus bethinks o'er the ocean's surge to sail far off. Each cuckoo calls, warning with chant of sorrow : the summer's watchman sings and woe forebodes ; bitter the breast within. Bugge 1 also specifies Beowulf (lines n 33-1 138) : " Winter locked the waves in ice-bonds until another year came to the dwellings, as it yet doth, and the glory-bright weather which constantly observes fit seasons. Then was winter gone, fair was the bosom of earth, the exile hastened forth, the guest from the dwellings." Such lines strongly remind one of the Old Irish Songs of Summer and Winter made accessible by Kuno Meyer. Again, in quite another sphere, take the folk-custom of washing the bride's feet ceremonially. I am familiar with the existence of such ceremony in parts of the Highlands, and the night was termed Oidhche Ghlanadh nan cas, 'Foot- washing Night.' Mr. Napier, who records it for South or West Scotland, says this 4 'was in all probability a survival from old Scandinavian custom under which the Norse bride was conducted by her maiden friends to undergo a bath, called the bride's bath, a sort of religious purification." 2 Influences x Vesterlandenes Indjlydelse paa Nordboerenes og saerlig Nord- maendenes ydre kultur, levesaet og samfundsforhold i Vikingetiden. Christiania 1905. 2 Folk- Lore, by James Napier, p. 47. One recalls the Shetland rite of washing the feet in running water into which a quartz pebble shaped like an egg has been thrown in order to avoid sterility. Compare similar customs in France and in Spain : in the 17th century to one of the baths at Palicarro, by Viterbe, was ascribed the virtue of causing conception ; at Seville a hundred years ago the THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 5 of this nature of one people on another require very rHicate discussior To prevent error the more complete the picture of inter-racial influences in any- one case the better. I propose therefore to deal generally with the historic back-ground ; then with the evidence of personal and place-names, next with the names which belong to the various departments of mental and bodily activity, alongside of manifest or easily proved influences in handiwork and in the literature of the people. One of the immediate results of the coming of the Norse to Orkney, the northern outpost of the Celts, was the arrestment if not the extinction of Christianity as represented there by the Columban Mission. The settlements of the Papae 1 popes 9 or Culdees are witnessed to by some Shetland place-names, most of which the Norse suppressed. The Celtic priests went further north, for the Ice- landic Book of Settlement (Landnama-bok) states : " But before Iceland was peopled by the Northmen there were in the country those men whom the Northmen called Papar. They were Christian men, and the people believed that they came from the West, because Irish books and bells and crosiers were found after them, and still more things by waters of the Pozzo Santo were drunk for this purpose. A Gaulish chieftain of the third century, Viridomaros regarded himself as a descendant of the river Rhine, or properly the goddess symbolized by that river. Newly-born infants were dipped therein : if they survived they were regarded as protected by the common ancestor. And among the Gauls Rheno-genos, 1 Rhine-born/ occurs as a proper name. I have witnessed an infant from a tinker's family being plunged into a Highland burn after birth. The rivers Dee, Don, Ness, Affric, and Lochy conceal the names of Celtic water-nymphs. And one may expect remnants of a Celtic water-cult. 6 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND which one might know that they were west-men (i.e. Irish) that were found in the island of Easter Papay and in Papyli." These papas or priests have their visits recorded in the Shetland Papa Stooi', 1 the big island of the priests ' (N. pap 0y stor-r) ; in Papa little ; Papil, a contraction for N. Papyli, Papabyli, the residence of the priests. u The same word papa occurs in the old name of the loch of Tresta in Fetlar, ' Papil- water,' beside which there is an old church-site." 1 Mr. Goudie suggests that Clumlie (for Columlie) a township in Dunrossness, may stand for Coluimcille, which is likely, as St. Ringan's isle, on the west of Dunrossness, com- memorates St. Ninian. The island Egilsay, how- ever, is named after its Norse possessor ' Egill's- isle,' and has nothing to do with the Gadelic ecclais ' church.' The Ulster Annals note an expedition against the Orkneys by Aedan of Dalriada in 580, and Adamnan's Life of Columba records the journey of Cormac and his clerics to Orkney, with some guarantee of safety from Brude mac Meilcon, King of the Northern Picts in Columba's lifetime. St. Columba, 2 when staying beyond the Dorsal Ridge of Britain, commended the anchorite and voyager Cormac to King Brude, in the presence of the under-king of the Orcades (Orkneys), say- ing : " Some of our people have lately gone forth hoping to find a solitude in the pathless sea, and if 1 Jakobsen, Old SJietland Dialect, p. 64. 2 Vita Columbae, Bk. ii. c. 42 ; for references to the coracle of the Celts, v. Reeves's Ada?nnan, p. 169 ; the old Celts had sails of hide, v. Caesar's De Bello Gallico, iii. 13 ; Dion Cassius, xxxix. 41 ; Strabo, iv. 4. 1 ; Stokes in Bezzenberger's Beitrdge 23. 62 ; and Lives of Saints from Book of Lismorc, 11. 3575, 3583. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 7 perchance after long wanderings they should come to the Orcades islands, do thou earnestly com- mend them to this under-king, whose hostages are in thy hand, that no misfortune befall them within his territories." This indeed the saint thus said, because he foreknew in spirit that after some months the same Cormac was destined to arrive at the Orcades. Which afterwards so happened, and on account of the holy mans above-mentioned re- commendation, he was delivered from impending death in the Orcades. On his third journey in the ocean this Cormac went very far north, for the same chapter tells : " For when his ship in full sail during fourteen summer days and as many nights, held on a course straight from the land, before a southerly wind, towards the region of the north, his voyage seemed to go beyond the limit of human experience, and return impossible." The Irish monk Dicuil wrote his work De Men- sura Orbis Terrarum, a sort of geographical 1 treatise, about 825, and states that thirty years previously clerics had told him they lived on an island which they supposed to be Thule, where at the summer solstice the sun only hid himself behind a little hill for a short time during the night, which was quite light ; and that a day's sail towards the north would bring them from thence into the frozen sea. Apparently this was Iceland. For he goes on to speak of other islands at a distance of two days and two nights from the northern islands of Britain. 1 An astronomical treatise by the Irish monk Dicuil, written between 814-816, was discovered in 1879 by Dummler, and first published by the Royal Irish Academy in 1907. 8 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND " One of these a certain honest monk told me he had visited one summer after sailing a day, a night, and another day, in a two-benched boat." He means apparently 'the Shetlands,' for his further reference is to the Faroes (N. faer-eyiar) ' sheep- isles,' occupied by the Norse in 825: "there are also some other small islands, almost all divided from each other by narrow sounds, inhabited for about a century by hermits proceeding from our Scotia (i.e. Ireland at that time) ; but as they had been deserted since the beginning of the world, so are they now abandoned by these anchorites on account of the Northern robbers ; but they are full of countless sheep, and swarm with sea-fowl of various kinds. We have not seen these islands mentioned in the works of any author." This process of abandonment of the Christian missions is graphically described by what Ari Frodi tells of Iceland, first colonised in 875 by Leif and Ingulf, who had a number of Irish captives. The Christian priests or papas then found in Iceland speedily left : " Christian men were here then called by the North- men Papa, but afterwards they went their way, for they would not remain in company with heathens ; and they left behind them Irish books, and bells, and pastoral staves, so that it was clear that they were Irishmen." The necessity for such retrenchment is patent from an old Gaelic couplet written on the margin of a copy of Priscian's Latin grammar, now in St. Gall, Switzerland. This St Gall Codex Dr. Traube has shown to be written by some friends of Sedulius, and he supposes it to have been copied in some THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 9 Irish monastery in the first half of the ninth century, and brought by wandering Irishmen to the Con- tinent. From notes on the margin Giiterbock con- cludes that the manuscript was written either in the year 845 or in 856. The lines referred to must have been penned by one who had known well of the coming of the Norse, and in all likelihood in Ireland itself, where on a certain wild night his feel- ing of relief found expression thus : Is acher ingaith innocht fufuasna fairge findfolt ni agor reimm mora minn. dondlaechraid lainn ua lothlind. i.e. Bitter is the wind to-night : it tosses the ocean's white hair : I fear not the coursing of a clear sea by the fierce heroes from Lothlend (i.e. Norway). 1 Churchmen had good reason to fear the men from Lothlend ere this, and took note of their coming. The Annals of Ulster record : a.d. 793. Vastatio omnium insolarum Britanniae a Gentibus = a devastation of all the British isles by pagans. The Annals of Clonmacnois vary but little as to date : a.d. 791. All the Islands of Brittaine were wasted and much troubled by the Danes : this was their first footing in England. a.d. 792. Rachryn was burnt by the Danes. O'Donovan rightly states that 14 this is the first attack on record made by the Danes upon any part of Ireland," but adds that the true year was 794, which is in accord with the Annals of Ulster : a.d. 794. Losgad Rachrainne o Gentib ocus a serine do coscrad ocus do lomrad. The 1 Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, by Stokes and Strachan, vol. ii. 290. io NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND burning of Rechrainn by Gentiles, who spoyled and impoverished the shrines (Cod. Clarend. 49). Rechrainn was the Gaelic of Rathlinn, off the north of Antrim, and according to O'Donovan, also of Lambay, near Dublin, which he thinks is here referred to, as also in the Annals of the Four Masters, where under 790 {recti 795 a.d.] we read : Loscadh Rechrainde 6 dhibhearccaibh ocus a sccrine do chosccradh ocus do lomradh = The burn- ing of Reachrainn by plunderers, and its shrines were broken and plundered. The Annals of the Four Masters under 793 [recte 798] record : " Inis-Padraig (Patrick's island, near Skerries, Dublin) was burned by foreigners (la k-Allmuireckaibk) } and they bore away the shrine of Dochonna, and they also committed depre- dations between Ireland and Alba (Scotland)." This is the same event as is noted in the Annals of Ulster under 797 a.d. : " The burning of St. Pat- rick's Hand by the Gentiles. The taking of the countries' praies (borime na crick), and the breaking of Dochonna's shryne by them, and the spoyles of the sea between Ireland and Scotland." In reference to the Norse the word foreigners or Gentiles is used in every instance above. This is not the case in the Annals of the Four Masters, which record under the year 612 " the devastation of Torach (Tory Island) by a marine fleet (fasag- kadh Toruighe la murchobhlach muiridhe). Even were it added, as it is not, that this destruction was wrought by Gentiles (i.e. Pagans) it would not THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 1 1 follow that they were Norsemen, for the Picts in their piratical character still hovered about the Western Islands. The Life of St. Comgall tells that when he abode in Tiree about the year 565, many Gentile (pagan) robbers of the Picts 1 made an attack upon the place with the purpose of seizing everything, men and cattle alike. And, again, Artbranan, who had kept his natural innocence throughout all his life, and received in Skye 'the word of God from the Saint through an interpreter, and was then baptized,' is spoken of in the Vita as a certain aged heathen (quidam gen- tilis senex). 2 Accordingly the massacre of Donnan and his disciples in Eigg in 617 cannot be neces- sarily interpreted as due to the Norse. Gorman's Martyrology says : " Fifty-two were his congrega- tion. There came pirates of the sea to the island in which they were and slew them all." Dr. Zimmer, bearing the devastation in Tory Island in 612 3 in memory, regards the Eigg massacre as due to the Norse. 4 Certainly the Annals of Ulster connect the two events : " Kal. Jan. (Sat., m. 18) a.d. 616. The burning of the martyrs of Egg. The burning of Donnan of Egg, on the 1 5th of the Kalends of May, with 1 50 martyrs ; and the devastation of Torach, and the burning of Condere." 1 Gentiles latrunculi multi de Pictonibus. Reeves's Adamna7i, 304". 2 Reeves, p. 62. 3 So the A.F.M., but rightly 618, making allowance for a different chronology. 4 "Ueberdiefriihesten Beriihrungen der Irenmitden Nordgermanen" in Sitzungberichte der Kon.-Preuss. Akad. d. Wissen. Berlin, 1891, Bd. i. 279-317. 12 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND The Chronicon Scotorum records both events under 617; also the Annals of Tigernach. It is not the first instance for a burning, for the Ulster Annals record the burning of Bennchor in 615 without further remark. Professor Alexander Bugge 1 of Christiania regards the burning of the religious houses at Eigg, — an offshoot of Iona, — on 17th April, 617, as due to the Vikings, as also the attack on Tory Island. The Picts, he says, who were already Christians at this time could not have undertaken this raid ; we must rather see in them the sea-robbers from Norway who had come to the Hebrides and then made for the north coast of Ireland, — in other words seventh-century vikings. Bugge points out that the word Viking was in use long before the real Viking Age, as it occurs in the Old English poem, the Exodus, where the Jews who went through the Red Sea are termed sae wicingas 'sea-vikings,' as also the Hadobardi in the Old English Widsith are styled Wicinga cynn, of the Viking-race. 2 It is the word we have in Ireland as Wicklow, in mediaeval script, Wikingelo. Certainly there was nothing to prevent the Norsemen taking to sea early in the seventh century. Bugge holds that about 700 a.d., if not earlier, long before the coloni- sation of Iceland, Norsemen from Hordaland, Rfylke, and Jaederen, had sailed for Orkney and Shetland, and maintains that many of the Shetland place-names show word-formations which were out of use at the time Iceland was colonised. This has 1 Bugge, Die Vikinger, 112. 2 Bugge, Die Vikinger, 112. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 13 been the result of Jakobsen's investigation. 1 On the evidence of the Annals, however, we cannot conclude that they were Norsemen who attacked Eigg and Tory Island in 617; and even if such piratic or scouting expeditions had set out from Norway for the Western Isles as early as these savants maintain, their incursions would be quite circumscribed and bear no more than a local influ- ence. Though there is room for speculation, hypothesis of this sort may for historical purposes be discarded. We must follow the evidence of the Irish annalists, who knew but too well when the Norse really arrived and made their influence felt, — towards the close of the eighth century. Not but that the Scots themselves had long previously made slaughtering expeditions among the Picts, as e.g. the piratical expedition of Aedan, the son of Gabran, in 580 a.d. When the Norse came their warrior instincts were fortified by conflict of religious ideals and we have a succession of barbarities : a.d. 794. The ravaging of Icolmkill. a.d. 798. The burning of Inchpatrick by the Gentiles, and a plundering by sea made by them in Ireland and Alban. The Hebrides and Ulster laid waste by the Danes. a.d. 802. Icolmkill burnt by the Gentiles. a.d. 806. The community of Iona slain by the Gentiles to the number of sixty-eight. By another account, forty-eight of the monks of Icolumkill slain by the men of Lochlann, 1 " Shetlands0ernes Stedsnavne," in Aarbfiger for nordisk Oldkyn- dighed, Kopenhagen, 1902. 14 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND a.d. 825. The martyrdom of Blaithmac, son of Flann, by the Gentiles in Iona. 1 The ultimate consequence was that in 849 Inn- rechtach, Abbot of Iona, came to Ireland with the reliques of St. Columba. What remained of the pre- cious library was scattered ; the result is that the earliest document of Scottish history, Adamnan's Life of Columcille is now at Schaffhausen, and the art- treasure of the west, the Book of Kelts, emanating ultimately from the chief centre of Columba's activity, lies now in Trinity College, Dublin. It was abso- lutely necessary to carry these to other lands, other- wise alike the glory they confer on their authors and on their country, as well as the unique light shed on the story of civilisation would have van- ished into darkness for ever. Even the shrine wherein Columba's bones were resting were coveted ; for refusing to disclose its hiding-place, Blathmac, as we also learn from Walafrid Strabo, was cruelly put to death in 825. Ad sanctum venere patrem, pretiosa metalla Reddere cogentes, queis Sancti sancta Columbae Ossa jacent, quam quippe suis de sedibus arcam Tollentes tumulo terra posuere cavato, Cespite sub denso gnari jam pestis iniquae : Hanc praedam cupiere Dani. Galloway, in the south, had been laid waste by the Norse in 823 a.d., and in the Chronicles of Huntingdon it is said that Danish pirates were greatly instrumental in the revolution which placed Kenneth MacAlpin on the Pictish throne. A spirit of uncharitableness, inherent in the bulk 1 Coll. de Rebus Albania s, 251-5. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 15 of undisciplined minds, in things religious, in addition to motives of gain and love of booty may readily account for the Norse cruelties which, it has been estimated, were all the deeper owing to a spirit of revenge for atrocities perpetrated by Charlemagne upon the subjects of King Siegfried. In 829 Diarmat, abbot of Iona, went to Alban with the reliques of St. Columba, and later in 831 he brought them to Ireland. Olave and Ivor, two kings of the North- men, besieged Dunbarton Rock (Aile cluithe) in 870; the Ulster A nnals record that they besieged that citadel and took it after four months. Olave the Young and Ivor then returned to Dublin from Alba in 871, and two hundred ships with them "and a great booty of men, Angles, Britons, and Picts are brought along with them to Ireland into captivity." 1 The perpetual unrest is evident, for in 875 we find recorded a conflict between the Picts and the Dub-galls (Danes), when a great slaughter of the Picts was made, and Oistin, son of Olave, king of the Norse, was slain by the men of Alba. A few years later, in 877 or 878, the shrine and relics of Columba were transferred to Ireland in refuge from the Galls. In 918 Norsemen from Ireland again invaded Alba, when many on both sides were slaughtered. From time to time things must have gone on in a lively fashion, for again in 986 Iona was ravaged by the Danes on Christmas Eve, and they slew the abbot and fifteen of the clergy of the church. At that time the islands were ravaged by them. But they did not go away scot-free, for in 987 we read of a great slaughter of the Danes who 1 Collec. de Rebus Alba.71.) p. 259. 16 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND ravaged Iona, and three hundred and sixty of them were slain. In 989 Gofraig, son of Aralt, king of Innse-Gall, was slain by the Dalriads, or in other words by the Scots. Reading between the lines one may perceive that in the latter quarter of the ninth century, somewhere between 870 and 888, the isles or Innse-Gall were under the crown of Norway. The Story of the Ere Dwellers tells us : "It was in the days when King Harald Hair-fair came to the rule of Norway. Because of that unpeace, many noblemen fled from their lands out of Norway, some east over the Keel, some West-over-the-sea. Some there were withal who in winter kept themselves in the South Isles or the Orkneys, but in summer harried in Norway and wrought much scath in the kingdom of Harald the king. . . . Then the king took such rede that he caused to be dight an army for West-over-the-Sea, and said that Ketil Flatneb should be captain of that host." Ketill in his youth had been West-over- Sea. To Iceland, " that fishing place I shall never come in my old age," he said to those who counselled going there from the thraldom of King Harald Hair-Fair. West-over-Sea offered him, says the Laxdale Saga, "a chance of getting a good liveli- hood. He knew lands there wide about, for there he had harried far and wide." Accordingly, about 890 a.d. Ketill Flatnose brought his ship to Scotland, and was well received by the great men there ; for he was a renowned man and of high birth. They offered him there such station as he would like to take, and Ketill and his company of kinsfolk settled down there. His daughter Aud THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 17 (Audun, Unn) the deep-minded, married Olaf the White, who ere this, on the death of Kenneth Mao Alpin, in 860, claimed possessions in Alba, possibly through his being son-in-law of Kenneth the King. In 865-866 Olaf, entering apparently by the Firth of Clyde, harried the territories over which his brothers-in-law, Donald and Constantine, reigned successively, and repelled his claim, with the result that the Norsemen carried off with them many hostages and pledges for tribute, and they were paid tribute for a long time after." 1 Thorstein, grandson of Ketill, and son of Olaf, harried Scotland far and wide, and was always victorious. Later on he made peace with the Scots, and got for his own one-half of Scotland, says the Laxdale Saga. The same source adds : the Scots did not keep the peace long, but treacherously murdered him. Caithness, Sutherland, Ross and Moray, felt his power, and he seems to have been the first to establish Norse authority on the main- land — an authority to which Sigurd, who fell at Clontarf, succeeded. After Thorstein's fall the Danes from Dublin and from Limerick attained to power ; descendants of Ivar, son of Ragnar, companion of Olaf the White, became Kings of Man and the Isles. Ivar's grandson was Arailt (Harald), and Magnus MacArailt is styled rex plurimarum insularum. Godred, another son of Harald, was King of Man and the Isles in 979. Other chieftain- kings meet us : Ragnall or Ranald, son of Godred ; Svein (t 1034), nephew of Ragnall, reigned for 1 Cf. MacFirbis, Fragments of Irish Annals ; and Chronicles of Picts and Scots, p. 405. B 18 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND 30 years as King of the Gall-Gaidheal. The power of Sigurd over the isles passed to his son Thorfinn and his successors. From the Isle of Man, Galloway was as accessible as Caithness was from Orkney. About this time was laid the beginnings of an influence which survives in Galloway personal names, such as M'Ketterick, M'Kittrick, from Norse Sigtrygg, Sitric ; M'Eur, M'Cure, for the North Highland M'lver, N. Ivarr, Ingvarr. M'Dowell in Wigtown corresponds to M'Dougall 1 of Argyll. The name Galloway itself, founded on Gall-Gaidheal, the GalgeSSlar of the Sagas, testifies to the mixed breed of Norse and Gaidheal, and gives us the surname Galloway. A suggestion by Rhys that the Latin Galweidia points to the name Fiddach, Welsh Goddeu, one of the seven sons of Cruithne, the eponymus of the Picts, has not been accepted. To be added is M'Burney, from the Norse Bjorn, a bear ; Bjorn, Bjarni are frequent in Norse personal names, and so far as the name-system is concerned, it corresponds to the Matheson, Gadhelic Mac Mathain, Mac Math- ghamhuin, 'son of the bear,' of the Highlands. M'Killaig is from the Norse Kiallakr, which itself was a Norse loan from Irish Ceallach. Where the Norse descent was strongest some sequestered retreats might have existed where Gadhelic was alone spoken, but in Lewis and Harris the names of rivers, sea-lochs, capes, lakes, banks and ridges, dales, homesteads, forts, beaches, water- falls, landing-places, sheilings, creeks and islets, prove that the Norse re-cast the previous topo- 1 v. sub Personal names. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 19 graphy, and that the Norse invasion was tantamount to a migration which practically issued in the removal, in various ways, of the Gadhelic stock. Putting aside names due to the re-assertion and return of the Gaidheal, four to one is not too high a reckoning as the proportion of Norse to Gadhelic names in Lewis. The rites of the Celtic Church in course of time brought the invaders a new knowledge and culture, and with it elements of beauty and tenderness. All minds of course were not open to receive it ; some would be in the position of Ketill Flatneb's son Biorn "who came West-over-Sea, but would not abide there, for he saw they had another troth, and nowise manly it seemed to him that they had cast off the faith that their kin had held, and he had no heart to dwell therein, and would not take up his abode there." After two winters spent in the Isles "he dight him to fare to Iceland." For perhaps similar reasons many of the early settlers in Iceland came from the Hebrides. Dr. Stefansson gives the following list of settlers : " Atli, Alfarinn, AuSun stoti, married to Myruna, daughter of King MaddaS, Orlyg Hrappsson (with 4 freemen), Kjallak, Alfdfs from Barra, Ulf Skjalgi, Steinolf the Short, Eyvind the Eastman, married to Rafarta, daughter of Kjarval, Snaebjorn, Asmund and Asgrim, sons of Ondult Kraka, Onund Wooden Leg, prand the Sailor, Balki Blaeingsson, Orm the Wealthy, Ofeig grettir, pormod skapti, Hallvard sugandi, Saemund of the Sodor Isles, Bard of the Sodor Isles, Kampa- grim, Ketil fiflski, porunn of the Isles, porstein Leg . . . both in quality and numbers the Hebridean settlers in Iceland surpassed those who came from 2o NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND other parts of the West. These islands were not only a safe refuge to issue from for Vikings bent on gaining riches and renown in the neighbouring countries, but every hall of a Viking in them was a meeting-place where heathendom and Christianity, where Celtic and Norse ideas, jostled each other, and where their advantages and disadvantages were discussed. Out of this crucible came Icelandic culture. The power of selection which had stood them in good stead in England and France did not fail the Vikings here." 1 Dr. Craigie, in a paper on " The Gaels in Iceland" in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland for May, 1897, very temperately and judiciously discusses the actual extent to which a Gadhelic population was mixed with the Norse in Iceland. He finds that there is no evidence to show that the Celts had any greater influence there than settlers of other nationalities have upon the British colonies. A few generations would suffice to absorb them. He wisely concludes that it is dangerous to begin to trace analogies in legend or literature, and to attribute these to a common origin so intangible as that of racial genius. " The Celtic genius may be a very abiding thing, but when we find that in Iceland it left no obvious traces on religion, language, or personal names, we have not sufficient grounds for assuming its presence in other spheres of mental activity. It is clear that the old Norsemen were interested in legend, history, and genealogy before they could have been influenced in these matters by 1U Western Influence on the Viking Settlers," in Saga Book of the Viking Club, vol. v. 292-3. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 21 the Gaels, and there is no reason why the Icelanders should not have written their sagas even if their Scandinavian blood had suffered no admixture of Celtic " (p. 260 of Proceedings). Celtic folk-lore also was transplanted into Ice- land. 1 For this and other influences to penetrate it is not requisite to calculate the number of men of Celtic descent in Iceland according to the Land- ndmabok (the Book of the Settlement) ; these, says Mr. Craigie, do not number one per cent. — one must look to the quality of mind of those who came in contact with Western influences, as when we read : " Ketill from the Hebrides, a Christian, lived at Kirkjubae. Papar 2 had been there before, and no heathen men could live there. . . . Hildir wished to shift his homestead to Kirkby after Ketill's death, thinking that a heathen could live there, but when he came near to the farm -yard enclosure, he fell down dead." The kindly temperament of King Brian of Munster, — heightened by his belief, pro- bably, — was noticeable to the saga- writer, and I may adduce it as a parallel to the softening influences which contact with the West-men sooner or later produced in the fierce followers of Odin : " He (Brian) was the best-natured of all kings ; thrice would he forgive all outlaws the same offence before he had them judged by the law, and from this it might be seen what a king he must have been." The custom of fosterage, too, in due time opened the way for reciprocity of influence. Con- temporary with the attack upon Chester in 907 a.d. the men of Lochlan, then pagans, had many a 1 lb. 272. 2 I.e. Christian priests. 22 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Gadhelic foster-son. Feud and warfare were not the only things in existence even then, and we may- postulate some bodies of Norsemen more peaceably disposed who had settled down quietly and were being half-amalgamated with the Gaidheal, about the middle of the ninth century. 1 The captives taken, for instance, after the four months' siege of Dunbarton Rock, 2 which was reduced by famine at the hands of Olaf and Ivar of Dublin in 869 (870), were the means of a better mutual under- standing, and from small beginnings went forth the broadening streams of influence which are so visible in the language of the mixed breed of Innse-Gall. It is even possible that Pictish would not have died, or at least not without a literature, were it not for the coming of Norsemen and of Danes. The defeat of the Picts of Fortrenn by the Danes, the Danish invasion of 875 coincident almost with the invasion of Pictland by the Scots under Kenneth Mac Alpin, could only lead to the weakening of the Pictish power, all the sooner as the Gaelic kings took advantage of every means to strengthen themselves with the view of weakening Pictland. Thus Olaf the White of Dublin married a daughter of Kenneth Mac Alpin, and soon we find in 866 that this same Olaf, the Amlaiph of the Ulster Annals, with Aiusle went to Fortrenn with the Galls of Erin and Alba and laid waste Pictavia. 3 Thorstein, the son of Olaf, was slain in Pictavia (Alban) in 875, and in l Cf. E. Hull in Saga Book of the Viking Club, April, 1908, p. 15. 2 The attack by the Norse on Dunbarton in 931 A.D. failed {Chronicle of Picts and Scots, p. 407). 3 Skene's Celt. Scot. i. 324. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 23 877 the Danes penetrate to Fife. 1 The north-east was also liable to attack : thus under King Indulf (954-962) we find the fleet of the summer-sailors (sumarlicSar) or vikings making an attack in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, where they were driven back. To judge by the place-names and by names in the Book of Deer, events led to the strengthen- ing of Gaelic influence in Aberdeen and Moray until about the reign of David I., who founded the Priory of Urquhart in Moray, as a dependency of the Abbey of Dunfermline, after the rebellion of Angus the Mormaer. " This was in the year 1125, and the colony of Black Monks, Benedictines, who proceeded from the parent house of Dunfermline to distant and unsettled Moray, are the first speakers of the Lowland tongue that history or reasonable probability points to as obtaining a footing in our north-eastern districts. At the same time, or very soon thereafter, he gave the lands of Fochabers with their salmon fishings to augment the resources of the new Priory, and there doubtless was the Scots tongue (Northern English) first spoken to the east of Spey." 2 Were it not for the fall of Pictavia, hastened no doubt by the coming of the Norse, the name Alba might have maintained itself to the exclusion of the designation Scotland. On 25th November, 1034, died King Malcolm, whom Marianus Scotus de- scribes as King of Scotia, — Maelcoluim Rex Scotiae. Hitherto kings of Alban appear occasionally as 1 lb. p. 327. 2 On the Extinction of Gaelic in Buchan and Lower Banffshire, by Dr. W. Bannerman, pp. 21-22. 24 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND kings of the Scots, "but this is the first instance in which the name of Scotia is applied as a territorial designation of their kingdom. Used by a contem- porary writer, who was himself a native of Ireland, it is evident that the name of Scotia had now been transferred from Ireland, the proper Scotia of the previous centuries, and become adopted for the kingdom of the Scots in Britain in the reign of Malcolm, son of Kenneth, which ushers in the eleventh century, superseding the previous name of Alban." 1 The descendants in the male line of Kenneth Mac Alpin, the founder of the Scottic dynasty, now became extinct by the death of Malcolm II. The policy, begun partly by the desire of the Gaelic kings to strengthen themselves against the Picts, and entered upon by the marriage of a daughter of Kenneth Mac Alpin to Olaf the White of Dublin, was pursued by Malcolm II. (1005- 1034), who gave his daughter in marriage to Earl Sigurd of Orkney, who fell at Clontarf (10 14), and by whom she became the mother of Earl Thorfinn. Maldred, grandson of Malcolm II., seems, according to Simeon of Durham, to have married a daughter of the Earl of Northumbria ; 2 but Scottish history is concerned chiefly now with Duncan (1034- 1040), grandson of Malcolm II. by a daughter who married Abbot Crinan of Dunkeld. 3 In his fight against Thorfinn, his cousin, King Duncan was aided by an Irish contingent, — an evidence of racial 1 Skene, Celt. Scot. i. 398. 2 Skene, ib. 394. 3 The influence of the lay Abbot of Dunkeld was great: cf. Am Monach Mor, The Big Monk, a title formerly of the Athole family. Runic Inscribed Cross, Inchmarnock. See page THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 25 feeling perhaps, which was not obliterated by the royal policy in marriages, seen also in the case of Constantine, King of Scots, who gave his daughter to Olaf Cuaran of Dublin (before 933), who is known also as Anlaf, the son of Sitriuc. This Olaf was a cousin of Olaf the White above mentioned. Malcolm II. made it his policy to overcome the Pictish elements thoroughly ; in aid of this he bestowed Caithness and Sutherland on Earl Sigurd's son, Thorfinn, also his own grandson, whereas pos- sibly a closer alliance with the house of Brian Borumha and the Gaels of Ireland would have been of more advantage to the Gaelic cause at the time. With Malcolm III. the Norse marriage policy con- tinued, for Malcolm Canmore (1057- 1093) married first of all Ingibiorg, daughter of Earl Thorfinn (10 1 4- 1064), the friend and contemporary of Mac- Beth (1040-1057). Politically viewed, this marriage was to conciliate or attach the Norwegian element within or bordering on the King of Scots' dominion. On Canmore's death his son Duncan by Ingibiorg, succeeded for a brief period in 1094. This Duncan, son by Ingibiorg, was a great-great-grandson of Malcolm II., Thorfinn's daughter, Ingibiorg, being a great-granddaughter of Malcolm II. The Ork- neyinga Saga, even if we owe it to a Bishop of Orkney, blunders in certain details, — e.g. Cenmor it makes out to be 'long-neck,' and there is certainly a blunder in making Ingibiorg, Earls' mother, after the death of Thorfinn, marry the Scots King, Mal- colm Canmore, for either before or after Thorfinn's death she was married to Earl Orm, son of Earl Eilif, one of the landwarders of Russia in 1030, 26 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND and Ragna their daughter was mother of Kryping- Orm, who in 1127 had full-grown sons, Erling the eldest being with Earl Rognwald in the Holy Land about 1 1 50- 1 1 52, — both being great-grandsons of Ingibiorg. The late Dr. Alexander MacBain pointed out the true solution, viz. : that Malcolm must have married Ingibiorg's daughter of similar name, a lady more in accord with Malcolm's years. Thorfinn's sons, Earls Paul and Erlend, were seized and sent to Norway by Magnus Barefoot in 1098. Within a year they died, but after King Magnus's death in Ireland in 1103, tne sons became earls, viz. : Earl Hakon, son of Paul, and Earl Magnus (afterwards St. Magnus), son of Erlend. Their first conjoint expedition was against a Scottish nobleman " whose name was Duffnjal (Donald), and who was one step further off than the Earl's brother's son," i.e. their second cousin. The Short Magnus Saga states Donald's father's name, for it says : " They fought and slew a chief called Duffnjal, who was the son of Earl Duncan, who was the Earl's first cousin once removed " (a step further out than first cousin). Earl Duncan was thus first cousin of Hakon and of Paul, — being a grandson of Thorfinn as they were, and Earl Duncan himself was the son of Malcolm Canmore and of Thorfinn's daughter Ingibiorg (not wife, nor widow). Duncan was Earl of Moray before he came to the throne. Dr. MacBain rightly says that this manifestly settles the question as to what relation of Thorfinn Malcolm's first wife was: "his daughter, and evidently named Ingibiorg." History should be rectified on this point as well as the doubt cast on King Duncan's legitimacy by For- THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 27 dun, possibly because, as both were descendants of Malcolm II., they were held to be within the degrees of propinquity sanctioned by canon law. The Ork- neyinga Saga states Ingibiorg (mistakenly termed Earls' mother) married the Scot King Malcolm, while in a Durham charter, with his seal thereon, — and it is the oldest impression of a royal Scottish seal, — Duncan is styled "son of King Malcolm, by hereditary right king of Scotia." The date falls within his short reign, May- November, 1094. Earl Thorfinn's (1014-1064) contemporary and friend was MacBeth (1040- 1057), who, under cir- cumstances imperfectly known, slew King Duncan at Bothguanan, near Elgin, in 1040. King Duncan is the Karl Hundason of the Norse Saga, a name which is " clearly a translation." When two peoples come in contact it is human to dabble in translation whether it be well or ill done. As examples of Norse work we may instance Skipa-fjord, evidently a translation for Gaelic Loch Long, where Long is the Gaelic long ship ; Myrkvifjord, * murky-ford,' a rendering of the Gaelic Loch Gleann Dubh, ' Black (or dark) glen loch ' between Edrachilis and Assynt ; Thurso, according to the Gaelic Inbhir- Thiorsa, would be piorsa-a, 4 bull- water,' a river name which occurs in Iceland, and has been sug- gested to have some connection with Ptolemy's Tarvedrum ; in this case, however, the Sagas dis- tinctly have p6rsa, * Thor's-water or river,' so that, if they be right, the Gaelic palatalised pronuncia- tion Thiorsa is a later development. In a case like Satiri 1 (Kintyre), the Norse simply takes over a 1 Spelt Saltiri in the Hakon Saga (Appendix B, Rolls Series, i. 408). 28 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Gaelic Sal-tire, land's end or heel, which gave way for a later Ceann-tire, ' land's head ' ; Ekkjalsbakki, ' Oykel Bank,' takes over the Pictish oichel. 'high,' cognate with Gaelic uasal, literally ' noble/ As to Karl Hundason, Karl in Norse ''means 'man' or ' carle,' which latter is the same word. Duncan is in Norse DungaSr, and the first syllable in Gaelic means ' man,' i.e. duine, older dune. "This fairly well explains Karl," says Dr. MacBain. 1 Crinan, on the other hand, cannot be translated Hound, but the fact seems to be that "the Saga writer has got so confused among the many culens or Hounds that appear at this date that he mistakes Crinan for either Culen or Conan (whelp or little dog ?). Earl Hundi or Culen fought about 987 against Thor- finn's father, and King Culen died in 971. The episode in the Saga seems to be genuine enough, but the remarkable fact remains that no mention is made of Mac Beth, who must have assisted or resisted Thorfinn." 2 A writer like that of the Orkneyinga Saga, especially of portions of it such as that which states in error that at the fight at Myrkvifjord (Loch Glen Dubh) Somerled, regulus of Argyll, and fifty men with him were there slain, whereas the more trustworthy Chronicle of Melrose, and Fordun, say that he was killed at Renfrew, 1st January, 1 164, having landed there with fifty galleys in the attempt to make the conquest of Scotland, — such a writer is easily liable to error. 3 Some future resurrections were indirectly due to 1 In a communication to the Northern Chronicle some years ago. 2 lb. MacBain. 3 For other mistakes cf. Anderson's edition, p. 56". BOSTON COLLEGE LIBRA* CHESTNUT FULL, MASS, THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 29 this Norse marriage. The descendants of King Duncan's son, William, — the MacWilliams — claimed the throne for over a century. In 1181 there was a formidable insurrection in favour of Donald Ban Mac William, — who claimed the throne as lineal heir of Duncan, eldest son of Malcolm Canmore ; this was a serious attempt to place the ancient kingdom of Alban with the northern districts under a separate monarch in the person of Donald Ban, whose de- scent from the marriage of Malcolm Ceannmor with the Norwegian Ingibiorg would commend his pre- tensions both to the native and the Norwegian leaders. 1 The men of Moray had for long had reasons of their own for making common cause with the Norse earls against the Scottish kings. When MacBeth made his pilgrimage to Rome in 1050 it is not improbable that he and Thorfinn, his close friend and ally, went together. 2 This makes it all the more likely that MacBeth favoured Thorfinn's refusal to acknowledge King Duncan as his superior in Sutherland and Caithness from the outset. On the death of Sigurd at Clontarf, King Malcolm II. took Thorfinn along with himself and conferred both Sutherland and Caithness on him. Thorfinn thus had cause for non-submission, and MacBeth, mor- maer of Moray, and chief leader of the royal forces, was not likely to forget that Malcolm II.s policy had been to strengthen himself and his successors against the mormaers of the north. The historic fact is that a certain Moddan, whom King Duncan foolishly attempted to place in Thorfinn's earldoms, was done to death. " Moddan was asleep in an 1 Skene, i. 476. 2 Orkn. Saga, ed. Anderson, 43m 3Q NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND upper storey (at Thurso), and jumped out ; but as he jumped down from the stair, Thorkel hewed at him with a sword, and it hit him on the neck, and took off his head. 1 Thorfinn, the Saga tells us, was ' 'one of the largest men in point of stature, ugly of aspect, black-haired, sharp-featured, and somewhat tawny, and the most martial-looking man." After King Duncan's discomfiture, with his fleet scattered in the Pentland Firth, he barely escaped with his life, and fled to Scotland, landing on the southern shores of the Moray Firth. He meanwhile gathered an army. Thorkell Fosterer, the slayer of Earl Moddan, went south after him by land, " bringing with him all the men he had been able to collect in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross." 2 He met Earl Thorfinn, who came by sea, in Moray. The Saga tells the rest: " Now it is to be told of King Karl {i.e. Duncan) that he went to Scotland after the battle with Earl Thorfinn, and collected an army as well from the south as the west and east of Scotland, and all the way south from Satiri (Kin- tyre) ; the forces for which Earl Moddan had sent also came to him from Ireland. He sent far and near to the chieftains for men, and brought all this army against Earl Thorfinn. They met at Torf- ness on the south side of Baefiord. There was a fierce battle, and the Scots were by far the most numerous. Earl Thorfinn was among the fore- most of his men ; he had a gold-plated helmet on his head, a sword at his belt, and a spear in his hand, and he cut and thrust with both hands. It is even said that he was foremost of all his men. He 1 Orkn. Saga, p. 20. 2 lb. 21. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 3i first attacked the Irish division, and so fierce were he and his men, that the Irish were immediately routed, and never regained their position. Then King Karl (i.e. Duncan) had his standard brought forward against Earl Thorfinn, and there was the fiercest struggle for a while ; but it ended in the flight of the king ; and some say he was slain. . . . (He) drove the fugitives before him through Scotland, and subdued the country wher- ever he went, and all the way south to Fife. . . . The Earl's men went over hamlets and farms and burnt everything, so that scarcely a hut was left standing. Those of the men whom they found they killed, but the women and old people dragged them- selves into woods and deserted places, with wailings and lamentations. Some of them they drove before them and many were taken captives. . . . Every season after this he went out on expeditions and plundered with all his men." 1 Thus far the Saga : and as other Scottish sources tell that King Duncan was slain near Elgin, the probability is that he was attacked and slain by Mac Beth in the confusion and discord following upon defeat at Torfness, which has been identified with Burghead. His powerful influence on Scottish affairs may be gathered from the Saga's exaggerated summary : " Earl Thorfinn retained all his dominions to his dying day, and it is truly said that he was the most powerful of all the earls of the Orkneys. He obtained possession of eleven earldoms in Scotland, all the Sudreyar (Hebrides), and a large territory in Ireland. . . . Earl Thorfinn was five winters old 1 Orkn. Saga % p. 22-23. 32 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND when Malcolm the King of Scots, his mother's father, gave him the title of Earl, and after that he was Earl for seventy winters. He died 1 towards the end of Harald Sigurdson's reign. He is buried at Christ's Kirk in BirgisheraS (Birsay), which he had built. He was much lamented in his hereditary dominions ; but in those parts which he had con- quered by force of arms many considered it very hard to be under his rule, and [after his death] many provinces which he had subdued turned away and sought help for the chiefs who were odal-born to the government of them. Then it soon became apparent how great a loss Thorfinn's death was to his dominions." 2 Earl Thorfinn also ruled in Galloway ; he is mentioned in the Flateyjarbok, which contains the Orkneyinga Saga, and in Munch's Historie & Ckronicon Manniae, where it is stated : " Earl Thorfinn resided long at Caithness, in the place called Gaddgedlar, where England and Scotland meet." This latter means Galloway in the south- west of Scotland, as is proved by the reading in a Danish translation made in 1615, from an ancient Icelandic MS. no longer in existence ; it is to the effect : " Earl Thorfinn dwelt for the most part in Caithness but Rognwald in the Isles. One summer Earl Thorfinn made war in the Hebrides and the west of Scotland. He lay at the place called Gaddgedlar where Scotland and England meet. He had sent some men from himself to England for a coast foray." 3 1 In 1064 really. 2 Orkn. Saga, p. 44. 3 v. M'Kerlie's Lands and their Owners in Galloway, vol. ii. 32, edition of 1877. Galley Inscribed Cross, Iona. See page 42. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 33 The Norse sway in Galloway would help to account for Fordun's statement that Malcolm Can- more did nothing worthy of note during the first eight or nine years of his reign, as well as explain what the Sagas say, that Thorfinn had nine earl- doms in Scotland. Towards the end of the ninth century the Norse had taken Carlisle, and North- umbria was occupied, — which would pave the way for Thorfinn at a later date. Lulach was slain in 1058 ; Malcolm Canmore would have married Thor- finn's daughter Ingibiorg, some time between 1057, when he became king, and 1068, when he married Margaret, and thus he secured some terms with the Norsemen in part at least. After Thorfinn's death Godred exercised great power, and the way was prepared for Magnus, who in 1098 so bridled the Galwegians that he forced them to cut down timber and carry it to the shore for the construction of fortresses, possibly in the Isle of Man. A Descrip- tion of Britain in the Twelfth Century, written about 1330, placed Galloway in the Danelage. 1 The isles fell once more under the kings of Man, represented by Godred Crovan (1079- 1095), wno was King of Man when Magnus of Norway, Mag- nus Barelegs, made his famous expedition to the Isles in 1093. The Chronicle of Man states that Godred Crovan in 1068 " humbled the Scots to such a degree that no shipbuilder dare insert more than three bolts in a ship or boat." Ingemund, an indis- creet governor appointed by King Magnus over the Isles, was killed in Lewis about 1097. To Godred Crovan succeeded Lagman, who after seven years 1 M'Kerlie, ib. 37. C 34 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND abdicated in remorse for his cruelty to his brother, and died on pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1095. To prevent menace on his western border, Malcolm, King of Scots, then on the eve of starting against William Rufus to England, where he met his death in November, 1093, made a treaty whereby Magnus was acknowledged to have right to all the islands between which and the mainland he could pass in a vessel with its rudder shipped. He landed in Kin- tyre, and in Norse fashion had a boat drawn across the isthmus at Tarbert, his own hand holding the rudder, and thus secured Kintyre, " which is better than the best island of the Sudreyar, except Man." During one of the expeditions of Magnus Barelegs to the Hebrides in 1098, he was accompanied by Magnus (afterwards sainted), grandson of Thorfinn, who even then showed his pious disposition. When King Magnus, says the Saga, came to the islands, he began hostilities first at Li6Sus (Lewis), and gained a victory there. In this expedition he sub- dued the whole of the Sudreyar, and seized Logman (Lamont), the son of Gudrod, King of the Western Islands. Thence he went to Bretland (Wales) and fought a great battle in Anglesea Sound with two British chiefs — Hugh the Stout (Earl of Chester) and Hugh the Bold (Earl of Salop). When the men took up their arms and buckled for the fight, Magnus, Erlend's son, sat down on the predeck, and did not take his arms. The King asked why he did not do so. He said he had nothing against any one there, and would not therefore fight. The King said, " Go down below, and do not lie among other people's feet if you dare not fight, for THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 35 I do not believe that you do this from religious motives." Magnus took a Psalter and sang during the battle, and did not shelter himself. 1 It was this Magnus, Erlend's son, who impressed his memory so much on the Western Islesmen that he figures in their traditional religious poetry. The hymn — A Mhanuis mo ruin? suffices to prove the veneration for this Norseman, all the greater for his being great-great-grandson of Malcolm II. " O Magnus of my love Thou it who would'st us guide Thou fragrant body of grace Remember us. Succour thou us in our distress Nor forsake us. Surround cows and herds Surround sheep and lambs Keep from them the water vole Sprinkle dew from the sky upon kine Give growth to grass, and corn, sap to plants Water-cress, deer's-grass, i ceis,' burdock And daisy. O Magnus of fame On the barque of the braves, On the crest of the waves, On the sea, on the land, Aid and preserve us." In early life St. Magnus had been " with a certain bishop in Bretland (Wales)." 3 By his time friendly relations existed between certain of the Northmen 1 Orkn. Saga, pp. 54-55. 2 Dr. Carmichael's Carmina Gadelica, i. 178. 3 Orkney. Saga, ch. xxx. 36 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND and some of the Cymry, — which was not the case in the ninth century when the Vikings harried Wales. 1 King Magnus Barelegs adopted the native dress, the breacan fiile and the Idine, in place of the trews then used elsewhere in West Europe, which won him the epithet Barelegs. His skald biorn Krep- hende sung the feats of Magnus : " In Lewis Isle, with fearful blaze, The house-destroying fire plays ; To hills and rocks the people fly, Fearing all shelter but the sky. In Uist the King deep crimson made The lightning of his glancing blade; The peasant lost his land and life Who dared to bide the Norseman's strife. The hungry battle-birds were filled In Skye with blood of foeman killed, And wolves on Tyree's lonely shore Dyed red their hairy jaws in gore. The men of Mull were tired of flight The Scottish foeman would not fight, And many an island girl's wail Was heard as through the isles we sail." Magnus figures in Gaelic literature in the " Lay of Manus," one of the most popular of the Ossianic 4 ballads,' which Macpherson used as the framework of Fingal. 1 To trace the Norse influence on Wales is beyond my purpose here. The place-names bear witness to it. The N. sletta, a flat piece of land, whence the name Sleat, Isle of Skye, gives Slade as a place-name in Gower ; N. Sweyn, whence Suaineart, Sweyn's fjord, gives Swansea, Sweyn's ei (i 188), Sweine's heie (1234), Sweyn's island — the name of an islet in the estuary there being afterwards transferred to the main- land; Caswell, Carswell, where the -well is from N. vbllr field, cf. Moffat's "Norse Place-Names in Gower," in Saga Book of Viking Club, January, 1898. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 37 Thereafter Olave, son of Godred Crovan, reigned in Man; after his death, in 1 1 53, his son Godred came from Norway ; in 11 56 he was defeated in a naval battle by Somerled of Argyll, who was married to his sister Ragnhild, daughter of Olave Bitling. By her mother Ragnhild was daughter of Elrifrica (wife of Olave), daughter of Fergus, lord of Galloway, and thus herself to some degree of mixed descent. The descendants of this marriage — the circumstances of which are told by the historian of Sleat 1 — were in any case half Norse. The historians of Clan Donald acknowledge that it is unlikely that Somerled himself was purely the offspring of any one race. " Judging by his name we should pronounce him a Norseman, were it not for other circumstances that point to a different conclusion. He may have received that name through some ancestress, perhaps some fair- haired Norwegian mother who also bequeathed to him the enterprising spirit of the Vikings. That he was of Norse descent in the male line is an hypothesis for which there is not a shred of evidence." 2 That a descendant of a Norseman, and of mixed descent in course of a few generations, should identify himself with the Gadhelic race is not impossible. Witness the late Mr. Parnell and his battle for Ireland. The pedigrees of Somerled given in the " Books of Ballimote and Lecan " trace him from his father, Gillebrigde, son of Gilleadamnan. Zimmer has emphasised that name-forms with Gille make their appearance after the Norse came to the Western Isles. Besides Somerled is eighth in descent from 1 History of Clan Donald, vol. i. 42. 2 History of Clan Donald, i. 23. 38 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Gofraidh of the pedigree in the " Books of Ballimote and Lecan," or seventh from Gothfruigh of the * ' Book of Clan Ronald pedigree." 1 Gofraidh — Gothfruigh are non-Gadhelic, and from Norse Go(5ro<5r, while the early Gadhelic forms are from a word closely allied to the Old English Godefried, German Gottfried. Somerled had thus far back clearly at least one Teutonic progenitor on the male side. From the year of Somerled's death in 1 1 64, if we calculate for eight generations, allowing roughly twenty-five years for each, we can go back to about the middle of the tenth century, or if we take thirty years for a generation we could place Gofraidh in the first quarter of the tenth century. This would well accord with an era when the Norse had made a new home in the West. Munch argued that the earlier Somerled, whose death is recorded in the Annals of the Foitr Masters in 1083, and who is styled Somerled, son of Gilbrigid, King of Innse-Gall, was the father of Gill-Adomnan, and further, that he — and consequently Somerled the undoubted founder of the chiefs of Clan Donald in the century following — was descended from the Earl Gilli of Coll who had married a sister of Sigurd the Stout, Earl of Orkney, about the year 990-994. A reasonable chronology would allow of our tracing him back to Earl Gilli as being the father of Gilli- brigid, King of the Sudreys or Innse-Gall. The name of Earl Gilli of Coll is apparently only a part name, being short for Gille and some saint's name. Highly suspicious is the name Solamh, Solomh, Solam, in Somerled's pedigree. It is non-Gadhelic. 1 lb. 526. THE HISTORIC BACK-GROUND 39 Possibly a mark of contraction was omitted by a scribe, and we may have to do with some form of the Norse Solmund. We know that Sigurd the Stout (980-1014) sent Kari, the son of Solmund, to Earl Gilli to gather scatts. Anyhow, the names of two of Somerleds sons — Reginald and Olave — are Norse, while Dugald, the name of a third, indicates the presence of a Norseman who was so named by a Gaidheal, and a grandson bears the Norse name Uspak. These are conclusive indications that Somerled the Younger had very close Norse an- cestral connections. The narrative of Western affairs in detail I need not pursue here. Suffice it to add that the condition of the isles was such as at length led to the coming of Haco with a mighty fleet, which, after having been worsted by stress of weather, was repulsed at Largs 1 in 1263. By the treaty of July, 1266, Man and the Sudreys, for a sum of 4000 marks down and 100 marks annually, were ceded to the Scottish Crown. We may recall that Alexander the Third's daughter Margaret married Eric, King of Norway. And doubtless in this respect, like king like people. 1 Some who escaped fled to Ormidale where legend tells of a skirmish with them. Old coins have been found there ; one of them, kindly sent by Mrs. Burnley Campbell, was submitted to Dr. George Macdonald who clearly deciphered it as a bronze coin of the Roman Emperor Gallienus (253-268 A.D.). Late Roman coins travelled far. II. SCOTO-NORSE ART. The signature of a treaty could only affect certain outward circumstances. Other characteristics which had been forming for close on five centuries in Innse-Gall were largely maintained ; Norse customs and lore, and for a period bi-lingualism as well, must have saturated the mind of the people. For the time of Somerled (twelfth century) the Sleat historian says : " All the islands from Man to Orkney and all the bordering country from Dumbarton to Caithness in the north were in the possession of the Loch- lannach (Norse), and such of the Gaedhel of these lands as remained were protecting themselves in the woods and mountains." 1 A change in the sovereignty caused the Norse influence to wane but slowly. Skene is right when he says, founding on the Chronicle of Man, that there was frequent inter- marriage between the two races who occupied the islands, " and this would not only lead to the intro- duction of personal names of Norwegian form into families of pure Gaelic descent in the male line, but 1 Cf. Skene's Celt. Scot. i. 32 ; and the " Book of Clanranald " in Reliq. Celticae. Runic Inscribed Cross, from Barra. See page 45. SCOTO-NORSE ART 41 must to a great extent have altered the physical type of the Gaelic race in the islands." 1 Skene is incorrect, however, when he goes on to say : " but there is no reason to suppose that after the defeat of the Norwegians in the reign of Alexander the Third, and the cession of the Kingdom of the Isles to him, there remained in them many families of pure Norwegian descent, and from the population of Scotland, as we find it in his reign, the Norwegian element, never, probably a very permanent and essential ingredient, must now have entirely dis- appeared." 2 That it did not disappear so readily the linguistic element of Norse origin in Gadhelic will show, while certain traces of Scoto- Norse or Norse handiwork found in Scotland may help in some measure to reveal its actual early existence. In another direction than that of destruction the work of Norse hands testifies to their presence in Innse-Gall. A few objects may be specified as illustrating Norse handiwork. On Inchmarnock, Isle of Bute, the head of a stone-cross with Runic inscription has been found in 1889 in the old church- yard there. It is a fragment of a rune-inscribed slab, 3 of schistose slate, forming that part where the arms of the cross unite with the shaft. The inscrip- tion has been read : " . . . krus . thine , til guthle... i.e. cross to Guthlez/ or Guthle//£." The termination of Guthle... is awanting, but the name as extended, Guthleif or Guthleik, was com- mon in the Sagas, and the whole forms a link between the Celtic Church and the later Norsemen x lb. 39- 2 /£. 39. 3 Figured in King-Hewison's Bute, i. 135 ; cf. Proc. Soc Antiq. xii. 42 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND who succeeded the early spoilers of her fanes. To the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries in Edin- burgh a collection of rare brooches and other orna- ments have been presented by Lord Strathcona, all from a Viking burial-place in Oronsay. At Kiloran Bay, Colonsay, in 1882, Mr. M'Neill found a ship- burial of the Viking age, with sword, axe, shield- boss, and cauldron, and a pair of scales and stycas of the Archbishop of York (831 -854). 1 As to the scales, they have been found in other Hebridean inter- ments ; Martin long ago stated : " There was lately discovered a grave in the west end of the island of Ensay, in the Sound of Harris, in which were found a pair of scales made of brass, and a little hammer." It has been suggested that this was a Thor's hammer, which is now used as an amulet in Iceland. Thor was called in with his hammer to bless their marriage feasts. In the Edda, Thrym, lord of giants, says : Bring in the hammer the bride to hallow (Bray's Edda, p. 135). In the Sound of Barra, in the isle of Fuiday, there are what are called the graves of the Lochlanners (i.e. Norsemen), who in Eriska are said to have been the last of the Fiantaichean or Fingalians. Brooches of Norse origin have been found in many places, as in I slay, Tiree, Barra, and Sanday. Most interesting of all is a stone with Scandinavian art-work, found by Mr. Collingwood in the Chapel of St. Oran, and now deposited in the Cathedral of Iona, an isle which is the burial-place of eight Norse kings. This Iona cross-shaft of the Viking age has the usual Scan- dinavian dragon, with irregular interlacing, as also a 1 Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. SCOTO-NORSE ART 43 galley with its crew, a smith with his hammer, anvil, and pincers — and so greatly resembles the Manx Crosses that it may have been the tombstone of one of the Norse Kings of Man. " The lower part of the picture is filled with a large ship, in which six little figures are apparently acting as crew, one seeming to manage the sail. To the spectator's left is a much larger figure, that of a smith with hammer and tongs, forging a sword. The hammer and tongs are twice again repeated. Above him is a great dragon-monster, and on the spectator's right is a little quadruped which, if this be another in- stance of the Sigurd [motif] . . . might be the Otter of the legend. The whole is rudely drawn, and executed in the 4 hacked ' work of the later Viking- Age Crosses, extremely unlike the native sculp- ture of Iona, though strikingly similar to the Manx carvings. The ship, as in later monuments of chiefs here buried, suggests the sea-king ; and the Sigurd story, if it be rightly interpreted, would be the pre- heraldic hieroglyph for one of the Manx line descended from the hero. Godred, king of Man, was buried at Iona in the twelfth century, to which time this carving is possibly to be dated." 1 The Norse galley figures on the arms of Clan Donald, and may be seen on the Iona tombstone of Angus Mor, father of John, for some time last Independent Lord of the Isles — and a descendant in the sixth generation from Somerled, regulus of Argyll. 1 Saga Book of the Viking Club, iii. 305-306, where a good illustra- tion is given by Mr. Collingwood, through whose courtesy it is here reproduced. 44 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND The galley or ship, among other emblems, is mentioned by Allan M'Dougall as pertaining to the arms of the Chief of Glengarry : An uair a thogta do laoich, B'ann do d'shuaicheantas daor, Ri crann gallanach, caol, Air dheagh shnaidheadh bho'n t-saor, Long is leomhann is craobh, 'S bradan tarragheal ri'n taobh, Lamh dhearg agus fraoch, 'Nuair dh'eighte le d'mhaoir crois-taraidh. 1 Likewise in an elegy on M'Dougal of Dunolly, who descended from Somerled, Allan Dall refers to the origin of the hand or mailed fist in the Clan Donald arms, which he describes thus : Lamh-dhearg is leomhann is caisteal Long is bradan is crois-taraidh, Dliith bhad fraoich am barr a mhaide Dubh-ghorm gaganach bho'n fhasach 'S gach culair a b'aillidh dathan 'S craobh do'n abhullas a gharadh. 2 For a parallel compare the Viking ship on the oak door of Stillingfleet Church, Yorkshire. 3 A spear-head and other objects of interest sup- posed to belong to Viking times have been found in the " Fairy House" in St. Kilda by Mr. Kearton, as he tells in his book With Nature and a Camera. The Hunterston Brooch found at West Kilbride in Ayrshire, in 1826, belongs probably to the tenth century. The late Professor Stephens terms it P. 165 of Ailein Dughalach's Oram, ed. 1829. Ib. p. 109. 3 Figured in Sa%a Book, v. 247. SCOTO-NORSE ART 45 Scotland's richest fibula. It was found six miles from Largs at the foot of the Hawking Craig, 300 yards from the sea. It bears two inscriptions in Scandinavian runes, one of which has been inter- preted : " Malbritta owns this brooch, Speaker (or Lawman) in Lar." Malbritta is a Gadhelic name, but it is not surprising that it should have been borne by a Scandinavian. "The Manx runic stones," says Stephens, "offer many instances, and so does all our older history. In ancient times many Ice- landers had names originally Keltic. Such things always happen from intermarriages, friendship, and other causes." The other inscription is to the effect : " This brooch belongs to Olfriti." 1 At Kilbar, Barra, there was found by Dr. Car- michael a cross, the art of which is Celtic, but the inscription Runic. In 1880 it was deposited in the Antiquarian Museum, Edinburgh. The stone meas- ures 4 feet 5-! inches in length, its greatest width being 15^ inches above and 10 inches below. It is the first example of Runes in the Hebrides, and hence is doubly valuable. The inscription has been interpreted by the late Professor George Stephens : " Ur and Thur erected this stone after Raskur. Christ rest his soul." He read it : "Ur, pur, KirJ>u stanir Riskurs (or Raskurs) sie (K)ristr (anti), i.e. Ur and Thur gared (set up) these the stones of Riskur (or Raskur). May Christ see (see to, bless, save, guard) (his -ond, his soul)!" He concludes that we may safely call this Kilbar monolith a Norse stone from about the eleventh century. The large 1 George Stephens in Archaeological and Historical Collections relating to the Counties of Ayr and Wigtown, i. 79. 46 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND cross on the back reminds us of several such on the rune-pillars in the Isle of Man, and the Celtic and Northern styles are curiously intermingled in its decoration. 1 Brooches, swords, and grave goods have been found from time to time in the West Highlands. Some of them are described and illustrated in Dr. J. Anderson's Scotland in Pagan Times'. "The Iron Age," where there is a chapter devoted to Viking burials. A representation is there given of a brooch of bronze, silvered, from a grave mound in Eigg, where an iron sword, similar to one found in I slay, an iron axe head, a spear-head of iron, a penannular brooch of bronze plated with silver and ending in knobs, with other things, such as a small whetstone and several portions of dress. A sword-hilt of the Viking time found in Eigg is especially fine. In its form it resembles the hilt of the Islay sword, but Dr. J. Anderson considers it greatly superior to it in the beauty of its ornamentation and the skill of its workmanship. " I know no finer or more elaborate piece of art workmanship of the kind either in this country or in Norway." 2 A Viking grave-mound was explored at Kiloran Bay, Colonsay, in 1882, by Mr. W. Galloway. Grave goods, together with the skeleton of a horse and two cross-marked slabs were found, together with nails and rivets of iron, such as were used by the Norse- 1 Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. New Series, vol. iii. p. 33 ; also in Stephens, Old Northern Runic Monuments of Scandinavia and England, vol. iii. 2 Anderson, Scotland in Pagan Times : " The Iron Age," pp. 48-49, where there is a fine illustration, here reproduced by permission. SCOTO-NORSE ART 47 men in constructing their ships and boats, as well as a pair of scales with their balance beam and weights. Further, an iron sword, 3 feet 8 inches in total length, with the characteristic pommel and cross-guard of the Viking time. Of the coins found one was of the reign of Eanred, 808-840 a.d., another of that of Vigmund, Archbishop of York, 83 t -854 a.d. Dr. H. Schetelig opines that the antiquities found in the grave are all of forms which also appear in Norway, and that they thus indicate as clearly as possible the nationality of the man buried there. 1 Very interesting is the image found in the peat- moss at Ballachulish in 1880 on the grounds of the late Bishop (then Dean) Chinnery Haldane. It seems to be the work of the Norsemen ; in general design and execution it corresponds with ascertained specimens of their idols, and especially of what Sir Robert Christison calls that strange character of ex- aggeration of the organs of reproduction which was adopted by them for their deities as the emblem of Scandinavian fecundity. " Its chief peculiarities are the large size of the head, the absence of mammae, and the development of the pubal region." The eyes were provided with quartz pebbles for eye-balls. The late Rev. Dr. Stewart, of Nether- Lochaber, pointed out that there were native traditions which point to the Bay at Ballachulish as a favourite anchor- age of the Vikings. He specified local names such as Camus Thorsta, Camus Fridaig, " probably from the Scandinavian goddess Fridda or Frigga, a small bay at the turn where the Fort William road enters upon the raised beech " ; Goirtean (mis-spelt 1 Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 1906- 1907, p. 443. 48 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Gorstain) Fridaig, Fridaig's Field ; Clack Ruric, a boulder on the Appin shore near Ardshiel, so named because it was hurled down upon a band of Norse- men, and killed Ruric their chief and several of his men. 1 These names, in part, commemorate Norse- men, if not their deities. 1 lb. vol. for 1880-1881. Runic Inscribed Brooch (Hunterston). See page 44. Runic Inscribed Brooch (Hunterston)— Reverse. See page III. SCOTO-NORSE PERSONAL NAMES. Better witnesses than fragments of early art-work are the names borne by the people. Many such are still with us. Over a score of personal names testify to the Norse influence. Chief among these are MacLeod, M'Cloyd (1343), a clan which took its rise in Lewis — itself a place-name of Norse origin. Ljot-ulf was probably the form originally, meaning ugly-, bad-, hence 'fierce-wolf,' implying strength against foes. Distinctive names in this clan are Torquil and Tor- mod, sons of Leod, who is said to have lived in the thirteenth century, probably at the time of the cession of the Isles in 1266, when after his death his inheri- tance was divided among his two sons, Torquil the elder getting the cradle of the family, the Isle of Lewis, and from him came the chiefs of the Mac- Leods of Lewis, with their offshoots of Raasay, Assynt, and Cadboll. Cleasby Vigfusson's Diction- ary states that ^orljotr is found on many runic stones in Denmark, and that Macleod is probably from Macljotr, the ])or- not having been inserted {Diet. p. 744). 1 "The Macleods of Cadboll and the 1 This is impossible : it would give MacThorleot. D 5o NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Macleods of Lewis, not only quarter the Manx trie cassyn (three legs) but use the same motto, quocunque jeceris stabit, which, I think, clearly points out that the chiefs of that name are descendants from the Norwegian sovereigns of Man and the Isles, or some other Manx connexion." 1 The name Torcull, Torquil comes from the Norse Thorkell, Thorketill, 'sacrificial vessel or kettle of Trior.' The other brother, from whom sprang the MacLeods of Harris and Dunvegan, had likewise a purely Norse name, Tormond, which alternates with Tormod, from Norse Tkormundr, ' Thor's protection, Trior's protector/ whence the dialectal form in Gaelic Tormailt ; the other form, Tormod, is from the Norse Thormodhr, ' Thor-minded,' 'wrath of Thor,' which appears in such Norse place-names as Tormodsgaard, Tormods- vold. 2 Both forms are Englished Norman. The Gaelic Goraidh, ' Godrey,' in Middle Gaelic Gofraig (1467), Early Irish Gothfraid, Early Welsh Goth- rit, is from Norse Go'Sro'Sr or Gudrod, allied to Old English Godefried, German Gottfried, ' God's peace.' Godred, king of Man and the Isles, is mentioned in 979 ; another Godred, king of Man and the Hebrides, died in 1187, leaving Olave his son as heir. Norse Olafr, Anlaf, signifies 'the Anses' relic ' {-laf= E. -left), and appears in Early Irish as Amldib, A laid, which gives the Gaelic MacAmhlaidh, Amhlaibk, ' MacAulay.' Perhaps the form A laid, A Lap, used as a pet name in some Highland districts, and now confused with Ali for Alastair, comes also from the Norse. 1 Oswald in Manx Soc. vol. v. p. 7. 2 Rygh, Gamle Personnavne, p. 262. SCOTO-NORSE PERSONAL NAMES 5i Godred Crovan, king of Man and the Isles (1079- 1095), was succeeded by his son Logmann (acc.) ' Lawman,' whence the Gaelic Lamont, M'Laomuinn, Laman ; N. lagamaSr, 'lawman,' pi. logmenn, 'law- men,' Old Swedish lagman. The lagman was the first commoner, and he had to say from memory what was the law of the land to the assembled people on the Law-hill, Log-bergi. From this comes the Gaelic M'Clymont, in the Dean of Lismore, V'Clymont, Clyne lymyn. Reginald, which occurs as the name of a son of Godred of Man, is from the Norse Rognvaldr, ' ruler from the gods ' or ' ruler of counsel ' ; N. rogn, regin, the gods, Gothic ragin, ' opinion, rule ' : Middle Gaelic Raghnall in M'Mhuirich, modern Gaelic Raonull, also Raull, and Rao' till from Raoghnull. It is the name which appears in Clan Ranald. A cognate word is the female personal name Raonuid, Raonuilt, Raghnuilt, Englished Rachel, from the Norse Ragnhildr. The personal name Manus, common among the MacLeans and the MacDonalds, meets us at an early date in the person of King Magnus of Norway, who made an expedition through the Isles in 1098, and was killed in Ulster in 1103. The name itself is Norse Magnuss, from the Latin magnus, ' great.' No Gaelic Ossianic lay was more current than Manus, Laoidh Mhanuis. It is the framework of Macpherson's Fingal. He was surnamed Barelegs because he adopted the High- land dress both in Scotland and in Norway. The Norse court-poet describes his Hebridean invasion thus : " Fire played fiercely to the heavens over Ljodhus (Lewis) ; he went over Ivist (Uidhist, 52 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Uist) with flame ; the yeomen lost life and goods. He harried Skidh (Skye) and Tyrvist 1 (Tiree). The terror of the Scots was in his glory ; the lord of Greenland made the maidens weep in the Southern isles (Sudreys) ; the Mylsk (people of Mull) ran in fear. There was smoke over II (I slay); further south men in Cantire bowed beneath the sword edge; he made the Manxman to fall." He took King Lawman prisoner. From the name Manus comes, further, the form MacMhanuis, M' Vanish, M l Venish, 2 to be met with in the Highlands. The name Somerled, that of the ruler of the Isles who died in 1164, from the Norse Sumarli&i, ■ summer-sailor, viking,' from surnar, summer, and /iVSi t 'a follower, sailor,' appears in Gaelic as Somhairle, whence also S or ley, Mac Sorley. The Nicolsons of Skye, Gaelic Mac Neacail, M'Nicol, derived doubtless from the Norse ; a Norwegian baron, Andrew Nicolasson, was conspicuous for valour at the battle of Largs. The Norse name came itself from Latin Nicolas, from Greek NWAa?, 'conquering people.' The MacNicols of Glenorchy, however, are in local tradition said to have sprung from one Nicol M'Phee, who left Lochaber in the sixteenth century; they are properly, therefore, M'Phees. Of Danish origin is M'lver, 3 Gaelic Mac Iamhair, Early Irish 1 Hence Tirisdeach, ' a Tiree Man,' whereas Tiriodh, Tiree, the terra ethica of Adamnan, is native, and means ' corn-land.' 2 Different is MacBharrais, MacVarish, a name among the Moidart Macdonalds, and which comes from Maurice. 3 Of the Maclver-Campbells of Glassary, properly Maclvers, came the poet T. Campbell, author of the " Pleasures of Hope" ; v. Memoirs of E. Maclver, ed. Henderson, for account of Clan Iver. SCOTO-NORSE PERSONAL NAMES 53 Irnair, from Norse Ivarr, the full form being Ingvar. From this comes the form Iverach. Notable among Norse loans is Mac Crimmon, Mac Cruimein from Rumun, as on a Manx runic inscription, itself from Norse Hrdmundr, ultimately Hro*&mundr , 'famed protector.' Mac Bain rightly derived the name from the Norse and not from Old Gaelic Crimthann ; Rdmundr, with vowel as o, u, enquiry of the gods about the future ; Sc. fret, freit. It was a species of divination current in the Hebrides, "to ascertain the position and condition of the absent and the lost, and was applied to man and beast. The augury was made on the first Monday of the quarter, and immediately before sunrise. The augurer, fasting and with bare feet, bare head, and 1 v. Kuno Meyer in Quarterly Review, July, 1903, p. 27. 2 CarmichaeFs Carmina Gadelica, ii. pp. 14, 19. 72 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND an instance of its application. Such epical introduc- tion is never found in genuine Celtic charms, 1 so that its occurrence in these Gadhelic specimens at once betrays their non-Celtic origin. In the German version the Gods Wuotan (Odin) and Phol (Balder) ride to the chase, when the leg of Phol's horse is sprained. Many goddesses, and finally Wuotan himself, sing charms over it, of which this is the burden . Bone to bone, blood to blood, Limb to limb, as tho' they were glued. In the Gadhelic 2 version it is Christ riding on an ass or horse, or St. Brigit with a pair of horses, who heals the sprained or broken leg of the animal : She put bone to bone, she put flesh to flesh, She put sinew to sinew, she put vein to vein. As no borrowing from Old High German is to be thought of, we can only suppose that this charm has come into Gadhelic either from an Anglo-Saxon or, more likely, a Norse source now lost to us. The Frith is defined as an incantation to discover if far-away persons live (MacBain) ; fate (Shaw, O'Reilly). Dr. MacBain, without further describing it, rightly derived it from the Norse frdtt, enquiry of the gods about the future ; Sc. fret, freit. It was a species of divination current in the Hebrides, " to ascertain the position and condition of the absent and the lost, and was applied to man and beast. The augury was made on the first Monday of the quarter, and immediately before sunrise. The augurer, fasting and with bare feet, bare head, and 1 v. Kuno Meyer in Quarterly Review, July, 1903, p. 27. 2 CarmichaeFs Carmina Gadelica, ii. pp. 14, 19. See page 95. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 73 closed eyes, went to the doorstep and placed a hand in each jamb. Mentally beseeching the god of the unseen to show him his quest and to grant him his augury, the augurer opened his eyes and looked steadfastly straight in front of him. From the nature and position of the objects within his sight he drew his conclusions." 1 On Norse ground it is mentioned in the Njalssaga (273) ; in the Orkneyinga Saga (28), where Sigurd practises it; in Forn-Sogur (19); in Heimskringla (i. 24). In Norse, in a religious sense, it may be an enquiry of gods or men. This species of divination which We owe to the Norse is by no means extinct in the Hebrides, where it is equivalent to casting the horoscope. In making the frith the recitation of the following formula is enjoined in Benbecula : Mise dol a mach orra shlighe-sa, Dhe, Dia romham, Dia am dheaghaidh, Dia am luirg j An t-eolas rinn Muire dha 'Mac Sheid Brighid thromh bas (glaic) Fios firinne, gun fhios breige : Mar a fhuair ise gum faic mise Samhladh air an rud a tha mi fhein ag iarraidh. i.e. I go out (lit. a-going) in thy path, O God; God be before me, God be behind me, God be in my track : the knowledge which Mary made for her Son, Brigit breathed through her palms, knowledge of truth, without knowledge of falsehood : as she obtained [her quest] so may I too see the semblance of that which I myself am in quest of. There is a rite of blessing one's self when making the frith if a woman be seen — she being the omen 1 A. Carmichael's Carmina Gadelica, ii. 158, where an example is given, viz. Frith Mhoire, 1 The Augury of Mary,' to discover where Jesus was when he stayed behind in the Temple. 74 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND of some untoward event or other. It is by the frith, it is held, that those who cure the evil eye tell whether it be the eye of a male or female that has done the harm. The native and parallel rite with the Gaidheal was the fdetk fiada, the spell or incantation of invisibility, which is said to have rendered St. Patrick and his followers invisible, and this rite under the name fdth ftth, has existed in the Western Isles until our own day ; 1 fdetk or fdth being a kind of poem or incan- tation, the Gaelic word being cognate with Cymric gwawd, panegyric, ' carmen ' ; hence ' magic/ e.g. ferba fdth, 'words of magic' {Rev. Celt. 20, 146); ftth (old ftada, which has nothing to do with fiadh, ■ deer '), being probably connected with the old verb indiad, i.e. ind-ftad' Met me say' (cf. Kuhn's Zeitschrift, 38, 467); further, feith. i. focal, 'word' (H. 3, 18). This whole phrase means 4 word-spell/ and originates in the belief in the magic power of a word, as when we still say of a Highland witch: thug i focal da, 1 she gave him a word,' i.e. bewitched him. The Norse frith likewise testifies to belief in the magic word. The story of the deer metamorphosis so long connected with Patrick's Canticum Scotticum arose from a popular etymology connecting it with fladh, ' deer,' with which it has nothing to do, but goes back to Druidic rites which were credited with creating magic mists, envelopes of vapour which rendered those who moved therein invisible. 2 The oda, otta, ota, denotes a horse-race or caval- cade (Iochdar in Uist) ; it derives from N. at in hesta-at, 'a horse-fight'; the Norse verb being 1 v. Carmina Gadelica, ii. 22-24. 2 Cf. Bury's Patrick, 77, 246. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 75 ultimately etja, atti, part, att, 1 to make fight,' especially " etja hestum, of horse fights, a favourite sport of the ancients" (v. Cleasby's Diet. p. 134, for Norse references). I do not know of the word existing in Manx nor in Irish, but in the Highlands it is well known: the oldest reference to these High- land cavalcades I know of are in Martin's Descrip- tion of the Western Isles, where he tells us of the riding on horseback in Barra on 27th September, the anniversary of St. Barr, "and the solemnity is con- cluded by three turns round St. Barr's Church" ; also in S. Uist of a general cavalcade on All Saints' Day, "and then they bake St. Michael's cake at night"; further, in Harris, he tells that on St. Michael's Day "they rendezvous on horseback, and make their cavalcade on the sands at low water" (v. Martin, ed. 1 7 16, pp. 52, 89, 99). In Norway the horse fight took place on Lovisae Day in August. There was an oda in North Uist as late as 1866 (v. Car- michael's Carmina Gadelica, vol. ii. 315); further (id. vol. i. p. 207), where there is a unique descrip- tion of the processional pilgrimage round the graves of the fathers, after which the people hasten to the oda — the scene of the athletics of the men and the racing of the horses. For this occasion it was per- missible to appropriate a horse, wherever found and by whatever means. Theft of horse at St. Michael's Feast, theft that never was condemned (id. 202). The priest led the way riding on a white horse (id. 206). I recollect the late Father MacColl telling me of the revival of the Oda in South Uist not so many years ago, and in all likelihood it will exist for a long time to come, as a survival. 76 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND The old native Gaelic word for horse races was grafand y from graig-svend, Modern Gaelic, greigh, 1 a stud of horses/ cognate with Latin grex, gregis, the root svend giving ' racing.' The borrowed word is oda, and came in with the Norse. Quite apart from this the horse figures largely in native Celtic belief; it has been known that a white or piebald horse was stopped by the mother or nurse of a child who had the whooping cough. The tales of the water-horse are endless. I mention the white water- horse of Spey ; it appeared in fine caparison, and addressed a couple returning from market and invited them to mount. They did so, and he set off at a trot singing : And ride weel, Davie, And by this night at ten o'clock Ye'll be in Pot Cravie. This Morayshire verse I owe to the kindness of Professor Cooper, who quotes from Macbeth very appositely of horse fights : Duncan's horses are broke loose, 'Tis said they ate each other. The celebrated stone-circle in Lewis was bound to attract the interest of the Vikings. The place itself they named Callarnis, which I suggest is derived from Kjallar, a Norse name of Odin, and nis, from Norse ness, naze, or promontory. The cruciform circle of stones at this place in Lewis seems to have been in their minds ultimately associated with Odin. The late Dr. MacBain took the name from the Norse Kjalarnes, ' Keel- Ness/ the name also of a place in Iceland, but I do not BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 77 think this altogether established or suitable for the spot. What he says as to this and similar stone circles being the wor* of the Bronze Age men seems true : " Neither classical nor native record knows them in connection with any Celtic people. These circles are by origin grave enclosures, the cemetery in each case of some noted king or chief, to whom, it is more than likely, divine honours were paid. They were not the work of the Druids, for the Druids were Celts." 1 There is another view, that these ancient circles were astronomical observatories : M The Solar Physics Committee made an investiga- tion as to the astronomical origin of the ancient stone monuments that are to be found in different parts of the country, more especially of those situated in Cornwall, Devon, South Wales, and Aberdeen, and their general conclusion, now published in a report of the Board of Education, is that these circles, cromlechs, and avenues were erected as observatories for the determination of the sun and stars. The results of the investigation indicate that the dates of erection are between 2000 B.C. and 800 B.C." The real origin is more complex. Tursaichean or Tussaichean Challanis are the standing stones of Callernish, often called Na fir bhreige, ' the lying ones'; na Tursaichean, sometimes Na Tussaichean, from N. purs, a giant, in Shetland tuss, if not G. tuirs-ach-an, * place of sadness ' ; we have in Lewis Tursachan Ceann Thulebhig, a stone circle near Garrynahine ; Tursachan Airigh nam Bidearan, a circle of which there still remains three small stones three feet above the moss. Lewis 1 M 'Bain's Early History of Lewis, p. 2. 78 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND folk-lore now has it that the Felnn or Fingalians were turned to stone on the slopes of Callernish, where they now form the massive stone monuments, while the giant monolith, Clack an Truiseal, 'the Thrushel Stone,' standing sharply out of the level flats of North- west Lewis, was a water-carrier transformed into a pillar of stone by the incantations of the Irish wizards. Mr. K. Macleod gives the legend in the Scottish Historical Review for January, 1908. The Norse fcursasker occurs in the Heimskringla Saga (trans, by Morris- Magnusson, vol. iv. p. 251) for "rocks supposed by some to be in Shetland, by others outside Thurso, or North of Caithness, in Scotland ; but perhaps the Giant's Causeway in Ireland is meant." The term is Englished as Giant-isles. In the Orkneyinga Saga (ed. Anderson, 44 11 ) Thussasker, the Tuscar Rocks, is located S.E. of Ireland. As to Truiseil, Clack an Truiseil, Martin says, "The Thrushel stone in the parish of Barvas is above 20 feet high, and almost as much in breadth " (p. 8, ed. 1 7 16). N. drasill, drosull, m. ' a horse' suggests itself ; it is in Norse largely a poetic word, as in Ygg-drasill ; cf, also the verb drb'sla, ' to roam about ' — all which would point to some old cere- monial of circuiting a stone sacred to some hero of old, and parallel to the circuiting of the burial on St. Michael's Eve as a preliminary to the oda already spoken of. The phonetics are doubtful. The term stall-phbsda is used of marriage-cere- monial equivalent to 'at the altar,' from N. stalli, 'an heathen altar'; stalla-kringr, 'the altar-ring.' It occurs in St. Kilda, which name itself is of Norse origin. The Norse korgr, 'a heathen place of BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 79 worship/ occurs in Horogh at Castle Bay, Barra, but it may be questioned if we have it also in the place-name Torgabost. The Norse kaugr, 'burial mound,' is fairly common, as in Howmore, S. Uist, and there are the variants Hoe and Toe, all with close o. Uruisg denotes ' a Brownie' (M 'Bain's Dictionary, without etymon) ; hag — spectre. Mr. J. G. Camp- bell, Tiree, lets it appear in the script as aoirisg, i.e. ao'risc, which makes a native origin doubtful. In Lewis (Ness) it is applied to an uncouth huge female, which comes pretty near an original such as the Norse dfreskja, 'monster.' In Norse loans, f before s is dropped : Klifsgro, Clisgro ; f before r would assimilate. In Ness the male spectre is called cruchill, which is also used of a ghost. It meant originally an appari- tion which can only be seen by people endowed with second sight: N. ofreskr, a mythological word meaning ' endowed with second sight, able to see ghosts and apparitions hidden from the common eye/ as defined in Cleasby-Vigfusson. Hence the objects so seen which are differently imagined in different localities. " In Tiree the only trace of it is in the name of a hollow, Slochd an Aoirisg" (Campbell's Superstitions of the Scottish Highlands, p. 199). Elsewhere it is more often of the feminine gender : Clach na h-uruisg, 'the stone of the Urisk ' in Glen Orchy, where at a waterfall 1 the Urisk dangled its feet over the fall and kept the waters from falling too fast. At Tyndrum is the Urisk's cascade (Eas na h- Uruisg). The Rev. 1 Waterfalls were worshipped (Cor. Poet. Bor. i. 421). 8o NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Gregorson Campbell defines it as a " large lubberly supernatural, of solitary habits and harmless character, that haunt lonely and mountainous places." He differentiates him from Brownie as dwelling not in the haunts of men but in solitudes. They were male and female, the offspring of unions between mortals and fairies (id. 195). Armstrongs Dictionary, in an interesting note, says the uruisg is more sociable towards the end of harvest, and had a particular fondness for the pro- ducts of the dairy. Further, and in this showing a wonderful closeness to a Norse original, Armstrong adds : " He could be seen only by those who had the second sight ; yet I have heard of instances where he made himself visible to persons who were not so gifted. He is said to have been a jolly personable being, with a broad blue bonnet, flowing yellow hair, and a long walking-staff. Every manor had its uruisg : and in the kitchen close by the fire, was a seat which was left unoccupied for him." Armstrong in the rest of his description identifies him with the Brownie. In Perthshire, kind treatment was all that he wished for ; and it never failed to procure his favour. " In the northern parts of Scotland the uruisg's disposition seems to have been more mer- cenary." Brand's description of the Brownie in Zetland is quoted. Armstrong makes the word " perhaps urr-uisge" and from this false etymon comes the emphasis in the folk mind in supposing its haunts to be " lonely dells, moorland lakes, and waterfalls." Two urisks are associated in legend with Eas d Phollchair, a waterfall nearly two miles from Poolewe ; the one was named Crotachan Sigurd Slab, Andreas (From KeRMODE's Manx Crosses). See page 95. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 81 Liobastan, the other Ciuthach Caogach, from his being squint-eyed. Near the waterfall was a farmer's house. The kindness of the house-wife, Caoimhneag, led the Ciuthach at last to become troublesome. On one night he was anxious to ascertain her name. "My name," she replied, " is My-Self, My-Self,— and none else but myself." " Darling," said he, " what a nice name you do have ; I rather think I will stay here to-night." Her good-man being from home the lady felt this to be unpleasant. On the fire there was a pot of porridge being prepared for the children, while the Urisk, half-clad, sat warming his feet at the fire. In a twinkling the good-wife spilt the boiling porridge over his bare knees, on which he sprang up roaring out : Foit, foit ! a bhoglaich theith, Lite, luaisgte, luaidhte theith. Tradition said that the marks of his feet were visible on the stones leading to the water-fall. The woman went to the highest knoll to listen as to what she might hear. The sparks from Crotachan's feet were plainly visible. All the time he kept crying aloud: " Who did that to thee ? " " My-Self, My-Self, — and None-Else-but-Myself," the Ciuthach replied. " Were it anyone else it is I who would avenge it," cried his companion. The upshot was that the Urisks troubled Caoimhneag no more. 1 In a tale contributed by the late Rev. J. MacDougall to the first volume of the Zeitschrift fur Celtische Philologie, entitled: "The Urisk of the Corrie of the Howlings " (uruisg choire nan nuallan) J For the Gaelic see Guth na Bliadhna, iv. 391-393. F 82 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND the uruisg figures as a carline ; though generally a surly man, the uruisg is here a frightful hag, more resembling the Glastick than one of her own tribe. "The worst of men," she tells the king's son, whom she dissuades from passing the corrie, "is he that will not take advice (is diic nach gabh comhairle). The hero encounters the loveliest maiden eye ever looked at ; she had a willow wand in her right hand, and held her left behind her. His dog barked at her, and she became a howling venomous vindictive hag. The willow wand in her hand became an enchanting beetle, and a fiery scaly serpent lay coiled in her bosom. 1 Her skin was like the hide of the grey buck of the cairns which stands between the smith and the sparks. She would crack a nut between her nose and chin.' As soon as she ascertained the dog's name she called him to her, and he would no longer give heed to his master. What he did was to attack the latter with the Urisk, for it was the Urisk-of-the-Corrie-of-the-Howlings, handsome though she appeared at the first sight which they got of her. She killed the king's son. She was a siren that had her heaps of slain." 1 In the older tales the uruisg is credited with supernatural strength, knowledge, and ingenuity. In the tale of the King of Lochlann's three daughters the uruisg knew beforehand the quest of the widow's son, and constructed a ship that would sail on sea and land, in order to recover the King of Lochlann's daughter. 2 The presence of the uruisg in a tale in 1 For the rest of the tale v. Zeitschrift fur Celt. Philologie, Band i. 328-341. 2 West Highland Tales, vol. i. pp. 244-245. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 83 which the King of Lochlann figures is characteristic, and strengthens the Norse origin of the word uruisg, which enters into Highland place-names, e.g. Allt-nan-Uruisgean, Eas-nan-Uruisgean, Coire-nan- Uruisgean-, 1 and Gleann Uraisg in Kilninver. His haunts were gloomy caves in the rocky sides of deep ravines, high waterfalls, or wild mountain corries ; the association with water came the more readily through the folk etymology of vx-uisg, which is wrong, but easily led to almost identifying the iiruisg with the water sprite peallaidh, surviving in Aberfeldy, Obair-pheallaidh, a word best explained as Pictish and cognate with German quelle? Com- pare Arrusg, 'awkwardness, indecency' (M'Leod and Dewar), 1 ineptia, indecorum ' {High. Soc. Diet., which marks it provincial) ; a literary reference may be quoted from Allan Dall's Poems (1829 ed., p. 47), where, describing the effects of a spree, he says : Cha robh air chomas dhomh ach arrusg, where the context implies he could not do aught else than 'see visions or spectres,' in short, the special second-sight of one suffering from the effects of a carouse : the word may thus be from the Norse dfreskja, applied first of all to the faculty of see- ing spectres or ghosts ; an Irish word aireasc is defined as 'the apple of the eye, sight.' Though a different dialectal development it seems to be of Norse origin ; cf. u and a in Usbaig, Asbaig. For 6, u, cf. N. skjdli, G. sgulan ; N. spola, G. spdl, for 6, d, ; N. Hromundr, G. MacCruimein (v. p. 53). 1 Waifs and Strays, iii. 296. 2 Watson's Place-Names of Ross and Cromarty, p. 88. 84 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Sbrag na h-oidhche, ' the sorag of the night,' is an epithet of the iiruisg. The Rev. Mr. MacDougall, in his tale of the Uruisg, says he has never met this word before, and is uncertain of the meaning. 1 That a loan-word, in the sphere of myth, may obtain wide currency we see from the case of dreag further on. Gaoitha, giiidha, always with the article before it, A' Ghaoitha, means 'by god,' and is used as an asseveration; (a 'ghaoi-a) is the pronunciation. It may have nothing to do with gaoth, 1 wind,' but seems from the Norse gySja, 'a goddess or priestess,' unless it contain the Icelandic guS, 'god'; go's, which in heathen times was neuter, and used almost exclusively in the plural for ' the heavenly powers.' The Gaelic phrase a ghaoitha I have often heard from an old man, and it may belong to the same order of words as Shony, Kelda, Stall. The term Nogi is used as a nickname, and occurs in a folk-song : An cuala sibh 'n naigheachd thug buaidh air gach gnothuch Bha eadar 'n t-each clomhach is Nogi? = Have ye heard of the news that surpasses wholly the affair between the Shaggy Horse and Noki ? Nogi was a personal nickname of a man. It seems the N. Nykr, 'the nick,' a fabulous water-goblin in the shape of a grey water-horse emerging from lakes. Modern Norse nykk or nbkk. Ivar Aasen and Dasent's translation of Asbjorn- sen and Moe clearly notes that the legend exists also in the Highlands of Scotland. 1 Zeit. f. Celt. Phil. i. 33711. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 85 The imaginary Rocabi, the city which Gadhelic legend locates beneath th~ waves, may derive its name fr^m N. rokr [rokkr] 1 twilight,' rokkva, to grow dark, and Norwegian bo, Danish by, N. byr, 1 town ' : 'the twilight city.' Norse rokr should yield a short 0 in Gadhelic, and as a matter of fact the word does not seem to be always long ; Campbell of Tiree wrote it Roca Barra. Legend says that a ship's crew once called there and were hospitably enter- tained. When leaving the sailors were accompanied to the shore and made to heave their shoes. When- ever they left the shore the island disappeared. If they had kept their shoes or anything belonging to the island, if even a particle of its dust had adhered to them, Roca Barra would still be visible ! It is another name for the Eilean Uaine, or Green Isle of West Highland tradition, and corresponds to the buried city of Is in Brittany. The Rocabarraidh of Barra legend is also called 1 the fishing bank of the whales ' = Iola nam muca mar a, where iola is a Norse loan-word. The term teine-e'iginn denotes ' the need-fire ' or forced fire, as Shaw, the historian of Moray, long ago translated it. Not finding the phrase in Irish lexicons, I wrote Dr. Hyde, who says : Nil an focal teine tiginn againn-ne i n-Eirinn, chor ar bith, no ma ta ni chualaidh agus ni fhacaidh mise riamh e. The phrase is unknown in Ireland. What takes its place is The Blessed Turf. " It is remarkable that, on the first approach of cholera here, in 1831, a sacred purifying fire — by some wise heads supposed to be of a political nature — went the round of the island, under the name of The Blessed Turf. It 86 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND was carried from house to house with such rapidity that it traversed the whole island in a single night. A remnant of the people still believe in the efficacy of fire as a preservative against pestilence, and sew up a piece of charmed turf in their dress for that purpose." 1 Another account is as follows : " In Ireland runners hurried everywhere carrying smouldering peat, small portions of which were left at wayside cabins with the sacred obligation upon the inmates to carry the charm to seven other houses, and to make the exhortation, ' The cholera has broken out ; take this, and while it burns offer up seven paters, three aves, and a credo, in the name of God and the holy St. John, that the plague may be stopped.' One man in the Bog of Allen had to run thirty miles before he could discharge his obligation." Grimm long ago thought it strange that the Gaelic digin, ' need, necessity,' should correspond so literally to the English need, and he pointed out that need, German TZtfM-feuer, properly meant 1 fric- tion-fire ' ; it was a fire produced by friction from oak beams. I incline, especially as the term is unknown in Ireland, to regard the Norse dikinn, 'oaken,' as the real origin of the Gaelic diginn, eik being of old the oak, though now in Icelandic it has come to mean tree of any kind. In Mull the need-fire was formed by turning an oaken wheel over nine oaken spindles. Ramsay of Ochtertyre's account tells us that in the eighteenth century the need-fire was produced by means of a well-seasoned plank of oak. 2 1 Irish Popular Superstitions, by W. R. Wilde, p. 44. 2 Grimm's Mythologies i. 506. Frazer's Golden Bough quotes Ramsay's account. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 87 Grimm 1 refrains from explaining the difficult expression eikin fur (Saem. &3 h ), and in a footnote (p. 609) he says the Gaelic teine diginn, M seems to favour the old etymology of nothfeuer, unless it be simply a translation of the English needfire." Had he thought of it as a loan from the Norse he would have been able to explain the difficult expression, even if he maintain the derivation of nothfeuer from an older hnotfiur, knodfiur, from the root hniudan, O.H.G. hniotan, ON. hnicfSa (quassare, terere, tundere), which would seem a fire elicited by thumping, rubbing, shaking. And in Sweden it is actually called both vrideld and gnideld, the one from vrida (torquere, circumagere), Ag.S. wriSan, O.G.H. ridan, M.H.G. riden ; the other from gnida, 'fricare,' O.H.G. knitan, Ag.S. cntdan (conterere, fricare, depsere). It was produced in Sweden as with us by violently rubbing two pieces of wood together, in some dis- tricts even near the end of last (eighteenth) century ; sometimes they used boughs of nine sorts of wood. The smoke rising from the gnideld was deemed salutary, fruit trees or nets fumigated with it became the more productive of fruit or fish. On this fumi- gation with vriden eld, and on driving the cattle out over such smoke, cf. Supers. Swed. 89, 108. Grimm thinks the superstitious practice of girls kindling nine sorts of wood on Christmas Eve may assure us of a wider meaning having once belonged to the need-fire. The word shows eld, 'fire,' and Norse gnifta or ni&a, Danish gnide, to rub. An old reference to it is under the year 743 in the Indiculus 1 Mythology, Eng. trans., p. 602 (vol. iii.). 88 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Superstitionum (de igne fricato de ligno, id est nodfyr). The root *neu, *nu, in Gothic *bnauan, from bi-nauan, Norse nua, Old Irish noine, hunger- necessity, from *nevenjd^ in E. need, = l press, force.' The Hebridean old custom of carrying fire in the right hand round the cattle and land has been regarded by Dr. Stefannson as of Norse origin, and Professor Mackinnon remarks that the ring of fire round the beautiful island in the Tale of the Knight of the Red Shield seems a reminiscence from Ice- land. To illustrate the Norse custom we may quote Origines Islandicae (ii. 24) : " Ord . . . rode round the house against the sun, with the glowing brand, and said : here I take land to myself in settlement, for there is no inhabited dwelling here. Let the witnesses that are here give ear." For the Hebrides Martin mentions the practice of carrying fire dessil or right-hand wise about women before they are churched and about children until they be christened, as an effectual means to preserve mother and infant from the power of evil spirits ; sometimes these rounds were performed about the persons of bene- factors three times, and he tells us he had this ceremony paid himself after he had given an alms. " There was an ancient custom in the Island of Lewis to make a fiery circle about the houses, corn, cattle, etc., belonging to each particular family : a man carried fire in his right hand, and went round, and it was call'd Dessil from the right hand. . . . An instance of this kind was once perform'd in the village Shadir in Lewis about sixteen years ago. . . . This superstition is quite abolish'd now, for 1 Falk and Torp, Ordbog Norske, sub N$d. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 89 there has not been above this one instance of it in forty years past." 1 In Skye at least the serpent was associated with a ceremony of pounding a peat in a stocking at the doorstep on St. Bride's Day. One of the last traditional accounts tells of it having been done at Uignis, Skye. 2 The serpent was then supposed to come from its lair and the ceremony was thought to symbolise its destruction. An old rhyme associ- ates the serpent with Clan Iver : " On St. Bride's Day the serpent will say from the knoll : I shall not hurt the daughter of Iver, neither will I vers daughter hurt me." By euphemism she was spoken of as 1 Queen.' True members of Clan Iver were invulnerable by serpents, which seem to have been totems of that clan. The words which legend supposes to have been uttered by the adder are : I have sworn to Clan Iver And Clan Iver has sworn to me That I will not injure Clan Iver Nor Clan Iver injure me. Principal Maciver- Campbell thought this rhyme commemorated an alliance between the Clan Iver and some other race symbolised by the serpent, and that there is every probability that the alliance referred to is that which is known to have anciently existed between the Macivers in Perthshire and the Clan Donnachaidh or Robertsons, one of whose cognisances was the serpent, which still appears as one of the supporters in the arms of their chief, Robertson of Strowan. 3 1 Description of the Western Isles, p. 117, ed. 17 16. 2 Carm. Gadel. i. 170. 3 v. Memoirs of Evander Maciver, ed. Henderson, p. 272. 9o NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND With this one should compare the following interesting Northern legend, which is met with in the tale of the " King of the Vipers." " A man in the district of Silkeborg once found a viper-king. It was a tremendously big serpent, with a mane like a horse. He killed it, and took it home with him and boiled the fat out of it. This he put into a bowl and set it aside in a cupboard, as he knew that the first person who tasted it would become so clear-sighted that they would be able to see much that was hid from other people ; but just then he had to go out to the field, and thought that he could taste it another time. He had, however, a daughter, who found this bowl with the fat in it, while her father was out in the field. She thought it was ordinary fat, which she was very fond of, so she spread some of it on a piece of bread and ate it. When the man came home he also spread a piece of bread with it, and ate it, but he could not discover that he could see any more than he did before. In the evening, when the cows were being driven home, the girl came out and said, ' Look, father, there's a big red-speckled bull-calf in the black-faced cow.' He could see well enough then that she had tasted the fat of the viper-king before him, and had thus got all the wisdom, in place of himself." 1 Now this motif repeats itself in the Sutherland legend, which tells how Fearchar Lighich, the noted physician Beaton, acquired his powers of healing and of knowledge through having partaken of the 1 W. A. Craigie's Scandinavian Folk-Lore, p. 264. This version is from the Danish. See Chambers' Popular Rhymes, p. 77, where the tale of Sir James Ramsay of Bamff shows the story was known in Scotland. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 91 bree of a white serpent boiled over a fire of hazel twigs. The hazel tree in question was located at Glengolly. It is a variant of the legend which tells how Fionn acquired supernatural wisdom and fore- knowledge, and in both cases the legend is influenced by the Sigurd- Siegfried belief, illustrated on the crosses of the Isle of Man, where Sigurd is actually depicted in the act of slaying the dragon Fafni, and is shown as sucking the thumb he had burnt in roasting the dragon's heart, while above him are represented one of the talking birds and Sigurd's steed, Grani. A Sutherland tradition associates Fionn with acquiring his wisdom on the banks of Loch Shin, where he partook of the flesh of a white serpent. As a physician had at least as much need of wisdom as a warrior there was clearly a folk-need met when legend transferred the old story to Fearchar Leiche. Sutherland legend has it that Fearchar was a shepherd who dwelt at Glengolly, at the south of Loch Eriboll. At that time it was customary for young men to go to the fairs in the Lowlands, whither Fearchar went like the rest. Once upon a time he was on the market stance, where he met a gentleman who greeted him well and warmly, and made inquiry as to where he had come by the hazel stock in his hand. " In Glen- golly, in the Reay country," he replied. " Would you know the tree out of which it was cut?" "Yes, if I were near it," he said. " A rich reward I will give you if you go back to that tree in Glengolly and on arrival see whether there is a serpent's hole beneath it. If there be, wait a while and you will see six serpents coming out. Do not molest them, 92 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND but wait until they return, when you will perceive a white serpent come in last. Seize this white serpent, bring it to me and a rich reward is yours," said the man of birth. Fearchar did as he was told : he went to the tree, saw the hole, and perceived the serpents. He got the white one and brought it with him. His friend was exceeding glad to receive it. Without delay he placed a pot on the fire and he instructed Fearchar to keep his eye on it until he himself should return, giving com- mands to give all heed lest the water should boil over. His host was not long gone when the water began to boil. In spite of what Fearchar could do the water boiled so that it seemed likely to force the lid off the pot. What should happen but that Fearchar burnt one of his fingers, and quite unthinkingly thrust it into his mouth. Lo and behold ! the eyes of his understanding were opened, and he was made wise unto the healing of every ache and pain which ever befel mortal man. His host at last returned, and the first thing he did was to take off the pot lid, dip his finger in the bree and put it in his mouth. " Oh/' he said, turning to Fearchar, " this is of no good now. You did not as I told you, and hence no reward will I give." It could not be undone or altered now. Fearchar returned home ; all the sick he met with on the way he healed. At length he arrived at the township where he was dwelling at the time. There happened to be there a local king or kinglet in dire straits suffering from a sore foot. He was unable to walk, and the king's own physicians did the best they BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 93 could, but in vain. Fearchar heard of this, went to the ca°tle gate and cried aloud : A' bhiast-dubh air a chnamh gheal ! 1 The King asked who was there. ;< One who was passing by, and who gave himself out as a Leech." " Fetch him here," said the King. Fearchar was brought to the royal presence, and the King inquired as to his skill, and as to whether he was a Leech. " Please, Sire, I am," said Fearchar. 11 If you heal me," said his Majesty, " I will give you what you ask, even to the half of my kingdom." Fearchar was not long in curing his patient. Then the King inquired as to the fee. " The fee," said the Leech, " is every island in the sea between Stoer Head in Assynt and the Red Point in Orkney." " Granted," said the King, " along with much land elsewhere in thine own country besides." His descendants were known as the progeny of Fearchar Leich, or as MacFhearchair, shortened to Corraichean. A list of the islands granted to Fearchar is preserved in a Gadelic poem in the papers of the late Dr. Macintosh Mackay, which I have read, and agrees closely with Captain Morrison's version in the Celtic Review. This Fearchar had descendants, one of whom in 151 1 resigned the lands of Melness, Hope and Mussell, with all the islands, to Mackay and his son. He was an historical character round whom mythic lore was woven. Similarly, mythic incidents may have been attached to the historical Caittil Find (820-857), and thereby became incorporated with 1 A sprain-charm was probably repeated here. 94 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND the older legend of Fionn. At any rate, what I may call the Sigurd motif became grafted on the Fionn Saga, where it is used to explain how Fionn acquired his wisdom (Fzos Fhinn), which was one of the three things which kept up the Feinn. The Staffa ver- sion of the birth of Fionn tells how one day Fionn came to a waterfall by name Easroy (Assaroe), and he spoke with a man whom he saw fishing at the fall. " I am sore ailing," said Fionn, " I pray you give me one of those little creatures you are fishing, that I may eat." u I will not," the fisherman spake. " Be so good as put out your rod," said Fionn, "in the direction I'll tell you." The fisherman did so, and immediately he fished a big salmon. " I won't give you this fellow, he is too big and good. This is a king's fish." " Be so good as give me the rod." " You shall have it," said the fisherman. When Fionn had got the fishing-rod, he gave a cast with the line and brought in a salmon bigger than that of the fisherman. " I must not give you this one," said the fisherman, "but I'll give you one not quite so big. Only you must roast it on the other side of the fall, though the firewood is on this side. If it have a raw or a burnt spot on it, you shall suffer the loss of your head on that account. I shall go to sleep, and it shall be roasted ere I awake." Though this was a hard task it must needs be done. Fionn set about kindling the fire and roast- ing the fish while the fisherman betook himself to BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 95 rest. Fionn was sorely tried by keeping the fire briskly burning, and by attending to the roasting. On a sudden a burnt blotch rose on the salmon, and as quick as possible he set his finger thereon and had it burnt to the bone, on which he speedily dabbed his finger in his mouth, and got the knowledge of the two worlds as they say. That instant he knew it was the fisherman who had killed his father. 1 Other accounts speak of Fionn being forbidden to taste the salmon or the fish he was to see boiled. That we have Norse influence here is clear from a sculptured slab at Jurby, Isle of Man, which is nearest to the Sutherland legend. Alongside the shaft of the Jurby cross we see Sigurd in the act of slaying the Dragon ; below he is shown sucking the thumb he had burnt in roasting the dragon's heart. One of the talking birds and Sigurd's steed Grani are also shown. At Malew there is another Manx cross which shows Sigurd from his pit piercing the dragon. Here Sigurd is shown piercing the wand upon which, the dragon's heart is roasting over a fire represented by three triangular flames, and sucking his burnt thumb, which reveals to him the knowledge of what the birds around are saying. 2 On the Manx crosses there are at least six well-attested Sigurd illustrations, and at least two Edda pictures hardly to be doubted : such is the opinion of so competent a judge as Mr. Collingwood. 3 1 v. my translation of the whole in an account of the Fionn Saga in the Celtic Review \ vol. i. 359-360. 2 Kermode and Herdman's Illustrated Notes on Manx Antiquities, Liverpool, 1904, pp. 81-82. Kermode's Manx Crosses, plates xliii.-xlv. London (George Allen & Sons), here reproduced by permission. 3 Saga Book of Viking Club, v. 409. 96 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND In Uist the MacCodrums — and the name is of Norse origin — are associated in their descent with the seal : the common proverb speaks of Clann y ic Codrum nan ron, the clan MacCodrum of the seals, meaning that their descent is from the seal. The seals are regarded as kings' children under spells. Norse legend regards the seals as capable of divest- ing themselves of their skins and of assuming the appearance of women. The idea of transformation is of course very common in Gadhelic, but this special association of the MacCodrums with the seal I regard as Norse. I proceed now to speak of the crann-taraidh, 1 the fiery-cross.' "It consisted of a piece of wood or pole half burnt, then dipped into the blood of a goat or lamb, and having at times a stained flag attached to it. Every chieftain had several of these signifi- cant beams of alarm in his possession to enable him to dispatch them in every direction. When required . . . the messenger set off with it at full speed, and delivered it to the first man he met with at the nearest hamlet. He in turn ran to the next. Should any one able . . . refuse ... he would instantly be put to death" (Rev. A. Macgregor's descrip- tion in The Conflict of the Clans, p. 40, who compares Scott's Lady of the Lake, canto v. ix.). Donnchadh Ban, the Gaelic poet, in his Rainn Gearradh-Ai'nt, gives the form crois-taraidh. So too Ailean Dall in his Elegy on MacDougall of Dunolly, and again in a poem to Glengarry (pp. 109, 165 of the 1829 ed.). For Harris the form tein thara occurs with the a short (v. my glossary to Iain Gobha's Poems, ii. 345). M 'Bain's Diet, gives the form with the a BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 97 short, likewise with the a long, and quotes Cameron : " As to -tara, cf. the Norse tara war." This shows Dr. M'Bain set aside the native etymon, which Armstrong may have thought of when he rendered it as ' beam of gathering.' Armstrong adds : " In 1 745 the crann-tair, or crois-tctir, traversed the wide district of Breadalbane, upwards of 30 miles, in three hours. The crann-tair was also in use among the Scandinavian nations." I never came across any Irish reference to it, and Dr. Douglas Hyde confirms me in this. He states in a letter that they have neither the name nor the thing. (Maidir lets an crann-tara nil an rud nd an t-ainm againn-ne cho fad agus is Uir domh-sa e). In the circumstances I take the word to be the Norse her-dr, ' a war arrow,' to be sent round as a token of war (v. Cleasby- Vigfusson, p. 259). In Iceland, at least in the west part, Vigfusson tells us, a small wooden axe is still sent from farm to farm to summon people to the mantals-])ing in the spring ; an arrow, axe, or the like was sent to call people to battle or council, as symbolical of the speed to be used or the punishment to be inflicted (id. p. 71). The t of the Gaelic article is usually prefixed to loans from Norse which began with h, e.g. tabh = an t~haf. Hence crann t-herbr, -terbr. In a loan word I believe the vowel should not be an obstacle, as it may have been influenced by tar, thar, if not by the Norse tara, 1 war (cf. pro- nunciation of maduinn, which in I slay has an open e, i.e. medinri). In Christian times the Norse used a cross to summon people to a meeting, and this 1 A foreign word, Vigfusson thought. Probably borrowed from the Gaelic formation, I would add. G 98 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND mode corresponded to their her-dr or war-arrow in heathen times (v. Vigfusson-Cleasby's Dictionary, under " Kross "). The nearest equivalent in Irish Gaelic is gairm scoile, 'a summoning of an assembly/ an expres- sion frequent in folk-tales according to Dinneen's Dictionary {sub gairm) ; gairm scoile, says Mr. Lloyd, "is undoubtedly the form in Munster folk- tales." But there is also the variant goirm sgolb, 'a summons of battles,' the original sense being inferred as probably ' a summoning of a warlike gathering by means of sending round lighted splinters,' and hence in later times when the use of the lighted splinter would have ceased, a proclama- tion of any kind. Mr. Lloyd adds : " Both are clearly from a common original, but what that was I do not venture to suggest." 1 On the hypothesis that sgolb is the older and more primitive form, since battle and torches have preceded schools, he con- cludes that "the lighted splinter or torch would probably have been the same as the fiery cross sent round to summon the Highland clans of Scotland to gather for warlike purposes." On the other hand, if the northern origin of the Highland crois-tara be correct, I would regard sgolb, scoile of the Irish phrase, as founded on the Norse skora, 8 to challenge to fight, to call on, summon,' skora likewise meaning ' to score or mark out a field for battle, to challenge to single combat.' The change from r to / would have been easy. The name ' need-fire ' arose in Teutonic from the friction required to produce the fire ; the wood 1 Ean an Cheoil Bhinn, ed. S. Laoide, 1908, p. 65. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 99 usually required for it was the oak, and when the Norse rite became known the Gaels may have seized rather on the name of the wood itself. The eikinn furr is the oaken fire {Edda, i. 430). The eik or oak in Iceland (where there are no trees) is used in the general sense of tree, but this does not hold of Norway. And even in Iceland it applies to oak in the oldest proverbs where there is reference to the old custom of building houses under the oak as a holy tree. 1 The adjective eikinn, 1 oaken,' is used at least twice in the elder Edda-, Norse eik, ' an oak' or tree,' occurs in a place-name in Gairloch, West Ross-shire, where we have Coille-dagascaig, wood of Eagascaig, which is Norse eikir-skiki or eiki- skiki, * oak strip.' 2 Grimm gives an account from the Isle of Mull for the year 1767. " In consequence of a disease among the black cattle the people agreed to perform an incantation, though they esteemed it a wicked thing. They carried to the top of Carnmoor a wheel and nine spindles of oakwood. They extinguished every fire in every house within sight of the hill ; the wheel was then turned from east to west over the nine spindles long enough to produce fire by friction. If the fire were not produced before noon the incantation lost its effect. They failed for several days running. They attributed this failure to the obstinacy of one householder who would not let his fires be put out for what he considered so wrong a purpose. How- ever, by bribing his servants they contrived to have 1 Cleasby-Vigfusson, p. 119, sub "Eik." 2 Watson's Place-Names of Ross and Cromarty, p. 235. ioo NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND them extinguished and on that morning raised their fire. They then sacrificed a heifer, cutting in pieces and burning, while yet alive, the diseased part. Then they lighted their own hearths from the pile and ended by feasting on the remains. Words of incantation were repeated by an old man from Morvern, who came over as master of the ceremonies, and who continued speaking all the time the fire was being raised. This man was living a beggar at Bellochroy. Asked to repeat the spell, he said the sin of repeating it once had brought him to beggary, and that he dared not say these words again. The whole country believed him accursed." There is also E-eg-ir, Aegir, Eigir? pronounced (.eh-ek-or), from the Norse mythology, where Aegir, the husband of Ran, is a giant's name in the Edda ; cognate, according to Grimm, is Ag. Sax. Edgor, 'the sea,' which still survives in provincial English for the sea- wave or bore on rivers : " Have a care, there's the Eagor coming" (Carlyle's Heroes, p. 198). A photograph of the Aegir may be seen in Mr. F. M. Burton's book, The Shaping of Lindsey by the Trent? As the Norse hafi ' ocean,' was introduced into Gadhelic as tabh, one would expect other words to be introduced and to survive among people of Norse lineage, "and especially the fishermen [who] believed themselves to be surrounded by sea-spirits, whom they could not see, and who watched what they were doing. In the Pagan 1 Martin's Description ; also Carmichael's Carm. Gad. ii. 270, where the names are given thus : Lioc a Eigir ; Laimrig Eigir ; Eilean Eigir, Sgeir Eigeir, Iol Eigir. 2 London : A. Brown & Sons, pp. 48, 54. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 101 time people believed in the sea-god Oegir [Aegir], whose kingdom was the mysterious ocean, and he had his attendant minor spirits who watched intruders upon his element. :r ihe feeling which came to prevail among the fishermen towards the sea-spirits was one of mysterious dread. They considered the sea a foreign element on which they were intruders, and the sea-spirits in consequence hostile to them." 1 In the Elder Edda, Aegir's children is a poetical expression for the waves. It may in the Hebrides have been a personal name, for in S. Uist we have Lamrig E-eg-ir, 'the landing-place of Aegir'; also tola E-eg-ir='the fishing bank of Aegir.' Shony was 'a sea-god in Lewis,' where ale was sacrificed to him at Hallowtide. After coming to the church of St. Mulvay at night a man was sent to wade into the sea, saying : Shony, " I give you this cup of ale hoping that you will be so kind as to give us plenty of sea-ware for enriching our ground the ensuing year." 2 As d from Norse would become o, an fn became nn, one thinks of Sjdfn, one of the goddesses in the Edda. In any case the word is Norse. Captain Thomas thought the word was s6n, a sacrifice ; sjoni, a nickname in the Landnd- mabdk, and akin, suggested Vigfusson, to son, atone- ment, sacrifice ; German siihne, ver-sohnung. In the Hebrides they gave what they had, which would account for the departure from ancient usage. The ancient Norse sacrifice of atonement was thus per- formed : " The largest boar that could be found in the ^akobsen, Old Shetland Dialect, p. 23. 2 Martin's Description of the Western Isles, ed. 17 16, p. 28. 102 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND kingdom was on Yule-eve laid before the king and his men assembled in hall ; the king and his men then laid their hands on the boar's bristly mane and made a solemn vo" 4 . . . The animal being sacri- ficed, divination took place, probably by chips shaken in the boar's blood. . . . The boar's head at Yule-tide, in Queen's College, Oxford, is probably a relic of this ancient heathen sacrificial rite. Sdn was the name of one of the vessels in which the blood of Kvasir, the mead of wisdom and poetry, was kept " (Cleasby-Vigfusson). But cf. N. sjoli, which occurs in an epithet of Thor : himin-sjoli, heaven- prop, heaven-defender (?), hence perhaps king. A Scandinavian account of the origin of the elves is thus : " When the devil raised rebellion in heaven, he and all those who fought on his side were driven into outer darkness. Those who joined neither party were cast down to earth and doomed to live in knolls, fells, and stones, and they are called elves or huldn-folk." By the same account the elves have no material body. 1 A second Scandinavian account is that men are descended from those of Eve's children which she showed to God, while the elves spring from those children which Eve had not washed and was ashamed to let God see. God knew this and said : " That which has been hid from me shall also be hid from men." And those (un- washed) children became invisible to mortals, and lived in holts and heaths, in knolls and stones. 2 The first account is similar to that 9-iven in the Western Isles of the origin of the fairies (elves), and is, I think, rather general in Scotland. It may 1 Craigie, Scand. Folk- Lore, 431. 2 lb. p. 142. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 103 be named the-war-in-heaven version. An Uist account I have before me in a letter which I may translate : God wished to hide his face for a time, and since it was not seen the archangel Solius said to the Devil that he would take his (Lucifer's) place. Michael the archangel spake, saying : who is like unto God ? Thereupon there was war ; God then manifested his displeasure, and the wicked rebels were ordered out of Paradise to the Pit Bottomless in the heart of the earth. An innumerable number of followers were hurled forth with the arch-rebel. Those who did not yet reach the place of woe, on heaven's gates having been closed, abode in the hills and knolls, and they are the folk of the Sldhe. As the good man said, they were summoned hence, but it is not known whither. In this case both Norse and Gadhelic accounts have their presuppositions elsewhere, and probably they derive from a common parent source. In Scandinavia an elf-charm was cured by melted lead. At Skalsby, in the parish of Mern, a girl was thus afflicted in her head; 4 'so they got a woman brought who could melt lead over her, and in that way she was made well again." The process was : "There must be three kinds of lead : church- lead, cloth-lead (from cloth-stamps), and common lead. This is all melted together, and poured over a pair of shears, which are opened out in the form of a cross, and laid over a bowl of water. During this time not a word must be spoken. The lead runs together in the water, and forms some figure or other, generally that of a person. In that case, the sick man has met with something which was io4 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND laid out on purpose to injure him or some one else. But whatever the lead forms, it must be wrapped up in linen, and laid under the sick person's head, so that he may sleep on it overnight." 1 For Scotland the Fraserburgh Kirk Session Records give a parallel : " Agnes Duff tuik leid and meltit it, and pat on ane sieve on the bairnis heid, and ane coig with watter in the sieve, and ane scheir abein the coig, and the leid was put in through the boull of the scheir amang the watter." 2 In Inverness-shire I have seen heart-turning in lead (cridhe luadhainn, tionndadh cridhe) performed for curing some heart affections. Water was raised in a wooden ladle at a burn where the living and the dead pass ; lead was melted and poured through the key of the outer door into a pailful of the water, during which an incantation was repeated, ending with the Trinity's name. From the fantastic shapes assumed by the lead in its molten state it was attempted to divine the patient's recovery. The virtue lay greatly in persevering with the rite, for the sick person often lived miles away from the operator. I find that this rite exists in Styria, and Grimm traced it back to Greece. Geigean, Righ Geigean was the man who presided over the death revels. These were held in winter. The man elected by lot presided over the revels from midnight till cockcrow. " A tub of cold water was passed over his head . . . after which his face and neck were smeared with soot. When the man had been made as formidable and hideous as possible, a sword, scythe, or sickle was placed in his hand as 1 Craigie, Scand. Folk-Lore, 433. 2 Quoted by Mr. Craigie, ib. 433. BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 105 emblem of office." Dr. Carmichael (Carm. Gad. ii. 285) got the description from a Lewis minister who had seen the ceremony in his native parish of Creich, Sutherland ; he adds : " I have failed to get any trace of the ceremony further south." It seems the same word as ceigein, 1 a tuft, a fat man,' from N. kaggi [Engl, cag or keg\, sometimes j used as a nickname in Iceland. And further, the idea of a Valhalla is a prominent feature in the Aged Bard's Wish (Miann A' Bhaird Aosda), where the ancient Gadhelic idea of the Over- Sea Elysium, here Eilean Fhlaitheis, is mingled up with the non-Celtic idea of talla Oisein is Dhaoil, the hall of Ossian and of Daol. Even talla itself is from the N. hall, ho 11, the / being the usual t of the Gadhelic article prefixed in such cases. In the Norse mythology hall is used of the abode of the gods and giants. Note. "Before the death of a duine uasal or gentleman, a light or meteor called Dreag, or rather Driug, was seen in the sky proceeding from the house to the grave in the direction in which the funeral procession was to go. It was only for 1 big men,' people of station and affluence, that these lights appeared, and an irreverent tailor once expressed a wish that the whole sky were full of them." 1 Armstrong gives the form Dreug, dreige, "a meteor; a falling star; a fire-ball," and adds that among the ancient Britons a meteor was supposed to be a vehicle for carrying to Paradise the soul of some departed Druid. He wrongly held, with Dr. Smith, the word to be a contraction of Druidh-eug, a Druid's death ; indeed Smith went so far as to fancy that it had its origin in a tradition of Enoch's fiery chariot. M 'Alpine's Dictionary defines it as 1 Rev. J. G. Campbell's Witchcraft and Second-Sight, p. 111 ; cf. notes to Fled Bricrend (ed. Irish Texts Society). io6 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND ' meteor,' and repeats Smith's fanciful and erroneous etymology. Macleod and Dewar does so likewise, but gives the variant Driug, of feminine gender, as "a meteor or death flame superstitiously supposed." The word seems to be known in Ireland, although its old cognate is indubitable in Irish aurdrach^ 1 a ghost,' a native Gaelic word. Foley's English-Irish Dictionary gives it as one of the renderings of meteor-, dreag^ teine speurach, reilttn 1 dreige. M'Bain gives the variants dreag, dreag, driug, "from the Ag. S. dreag, apparition, Norse draugr, ghost," — rightly. The Highland word is from the Old English. Philologic law prevents taking it from N. draugr, which should yield *drogk in Gadelic. Besides, the Norse imagination widely varies from the Highland death-light which leaves a house ere a death occurs and takes its way to the burying-ground, irrespective of rank or class. Campbell's restriction to the 'big-men' does not hold for Inverness shire. "The Draug is variously imagined in different districts of Norway. In the south it is generally regarded either as a white ghost or as a Folgie foreboding death, which accompanies the dead man wherever he goes, and sometimes shows itself as an insect, which in the evening gives out a piping sound. In Herjus- dale in Hvide-so, at the spot where Herjus Kvalsot was murdered, his draug now walks ; on Christmas Eve it came to his house and cried : " ' 'Twas better walking on the floor Down at Kvalsat as of old, Than lying here in Herjus-dale 'Neath unconsecrated mould.' " In the North, on the other hand, the Draug almost always haunts the sea or its neighbourhood, and to some extent replaces Necken. The northland fishers have much to do with him. They often hear a terrible shriek from the Draug, which sometimes sounds like ' H-a-u,' and sometimes ' So cold,' and then they hurry to land, for these cries forebode storm and mishaps at sea. "The fishermen often see him and describe him as a man of middle height dressed in ordinary sailor's clothes. Most of the northlanders maintain that he has no head ; but the men of North More allow him, in place of a head, a tin-plate on his neck, with BELIEF AND RITUAL AMONG THE GAIDHEAL 107 burning coals for eyes. Like Necken he can assume various shapes. He generally haunts the boat-sheds, in which, as well as in their boats, the fishermen find a kind of foam which they think to be the Draug's vomit, and believe that the sight of it is a death-warning." 1 1 Craigie's Scand. Folk-Lore, 328. Draugr is the most general name for a ghost in Iceland, he notes. V. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE. This may be of two kinds. It may be traced in the speech-sounds or in the words. As to the former, at least one characteristic of North Highland pronunci- ation is due to the Norse for certain : this is the use of str- initially where Argyll prefers sr, for example, strath, for Argyll srath, ' strath ' ; struth for Argyll sruth, 'stream.' Of the European group of Indo- Celtic or Indo-Germanic languages the sr combina- tion exists only in Gadelic and in Lithuanian : Old Irish sruth, Lithuanian sravju, 6 to flow,' whereas the Teutonic group shows str, e.g. English stream, Norse straumr, all cognate with Greek pvcrig, a flowing, pevjuLCL, a stream, Cymric ffrwd. Neither the influence of the Gadelic article nor the force of analogy suffices to account for the North Highland fondness for str-. The substitution of / for r almost entirely in St. Kilda and in a certain number of words all over the northern districts is at least noticeable ; but the approximately English sound given to d in Suther- land and Lewis in words like bord, 'table,' and the peculiar Lewis pronunciation of slender r, for NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 109 example air, 'on,' as e&, I would definitely ascribe to Norse, and perhaps also the lack of distinction between slender and broad r in words like cuir, cur, 'put, place,' all over the north. The practical abandonment of the older Gadhelic sound of aspirated / before and after broad vowels in most parts of the north I will not press, for the sound referred to is found in Lome, and in Tiree, where there are numerous Norse place-names, as well as sporadically in Skye and South Uist, and even occasionally in Lewis. Neither will I press the northern love of the a vowel, nor the oxytonisation of verbal forms, e.g. bualak for bualadh, ' striking,' so characteristic of Kintail alike in the Fernaig manuscript and in the speech of to-day ; for though widely spread in the north it is not a feature in the Reay country, where generally -adk becomes -u. A development within Gadhelic itself is the pronunciation of cn as cr, 1 e.g. croc (with nasal 0) for cnoc> hill; crepaild, 'garter/ for cnebaild, from the Norse knd-belti, 'knee-belt.' More doubt may exist as to the pronunciation of -rt as -rst, -st, e.g. mart, 'cow,' as marst all over the north practically, while in Tiree and the Ross of Mull and elsewhere it is mast ; it is' a change within Norse itself as in purs also puss, 'a giant.' Another example is an gestair, common all over the north for an ceart uair, ' this moment, immedi- ately, by-and-bye.' The more rapid discarding of inflections over the northern dialect, and for that matter in Cintire, may be set down to the presence 1 Sir H. Maxwell found over 200 words with Knock in Galloway, and only one was spelt Crock. He concludes that the change was " beginning to take place at the time Gaelic was dying out in Galloway" (say in Queen Mary's time). {Scottish Land-Names, p. 40.) no NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND of foreign speakers who attempted to render the newly acquired language more easy to themselves. Above all, it is the difference in intonation, in modulation, in the use of the voice between speakers from Central Lochaber, say, where there are no Norse place-names, and between Sutherland or Lewis speakers, where Norse influence is strong, that makes one instinctively feel the presence of the foreigner. Though all languages develop character- istic localisms, there are on a great scale marked differences in intonation and modulation where one can distinguish, for example, an Italian speaking English from a German or Frenchman speaking it, even with one's eyes shut. These are more easily felt than described. One thing is certain : there are great similarities between Norse accentuation and that of the Highland area. This has been noted by Dr. Waltman, of Lund, in a contribution in the Swedish Nordiska Studier entitled " Nordiska aksentformer i Galiska." He remarks that stressed syllables may have (i) acute accent, which more or less resembles English and general Continental accent ; the tone in words with this accent on the stress syllable is slightly rising as a rule, and occurs in words with a short vowel, e.g. leat, 'with thee/ bochd, 'poor,' damh, 'stag': (2) grave accent, in words of more than one syllable, where it closely resembles the grave accent in Swedish. The differ- ence, he remarks, between words with this accent and such as have the acute is most noticeable in their modulation : the tone falls on the stress syllable with grave accent and is again higher on the following unaccented ones. Then one of the NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE in unaccented syllables is stronger in a word with the grave accent — thus comhrdidhean, ' conversations,' i.e. there is a secondary stress on a syllable after the one with the grave accent. This accent is found in words with a long vowel : eiginn, dtleas, eolas, onrackd, which are all dissyllabic, and to them may be reckoned words like faidk, faisg, digh, ffoiair, which Stewart the grammarian gives as monosyllables with a long diphthong : (3) circumflex or compound accent in monosyllabic words con- taining a long vowel. In this case there are two force-impulses. The tone falls and then rises again. The circumflex makes the impression of being a combination of the grave accent and a following secondary stress, e.g. ath, dan, mna, earn, bord, gle, ciuin\ also lamh, ramk, trom, fonn, mall, beann. With this love of rising stress I would unite the phenomenon of diphthongisation so characteristic of the northern dialects of the Highlands. I have noted it as a feature in East Munster, which in the case of a and 0 before //, nn resembles Inverness-shire, whereas Connaught is more in accord with Argyll. In my treatment of "The Gaelic Dialects" 1 I have summarised my observations, and I may quote the result which I arrived at without reference to the present inquiry : Diphthongisation is not universal over the High- lands. It is usual in North Inverness (part of Old Pictland), save before -rn, -rd, -rt ; it is infrequent in Argyll, which allows it before -//, nn in the northern districts (for Argyll is here divided, as it is in the case of la from long open e, derived from l Zeitschrift fur Celtische Philologie, ed. Meyer and Stern, Band iv. 263. 112 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND ' compensatory lengthening ' — the part of Argyll north of the Firth of Lorn, including Iona and Mull, taking in the ia side). The upper part of Appin and Glencoe is somewhat mixed ; before -//, -nn it occurs in the Book of the Dean of Lismore. It is rare in S. Argyll before -//, -nn, hardly known in I slay, and rare in Cintire, Cowal, Arran, where the double consonant is reduced a half and the short vowel is made half-long. It is unknown at Strath tay and Blair according to Mr. Robertson (i.e. for part of Pictland) ; it is unknown in Strathspey, but exists in Badenoch to a greater degree than in North Inverness or Reay, and is the rule except before -m and -rr in the dialects of W. Perthshire, which tend, too, to diphthongise long open e into ia. It is a question whether and to what extent, if any, it has racial significance. On the other hand, difference in intonation is one of the main sources of difficulty in Irishmen and Highlanders comprehending one another readily in rapid utterance. We know that the coming of the Norse led to an estrangement between the Gaidheal of the Highlands and those of Scotia Major or Ireland. The repeated destruction of Iona led to the setting up of Dunkeld as chief ecclesiastical centre, with all the influences that thereon followed. For good or ill the Scottish dialect of Gadelic had thus the more freedom of adapting itself to all the influences of the time and place in which it found its home. I proceed now to more solid ground. As to words, the loans from Norse may for convenience be classified with reference to their NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 113 cultural relations. We may consider terms pertain- ing to 1. The House, Household, and Family- Life, It has been recognised already that uinneag, 'window,' is from N. windauga, 'wind-eye,' whence window; elobha, 'tongs,' is from N. klof, 'cloven, cleft, fork of the legs,' klova, kloven, ' the fire tongs,' in Shetland (Jakobsen, 30); crbcan, 'a crook,' N. krokr\ sgol, sgoladh, 'rinse, wash,' e.g. d sgoladh an t-soithich bhainne, ' washing the milk - vessel ' ; sgolaigeadh, 'washing,' in the special sense of 'dressing one's self up,' from a root as in N. skola, ' washing water,' whence E. ' scullery ' ; marag, ' a pudding,' from N. morr, dative morvi, ' suet,' bld^-mbrr, 'black-pudding'; abhsporag, ' tripe, cow's stomach ' (U.S. Diet.), ' cow's throttle' (M'Alpine), from a N. compound with hdls, 'neck'; driog, 'a drop,' from N. dregg, M. Eng. dreg, 'dregs' (M'Bain) ; Spain, 'a spoon/ from N. spdnn, spdnn, ' spoon, chip.' aibhist, ' an old ruin ' (Stewart's Collection), from N. dvist, 'abode.' airinn, in phrase airairinn an taigke, 'in possession of the house, on the floor of the house,' lit. ' on the hearth of the house ' ; air airinn a ghlinne, ' on the floor of the glen,' prepos. phrase air airinn = ' by, in the neighbourhood of.' Seems from the Norse arinn, dat. aarni = drni y ' hearth ' ; cognate with German Ahren ' vordiele,' from * azena, allied to Lith. as/a, and probably with L. ara (for * dsa), ' altar ' ; it is different from aruinn, 'forest.' buta, 'a wooden dish' in St Kilda ; from N. bytta, Danish botte, 'a pail, small tub, the bucket for H H4 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND bailing a ship with ' ; biicidi, ' the fisherman's basket ' (Shetland); Faroese by&i, Icel. by&a, 'tub, kit.' Different in origin is G. botaidh, as in b. mine, 'a small cask of meal/ chean, 'hamper' (I slay) ; ciosan, 'a basket for wool,' may be founded on some Norse form, as kesshie in Shetland is the common basket made from straw and dried docken stems, and which Jakobsen derives from Norw. kjessa, from O.N. kassif), 'basket' (v. Shet. Dial. p. 31). cnapack, ' a bit of a lad, a boy ' ; G. cnapach gille, founded on N. knapi, 'a boy,' cognate with German knabe, E. knave. cms cus, a dairymaid's call to cows. N. kus kus, 'call to a cow,' North English cush. fuine, ' baking ' ; fuin, ' bake ' ; primary meaning, "to fire, hence to bake before the fire"; Zimmer makes E. Irish oc-fune=N. vi& funa, ' a-roasting,' from N.fuzn, 'flame, fire.' Seething was the Celtic custom, not roasting; and bruit k, 'cook, boil,' was the native word; a root voni, 'dress,' from ven, von, in L. venus, venerate, is impossible, for it yields in G. fine, 'a tribe, kindred.' In the Celtic languages the word fuine, 1 bake,' is quite isolated ; a tenable native derivation is sought in vain. Were the Norse funa simply a cognate of the Gadhelic word one would expect it to have v- initial. Irish uses the word in the sense of roasting ; fuine an tuirc, ' the roasting of the boar ' (O'Grady's Silva Gadelica, i. 86, 2). In the Highlands it means 'to bake,' a secondary meaning from 'to fire.' It occurs in Broccan's Wymvi, for ten ic fune ind loig, 'on the fire cooking the calf.' NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 115 Native terms for cooking are found in Irish: bdttur na Danair ag luchtaisecht, 'the Danes were cooking ' (MacFirbis's Three Fragments of Annals, anno 851) ; imon teni oc urgnam na muci, ' about the fire cooking the pig' (O'Curry's Manners and Customs, iii. 161) ; the cooking pit is fulocht ; in Orgain Brudne Da Dergae cooks are called fulachtore, and cooking is oc ddnam fulochta. The usual native method seems to have been boiling or seething, and the term fune, fuine, may have come in first with the Norse. Further, oc fuine eisc for indeoin . . . in cet lucht ro berbad don indeoin, "the cooking (firing) a fish on a spit . . . the first lucht (potful) that was sodden on a spit " (Cormac's Glossary, sub ' Ore Treith '). But even this text dates after the first Viking period. marag, 'a pudding,' from N. morr, 'suet of an animal ' ; bld*8-mor, ' a kind of black pudding.' me'is, 1 a basket for wool ' ; N. meiss, ' a wooden box, a basket of wicker work ' ; Shetland de maishie, 'open basket,' cognate with E. mesh (Jakobsen, Old Shet. Dial. p. 31). piocach, ' a little boy, a brat ' (Sutherland) ; it is used by some tribes of Highland tinkers also. From Norse pjakk, pjokk (two forms of the same word), "which in Norwegian are applied the first to a young trout, the second to a young boy " (Jakobsen, Old Shet. Dial. p. 21). It has nothing to do with Pict as folk-mythologists imagine. rbmag, 'a mixture of meal and whisky' (Sutherland) ; also and more widely, of meal and cream. From N . rjomi, ' cream ' ; from this are formed other Gaelic variants : ceapaire rbmais [Don. Ban. p. 181), 'piece n6 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND of richly buttered bread'; romasach (Mac Mhr. Alasdair, p. 28), applied to rich fattening food. stop, 'a churn' in Ardnamurchan. It is a low vessel with broad bottom, and is rocked to and fro ; a deanamh stop, 'churning.' X. staup, 'a knotty lump, stoup. beaker, cup." E. stub, Dan. stob. tobhta, ' roofless wall, knoll, tuft.' from N. toft, topt, 4 a clearing, a place enclosed by roofless walls.' udabac, 'out-house, back-house.' from N. uti-bak, 'out-back' (M'Bain), who notes iidabac for Uist. 2. Dress and Armour. brog, 'shoe,' E. Irish broc, from X. brokr, 1 Old English broc, pi. brie, 'breech, breeks,' all ultimately from the Gaulish hraccae. breeches ; Gallia Braccata is used as the popular correlative of Gallia Togata to denote those parts of Gaul which had not yet adopted Roman civil costume ; the X. brdkr was of Celtic origin, but the cuaran, moccasin, brogue, sock, was the word used by the Gael technically for 1 shoe ' ; broc at first denoted, as in the Xorse, a nether close-fitting garment in one piece from the hip to the toe : nuirghe, a banner, Zimmer considers to be from the X. ynerki, a banner, ensign, mark, which in Early Irish became mtrgge (cf. Irische Texte, by Stokes and Windisch 3. p. 69, L 23) ; mantul, mantle, used by Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, is from the English, but Early Irish matal is from N. nwttull, ultimately through the Romance languages from L. 7tiantile. raob y raobag, 1 stitch, bit of cloth 1 ; chan eil raob 1 Zimmer in Kuhn's Zeitschrift^ xxx. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 117 aodaich air, he hasn't a stitch of clothes on. The vowel sound is the short form of the high-back ao, which is usually long. Here ao goes back on N. ei if it come from N. reip, a rope (hence what is fastened on the person). 3. Pasture and Agriculture. The following are certain \gearraidh, the Hebridean term for pasture land between the shore-land and the moor-land, from N. gerdi, fenced field, garth ; risteal (in Uist rustall), a surface plough with a sickle-like coulter used formerly in the Hebrides, from N. ristill, ploughshare, from N. rista, to cut ; sioman, slaman, a rope of straw or hay, from N. sima y genitive plural simna, rope, cord ; Shetland simmen, the straw-rope (Jakobsen, 44), simmonds, heather ropes (Orkney) ; tarp, a clod, lump, from N. torf y sod, lump; sgi/eag, sgilig, shelled grain, from N. skilja, separate (in Lowland Scots shillin, unhusked grain) ; siola, a wooden collar for a plough-horse, haimes, from a Norse form sili, a harness strap; se/i, harness, represented by Swedish se/a, a wooden collar, in Lowland Scots sele, a wooden collar to tie cattle to the stalls ; sgruan, a shock of corn, a scroo, so termed in the Aird and in Assynt, from N. skrtif, scroo or cornstack ; sga/ag, a farm servant, E. Irish sco/oca, from N. skalkr, servant, slave ; iidrathad, utraid, a free way to the common pasture ; N. utreiS, an expedition, 'out-road' (M'Bain) ; amall, swingle-tree, used for yoking horses to a harrow, evidently founded on N. hamla, to pull backwards ; hamla, an oar-loop " made of a strap or Ii8 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND withe fastened to the thole-pin, into which the oar was put, the oarsman pulling the oar against the thole, as is still done in the fjords of Norway " (Cleasby-Vigfusson) ; buanaidh, used by Rob Donn for a ' bully,' and of one given to ostentation ; Irish buanna, a mercenary, a billeted soldier, with which compare buana balaick, a Lewis term at Ness for a ' fearless boy,' all from N. buandi, boandi (later bdndi), a tiller of the ground, husbandman, Danish bonder, a boor : in Norway and Denmark bdndi became a term of contempt for the common people. 4. Peat. The Norseman Torf Einar is recorded to have been the first to cut peat in Caithness. With this form of industry the Norse were well acquainted, for we find N. bakki in G. bac-mbine, a peat bank ; toirrsg, toirsgian (the sound indicates a letter has been dropped between r and s), or toirpsgian (M 'Alpine for Islay), a peat-cutting spade or knife, N. torf, turf, peat, and G. sgian, hence a hybrid for N. torf-skeri, peat-cutter ; the dialectal tosg % peat- cutter, is from a Norse word surviving in tuskar of Orkney and Shetland, and in the tusk-spawd of Banff ; ruthan, rugkan, a peat heap, from N. hrugi (cf. rucan, a small cole of oats, from Sc. ruck, cognate with N. hraukr, heap) ; lopan a peat-creel, from N. laupr, a basket timber-frame (of a building), also in carn-lbpain, a light-framed cart for carrying peats ; staing, a stick used in creels, ribs of a creel (staing = eadhon bioran ann am barr nan cliath — Isle of Lewis), from N. stbng, pole. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 119 storag, 1 five or six rughan of peat, in all about 36, heaped together ' (Assynt) ; founded on N. sior, 1 big> great. ' 5. Carpentry. biota a churn, vessel ; N. bytta, a pail, tub. geinn, wedge, from N. gand, gann, a peg, stick, which Stokes and Liden connect with fendo in L. offendo. glamair, a vice (whether that of carpenter or smith) : N. kldmbr, a smith's vice ; cognate is German klemmen, to jam, pinch ; Danish klammer ; Nome glamers. \_cudainn, tub, Clach-na-cudainn in Inverness. The Shetland kuddie, and the Morayshire queed, Sc. coodie, are cognate with the N. ktitr, a cask, which at least seems in the vowel-length to have influenced the Gadhelic, as the M. Irish is cuidin, coithin^] Obs. ballan y a tub, Stokes regarded as from N. bollz, a bowl. locair, plane, from N. lokar, O. English locer (whence locair- sheimicidh, shave-spoke ; clinch, e.g. chuir e l.-s. air = he clinched it). lonn, timber put under boat for launching it; from N. hlunnr, roller for launching ships. lopan, in carn-lbpan, the old primitive peat-cart which was drawn like a sledge, down steep hill- sides ; in some place simply 1 peat-creel.' This is the Norse laup-r, Faroese leypur, " a long-shaped wooden box used for the same purpose as the ' kesshie ' is used for in Shetland, namely, for carrying something (peats, manure) on the back " i2o NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND (v. Jakobsen's Old Shetland Dialect, p. 32). Mac Bain is to the like effect in his Further Gaelic Words and Etymologies, where he defines it in the restricted sense 'peat-creel,' from N. laupr, basket, timber frame of a building, Shetland loopie, Ag.S. Map. It is the St. Kilda loban, i a straw vessel like a large bottom bee-hive,' so defined by the late Rev. Mr. Mackenzie of St. Kilda (v. Pi'oc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. vol. for 1904-5, pp. 397-402). Hence the surname Lobban of Morayshire; Loban (1400). The name was given to the progenitor, who is said to have been a Mac- lennan, from his having hidden under a peat-cart or sledge. lunnan, coffin trestles (Skye, in phrase air na lunnan), from N. hlunnr, roller. sgor, a notch, tally, from N. skor, a mark ; from this seemingly sgorrag, the moveable small shaft of wood placed in a cart for carrying timber, a diminutive from N. skor, * mark, notch, tally.' sguil (Ness, Lewis), pi. sgulan, ' basket for fishing lines'; in Sutherland this is sgulag (Strathy Pt.) ; from N. skjola, ' a bucket.' More generally over the Highland mainland the form is sgitlan, a large wicker basket of a size such as may be used at potato lifting. A potato-basket is called a scull in Morayshire. spal, shuttle, N. spola, weaver's shuttle. sparr, joist, beam, roost, from N. sparri, a spar. spe'ic, spic, a spike, from N. spik, a spike. stengall, an instrument with three prongs used for searching for dead bodies (Lewis); founded on N. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 121 stanga, to spear fish, or else direct from stong, genitive stangar, a pole. 6. Fish and Fishing. cilean, or cilig (Sutherland), a large cod-fish, in Ness 'anything worthless,' Manx keilleig (Craigeen), from N. keila, long cod (gadus longus). dorgha, drogha, hand fishing-line, from N. dorg, angler's tackle. geadas y pipe, from N. gedda, Sc. ged, allied to goad. saidh, saidhean, saoidhean, saith, from N. seiSr y set [gadus virens). sgazt, skate, from the N. skat a (the Edda). trosg, cod-fish, from N. fiorskr, Dan. torsk, Ger. dorse k. stangaram, the stickleback fish is thus named in Harris; from N. stanga, sting; see Glossary to my edition of Dain Iain Ghobha ; also the Eng. -Gaelic of MacLeod and Dewar's Diet. tabh, dbk, hand net for taking fish into boat, from N. h&fr, pock-net. To be added is bliong, lythe (Scourie), possibly irregularly founded on N. bleikja, ' sal mo levis.' ucas, ugsa, coal -fish, stenlock ; cf. N. uggi> 'a fin of a fish,' uggi&r, ugga&r, provided with fins, finned. siolag, 'a sand eel,' from Norse silung [svilung], ' a trout ' (Edda) ; connected is sillock, which in Shetland applies to the first stage of the saith. [Another Gadhelic word, slo/ag, means 'a sow,' the male of which is cullach, and dialectal collach ; the root here is Gadhelic^/, 'seed.'] 122 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Note. — Probably of Norse Origin. gniobunn, gnibunn, ' the brim or rock - fish ' (Scourie) ; the root is same as in griopa, gniopa, 'a high rocky shore, in Skye and Uist,' from N. gnipa, 'a peak.' tdi(gh)eam "the 'lift' fish or splice" (Scourie). 7. Birds. Of bird names from the Norse, among recognised loans are ale, falc, the common auk, from N. dlka, E. auk ; rbcas, crew, from N. hrdkr, rook ; sgarbh, cormorant, from N. skarfr, scarf (Shetland) ; sgaireag, young gull still in its grey plumage, young scart, from N. skdrz, young sea-mew: skorey (Shetland) ; cf. the Highland Monthly \ iii- 353- To these I would add the following : arspag, ' large species of sea-gull, larus major ' (McBain). It has hitherto defied etymologists. But the variants point to the word as a loan ; for we have farspaeh, farspag, defined as * sea-gull ' ; the I rish is fdsprog, i a gull or mew ; an osprey 1 (Dinneen's Dicty.). Forbes gives another variation for Argyll, viz. fairspreig, ' the great black-beaked or headed gull' (Forbes's Gaelic Names, etc. p. 28). Its proclivities are carefully described by a Lewis writer (Mod Competition paper) thus : na caoirich an iomaguin mus tig farspag, jitheach, ndn iolaire mias len spuirean cronail gus an cuid uan a thogail suas. It is the Larus marinus of Linnaeus, i.e. the greater black-backed gull, and the Gaelic comes from NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 123 the Icelandic svart-bakur, 4 black -back, swart hy- back'; swartbak (Shetland); Swabie, 'the great black-backed gull,' through some such forms as sfarst-bak, sfars-pac, farspac, farspag, arspag, Gaelic dropping the initial s, the more readily in combina- tions and in districts where rt is sounded as rst ; cf. my edition of Morrison s Poems, vol. ii. p. 350, where s between r and d or t, e.g. orsd—ord ; cairs- dean = cairdean, has been noted by me for Harris; cf. elsewhere, bor(s)d, tar(s)tan. The adult bird is white with dark grey-brown mantle and wings ; wing-quills nearly black. Young birds are dirty white, mottled with brown, and show no black on the back till the third year. 11 As a bold and greedy robber, this bird comes in (in Iceland) for a good deal of persecution in the breeding season. It preys on fish ; eggs of any kind of bird ; young, wounded, or weakly birds ; young lambs, or any kind of carrion " (Slater's Manual, p. 113). Sporadically, thus N. sv becomes G. f y the more easily in this word, which has a labial in the second half of the compound. Assilag or Aisealag : ''The Assilag is as large as a lint white ; it comes about the end of March, and goes away in November" (Buchan's St. Kilda)\ li aisileag, asaileag, assilag, storm petrel, storm finch, alamonti " (Forbes's Names of Birds). It has a "black bill, wide nostrils at the upper part, crooked at the point like a fulmar's bill " (Martin). The storm-petrel breeds abundantly in the Faroes. For origin of the Gaelic word compare Shetlandese asel, 1 storm, cold and sharp blast ' ; hence applied to what is in constant motion and restless, as in 124 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND phrase upo de asel 'i urolig bevaegelse.' The word is different from Gaelic tachlag, an t-achlag, which at Scourie, W. Sutherland, means ' the water wagtail'; Latin Motacilla of Linnaeus (Martin speaks of the tuliac, of the size of a goose, but it is some kind of gull). The Motacilla alba, the White Wagtail, is recorded for St. Kilda (Wigles- worth's St. Kilda and its Birds, p. 40). buigeir : The bougir of Hirta is by some called the coulterneb, by others the puffin (Macaulay). "budhaigir, bugaire, buigire, 'a puffin'" (Forbes); also buthaigear, buthraigear, a coulterneb, puffin (Barra, Harris, St. Kilda). The form bugaire con- firms the derivation: • ' somehow from N. bugr y curve, bent-bill?" (MacBain). But g is irregular. " The Bouger, so-called by those in St. Kilda; Coulterneb, by those in the Farn Islands ; and in Cornwall, Pope ; it is of the size of a pigeon : they breed in holes under ground" (Buchan's St. Kilda). dlrid, 'puffin, also stormy petrel.' This is a Badcall-Scourie name for this bird, which is also ' nicknamed ' Tarmaid. Forbes gives dlrid for "the peewit or lapwing." It is Norse, the nearest form of which is seen in the Shetland dirridu petrel, Mother Cary's chicken = stormsvale (Jakobsen's Ordbog, p. 101). fulmair, falmair, a species of petrel, fulmar. It has been derived from Sc., Eng. fulmar. It is Norse fulmar. M 'Alpine, who writes it down as English, defines it as 'the bird fasgadar,' which is a gull that is a sort of sea-hawk, a dark-grey bird that pursues others and causes them to eject the NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 125 contents of the stomach, and on this it feeds. It never leaves the sea. Forbes defines falmair 1 the grey petrel,' and flsgadar, ' a species of gull = common skua,' Arctic gull (Gaelic Names of Beasts ', Birds, etc. p. 28), and fulmair likewise as 'the grey petrel.' The Highland Society's Dicty. gives falmair as a Hebridean word for 'a kind of fish/ and gives no derivation. The word is defined in Armstrong simply as 1 a St. Kilda bird,' and Martin's Description of the Western Isles is quoted, where it is said : " The fttlmar is a grey fowl about the size of a moor-hen. It has a strong bill, with wide nostrils ; as often as it goes to sea, it is a certain sign of a western wind. This fowl, the natives say, sucks its food out of live whales, and eats sorrel ; for both these sorts of food are found in its nest. When anyone approaches the fulmar it spurts out of its bill a quart of pure oil ; the natives surprise the fowl, and preserve the oil, and burn it in their lamps. It is good against rheumatic pains and aches in the bones. The inhabitants of the adjacent isles value it as a catholicon for diseases ; some take it for a vomit, others for a purge. It has been used successfully against rheumatic pains in Edinburgh and London. In the latter it has been lately used to assuage the swelling of a sprained foot, a cheek swelled with the toothache, or for discussing a hard bile, and proved successful in all the three cases." It is the fulmarus glacialis of Linnaeus, called in Icelandic fulmdr (see the Hallfre^ar Saga), i.e. foul, stinking, or lazy mew or gull, commonly known now in Iceland as fyll. Its egg has a persistent musky 126 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND smell. " The bird is silvery white, with grey mantle and tail, and sooty flight feathers ; bill yellow, with dark nostril tubes along its upper ridge. Length, 19 inches; wing, 12^ inches. Flight stiff, by which the bird may be distinguished from a gull a mile off, or more. Occasionally one of the dark form of Ful- mar may be seen ; it is of a dusky grey all over . . . immature Fulmars are duskier than adults " (v. Slater's Manual of the Birds of Iceland, p. 140, Edin., Douglas, 1901). " Nasty stinking beast! why, even its egg keeps its stench for years ; his flesh no man can eat ; and if you sleep on a bed on which even a handful of his feathers have been put by mistake, you will leave it long before morning " (Sysselmand of Faroe, quoted in Seton's St. Kilda, p. 188). Fulmar oil is "a thin, foul- smelling amber-coloured liquid, generally containing green particles floating in it" (St. Kilda and its Birds, by J. Wigles worth, M.D., p. 60). lamhaidh, lamh, guillemot (Gaelic Soc. Inver- ness, Tr ansae, vol. xx. 93) ; in Lewis it exists as lamh, signifying broadly ' diver '; sometimes ' razor- bill.' It is from N. lang-ve', a bird, columbus troile in the Edda (Cleasby) ; the Uria troile of Linnaeus. In Iceland the Langnefja or Langvia. It is an expert diver, and feeds on small fish (v. Slater's Birds of Iceland, 127). Mentioned often in St. Kilda poetry. " The Lavy, so called by the in- habitants of St. Kilda, by the Welsh a Guillem ; it is near the bigness of a duck ; its egg is near the bulk of a goose egg ; it is for ordinary food, preferred to all other eggs had there by the in- habitants ; if it stays on land three days without NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 127 intermission it is a sign of a southerly wind, and fair weather ; but if it goes to sea ere the third expire it is then a sign of a storm " (Buchan's St. Kilda). stearnal, stearnag, tern or sea-swallow. I have often seen it in the Sound of Mull. It occurs in Dr. JohnMacleod of Morvern's poem Caol Muile : Mar dhealan nan speur Chit' an Stearnal beag, gleusd A' clisgeadh gu h-eibhinn a nuas. The word is from the Norse ; Danish tei r na ; Icelandic frerna ; sterna Macrura ' the Arctic tern.' st for / in initials of words occurs in Gaelic in stairsneach, ' threshold,' E. Ir. tairsech ; stale, stiffen ; stalcanta, firm, strong, with which compare G. tailce ; stairn, noise ; founded on *s-tazrn, root in tairneanach ; stairirzeky 'rumbling noise,' for s-dairirich, and side- form is dairireach ; stair, starran, stepping-stones over a bog, evidently for *s-tar> root in tar across. sulazre, the solan goose ; it frequents the islets and stacks adjacent to St. Kilda. For the name cf. the small islet of Suleskeir, or North Barra, ten miles west of Rona ; the Stack of Suleskerry, about forty miles west of Stromness, Orkney. From N. stila, haf-stlla, the gannet, solan-goose in the Edda. Tabks, ' the gannet ' (Forbes's Names, quoting Caraid Nan Gaidkeal). In Dr. John Macleod of Morvern's Caol Muile the form is an t-amhus : Bhiodh an t-amhus leis fein Ann an uighe nan speur, A shuil gheur air an doimhne mh6ir. z.e. 1 the gannet by itself in the depths of heaven, with its sharp eye on the deep.' 128 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND The form amhus is but a dodge of the script to render the diphthongal sound ; and Norse / is rendered by a sort of w- sound : cf. Caladair, which is Gadhelic for Cawdor ; bk, mh are attempts to reproduce Norse /. In Cintire the solan goose is amhsun, in Mull amhas. The better spelling is abksa, hence an t-abhsa, from N. h&lsa, 'to clew up sail,' as used in the Lewis phrase abhsadh a chromain- luch = shortening sail kite-fashion. The reference is to the bird's closing its wings when circling in the air, after which it hurls itself headlong and dashes up the water in its search for fish. Its action often locates a shoal of herring. Trilleachan, Drilleachan, the sea-piet. Martin says 'it is cloven-footed and consequently swims not.' May it be founded on Norse tritill, a top, tritla, Danish trilde, ' to trot at a slow pace ' ? There is a bird try till in Icelandic, but it is not further defined in Cleasby-Vigfusson. Other bird names of Norse origin doubtless are some mentioned by Martin: 4 4 The bird Goylir (recte, Goillir), about the bigness of a swallow, is observ'd never to land but in the month of January, at which time it is supposed to hatch. It dives with a violent swiftness. When any number of these fowls are seen together, it's concluded to be an undoubted sign of an approaching storm ; and when the storm ceases they disappear under the water." 1 It is the stormy petrel. The name may be founded on the Norse kolr, ' coal-black,' for the bird is sooty-black all over, including the bill and feet, with a white patch over the tail, and 1 Martin's Description of the Western Isles, p. 72, ed. 17 16. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 129 suggestions of white margins to the wing-coverts. Martin 1 also speaks of " The sea-fowl Bunivochil? or as some seamen call it Carara, and others Bishop, is as big as a goose, of a brown colour, and the inside of the wings white ; the bill is long and broad and it is footed like a goose ; it dives quicker than any other fowl whatever, it's very fat." Seems founded on N. buna, 'a stream (of purling water),' but uncertain. 3 Forbes gives " bun-bhuachaill, the northern diver, also the bittern or heron " ; further " buna-bhuachaille, the great auk (Mac- Donald) also cormorant." The cormorant is a stream-fowl, often straying some distance up rivers and doing great harm to young trout and salmon. The young cormorant is sgarbh, 'skart,' from the Norse skarfur, and Carara may be some Norse epithet of the bird. The Gowlin of Martin, 4 "a fowl less than a duck," is reckoned a true prognosticator of fair weather, "for when it sings, fair and good weather always follows." It may be the bird in its young stage which in the Norse is gulond, "a kind of duck" (Cleasby- v Ib. p. 158. 2 The extinct Garefowl (Great Auk), formerly in Iceland geirfugl, geyrfugl, the Gorfuglir of Faroe, is referred to as buna bhuachaille by the author of the Agriculture of the Hebrides {v. Seton's St. Kilda, 172-175). "He flyeth not at all" (Martin). Hence called alca impennis. Was seen in Harris in 1821 ; and known as the 'Ghost- Bird' killed between 1830-1835 on Stack An Armuinn (Wiglesworth's St. Kilda, p. 37 ; cf. Brown and Buckley's Vertebrate Fauna of the Outer Hebrides). 3 The second element cannot be N. 'fowl, bird, 5 for this would become ful-, -bhul, unless influenced in its turn by some word of Gadhelic origin, or else onomatopoetic. 4 /£. p. 71. I 130 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Vigf.), but more detailed description would lead to certainty. N.B. — Not Norse, though non-Gadhelic, is the Hebridean guga, pi. gugaichean, young solan geese. Na gugaichean h-Iortach bha cbrr agus bliadhn' An crochadh 'san riasg bha slighanta. (The Pabbay Poet in my Leabhar nan Gleann, p. 92.) guga, pi. -achan, solan goose {MacEachann's Diet., ed. Whyte- Mac Bain) ; gugairneach, a fledgling bird ; e.g. gugairnich mhora de dJieoin agus clbimh- teach bhan orra. From Sc. goog, an unfledged bird ; very young meat that has no firmness ; N. ungz, the young of a bird. 8. Animals. gadhar, ' lurcher dog, mastiff' ; Early Irish gagarr, which Kuno Meyer takes from N. gagarr, i dog ' ; for the root cf. N. gagg, ' the fox's cry.' ruta, 'ram,' from N. hriitr, 'ram.' Places were often named by the Norsemen after the animals they found there, e.g. Jura, N. Dyr-ey, 1 deer-isle.' Raarsaidh, * Raasay,' N. r&r~ass-ey, 'roe-ridge-isle.' Rosaidk, from N. hross-ey, 1 horse-isle ' ; Hross meets us several times in Lewis place-names. Hestaval { Lewis), N. hesta-fjall, ' horse- or stallion- hill ' ; 1 Soay, N. SauSa-ey, 1 sheep -isle ' ; Ranish (Lewis), N. rd-ness, 'roe-ness.' Haver say, N. hafrs-ey, 4 he-goat isle.' Calva, N. Kalfa-ey, a small island close to a larger 1 Watson, Place- Names of Ross a?id Cromarty, p. 267. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 131 one is called a calf {eyjar-kdlfr), the larger island being regarded as the cow ; cf the Calf of Man, Calva Beag, and Calva Mor, in Edrachilis Bay. The goat's name occurs in Goat-fell, Arran ; G. Gaotabeinn, in which hybrid the G. gaota is taken directly from N.geit, 'goat.' 9. Time and Measure. One general word for time, G. tld, is u from Icelandic ti*&," according to MacBain, and this is not irregular, if we take the analogy of iitraid from N. iitrei&, 'an expedition, out-road,' so far as final -<5 is concerned. There were marked differences in the land- measures over Scotland. Thus the davoch is peculiar to Pictland, and exists as Dock- in Dockafuir, etc. ; the merkland existed in Argyll ; ounce- lands in Orkney and the Hebrides ; the husbandland was a common land measure in the Lothians and the Merse. These differences may be taken as due to racial influences. The ounce-land, from which an ounce of silver in money or produce went as scat to the Norse earl, and valued at from eighteen to twenty pennies, was the Norse land measure introduced into the Hebrides ; but the word unga used in place- names, tir-unga, 'ounce-land,' ung-an-ab ', 'abbot's ounce,' was from the L. uncza. The penny-lands show the direct Norse influence : Penny-cross, Penny- Ghaedhil, Penninghame, Penny-town, Penny-hill in Galloway ; Leffen ( = G. leth-pheighinn) in Mull ; Leupenstrath, ' half-penny strath,' and Leffi 'en-beg, Leffen-mov in Cintire, where is also Garwoling, G. garb h-fhebir ling, 'the rough farthing-land.' 132 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Some years ago it was pointed out by Professor Mackinnon that our rural scenery in the Hebrides bears traces of the Norse occupation. He rightly stated: "Rather than relinquish his right in the soil under his odal tenure, the Norseman first settled on our shores, and afterwards emigrated to Iceland. Very probably these ideas of land tenure held so strongly by his freedom-loving ancestor helped to perpetuate in the mind of the modern Hebridean the rooted belief of a right in the soil which he grazes and tills. The unit of land measure among the Scandinavians was the 'ounce,' which in a rough way corresponded with the Pictish dabhach, the Irish baile, the Dalriadic teach, and the Saxon ' hide/ Subdivisions of the ounce were penny lands and febir lings or farthing lands. The topography bears evidence of this mode of valuation still. The teirungs or ounce lands were not uncommon among us. Unganab in Uist, and Ungnacille in Skye, exist still. The ' penny ' lands are common in Western topography, and the feoir lings only less so. In I slay and neighbourhood, where the land was held in the Macdonald family from Norse days till 1609, a twopenny farm and a fourpenny farm were common terms of known extent and value forty years ago." 1 The Norse penningr, which becomes in Gaelic peighinn, survives in place-names like Pennygown, 'the smith's penny,' in Mull and Kintyre; Pennyghael, 'the Gael's penny,' in Mull; Saorbheinn, properly for Saorpheighinn, ' free penny,' in Mull ; Lephen- 1 Prof. Mackinnon : ' The Norseman in the Hebrides,' in Caledonian Medical Journal. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 133 strath, 'half-penny strath,' in Kintyre ; Penninghame, ' Pennyhill,' in Galloway. ^n his Etymological Dictiona ry Mac Bain derived both peighinn and febirling directly from the Anglo-Saxon, but he elsewhere derived them from the Norse, 1 which is right. For the phonetics of febirling, from N. fjor8ungr, compare birlinn, from N. byrSingr. In the Sagas we often hear of the N. skattr, scatt or tribute paid to the king; this survives in High- land place-names, as in Scatzvell, N. scat-vollr, the field or common for which scatt was paid, Gaelic Scatail, parish of Con tin. The N. okr, usury (cognate with German wucker), became in G. ocar 2 1 interest on money,' in Welsh ocr\ N. kaup, 1 stipulation, pay,' became in G. calpa, 'principal set to interest.' A word often heard by me as current in Morvern, and used in Dr. Macleod's writings, is cileadair, ' trustee,' but not from N . gildir, ' a payer, a guild-brother.' [Manx has gioaleyder, ' the pawner ' ; gioalteyr, 1 the mortgagee, the one who takes a pledge.'] For defining marches of land the N. mork, gen. markar, was used, e.g. Loch Merkland, ' March- land,' while for weighing the ancient Norse wooden steelyard bismari, gave the Gaelic biorsmaid, spring- balance, the Shetland bismer. Here also falls sgalain, scales for weighing, from N. skdl, ' a balance,' rather than from the O. Eng. scdle, of similar meaning, 'scale.' Susdan, the Reay country word for 1 thousand ' (Rob Donn), owing to the long u, seems to be from N. pzistmd. It is treated somewhat irregularly, and 1 Trans. Gael. Soc. Inv. xxv. 77, and cf. vol. xix. The native Gaelic word is riadh, Ir. rith, 'running,' 1 what runs on.' 134 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND the change from / to s may have been made after borrowing. For the treatment, Rob Donn's siisdal, i.e. iomart, drip, ' much ado, confusion, trouble, fuss, bustling ; affected shyness ' ; which has been derived by Mr. Gunn from N. ptistna, 'to chafe, quarrel,' is to be considered. 10. Government. The most important is G. tar la, from N. jar I, earl, a word which figures on the Runic inscriptions of the 5th-6th century as erilaR, in the 7th century eirilaR, and denotes a military leader, a chief-of- war or battle. These ' earls ' took the position of the Gadelic mormaer. An official known as gocaman, a look-out man, a term used now for a 1 fidget,' was formerly known in the Highlands. " They had a constant sentinel on the top of their houses call'd Gockmin or in the English tongue cockman who was obliged to watch day and night and at the approach of anybody ask ' Who comes there ? ' This officer is continued in Barray still and has the perquisites due to his place paid him duly at two terms in the year." 1 It is from the Scandinavian gok-man, look- out man (Mackinnon). It applies also to a fop or giddy-head with uppish manners ! traill, a slave, thrall, from N. frraell, serf, slave, ' glebae ascriptus ' ; the native Gaelic was mog. The N. arma&r, g. artnanns? steward, has yielded 1 Martin's Western Isles, ed. 1716, p. 103. 2 Itself derived from Old Norse arr, 'a trusted messenger/ cognate possibly with O. Ir. ara, gen. arad, 'charioteer' (v. Davidsen's ed. of Falk and Torp's Norw.-Dan. Etymologisches Worterbuch). NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 135 the Gaelic armunn, hero, Early Irish armand. The armenn were stewards on the earls' estates, and were a sort of royal policemen and tax-gatherers. For change of meaning compare laoch, hero, from L. laicus, laic, layman. The Sutherland Ben Armin, failing a personal name, seems to contain this word. The N. borg, a fort, occurs several times, as in the Harris hybrid Dun-bhuirgh ; in the island Boreray, N. borgar-ey, fort-isle, and in the Uewis Borve, N. Borgh, and Boranish, fort-ness, N. borgar-nes. N. setr, stead, seat, residence, shieling, which figures in Thrumster, Bulbster, and other like endings in Caithness, and again in Ulster, Leinster, Munster in Ireland, becomes -said in Gadhelic, and in English -side, e.g. Lionasaid, N. Un-setr, Linside, 'flaxstead'; Loch Staonsaid, N. stein-setr, ' stony-shieling ' ; Fealasaid, Fallside, N. fjall-setr, 'hill-stead.' 1 The Thing meeting or Norse parliament existed in Scotland as the names Dingwall and Tynwald prove. It still shows traces in some customs connected with the annual promulgation of the Manx Laws at the Tynwald Hill. Mod, which appears in Highland place-names as Cnoc a Mhoid, west of Aigas, on the north bank of the Beauly river (Uisge Farrar), is used for 'court' in place of G. eireachd, Irish oireachtas ; it is current in the saying : " 'Tis not every day the Macintosh holds a mod ox court," and while it might have come in from the Norse it really was adopted in the pre- Norse period, as it was at the Moot Hill of Scone that King Naitan the Pict decided to follow Rome and 1 Watson in Celtic Review on 1 Some Sutherland Names of Places.' 136 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND not Iona in the matter of the tonsure and the date of observing Easter. The logma&r or speaker of the law, corresponding to the Celtic Brehon, became by King Sverre's time in Norway, about 1202, simply a royal official, and in the Hebrides a term for a chieftain of an hereditary kind, whose followers, though they had none of the Norse blood, would, with the advent of surnames, soon style themselves Lamont. Godred Crovan's eldest son was styled Logman, but it does not follow that every Lamont is a Norseman. 11. Trees. Tree-words from the Norse only occur in place- names : Eisceadal, Eskadale (Kiltarlity parish), N. Eski-dalr, ' ash-dale ' ; Loch Raonasa, Loch Ranza, N. reynis-d, 'rowan water'; Inbhir-a sdal, Inveras- dale, N. aspi-dalr, Aspen-dale estuary or ' inver ' ; Teamradal, N. Timbr-dalr, timber-dale (Lochcarron parish); 1 while the name of the yew, N. y, appears in Uadal, N. y-dalr, Udale, 'Yew-dale,' Cromarty; 2 Coille-dagascaig, N. eiki-skiki, 'oak-strip' wood in Gairloch; 3 Ard-heslaig, N. kesla-vzk, 'hazel-bay,' in Applecross. 4 12. Sea and Ships. The sea-terms from the Norse are naturally numerous ; indeed, so much so that it has been said that the contributions from the Norse mostly belong to the sea, that in fact most of the Gaelic shipping- terms are Norse. 1 Watson, p. 197. 2 lb. 125. 3 lb. 235. * lb. 207. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 137 The Norse contributions embrace almost every field. They have given a word which in the Outer Isles is applied to the Atlantic itself, the Norse haf, — a mach s na kaf'xs the Eriskay phrase for ' out in the Atlantic,' as opposed to an cuan, 4 the Minch.' This word usually has the / of the Gaelic article prefixed ; it then appears as tabh, in which form Mairi Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh, a Harris poetess of great distinction, uses it : Ri fuaim an taibh 1 Is uaigneach mo ghean Bha mi uair s cha b'e sud m'abhaist i.e. " Lonely my mood where the ocean rolls : I was once and 'twere not my way." A rock over which the waves break is in the Hebrides bodha, from N. 60*81, a breaker; a landing- place, G. laimhrig, lamraig, is from N. hla&-hamarr- vik, 1 pier-bay,' loading-wick ; N. hla&-berg, ' a pro- jecting-pier, a rock where a ship is laden,' shows the first constituent which meets us in Scotland as Laamar. A ford, specially a sea-ford such as that at Benbecula, is faodhail, genitive na faodhalach, from N. vd6ill, in Shetland vaadle (cognate with English wade), a shallow where straits can be crossed. It gives its name to Benbecula, in Gaelic Beinn a bh-faodhla, the ' Ben-of-the-Ford.' The word is properly written fadhail, the root vowel being short. Through the similarity of dh with gh in sound, some spelling that gave no indication of lenition of g, and in the genitive case, thus Beinn a 1 Mackenzie's Beauties of Gaelic Poetry spells it t-shaimh erroneously, although previous collections, such as the Inverness Collection, Ranald MacDonald's, the Stewart's and Gillies's correctly gave tabh, gen. taibh. 138 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND b-fagla, could easily give rise to the learned form Benbecula. Uidh, a ford, or that part of a stream which leaves a lake before breaking into a current, also an isthmus, sometimes written aoz ; this is allowed to be from N. eiS, an isthmus, neck of land, whence Loch nan Uicih ; and Eye, Ui (spelt also Ey, Huy, Eie) near Stornoway ; mol (also mul, mal) a shingly beach, is from N. molt genitive malar, a bed of pebbles on the beach. The proper name for islands joined to the mainland or to a larger island by a reef which is covered at high- water is in Norse drfiris-ey, ' ebbing or ebb-island,' from N. dr-firi, dr-fjara, an outgoing, ebbing, whence Orphir in the Orkneys and Orasa, Oransay (where n is wrongly introduced in writing it). Undoubted ship-names are birhnn, galley, from N. byr&ingr, ship of burden ; bat a, a boat, N. bdtr, which itself may be from Old English bat. Norse also is carbh, which is known in I slay, from N. karfi, a galley for the fjords ; and cnarra, an obsolete word for ship, from N. kndrr, genitive knarrar, O.E. cnear. The name of the ship's anchor, acair, comes from N. akkeri, as also the G. acarsaid, an anchorage, from N. akkar-saeti, 'anchor-seat.' The process of shortening the sail is known as abhsadh, whence the saying, abhsadh a chromain-luch, 1 shortening sail kite-fashion,' from N. halsa, to clew up the sail. The rowlock is bac, from N. bakki, 'bank'; mag, row- lock, pin, knob, is from a Norse word represented in Swedish knagg, a peg, knag, while cnap, a knob, which occurs in Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, is from N. knappr, with same meaning. The bolt-rope is NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 139 calpa 11a tarrne, where calpa is from N. kdlfi, 'the calf of the leg ' ; the boat-rib is reang, rang, rangan y from N. rong, genitive rangar, a ship rib ; rac, the parrel or the ' traveller ' or ring that keeps the yard to the mast, is from N. rakki. N. stag, cognate with E. stay, gives G. stagA, a stay in a ships rigging. N. sif6, 'suture for clinching a ship's board,' 4 hull of a ship ' (literally suture, L. sutura), overlapping verges of two strakes made secure by rivets, a collection of strakes forming the framework, hence the ' hull ' ; the name came from times when ships were sewn together, and yields the G. siidh, the seam between the planks of a ship. N. styra, cognate with O. Eng. stdoran, 'to steer,' gives G. stiuir, and in the older language stiiirusmann, sdiursa?nann y helmsman, steersman, N. * styrzsmaftr, usually met with as styrimd&r. The rowers bench, tobhta, is from N. }>opta, row-bench, while such boat names as N. skiita, cutter or small craft, Danish skude, becomes G. sgoth, a skiff ; and N. jula, Danish jolle, cognate with E. yawl, appears in Gaelic geola, gebla, a ships boat or yawl. [The native Gadhelic words for various sizes of vessels are long, a ship ; eithir g. eithreach, a boat for inland rivers ; curach, a coracle ; coit } a small boat ; cf. Gaulish ponto, whence E. punt, from * qontio (Stokes) ; aclaidh, a vessel generally. This latter has been mistakenly derived from Norse, but it is native : culle (Manx), a colour or banner ; tackle, furniture, apparatus of mill, ship, or boat (Cregeen) ; adlee (Kelly's Manx Diet.), standard, ensign, the whole train or tackling of a ship or boat ; culaidh, a boat (Rob Donn for Sutherland, where it may be Mo NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND from Shetland mkilfy, a skiff) ; for Ireland O'Reilly and Dineen give it in sense of robe, dress, apparel, tool, implement, boat. Similarly in the Highlands : culaidh-shiidl, sail, culaidh-eudaich, raiment, culaidh- bainnse, wedding-garment ; cidaidh-uamhais, object of astonishment or terror. In the Tain (ed. Windisch, p. 656) it is glossed membrum. For references to boats among the Celts see Reeves's Adamnari s Life of Co lumbal To the Norse loans under this item I add the following : aoireann, ao7'unn, aoileann, faoileann (dat. faoilimi)', Fedlann, 'beach.' Professor Mackinnon writes : 14 The aoireanns of South Argyll are, or have been ' ferries.' Such are the aoireann of Rudha-na-h-aoireann, (the ferry to Gigha is adjacent), and the aoireann of Jura, which is also the ferry to Portaskaig. And such have been West Tarbert, otherwise aoireann d bhalla, and Xorth and South Erins, north of Tarbert on Loch Fyne. The word is a feminine noun and declined — nom. and gen. aoireann, dat. aorainn. There is not a form in Gaelic to justify the aoirine of the map." In the Argyllshire Rudha na h-aoirinn Dr. Gillies finds the Xorse eyrr, ' a gravelly beach,' but this is impossible, for the Xorse genitive is eyrar, and the vowels do not in this word yield the Gadhelic form ; Norse eyrr yields Eoropie, G. Ebrrabaidh, eyrar- boer, beach-town ; Earshader, beach-settlement ; Earrabhig, eyrar-vik, beach-bay ; Eirera, beach- river. 1 In Argyll the name of the sea-point was transferred to a land farm, and when the English Survey-man came he named the promontory upon 1 Watson, Place- Names, p. 266. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 141 the farm, and called it Rhunahaoirine Point, Dr. Gillies tells us. In West Sutherland I know the word, as it is the older Gadhelic name for i^och Inver ; and the white sands and beach at Scourie (G. Sgoghairigh) are called an fhaoileann, and a burial in the cemetery, which is all sand there, is said to be ann san fhaoilinn. At the head of Loch Glen Coul, where there is a sandy beach, there is another faoileann. In West Ross the name occurs: an Fhaoilinn = the beach- field, opposite the manse of Applecross ; behind it is Cadha na Faoilinn, ' the pass of the faoileann' Lady D'Oyly's poem, Tha mo chridhe trom, troni, indicates the word as used in the Isle of Raarsay, itself a Norse name : O ! Ghaidhealtachd ghaolach Nan cladach 's nam faoileann, Nan innis 's nan aonach uain', i.e. O the dear Highlands Of the fore-shores and beaches, Of the meads and moor-slopes green ! Another writer has : Chunncas long dol seach an fhaoilinn = I saw a ship sail past the beach. Further, there is a tigh na Faoilinne, ' house of the shore-field.' In Cintire aorunn is the equivalent of the Uist machaire, or 'plain by the sea,' 'level land, and arable.' On Loch Long, the Skipafjord of the Norse, there is Fedilean, where a little promontory runs into the loch. " The extremity is rocky, but between it and the wood there is a level strip of ground which terminates in a fine beach on the 142 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND south side of the point." 1 This variant preserves a trace of the palatal fj-. The change between / and r is frequent : cf. the Lewis caoile-pianan, 1 phos- phorescent brightness at sea,' where caoile = £tfo) ; Old Scots Halche, level land along a stream : / before ch (ef. Drumsheugr, Edinburgh, older Drums.elch) and other consonants, has become silent in E., cf. Holm, but G. ^~olm. urraekdaig, thole-pin: from N. urga, strap, rope's end (in provincial Norse mve). The Gadhelic form is a double diminutive urr-ag-ag, contracted to urcag, and plural occurs as in G. na h-urrchdagan maide = the thole-pins. N. ^becomes rr. 13. Scenery (Landscape and Seascape). There is one word, more or less dialectal, which may be used for ' scenery,' and it is from the Norse : lanndaidh, ' scenery, landscape,' eg. 1. Chan e na thubhairt mi mo dheighinn Thug sior iomradh da feadh na cruinne Ach a lanndaidh fhiadhaich chiatach Thug i barr air Gaidhealtachd uile ; Air gach taobh dha suas ag eirigh Tha beanntanan ard nan sgorran 'S beag nach 'eil am barr a dol na ch£ile 'S firinneach an t-ainm th'air Gleann-a-Comhann. (pp. 87-88, Luinneag nan Gleann, by Iain MacColla, of West Laroch, Ballachulish ; Glasgow, A. Sinclair, 1885). 2. M 'Alpine gives the form lanntair, a landscape, beautiful side of country, full of wood and arable land, facing the sea ; moladh na lanntair, ' description of the landscape' (quoting D. Campbell). Dinneen's Irish Dictionary gives lanndair as ' the inner or best room in a farm-house, the parlour/ Dr. Gillies, in Place- Names of Argyll, takes Lanndaidh from lann y 1 an enclosure * ; but this is wrong, does not account for final -aidh, and does not suit the meaning. l$o NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND 3. The word is known in I slay ; see the song Moladh na Lanndaidh, where it describes a beautiful district, surrounded by other Norse place-names ; an Lanndaidh, 1 a beautiful section of the island full of wood and arable land facing the sea' (MacNeill's New Guide to I slay, pp. 7, 40). It is from Norse land, a country, land, estate : landar-eign, ' the lands, fields, and pastures belonging to an estate/ Even dealing with native words pertaining to scenic description great caution is needed, as folk- etymons are invariably misleading. Witness the name, ' the field of the shirts ' (Blar nan leine), always wrongly given to the scene of that battlefield in Lochaber where so many of the Clan Fraser fell, despite the fact that its true form is Blar Leana, ' meadow -field/ 1 ' the field of the swampy plain/ It occurs in Magh Leana, 1 Moylena/ a celebrated battle field in Ireland ; cognate is Manx Ikeanee, and the Highland diminutive lianag, 4 a little meadow/ proto- Celtic * lencn-. The Book of Clan Ranald naturally is against the distortion of the word, and writes : ' Do bhrisd se blar ar mac Simigh ag cenn Locha Lochaidh dan goirthear Blar Leine tuairim na bliadhna d'aois Chriosd 1545/ = he (i.e. Iain Muidertach) gained a battle over Fraser of Lovat at Loch Lochy Head, which is called Blar Leine (properly Leana) about 1545 A.D. This caution can never be too strict in reference to the words taken over from Norse speakers ; in many instances distortions are most likely to have taken place. Dogmatic and erroneous assertions, such as: "St. Kilda must be a corruption of the 1 Cameron's Rel. Celt. ii. 170, 171. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 151 Gaelic : there never was a saint of that name, which probably represents oilean celi De 1 , isle of the servants of God, or holy Culdees," 1 must be abandoned ; like- wise the accompanying assertion : " But though the Norsemen have left no trace on St. Kilda, there seems to be a distinct record of the pre-Celtic race in the name Dunfirbolg, the fort of the Firbolg or Ivernians." Equally erroneous is Sir Herbert's derivation of Balfour in Fife from G. Baile fuar, ' the cold farm.' 2 The name I have often heard pro- nounced with the accent on the latter part, as Bal- foor, Bal-fure, ' grazing-ton,' which is to be regarded as similar to Doch-four for Dabhach-phuir, from a Pictish word signifying pasture, grazing. Also in Rhifouir, Rulgh-fuzr, ' grazing-stretch,' where the latter word is absolutely different in sound to G.fuar, and stands for a Pictish word with de-aspirated p : cf. Cymric pawr, pori, 'to graze,' hence, 'grazing- township,' etc. So much for caution as to the correct vowel sounds. Special caution is needed as to place and historical environment. In South Scotland not every name-ending in -dale is of Norse origin. For " many of our Norse names ending in dale originated after the Norse dalr had passed into the Saxon speech, and it was applied to places long after the Norsemen had been sent to the right about. Niths- dale, for instance, is written Stranid in 1350 — srath Nid. Annandale has the Welsh form Estrahannent in the twelfth century, and also the Gaelic Stratanant, and it is not till 1295 that it appears as Anandresdale. So although dale is a Norse word, it is not safe to predicate of all names ending in dale that they are of 1 Sir H. Maxwell's Scottish Land Names, p. 81. 2 lb. 16. 152 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Norse origin " (Maxwell's Scottish Land Names, p. 100). On the other hand, names that at first sight one might be led to assign to a Norse origin have come through a different source ; e.g. cbrrs, cbrs, ' the sails closely reefed ' : nuairbu choir an corrs chumail suas air dbigh = when one should keep the sails closely reefed and orderly (v. my ed. of John Morison of Harris, in his Sgiobaireachd). Were it Norse it should be cross if it came from the idea of the ' cross-sail/ or we would have to postulate some Viking dialectal form, cf. Danish kors. But the word seems founded on some form such as M. Eng. cors } body, texture, coors of silk or thread, through O. French cors, from L. corpus. Compare G. corsair, a cruiser, of old corsaire, a privateer. But many of the chief features in the landscape of the Scottish mainland from Eskadale, Norse Eski- dalr, 1 Ash-dale,' by the Beauly River, of old Uisge Farrar, and northwards round the coasts of Ross and Sutherland and Caithness, and along the western border, southwards to Galloway and Liddesdale, the Hh*&-dalr of the Viking settlers, are Norse. As soon as we cross from the Beauly valley into Urray we have Tarradale from Norse tarfr-dalr, ' bull-dale'; Alcaig in Urquhart from N. Alka-vik, 1 auk's bay ' ; 1 Culbo in Resolis from N. Ktila, a ball or knob, and boly 'a farm-stead ' ; 2 Udale in Cromarty, N. y-dalr, ' yew-dale.' Scatwell in Contin is from N. scat-vollr, the ' scat-field or land ' which yielded tax, i.e. scat to 1 Watson's Place-Names of Ross a?id Cromarty, p. 115. 2 lb. p. 121 ("but perhaps for Kulda-bol, 'cold-town,'" says M'Bain). NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 153 the Northern earls whose seat of justice is com- memorated prominently in Dingwall, N. ping-vollr, the field of the ping or Norse Court of Justice. N. vollr, meets us in Brae-langwell, N. lang-vollr, ' long- field/ in Resolis, repeated again in Lang-well, Caith- ness. Cadboll, Catboll (1 561) is from N. kattar- b6l, 1 cat-stead.' When we cross to Sutherland Norse names abound with the Norse terminations in -dale; -boll ('homestead'); -gil; -vollr ; -bakki ('bank'); ery (-ary, 'shieling'), a ('river'). A few prominent names may suffice for illustration, such as Swordale = Sward-dale ; Helmsdale = Hjalmund's dale ; Strath Halladale = helga-dalr, ' holy-dale ' ; Torrisdale = forir's dale ; Ceoldale = cold dale or ' keel '-dale; Skelbo for Skelbol = shell -town or stead; Sklbo, older Scytheboll, where Scythe = N. Ski<5i may be a Norse personal name, ' SkicSi's ton/ which may be repeated in Skiary, ' SkiSi's shieling,' on Loch Hourn. Embo is now in Gadhelic Eiribol, where the r is due to the common change of n into r in Sutherland, and proved by the older Eyndboll (1610), Ethenboll (c. 1230), the first constituent being a Norse word but obscure, although in both cases we might expect Norse personal names, judging by Unapool (in Assynt) = Uni's or Una's stead ; Kirkibol = Kirkton, the old name for Tongue ; Crosspool, Crosple = 1 Cross-homestead,' near the old church of Durness. N. gil appears in Gisgil, ' the gushing gil ' in Ederachaolais ; Eirigil, from N. eyrr+gil, 'gravel beach gil 9 \ Traligil = thrall's gil or gully; and the foreign-looking Dornadillds Tower, G. Dun Dor- nagil, "which may well be Tkorna-gil, 'thorn- 154 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND gully.'" 1 Langwell is clearly N. lang-vUlri 4 long- field/ Musal = mossy field, Moswell (1560); the Norse Ekkjalls&&6^', 'Oykell bank,' shows their form for 'bank,' which directly meets us in Coulbackie, ' cold-bank,' and in Backies, near Golspie, where the s is from s of the English plural. N. a, gen. dr, 1 river,' we have in Brora, N. Bruar-a, ' Bridge Water,' Arscaig, on the south bank of Loch Shin, N. dr-skiki, 'river-strip'; Calda, N. kalda-a, 'cold-stream,' by Loch Assynt ; Amat at Oykell and Brora, N. d-rndt, 1 confluence,' literally 4 river-meet ' (Watson). Suther- land names ending in -ary come from the Norse erg, drg, 'shieling,' and they may be disguised as -rie in Scourie, G. Sgoghairigh, from N. skdgr, ' shaw, wood, shieling': for meaning cf. Shaw-he\&. In- deed, most of the prominent place-names in Caith- ness and Sutherland are Norse, or show Norse influence; the former simply adds the N. -ness as suffix to the Cat- we have in Cataobh, Cataibh, which is the Gadhelic for Sutherland, 2 N. su&r-land, ' south- land,' while Caithness, pronounced Caitness by old men known to me, is G. Gallaobh, Gallaibh, the place or bounds of the Gall or Norsemen. The village of Golspie, G. Goi(ll)^z, contains the N. -by, Icelandic baer, byr, but the meaning of the first part of this word is difficult to determine. Cyderhall, an absurd spelling, older form Sytheraw, or still older Sywardhoth (1230) is for N. Sigurd + haugr, Earl Sigurd's burial-mound. Wick is the N. 1 Celtic Review, ii., p. 365, Mr. Watson's paper on ' Some Sutherland Names of Places 5 ; ib. pp. 361-368, must be referred to for further examples. 2 Duke of Sutherland is styled in Gadhelic Diuc Chat (not D. Shutherlan, as I have seen it put) ! NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 155 vik, 4 bay'; Thurso, N. piors-d, 4 bull-water,' also met with in Iceland, is primarily the name for Thurso Water, thereafter transferred to the town, which is in G. Inbhir-Thidrsa. All the names in -ster, N. stadr, 4 stead, abode/ Stemster, Thrumster, Bilbster, show like endings with Scrabster, N. Skara-bolstaSr, ' sea- mew-stead'; Brabuster(Orkney), Brebuster(Shetland), N. BreiSabolstaSr, ' Broad-farm.' Ulb y a personal name in the Book of Settlement, meets us in Ulbster, ' Ulb's seat or settlement.' In Sutherland, N. setr, • seat, stead, shieling,' appears as -said in the endings of Gadhelic names, Englished -side, e.g. Lionasaid, N. lin-setr, 4 flax-stead ' ; Sandset, Sandside. On the west of Sutherland, Sandwood is in G. Seanabhat, Sionabhat, where the terminal is N. -vatn, * water,' which gives its name to Watten parish, where the Wick water issues from Loch Watten in Caithness. N. melr, 4 bent-grass (by the seaside),' appears in Melness, Melvich, Melvich Bay, all on the north coast of Sutherland, and repeats itself in MeliovX., 4 (sea)-bent or bent-grass firth,' in Argyll ; in Mel- bost, 4 bent-grass homestead,' in Lewis ; J/^/achadh, 4 bent-grass field,' in Harris. The chief arms of the sea are likewise named from the Norse : Loch Erribol, N. eyi'r+bol, 4 gravel-beach stead' (cf. Ir- land in Orkney, Ireland in Shetland, from N. eyrr land) ; Loch Hope, N. hdp, 4 a small land-locked bay' which in Sutherland gives its names to Ben Hope, and is met again in Obbe in Harris, in Opinan, Obbenin, in Gairloch, and in Oban in Lome, where, however, the Norse did not penetrate on the main- land far enough to obliterate the older nomen- clature, as e.g. in Dun tamhnachan, 4 fort of the little 156 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND meadow,' G. dun, ' fort' + tamhnach, 'a meadow,' 1 an old Gadhelic word met with in Tannoch Hill (New Abbey), in Tunnocks (written Tannock by Pont), in Kilbirnie, Ayr, and in Tannieroach Old Luce parish. The Glen Lonan name, Duntamh- nachan, has nothing to do with G. samhnag, but is entirely descriptive of the place to this day. The N.ffitfSr appears in Loch Laxford, G. Lusard, and in Loch Inchard, from N. engis-fjord, 'mead-firth' (Dr. M 'Bain's suggestion); this word repeats itself in prominent firth names, where it terminally is -a,7'd, as in Knoydart, ' Cnut's fjord ' ; Suaineart, Sweno's or Sweyn's fjord ; Moidart, where the first constituent is obscure and, failing a personal name, may be descriptive. The Sutherland parish-name Assynt, an old pronunciation of which I was given as As'synt, has been referred to the N. dss-endz, i ridge or rock- end ' : here the quantity of the first part of the compound seemed short to the Highland ear, or else was shortened from some analogy. The great feature of Assynt landscape, Sulvein, contains the N. sulr, pillar, hence 'the pillared ben,' and Dr. M'Bain found the same word in Shulisheder of the Long Island and of Skye, the ending there being N. setr, seat or shieling. It is remarkable that the chief Sutherland mountains are named from the Norse. In addition to Ben Hope and Sulvein, there is Ben Stack in Eadarachaolais, from N. stakkr, well descrip- tive of a stack-shaped or conical mountain ; Ben Armunn shows the N. drma&r, gen. drmanns, * steward,' whence the G. drmunn, ' a hero,' a change in connotation well in keeping with the stewards of 1 Cf. O'Donovan's Supplement to O'Reilly's Diet, for full definitions. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 157 the Norse earls ; Ben Loyal, G. Beinn Laghal, 1 the ben 01 the law-field,' N. laga, 'law * + vdllr f 'field,' which in Gadhelic terminals appears as al-, e.g. scatail, Scat well, N. scatt-vollr : it was the Norse custom to hold their law meetings in retired places, and some- times hillsides were selected ; the law-berg is often spoken of in Iceland ; in this case we have Leittirlyol in 1 60 1, 'the hillside or slope of the law-field,' and from the nature of the place, in every way the queen of the northern mountains, I take it that Loyal was called after the ' law-field ' rather than from fjall, fell, directly. Dr. M'Bain suggested N. Iez6fjall y 'levy or slogan hill,' and inclines to equate it with Lay aval, Laiaval in Uist, — in either case Norse. Other Sutherland mountain names are Ben CWbreck, where we have N. brekka, a slope, hence ' cliff-slope ' ; Beinn Smebrail, from ' butter-fell or butter-field ' (Watson) ; to which I will only add Ben Auskard in Eadarchaolais, as reminding of Gnup-askard of the Laxdale Saga, but one would expect a Norse word with als — to give the G. au sound. Puitic, Whiten Head, G. An ceann Geal, N. hvitr, 'white,' which becomes G. fHt y fiuit (cf. Futerne for N. hviterne, Whithorn); the terminal maybe N. vik> 'bay,' in which case the name was first of all given to a small bay. The legend tells of the witch's counsel to the Norse prince : Seachainn Puiiic is Parbh = 'avoid Whiten Head and Cape Wrath'! Parbh is from N. hvarf, 'turning-point': Faro Head (Pont's map) ; through de-aspirated f both these Norse loans yield which in the case of Parbh is changed to An Carbh in Lewis. Of Norse or Scoto-Norse place-names on the 158 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND West Ross-shire mainland there are at least thirty- four of certain Norse origin in Gairloch, twenty in Lochbroom, thirteen in Applecross, six in Loch- carron, eleven in Lochalsh, while Glenshiel and Kintail seem free of Norse names. These have been examined by Mr. Watson in Place-Names of Ross and Cromarty, under the several parishes. I need only specify a few as illustrations : Gruinard Bay, N . grunna-fjor&r, ' shallow-firth ' ; Mungasdale, N. munks-dalr, ' monk's dale ' ; Sgoraig, N. sgor-vik, 'rift-bay,' from a narrow gully there; Ullapool, N. U lli-bolstd&r, 1 Ulli's stead'; Calascaig, N. Kali-skiki, ' Kali's strip,' at the foot of Loch Achall, and repeated in Eadarachaolais near Kylestrom, itself repeated in Keili-straumr, now Kiel-strommen, of the Hakon Saga, at least so far as N. straumr, ' stream,' is concerned ; Tanera, N. hafnar-ey (with usual pre- fixed 'harbour isle'; Dibaig, Diabaig, N. djup-vik, 'deep bay'; Erradale, N. eyrar-dalr, 'gravel-beach dale ' ; Openham, G. na h-bbainean, N. hop, ' bay ' ; Shieldaig, N. sild-vik, 'herring-bay'; Smiuthaig, 1 N. Smuga-vik, 1 Cave-bay,' also in Smoo cave, Durness. Ard-heslaig, N. hesla-vik, ' hazel-bay,' with G. ard prefixed. Going further south, N. skri&a ; dalr ; fj'6r6r\ vik\ sand; d\ fors ; baer, byr\ brfiri; dr-6s\ ness ; hdp testify to a persistent Norse influence. Thus at Arnisdale, N. drnis-dalr, Glenelg, we have Ben Sgrithill, Sgriothall, Serial, which comes from N. skri&a-fjall, skri&a, pi. skri&na, 'a landscape on a hillside,' whence G. sgridhinn, ' rocky side of a hill.' My recollection of the mountain is that it was a continuous run of stones, with torrent tracks 1 Note insertion of i after sm. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 159 everywhere. On the opposite coast is Barrisda/e ; also Sandaig Bay, N. Sand-vik Bay, both in (K)noy- dart, G. Croideart, with nasal 0, from N. K nut's fjord, Arisaig, N. dr-os-vik, 'river-mouth bay,' oyce-vik, gives name to a large district. In Loch AyW/, Moida/^, Sumart, the N. fjord, 'firth,' is again evident, while Glen Borro<2^/ing 9 or Norse Parliament, met with also in Tynewald, Tingwall, Isle of Man, and in Ding- wall (Ross-shire), which yields further the Highland surname Dingwall, long associated prominently with that of the old family of Kildun. The river Fleet is N. Fljot. Arkland contains the Gadhelic aerg, now airigh 1 (mis-spelt airidh), 'sheiling,' borrowed 1 A note contributed to the Northern Chronicle, Inverness, by the late Dr. M'Bain, may be given here to preserve it: GAELIC AIRIGH, SHEILING, IN NORSE PLACE-NAMES. " The new Saga Book of the Viking Club, noticed in another column, discusses the origin of ark and erg in the place-names of northern England, and tries to overturn the theory that they are from Norse horgr {Horg), and Anglo-Saxon hearg, a sacrificial 'grove' of heathen times. The new theory regards them as being from Norse or Danish erg or oerg, a sheiling or dairy farm, a word undoubtedly borrowed by the Norse, as the Orkney Saga fully proves, and as several place- names in the Highlands and Isles still prove. Dr. Colley-March was the originator of the new theory in a paper printed in 1890 in a Liver- pool antiquarian society's transactions — and I have not seen it ; but as Dr. Isaac Taylor in his excellent work on Names and their Histories (1896), holds by the horg theory, Dr. March's view is either unknown to or rejected by the English experts on place-names. The difficulties in both theories are great : horg can hardly be used with other than a god's name outside epithets ; of course it is used alone in Harrow. It is difficult to equate Grims-argh in Preston with a deity. Again the borrowed arg of the Norse cannot without great difficulty be connected historically with northern England. In the Highlands the termination ary in place-names is common, less so is sary ; the latter nearly always comes from the possessive s before ary, and in the Norse arg ; the former may belong to other endings, especially -garry (N. gerdi, G. gearraidh, outland beyond township ploughed land). The only literary reference in Norse to arg or erg is in the Orkney Saga, where we have the place called by them Asgrims-aergin practically glossed by the expression, ' erg, which we call setr (sheil- ing). 5 Asgrims-asrg is now called Askary or Assary, at the north end of Loch Calder in Caithness. When one compares the original form NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 165 by the Norse and used for their native setr. The name Galloway itself, founded on Gall-Gaidheal, che GalgeScSlar of the Sagas, testifies to the mixed breed of N orse and Gaidheal, and gives us the surname Galloway. The usage of calpa, ' principal set to interest/ Scots calpa = death-duty payable to the landlord, from Norse katip, ' stipulation, pay,' was only prohibited in Galloway in the reign of James VI. Asgrims-aerg with the present Askary or Assary, one is compelled to tremble (metaphorically) for the etymologist of Western Isles names of Norse origin. Dr. Anderson points out that many places in Caith- ness present this termination — Halsary (Hall, or, perhaps, Hallvard !) Dorrery, Shurrery, Blingery, &c. Sutherland presents, at least, three — Gearnsary, Modsary, and Gradsary, but with Asgrims-serg before our eyes, we refuse at present to consider them, though Mr. Mackay of Hereford has made a decent attempt to etymologise them in Vols. XVII. and XVIII. of Inverness Gaelic Society Transactions. To regain confidence, we must go to the happy sheiling grounds of -sary and -ary in the Uists. In North Uist we have two distinct districts given over to Aulasary, which, of course, is Olafs-arge (arge must have been the oldest form, as we shall see), and which means 'Olave's Sheiling.' In the same island is Obisary, which stands for Hops-arge, ' Sheiling in the Bay. 5 There, too, we have Langary from lang, long ; Risary, from Hris, copse; Horisary (horgs, 'grove'?), Dusary, Vanisary, and Honary. In South Uist are Vaccasary and Trasary, in Barra is Ersary (Eric's-arge ?). Ardnamurchan seems to contain some. Brunery {brunnor, spring), Smirisarary ('smear or butter'?), Alisary and Assary ; in Glenelg Skiary 1 [ia as in fad, ' they ']. The airigh, mis-spelt airidh, is in early Irish airge, dairy or a place where cows are, which in old Irish would be arge, at which stage the Norse borrowed it from the Scots. Personally, I believe it was adopted only in the Highlands by them. By the bye, its initial use has been suggested for Arkle in Sutherland, that is Arg-fell, 1 Sheiling's Fell ' ; if so, the difficult ar or ark of Arbol, in Easter Ross, might so be explained. The English forms from arg generally show ark, if the root is initial in the word. In future it is hoped that any Gaelic writer who reads the above will write airigh not airidh for ' sheiling."' A. M'B. 1 SkiSi's sheiling ? The diphthong is like the Northern pronuncia- tion of geur, giar, 4 sour, sharp ', and is quite unlike sgiath, ' wing, shield.' 1 66 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND The ford across the Cree, formerly called Granney Ford, has been conjectured by MacKerlie to have its name from N. grynna, ' to become shallow or less deep/ in which case one would compare Gruinnart, 'shallow-firth/ in I slay. But it is doubtful at the very least. On the other hand, Crosswall, Croswell in Wigton, may come from N. kross-vollr, ' the field of the cross, cross-field ' ; in Kirkcolm parish, between the south-west side of the Scar and the shore is the Wig (Wick) where small craft can shelter ; there is also Wigton, Wygeton, Wyggeton (1296), itself of like origin with the town Wygton in Cumberland where the Norse ruled. But it is doubtful if we have not O.E. wic-tiin here. The parish of Sorby, Soirbuy in Pont, is of the same origin as Sowerby in Cumberland, and in the North Riding of York, as well as in Soriby, Isle of Mull, and Soroba near Oban. Tonghill in Glasserton parish, and Rispin in Whithorn recall Tongue and Ruspainn in Sutherland. Steinhead, given with reference to stone in some shape, reminds of Steinnis, Orkney, as does also Stennock, an old farm name in Whithorn parish, from N. steinn. Appleby, in Glasserton, repeats itself in Cumberland at St. Lawrence Appleby, from N. apaldr-by, 'orchard (or apple) settlement.' The Scar Rocks, opposite Killiness in the bay of Luce, are named from N. sker, skjaer, an isolated rock in the sea. Borgue parish derives from N. 6org, a fort ; Gait way, from N. gata-vagr (?) ; the farm and bay of Float in Stoneykirk are named from N.flott, a plain, while N.graemi, 1 green,' appears in the Stewartry in Grennan, also Grenan (Pont), Greinand (1668). Sznezness, Synnyness, in Old Luce parish, has been 0 NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 167 held to be a corruption of Sunnoness, where once was a castle on the promontory. sir- for sr- meets us in many names in strbn, e.g. Stroan Hill (Dairy), Stronach Hill (Kirkmabreck), Strool Bay (Kirkcolm). Solway Firth, older spelling Sullway, Sullwa, was in old Gadhelic Tracht Romra, and in Ptolemy 'ItoiW €tar~xy(ri sja-fjorS&, 'sea-firth'; and Eilean Iubh- ard, Lewis, is seemingly for Eu-ord, N. ey-fjdr&r, 'isle-firth,' transferred from the firth to the island. The N.g/jufr, appears in Poll a! Ghluip in the island of Handa, where it is the same as the Gluip of Orkney and Shetland ; it always describes some abrupt descent. Gress Farm in Lewis, G. Grdis, is from the Norse word signifying ' grass ' and cognate with this same. Cleit, 'rock,' N. klettr\ mol, 'beach,' N. mol ; geodka, 'creek,' N.g/'d, as in Geodha Crab in Harris ; N. bakki, ' bank,' as in Back parish, Tabac for t-ha-bakki, ' high-bank,' are frequent, Bacavat, ' ridge- water.' N. d, 'river,' appears in Avik, N. d-vik, ' river-bay,' near Galson, Lewis ; Laxa, Laxay, N. = ' salmon river'; Gride, Creed, from N. 172 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND grjotd, 'shingly or grit-channelled river.' Common is N. bolsta^r, ' homestead,' especially in Lewis : Shawbost, 'sea town,' N. sjar+b.\ Habost, N. h&r+b., 'high stead'; Caldbost, N. kald+b., 'cold stead'; Melbost, N. ntelr+b., 'bent-grass or links stead.' N. fjall, ' mountain or fall,' appears in terminals as -bhal, -val, -al\ Roinebhal, N. hraun+f., ' rough-ground fell ' — the first constituent giving name to the island Rona ; Soval, N. saiiftr+f., ' sheep fell'; Cracabhal, 'crow fell'; Cleitshal, N. klettr+f., 'rocky fell'; Melasbhal, N. melr-sta&-fell, 'grass-stead fell' or 'links-stead fell.' N. holt, ' rough hill ground/ is apparent in Erisolt, ' Eric's holt' \ Neidalt, N. neyt-holt, 'cattle holt.' N.flafiz, ' priest, pope, papa,' is seen in the many islets called Pabbay, and in Bayble, Pabaill, N. Papyli, 'priests' town.' Not alone in the Faroes, 'the sheep-isles,' did the Norse use animal names in describing places, for we have Griosamul, ' grice or pig hill ' ; Ranish, ' roe-ness ' ; Roisnish, ' horse-ness ' ; Rosaidh, ' horse (N. hross) isle'; Neidelan, ' naut or cattle land'; Seilibhig, ' seal wick ' ; Scarabhat, ' young sea-mew water ' ; Lacsabhat, ' salmon water or stream ' ; Laimshader, ' lamb's stead ' ; Sildam, N. stld-holm y ' herring isle ' ; Sildinish, ' herring ness ' in Lewis. Some place-names derive directly from a single Norse word : Strond in Harris, G. Strannda, from Norse for ' strand,' with which compare Strond in Vermland; Sleat (Slate 1389, 1401) in Skye, from N. sldttr, 'level'; sldtta, a plain; Tong, from N. tunga, tongue ; Keose, from N. kjos, a hollow ; Kneep, from N. gnifta, 'peak' ; Brue, from N. bru, bridge ; Reef, G. Riofa, which occurs more than once, from NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 173 N. rif\ Lee i .id Ben Lee, whence Leidil in Mull, G. Liodail, N. hli&-dcur, 'slope-dale,' from N. hli&, * slope.' Also Coll, a place-name in Lewis, where it is from N. kollr, summit, and to be differentiated from the island of that name, Coll, so named from hazel having abounded in that island, and also in the Colosus (now Colonsay corruptly) of Adamnan's Life of Columba ; the word gives name to the several Badcalls of the west coast, genitive Bad- choill\ Early Irish Coll, Cornish coll-widen, 'hazel- wood/ cognate with English hazel, N. has I. An Cnap, the G. for Knapdale, is from N. knappr, a knob, hence a protuberance of any sort ; the Norse fjall, ' hill,' seems to be the origin of Vaul, Tiree, and of Foill, in Coll, where there is a ben and bay of that name, the bay being named after the ben ; for a parallel one may compare Benbecula, Binne bhaghla of the Book of Clanranald, 1 where the full form would be bh-faghla, bh-fadhla, from fadhail, 1 a ford,' a loan from N. va&ill, £ a ford, a shallow where straits can be crossed'; Shetlandese, vaadle, cognate with which is E. wade. Here perhaps Gott Bay, Tiree, where, as the neighbouring Kirkipol, N. kirki-boll, 1 church town,' shows, we would expect a Norse name : from N. gat, hole, E. gate; cf Got nan Cat, ' hole or cavern of the cats ' ; G6t nan Caiman, ' hole of the pigeons,' in Tarbert 2 parish ; Got a choire, ' hole of the cauldron.' In place-names one expects such a Norse word as gil, 'spring, fountain, rivulet trickling down a hill-side.' I think I heard this word used at Loch- Hourn-head, but in any case it is known in Harris : 1 Cameron's Rel. Celt. ii. 174. 2 Watson, Place-Names, 45, 48. 174 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Ge geal le nebnain na raointean comhnard Gu'm b'fhearr bhi 'm mbinteach nam mbr bheann arda Nan gilean lughmhor nan geugan cubh'raidh A bheireadh urachadh dha mo shlainte Coire Bh\ith-b/ia/ is trie air m'inntinn Le fhuarain fhior-ghlain bu chubhraidh faileadh. 1 The plural gilean is used of what a few lines further on is spoken of as the fuarain or fountains of Coire Bhlith-M#/ (the ending -bhal being from Norse fjall), and the word is from the Norse gil> ' a deep narrow glen with a stream at bottom,' to be met with in place-names such as Gisgil in Edra- chylis, and as ghyll ox gill in North English names; Sufsgil, G. Slsgil, N. seySis-gil, ' seethe-gil ' ; Traligill, ' thrall's giV ; Eirigil, ' gravel-beach gil,' all in Sutherland. A lit na Gile in Jura, meaning 'Spring-Burn.' Gillen, Gilen, in Waternish, with suffixed article, means ' the waterfall,' which it is. Brooks and streams flowing through clefts in the hill-side to the main river at the bottom of a vale are in Iceland called^'/. A Swedish dialectal form survives as gilja (f. ' hohlweg '), and the word has been borrowed in the Northern English gill. A Norse ablaut form is geil 'a narrow glen, any narrow passage ' ; hafs-geil is used of ' the sea-lane through which Pharaoh's host passed/ The N. ei y regularly ao in Gadhelic, and with the Norse article feminine suffixed, geil-in becomes Gaoilein? ' the narrow glen,' whence Castle Gylen, Kerrera. A 1 My Leabhar nan Gleann, p. 53, where Nial Morrison, the Pabbay bard, uses it. 2 ao is pronounced long as in aobhar (adhbhar, ' cause ' ; the i indicates the timber of the / ; initial g is not palatal, but is sounded as in G. gaoth. Hence I might write the word GaoUHn. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 175 number of springs surround the base of the ruined stronghold, but the Gadhelic Glen More dis- tinguishes the place to which the Norse term was applied. Folk etymology has been busy explaining the word as gillean, ' lads * ; geimhlean, 1 gyves/ and therefore ' Castle of Gyves ' : to make it more like a native word the corrupt form Caisteal nan Geilean was manufactured by means of the G. article in the genitive plural, and geil 1 a spring, fountain/ explained as a form of G. goil, to boil ; even Goibklean, ' forks,' pi. of Gobhal, has been called in aid to explain this hitherto obscure name, which is usually never written correctly. For the suffixed Norse article compare Staffin, ' the Staff,' in Skye, from the basaltic rocks there. Another side form of N. gil appears in G. geil, 1 fount ' : geH ar slainte, ' fount or spring of our health.' Gil is a place-name in Iceland: til Gilja means ' to Gills ' ; fra Giljan, * from Gills ' in the Book of Settlements, The various folk-etymologies proposed for the name Castle Gylen are but attempts which only add weight to the Norse origin, as indeed one would expect on an island the very name of which derives from Kjarbarey, the name of Kerrera in the Norse Sagas, which Dr. M'Bain suggested as containing in some way the N. kjarr, 'brushwood,' and -ey y ' island.' This is quite likely. I find in the Icelandic Book of Settlements a place called Kiarra-dalr , Cear- or Kerr-dale, where we are expressly told that it was named from the brushwood and small shaws between Kiarr-ar, Cear- or Kerr- Water, and another stream, 1 1 v. Origines Islandicae^ i. 46. 176 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND and that Blund-Cetill, a wealthy man, had the wood cleared and took up his abode there. I would regard the b as a mistake in the Norse script, and derive Kerrera, N. Kiarr-ar-ey \ ' Copse-water-island. ' There are a number of small streams all round the island, the largest at Glen More, in the vicinity of Castle Gylen. When we come to the island names we find the most speaking illustration of the abounding Norse influence. Norse ey, island, figures terminally as -a, -ay, and -aidh of the Gadhelic script, and appears in about ninety per cent, of the island names. First of all in G. eilean, ' island,' Early Irish aildn, from N. ey-land, E. island. It is found in names like Barra, G. Barraidh, i Barr's ey, or island,' where we have mixed Norse and Gadhelic, this place being named after St. (Find)barr, a saint honoured on 25th Sep- tember ; Boreray, N. borgar-ey, ' fortress-isle ' ; Ber- neray, ' Bjorn's isle,' of which there are several. Berisay, N. bergs-ey, ' precipice-isle ' ; Cealasaidh, 'Keel-isle'; Calva, 'Calf-isle,' of which there are several ; Diura, now Jura of the map, N. Dyr-ey, ' deer's isle '; Eriska, 1 N. ' Erik's isle,' of which there are more than one, but the name does not survive as a personal name; Killegray, from N. Kjallakr-ey, itself a loan from Irish cellach, ' warrior,' whence Kelly — thus 'Cellach's isle' ; Ensay, N. engis-ey, G. dasaidk, 1 meadow-isle,' the first part being met with in Old English ing, North E. in local names as Ings, Broad Ing. Fladda, 'flat-isle,' also Flottay, Flodday, N. fljot-ey, ' float-isle,' with which compare the county x The word might be written Aoirisga, according to a pronunciation which has reached me in writing ; N. Eirekr. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 177 Fljot in the north of Iceland. Fuiday, I heard the fishermen say, was the last refuge of the Norwegians, whose graves may still be pointed out there, and there are four islands named Wiay, or Buya, Bywa (1546), G. Fuidhaidh, to which the Icelandic Vd-ey has been compared ; Foula, N. fugl-ey, ' fowl-isle.' On the Cintire coast there is Gigha, G. Giodhaidh, also Gighay in the Sound of Barra, both from N. GuSey, 1 God-isle,' with which compare GoSey, now Godo, in Norway. There is an old Norse personal name Gy<5a, met with now in Norwegian place-names, where it becomes Gj0by, Gj0setre,' and would suit well for the GuSey of the Saga. As the islets round the coast from Hoy Head, G. Ceanna Thoithidh (poem on Fercher Leeche's islands), Suana and Stroma in the Pentland Firth, Rona off the north Sutherland coast, all the way to Pladda and Ailsa, very often derive from Norse, a list of some of them may be given for reference, in addition to such as have already been mentioned. Gilsay, ' Gil's isle ' ; Gil is a female personal name in Eriska; Grimily, 'Grimm's isle'; Groay, 'Groa's isle,' Groa, Gro, oeing a proper name in the Land- namabok ; Gornetra, ' Godmund's isle,' N. GoS-, GuS-mundr. Above Gomestra (for Gomerta of the script), to record the local sound, is Eblasairigk, evidently Norse, the final part being the N. erg, itself a loan from O. Gadhelic. The channel be- tween Gornetra and Ulva is known as Am Bru : here one can walk across except for half an hour at high- water. It means 'bridge': cf. Br^ in the upper part of Icekulsdalr, Iceland. The tide had to be watched, and on one occasion a clergyman M 178 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND was reminded of this in the following terms : Ged is math do shearmoin, a Mhaighstir Sedin, thdm Bru d Izonadh, * though good be your sermon, Mr. John, the Brie is filling up/ There is a folk-etymology for Gometra, and curiously enough it is in connection with the Vikings : 'Nuair thainig na Lochlannaich chuir iad fear a dh'amhrac Ulva agus 'nuair a thill e thuirt e ris a cheann-chinnidh 1 gun robh an t-eilean ullamh dha gun duine dhianamh consachadh ga chumail as agus chaidh e sin sios do Ghomestra agus dh'fhoighneac iad dheth c'arson nach eil thu dol air t'aghaidh. Thachair an lan a bhith ann agus thuirt e-san : Go muir-traigh ! I.e. ' On the coming of the Vikings they sent a man to spy out Ulva, and on his return he told the chief that the island was ready for him (ullamh dha), there being no man thereon to contest it with him. Then he went to Gometra, and they asked him why he was not proceeding onwards. It happened to be full-tide and he made answer : Until ebb-tide (Go muir-traigh).' These folk-etymons are plausible, for in Gadhelic they are puns upon the pronunciation of Ulva and Gometra respectively. I learned of them from the Rev. R. L. Ritchie of Creich. Handa, off the west Sutherland coast, from an oblique form in Gadhelic of N. Sand-ey, ' Sand-isle/ which appears again at Sanda, off the south end of Cintire. Haversay, hafrs-ey, ' he-goat isle/ Hellisay, from hellir, 4 cave/ 1 Local pronunciation, chinnich. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 179 Hermetray, Hermundar-ey, * HermuncTs isle/ Eilean Heist y ' Horse-isle ' ; N. hestr, horse. hay, ' Ice- isle.' hlay y N. Il t is from the Gadhelic, but the ending -ay is N. -ey. Lingay, 1 Heath-isle' ; N. lyng, heath. Lunga, Lungay, "have certainly submitted to Norse influence" (M'Bain), the ending being N. ey ; the base being Gadhelic long, ship. Mingulay, from mikinn, accusative of mikil, 'great'; 'big island'; v. M'Bain on Minginish = Rudha- M6r of Gadhelic (Trans. Gael. Soc. Inv. xxv. 73). Here is a hill called Hechcla, Hecla, a duplicate of the Iceland Hecla, 1 hooded shroud.' N. holm appears in Soalum,Sodhulum, 'sheep-holm'; Lianamul, ' flax- holm'; Arnimul, 'Eagle-holm ' ; Gonnamul, * Gonna- holm ' ; N. dalr, in Sklplsdal, Cahasafo/, Sheowaafo/ ; N. klettr, ' rock,' in Clet Annsa, Cleit Iuglais ; geo, from N. gjd, 'chasm,' in several creeks in Mingulay (G. Miu'lai, with nasal diphthong), e.g. Lamarigeo ; N. hla&-hamarr, 'pier-creek,' 'landing-rock creek,' and half a dozen others. 1 G. cui % inclosure, from N. kvi, Orkney quoy> 'a pen'; in Lzanacuz, ' flax- inclosure ' ; N. byli, ' town,' seemingly as -lip in Annalip, Brandalip, Soalip; isp once, as in Ho-isp, but cf. Can-isp in Sutherland. Orasay, Oransay, from N. drfiris-ey, " the proper name for islands which at low water are joined to the mainland by a reef which is covered at high water ; one such island is near Reykjavik ; another at Skard in western Iceland, now called Offirs-ey ; 1 Hlarigeo, Klasigeo, Haisigeo, Shehigeo, Tremnisgeo, Laikigeo, all in Mingulay ! i8o NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND so also Or-fjara, the island Orfir in the Orkneys " (Cleasby-Vigfusson). There are several such in the Western Isles, from drfiri, ' ebb or shallow ' + ey. Pabbay, N. * pap-ey,' priests' isle. One such occurs in Skye, Harris, Lewis (great and little Pabay), S. Uist, Barra, and in various shapes the word occurs in Orkney and Shetland ; also Papey in Iceland. This shows that the missions of the Celtic Church were established in the places thus named on the coming of the Northmen. Raasay, Gaelic Raarsaidh, " seems to be Rdr-dss-ey, ' Roe-ridge-isle,'" 1 cf. Raer-nish, Rar-nish, S. Uist ; Rairnish, Raernish, 4 roe-ness,' near the Birken Isles, Lewis. Risay, N. hris-ey, 1 brushwood-isle.' Rdna> N. hraun, 'lava, rough ground,' + ey, hence 'rough-isle.' Rosaidky N. hross-ey, 'horse-isle.' Sanda, SanndaidA, 'Sand-isle,' at the south end of Cintire ; in the oblique case it occurs as Handa on the west of Sutherland, called from its sandy-bay, and where there is the remarkable chasm Poll-a-Gkluip, glup being from N. gljufr, an abrupt descent or chasm. Sandray, ' sand-isle.' In Cintire the people often say dol do dJi Abhuin, 'going to Sanda.' It seems N. haaven, and there is a good haven for a boat there, as the Rev. R. L. Ritchie of Creich tells me. Scalpa, N. skalpr, a kind of boat or ship : ' ship's isle,' 'shallop-isle.' 1 This was M'Bain's latest conclusion, v. Gael. Soc. Inv. Trans, xxv. p. 75 ; in vol. xix. p. 228, he says : " Possibly rars is a double genitive from nf, roe." NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 181 Scarba, Scaravay, N. skarf-ey, * cormorant-isle.' Scarpay, Scarp, N. skarp-oy, 'scarped or cliffy-isle.' Seil island, G. Saoil, N. Seil, An Clachan Saoileach = the Sound of Gachan in Kilbrandon parish ; G. aoi= N. ei, cf. Selaeseu == Seal isle, Sussex {v. Adamnan, p. yS n ) Shiuna, Shona, " seem to be formed from N. sjdn y sight, a root which appears in Norse place-names connected with ' scouting ' positions. Shuna has also been identified with Adamnan's Sainea ; in that case it is pre-Norse " (M'Bain). Compare the Norse personal name Sjaundi, the modern Sj0nne (v. Rygh, p. 218) : ' Sjaundi's isle ' ? Soa, Soay, of which there are more than one, from N. sauftr, sheep ; sauSa-ey, hence ' sheep-isle.' Staffa, N. stafr-ey, ' basalt isle,' from stafr, a staff, applied to basaltic and other pillared rocks. Tahay, for Hd-ey, ' high-isle,' the same as the Hoy of the Orkneys. Taransay, 1 Taran's isle,' the ending being the N. ey\ Eilean Thorraidh, * Thori's isle ' ; Tannray, t-hafnar-ey, 'haven-isle, 1 harbour-isle.' Trodday, ' Thrond's isle.' Ulva, 4 Ulf s isle'; Ulfr, ' wolf,' being a personal name widely spread, as in Ulsby y Ulsnes, Ulsbak, Ulshus (v. Rygh, p. 270), Vatersay, vatrs, gen. of vatn, water, + ey, island (M'Bain). Water-isle, lake-isle, stream-isle? The Norse form vatr is rare, the usual spelling being vatz ; hence vatns-ey. Vuya, Gaelic Eilean Bhuidha, in Lewis, N. bti-ey, 'house- isle' (Watson). 1 Watson, Place-Names, p. 266, who compares Tannera in Lochbroom. 182 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Valasay, ? hvalls-ey, whale-isle (Watson). Vallay, an islet off the Uist coast; it has been referred to N. v'ollr, 'field.' Norse Vali, an old personal name, as in Valset, Valabudh (v. Rygh, 274, 275) is to be considered : 1 Vali's isle.' The more prominent island names give equally emphatic testimony to Norse influence. I mention : Kilda (St. Kilda). " Here the majority of the inhabitants exhibit the fair or Scandinavian aspect " (Seton's St. Kilda y p. 91). In Martin's description in 1698 it is stated : " This isle is by the inhabitants, as likewise by all the western islanders, called Hirt ; Buchanan calls it Hirta; Sir John Narborough, and all sailors, St. Kilda ; in the sea maps it is called St. Kilder, particularly in a Dutch sea map from Ireland to Zeland, published at Amsterdam by Peter Goas in the year 1663, wherein it is placed due west between fifty and sixty miles from the middle of the Lewis, . . . and from it lies Rockel, a small rock sixty leagues to the westward of St. Kilda; the inhabitants of this place call it Rokabarra. ..." Martin also says : " There is a very large well 1 near the town called St. Kilder's Well — from which the island is supposed to derive its name. . . . There is another well within half a mile of this, named after one Conirdan, a hundred paces above the sea." In his Description of the Western Islands of Scotland Martin further adds that the name Kilda " is taken from one Kilder who lived there ; and from him the large well Toubir-Kilda has also its name." The truth is that it is the same as the Icelandic local name Keldur, and meets us in the Danish and 1 Between the present manse and the factor's house (Seton, p. 86). NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 183 Swedish local name Roeskzlde, all from the Norse kelda y ' a well, spring,' cognate with German quelle, North English keld, ' a spring.' The Dutch map- makers put the name of the island down after the name of the chief well. The Rev. J. B. Mackenzie, Manse of Kenmore, whose father was minister of St. Kilda, states : " The derivation of the name St. Kilda is not of much importance. When my father was minister there some eighty years ago the tradition among the natives was that those who came collecting information for the Dutch map 1 could not speak Gaelic, and that they thought they wanted to know the name of the graveyard towards which they were pointing." 2 Those map-makers who could not speak Gaelic named the island on their maps St. Kilda, thinking that it was the name of a saint by which the well was called, whereas it was simply a Norse name for 'well, spring.' It occurs in Shetland as smo'r-kelda, ' butter- well/ Other Norse names occur in St. Kilda : Stack Lit, the sloping stack, N. stakka-hlffi ; klvS, 4 slope,' yields also N. Lie, and G. Ben Lee ; the hill-name Stack-an-Armuinn shows the Norse stakkr, a stack (of hay), a stump, whence Shetlandese stack, a columnar isolated rock; armunn, 4 hero,' is from N. drmaftr, gen. drmanns, harmost, steward. The hill " Oterveaul, directly upon the landing place," as Martin locates it, and the hill hoxsmkeal, both show the Norse fjall, ' hill' The isle Borera near St. 1 St. Kilder seems the oldest form of spelling : it appears on a map of 1 6 10 in Speed's Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, but in the letterpress it is referred to as Hirta, v. Seton's St. Kilda, p. 69°. Old Gadhelic irt, hirt, 'death,' is the origin of Hirta, Hiort. 2 Scotsman, February, 1908. 184 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Kilda is the Norse borgar-ey, ' fort-isle ' ; the isle Soa, Soay (" It has a grassy top which affords good pasturage for sheep" — Seton's St, Kilda, p. 75) shows the Norse sati&a-ey, ' sheep-isle.' Of the stallr- house on Borera, says Martin, " the inhabitants have a tradition that it was built by one Stallir, a devout hermit of St. Kilda." It is from the Norse stalli, an (heathen) altar, equal to N. stallr, any block or shelf on which another thing is placed. It is a moot point if the St. Kilda pronunciation of r as / be due to foreign influence : "The r they uniformly pronounce like / as in ruith, run, which they pronounce luitk." 1 A former minister of St. Kilda, the Rev. Mr. Mackenzie, regarded it as probable that the more ancient inhabitants were exterminated by the Norwegians. A St. Kilda proverb: O Hirt git Peairt, 4 from Hirt to Perth,' indicates their idea of remoteness. In the Irish Saga of Celiac han of Cashel (ed. Bugge, p. 128), we read of Morrann, who is de- scribed as " the long-haired, high-spirited Morann of the fierce people, i.e. the son of the fleet-king of Lewis." We might look for such a Viking chieftain from Lewis and Harris. The Norse LjoShus, LjoSus is in Gadhelic Leodiis (11 50): its modern counter- part is in the Swedish Lodose, a town name, and the Lid&usa destroyed in 1268 ; 2 the meaning might be either ' people's house ' or 1 song-house,' and from being applied to one locality, either farm or building, it extended to a district and thereafter to the island. 1 v. Rev. Mr. Mackenzie in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 1904-05, pp. 397^ 402. He notes the peculiar sound given to d or g. 2 Kuno Meyer. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 185 For the ending compare Scotus, the former seat of a branch of the MacDonells. As to the higher and southern part of Lewis : " Harris was in 1546 4 Hary,' 1546 ' Harige ' ; Dean Munro, 1549, calls it 'the Harry.' The Gaelic is ' JVa k-Earra] which gave the English form 'the Herries ' and Harris or 'the Harris.' There is Harris in Rum and Islay, Herries in Dumfries, and Harray in Orkney. It is usual to explain ' Na h-Earra' as 'the heights,' and both in Harris and in Islay this admirably suits, but the Norse words, whence the name undoubtedly comes, cannot be easily fitted in. The Norse for ' high 1 is hdr, pi. havir, the comparative haerri, ' higher ' (' The higher ground ' as compared to low-lying Lewis)." 1 Norse names in Lewis are excessively numerous : Back, N. dakki, 'bank'; Uig, N. vik, 'bay' ; Ness, N. nes, point ; Eye, Aoi, N. 2rY<5, peninsula of Eye, the old name of the parish of Stornoway, N. stjdrno- vagr, steerage or steering bay ; Carloway, Karl's vagr or bay, and hundreds of others are Norse. They are too numerous to be entered on here, and, besides, they are admitted, since the days of Captain Thomas, at least to be of Northern origin. The invasion of the Vikings amounted to a clearing out of the previous possessors, and the names of the chief features of the country, mountains, rivers, lakes, sea-lochs and capes were all changed. The names of the land divisions and townships were re-cast, and the outstanding names indicate a preponderance of Norse to Gadhelic in the proportion of four to one. 1 M'Bain in Trans, Gael. Soc. Inverness, xxv. p. 69. 1 86 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Examples are : Grinnabhal, Green-fell ; Roinebhal, rough-ground fell (X. hraun+fjall) ; Hestaval, horse-fell ; Laxay, ' salmon-river ' ; Gride or Creed, N. Grjot-d, ' grit channelled river'; Eirera, beach- water (N. eyrr -ar + d) ; Loch Langabhat, i.e. long- water (X. vatiu vatr) ; Scarabhat (X. s&drz), ' young sea-mew water ' ; L. Seaforth, X. sja-fjor^r ; Aignish, ' ridge or ness ' ; Arnish, ' eagle-ness ' ; cf. Yearn Gill on the Borders ; Roisnish, horse-ness ; Steinnis, stone-ness. Eoropie, X. Eyrar-baer, 1 beach-by or town ' ; Seilibhig, seal-wick or bay ; Quishader, quoy, or pen-stead ; Laimshader, lamb's stead ; Rosaidh, horse-isle ; Bernera, Bjorn's isle ; Vatersaidh, water- isle ; Shawbost, X. sjdr-bolsta&r, sea-town. 1 What holds true of Lewis is true of Harris, where we have Obbe, X. hop, bay ; Rodel, RauSi-dalr, red- dale ; Scarista, sea-mew stead ; Manish (Maenes), sea-mew ness ; Lacasdle, X. Laxar-dalr, salmon- river-dale. Loch Stockinish, X. Stokkr, a chasm (navigable at high tide) that separates the isle from the mainland ; the narrow bed of a river between two rocks. Xear are Pabbay, priests' isle ; Bernera Bjorn's isle ; Scalpay, X. skalpy-ey, shallop isle. Uist, as Munch saw long ago, is X. wist, abode, indwelling. In Gadhelic the I and m, aoi, often interchange : cf. the Uist poet MacCodrum's Connspunn na h-tf^Ydhealachd le6ghann na raghalachd in his poem on Sir James Macdonald of Sleat, as 1 The chief Lewis names are explained in Mr. Watson's Plact-Nanus of Ross and Cromarty, pp. 263-272, to which the reader may refer with confidence. A goodly number are explained by M'Bain in his Early History of Lewis, pp. 8-12. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 187 also bruidhinn, bridhinn, ' speaking, talk,' elsewhere ; the change from rlgh to ruigk, raoigh, in the G. for 'king' is common. So in Ivist, Uivist, Ui'ist. The name Uist, says Munch, is simply the Norse Ivist, habitation, etc. A transitional spelling is shown in Wyest of 161 5. Even by dropping the N. initial z the transition is easy to Gadhelic Uist. There is no pre-Celtic or non-Aryan inscrutableness in this word. Skye is named in Norse Skfdh; the Dean of Lismore refers to the island as Clar Skeith, ' the Board of Skith,' showing that the Norse name of the island was remembered and translated by Clar ; Norse Skidh has among other meanings that of * tablet.' Both Adamnan's form, Scia (circa 700 a.d.) and Tigernach's form in his Annals for the year 688, which is Scith, agree with the modern pronunciation, which have z short, as in Sgitheanach, 1 Skye-man.' " The earliest charter and record forms of the name Skye are Skey (1292), Sky (1336), and Ski in the Manx Chronicle. Adamnan's Scia shows no trace of th. The root is Celtic sky, 'cut, slice,' and the whole means the 4 indented isle.' The root ski is still the basis of Gaelic sglath and Norse skidh." 1 Although the name is pre- Norse, Skye abounds in Norse names. Uig, N. vik, 'bay'; Sleat, G. Sl&t, from N. sUttr, 'level'; Minginish, N. mikinn-nes y 'great or main ness'; Trotternish, G. Tr6ntarnis (n inserted to show the nasal 0 of the present pronunciation), N. frrondar- nes y 'Thrond's nes,' Thrond being a frequent personal name in Icelandic ; cf. Trondhjem, in Norway. Bracadal, N. brekka-dalr, ' brink or slope dale,' the a being sporadically lengthened in Gadhelic here, if we 1 MacBain, id. p. 61. 188 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND do not postulate some dialectal variance in the Norse of the Viking period, as E. brink, together with Danish and Swedish, preserve an older form than N. brekka. Waternish is N. Vatnsness, ' Water-ness ' ; the first part in Snlzort is obscure, one expects a Norse personal name, Snfs firth, as the Norse vowel ae of Snaesford = Snow-firth, which MacBain has sug- gested.- never seems to yield Gadhelic I long. Or is it another irregular treatment of vowel quantity ? Perhaps 'slice-firth,' N. sn£& 'slice,' also to 'go zig-zag.' ^ Duirinish, N. Dyr, 'deer,' hence Deer's-ness, G. Diurinis ; Armadale, N. arm-h dalr, ' bay-dale.' Staffin, named from its basaltic rock, ' the Staff,' N. stafr, ' pillar,' with affixed article. Kirkibost and Mugstad, ' Kirk-ton ' and ' Monks- stead ' respectively, derive from Norse. N. bost y 'township, stead,' further appears in Husabost,' House- stead'; Braebost, 'Broad-stead'; Carbost, £ Kari's stead or town'; Cealabost ( = Colbost of the map), ' Keeltown ' ; Orrbost, ' Orri's-town.' Words compounded with animal and bird- and fish-names are not uncommon here: N. kestr, 'horse,' gives Eilean Heast, G. an d-Eisde, where there is a rock called an t-Aigeach, 'the stallion,' in Eist at Duirinish ; further, in Eisdeal, the island Easdale (where we have to do with either N. vollr, 'field,' or fjall, 'hill,' in the ending), 'horse-field or horse- fell,' with the name extended to the island, — Eilean nan Caorach, ' Sheep-isle ' being to the north-west and Eilean nan Beathach> near it, being Ylen na Cappel, 'isle of horses,' on Blaeu's map (1640); cf. Heistamul, Heistam, 'horse-holm.' Further, in Skye NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 189 is Greshornish, G. Grisinnis, from Norse for ' Grice- ness, Pig-N.ss, or Point,' and for meaning compare Skureval, 'pig-fell or hill' in S. Uist ; Soay, N. sauSr- ey, 'sheep- isle'; Lampay, ' Lamb ey or isle ' ; Hunish, N. htinn-ness, 'bear's ness'; Arnish, 'erne or eagle- ness'; Manish (Maenes, 1630), 'sea-mew ness'; Marishader, 'mare-seat or setr \ Arnaval, Erne-fell, 'Eagle- Hill'; Ramasaig, N. hrafns-vik, 'Raven's Bay'; cf. N. orri, ' moor-fowl,' in Oreval ' moorfowl-fell or hill' (Harris, Uist); Fiskavaig, 'fish-bay,' N. fiski- vik ; and perhaps Tarskavaig, N. porskr-vik, 4 cod- bay,' an older form being kept in the place-name than the usual G. trosg, ' cod.' Personal names appear in Ullinish, ' Ulli's-point ' ; Torvaig, N. Thorivik, ' Thori's bay ' ; Bearraraig, for Bearnaraig, Biorn's bay ; Aulavaig, ' Olave's Bay.' Descriptive are Oisgill, 4 oyce-burn ' ; Osdal, ' oyce-dale ' ; Ose, Glen-Ose, N. dss, 1 river mouth,' also dr-os, whence Aros Bay. Cracaig, 'Crook-bay'; Liuravaig, 'Mud-bay,' from the same Norse form that yields Lerwick; Ostaig, Ost-vik, 'east-bay,' in Sleat. N. Fjall, 'fell,' appears in the mountain- names Scoval, Skogr-fjall, 'shaw-fell'; Horneval, 'Horn-fell'; Hellaval, 'flagstone-fell,' N. hella-fjall\ Roineval, N. hraun+fjall, 'rough-fell,' and from the same word comes Rona, 'rough island.' Sometimes this ending is translated into Gadhelic, as in Blavein, ' blue-ben,' for a N. bid-fell ; cf. Suilven, Gaotabeinn. The N. skogr, 'wood,' as seen in Scourie, G. Sgoghairigh, figures in the Skye Scoval, Skogr- fjall, 'shaw-fell,' and terminally it always becomes -sco, Birki-sco, ' Birk-shaw, Birch-wood ' ; also in Grasco and others. The holm off Duntuilm gives 190 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND the latter its name * Fort of Holm,' with the Gadhelic in the genitive case. The Orasa off Bracadale and Sleat is N. orfiris-ey, ' ebb-tide isle,' and on the map it appears with an n, Oransa. MacBain thought Lochs Ainort and Eynort as possibly for Einar's fjord, Loch Harport as Hafra-fjord, * He-goat ' firth, and Loch Eishort, N. eiths-fjord, 'isthmus fjord.' Kensal-eyre is a hybrid, the first part signifying Kintail, or 'head pf the salt-water, ' the last being N. eyrr, 'pebbly beach.' The Norse for tumulus, haugr, is seen in Cop-na-hoe, where cop is from N. koppr, a cup-shaped hole, hence ' the cup-shaped hole of the burial mound.' N. kvi y 'quoy,' pen or enclosure, often met with in Shetland as Whee (Quhee, Quhey, Quie), Quheyin, * the Whee,' Okra- quee, 'corn-quoy,' Vatshwi, 'loch- whee or water- quoy,' appears in the celebrated Skye Quiraing, G. Cuidh-Fhraing, which MacBain took to be from quoyrand, ' round-quoy ' ; the latter part seems ir- regular ; N. rb'nd, pi. randir, means ' rim, border '; cf. Qui, Quinishy ' quoy-ness ' in Tiree ; Quishader, N. kvia-setr y * pen (or fold), stead (or shieling) ' ; also Koidale (q.v.). N. setry 'stead, shieling,' figures as G. seadair, -shader ; Roiskader, ' horse- shieling, horse-ton ' ; MacBain explains Uigshader as Ox-ton, N. uxi y older oxi y but it may be N. vigg, 'horse-, steed-,' shieling ; Sulishader, the shieling or ' ton ' of the solan-goose, or else of the 'pillar/ N. ger6i } 'fenced field, garth,' becomes G. gearraidh (-garry on the maps), ' the land between moor and machair' ; Garrymore, 'the big garth,' etc., and terminally in Floddigarry, Flotis (?) or else float (fleet) -garth; NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 191 cf. Trumsgarry, N. Thrums-garry. The ending arry, -ary, is from N. erg, which again was an early loan into Norse from G. airigk, O. Ir. airge ; e.g. Soarary, N. SauSar-erg, sheep- shieling ; cf. Obisary, 'bay or hop shieling' in N. Uist, and many elsewhere in S. Uist, Ardnamurchan, and Glenelg. Dunvegan, with its historic keep, was doubtless a stronghold in the earliest days, and is possibly named after one Bekan, a name which in the Landnama-b6k, or Icelandic Book of Settlements, figures in Becan & Becans- stadftom, Becan of Becan's-stead, and is a loan from Gadhelic, hence Dun Bheagain, ' Fort of Began.' The name Beccan appears in the Irish annals in the seventh century, and as Old Irish becc, 'little,' yields the modern beag, likewise Beccan results in Beagan. Talasgar, Talisker, seems ' the sloping rock' (t)-kallr-sker. N. slMr, 'level, plain, even,' gives its name to the district of Sleat in Skye, where it is the only fairly level portion of the island ; compare SlMa in Iceland ; also SUtta-hliS, Sldtta- nes. 1 Accordingly, we may set aside a statement in a Rhind lecture : " The plural Sldibhte gives its name to Sleat in Skye, where the word seems to bear its original meaning of 'hills,' for that parish is ' bisected ' by a range rising to a height of 2400 feet." 2 There is no instance of the pi. of G. sliabh being thus used in Scottish typography. Sometimes N. ei becomes G. e, e.g. Breasclet, N. brei&-as- klettr, broad-ridge-rock ; Breaclet, N. Brei6-klettr, broad-rock or clet. 1 v. Index to Origines Islandicae, \. 722. 2 Sir H. Maxwell's Scottish Land- Names, p. 141. 192 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND In Mull we have Beinn Tealla, with the usual Gadhelic t- ending of the article prefixed to N. hjalli, ' a ledge or shelf in a mountainside ' ; Leidil, Liodail, N. hli&-dalr, ' slope-dale ' ; Loch Friosa, Frissa, Norse for ' freezing-water loch ' ; Beinn Thuncairidh, N. Tunga-gerSz, ' tongue (shaped) -garth/ N. ger&i, 'enclosed land,' giving G. gearraidh, 'the pasture- land between the shore-land and the moorland ' ; there is also a Tongue, N. tunga, not far from Glen Aros, which is N. dr-os, ' river-oyce.' Caskadal, Scallasdal, Scarrisdal, show the N. ending from dalr, 'dale.' Rossal, near Loch Beg, is N. hross-vollr, * horse-field.' Torr an Sgridkinn, near Loch Buidhe, as also Loch Sgriodan is named from N. skri&a, pi. skri&na, a landslip on a hill-side, a ' scree,' or a mass of sliding stones, cf. N. Skri6iri s-enne, ' Skridin's Brow.' Glen Forsa is from the River Fors-a, 'force-water,' N.fors, waterfall. In Tober- mory Bay is Calva, 1 Calf Isle,' with its Cnap, from N. knappr. Burg, Dun Bhuirg, 'fort,' is on the West of Mull ; elsewhere the G. dun is often pre- fixed and we get Dun Borve, Dun Bhuirgh, on the reassertion of the Gadhelic element ; cf. Dun Boraige Mor, Dun Boraige Beag (Coll and Tiree). There are several penny and farthing (feoirlinn) lands and place-names in N. boll, -poll, and endings from vik, 'bay,' as -aig in Corsazg; in -ey, as Ensay, N. engis-ey, ' meadow isle. ' Like Mull, the Malaeos of Ptolemy, the Malea of Adamnan, Tiree, G. Tir-'iodh> 'corn-land,' has kept its pre-Norse name, and is the Terra Ethica of Adamnan, but has received a large share of Norse influence. Kirkapol, ' Kirk-ton,' tells of a church NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 193 having been there before the advent of the Vikings, as does also Ruinn Chircnis, 'Kirk-ness,' where there are old ruins marked "Temple" on the Survey- Map. Cornaig is N. korn-vik, ' corn of grain bay' ; an Cnap, the N. knappr, ' a knob'; Vaul is either N. fjall, which gives Foill, the name of a ben and bay in Coll, or possibly N. hvall, a hill, hence 1 hill-bay,' referring to the Cnap there, as Dr. Gillies states. An Fhaodhail, 'the ford,' comes from N. vd&ill, a place where shallows are crossed, and frequent elsewhere. It has been thought that Hylipol, Heylipol, is the Seliopolla of the Saga ; in any case it is Norse, as is also Librig, N. hlfQ- brekka, hill-side slope, brekka being often used in Iceland for ' brinks ' or hill-slopes where public meet- ings were held. Cornabus is N. korna-bolstcFSir, corn-ton or stead ; Crossapol is 1 cross-ton,' pointing to an ecclesiastic connection. Scarinish, 'young- sea-mew ness,' seems to contain the N. skdri, as in Scarista in Harris, the Skara-stadir, 'sea-mew steads,' of Iceland. Gott Bay is doubtless Norse, signifying 'entrance-bay,' N. gat, pi. got, 'hole,' cognate with O.E. geat, E. gate = entrance. (It is impossible to derive it from the N. gd&i, a priest.) Compare Gdt nan Cat, ' hole or cavern of the cats ' ; Got nan Caiman, ' hole of the pigeons,' in Tarbert parish ; Gdt a Choire, ' hole of the caldron/ in Ross- shire. 1 Colonsay, though pre- Norse, the Colosus of Adamnan, seemingly from the root in Coll, ' hazel,' shows Norse influence in the -ay ending, and as we should expect from the neighbouring Orosa, N. 1 V. Watson, Place-Na?nes, pp. 45, 48. N 194 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Orfiris ey, 'ebb-tide isle,' also in the place-names, as Sgiobanish, ' ship-ness,' and Sgalasaig, which seems N. skdl-Ms-vik, ' shieling-house bay.' Staos- naig, Olm's Isle, Estol Port, Ernicle's Hill, are from the Norse. It has been authoritatively stated that the blood of the inhabitants of Colonsay is more deeply Norse than that even of Islay. 1 In Islay, which next to Man, according to Camden, was the favourite seat of the Norse lords, there are many Norse names. The word itself appears in the Sagas as II, with long J, and is pre- Norse ; it is only the map spelling that shows Norse influence on the word-form, but in Gadhelic it is always He, with long t. The usual t prefixed to Norse loans beginning with h is clear in T-heggs-ey, ' bird-cherry's isle,' says the New Guide to Islay ; Tallant, t-hall-lendi, ' the slope or declivity ' ; Damsey, short for Adamnan's isle or -ey, an ending which appears in Loch Drolsey, N. Trollsey, troll's isle. N. ness occurs in Trudernish for Throndar-nes, ' Thrond's nes,' also in Migirnes, which, it has been thought, represents N. Minur- nes, 'smaller ness.' Aros is N. dr-oss, 'river mouth or oyce'; the nominative case of d, 'river,' appears terminally in Steinsha, Steinsay, N. Steinns-a, 1 stone river,' so called after a stone pillar in a stream near Staoshiness. N. vzk, ' bay,' occurs in Proaig, N. brei&r-vik, ' broad bay ' ; cf. Brodick in Arran : the change from b to p is not singular here. Laphroaig seems to contain N. hla&, barn, pile, stack, or slope of Broadwick ; cf. Northern English lathe : the word is not a hybrid with the Gadhelic 1 V. Prof. Mackinnon in Scotsman, August 23, 1887. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 195 lag, ' hollow/ as the New Guide suggests. Ter- minally vik appears in Uamh Bhearnasaig, Bjarn's- wick Cave, the big cave at Bolsa; Sanaigmore, Sand-wick mor, or big sand-bay ; Smalaig, N. smal- vik, small (cattle) bay ; Dun Bhoreraig, ' Castle- Bay Fort ' ; Portuig, Port-vik, port-bay. The Norse for ' shieling/ setr, appears in Eresaid, N. Ari-setr, Ari's shieling. Ellister, G. Aoileas- tradh, seems to contain N. hellis, which meets us in the Hellis-fi6r<5, ' cave-firth ' of the Landndmabdk. In I slay there is a cave near by, hence 'cave-stead.' In terminals dale, from N. dalr, appears in Toradale, * Thori's dale'; Grastle, 'grass -dale/ failing a personal name ; Glenastle, Gleann Astol, possibly Glen Ridge-dale, N. ds-dalr ; Cattadale, Cat or ship-dale ; Dudil, N. dy-dalr y bog- dale ; Gleneigedale, Glen Oak-dale ; Loch Langadail, Loch Long-Dale, N. lang-dalr\ (Loch) Uigedail in Kildalton has been interpreted ' dismal-dale ' ; Gleann Choiredail, Glen Caldron-dale. Tautology appears in other words besides those with glen, as in the preceding ; for instance, in Avenlussa. When Lussa had become obscure the G. Abhuinn, 1 river,' was prefixed. The name is usually interpreted ' salmon- water,' yet the N. lax is preserved as in Lacasdail, N. lax-dr-dalr, salmon- river-dale (Lewis), Laxay, N. lax-d, 'salmon-water'; Lax-fjord, Laxford (Sutherland), Gadhelic Lus-ard with accent on Lus. In place of the salmon or lax it has been thought that we may have here N. lyr, lys, the fish gadus pollachius, so named from its bright belly and sides. N. lax cannot regularly yield Lus — ; for the dropping of c before s cf. 196 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Lossie for the Loxa of Ptolemy's Geography, where the root is luk-, lok, bright. It is the rule that cs in combinations from the Norse is retained, e.g. Stacsavat, N. stakk-d-vatn, 'stack-river Loch.' Airigh Ghuthairigh is a doublet, 4 Godfrey's shieling ' ; Laogin, where there is a large marsh, is not G. Leoig Innis, as the New Guide gives it, but N. laek-in, loek-in, 'the brook,' with suffixed article; in modern Iceland laekr is used for the Danish baek. Dim Chroisbrig, N. Cross-brekki, 1 Cross- brink Fort.' Stremnish, in the Oa, in the stream of the Mull, points to N. streyma, ' to stream,' hence 4 streaming-ness,' streymr, 'running' being applied to a strait or sound with a current ; if taken from the N. straumr the Gaelic would be strdm. N. holm appears in Tocamol, i.e. t-hauka-holmr, hawk- holm, i.e. hawk-inch or island, or from N. mol, beach ; in Glen Osamail, near Kilchoman : N. 6ss, ' oyce, river-mouth ' + holm ; the glen being named after the ' oyce-holm ' formed by the outlets; "a lovely river with a few outlets flows through this glen"; Loch Sholam, Beinn Sholam, in Kildalton parish, have been explained from N. stila, 'gannet'-f- holm, hence ' holm of the gannets ' [New Guide to Is/ay, p. 120, where Sullam, Lerwick, is compared). Leodamus, ' Leod's moss,' shows N. mosi, 'moss,' current in Iceland as in Mos-fell ; N. gerdi appears in Kynagarry ; N. erg in Brahunistfrj/. The N.jyord appears in Gruinnart, 'shallow-forth,' N. grunnr, ' shallow ' + fjord, which in compounds becomes -art finally in Gadhelic ; grunnr is met with in local names in Iceland, e.g. Grunna-vfk. Koidale in Kilchoman means ' fold-dale,' N. kvia-dalr, N. BOSTON COLLEGE LIBRA CUKSTJS'UT HILL, MASS NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 197 kvi, '.a Orkney and ShetUnd, quey, I uoy y 'a fold, pen'; in Icelar. > as Kvi-d, Kvia-bekkr, and in Lewis as Cuidha-seadar, 'fold-stead/ In Islay N. borg appears in Nomhasburgh (Nauisburgh, 1545), N. hnausborg, 'turf fort' {Guide, p. 63), while Nereby, not far from Bridgend, taken from N. Knors-baer, ' Knor's farm,' and Conisby in the Rhinns, by Lochindaal, in the direction of the golf course, from N. Konis-baer, ' Lord's town, Kingstown ' (where it has been thought that King Godred Crovan, who died in Islay in 1095, na d a residence), both show endings frequent in Manx names from the Norse, e.g. Jurby, older Ivorby, ' Ivar's farm or toun ' ; Sulby, ' S0lve's farm or toun,' Kirby for Kirkeby, Kirk-ton. Baile Uilbh, Balulve, Olaf's toun or farm according to Mr. MacNeill, but it rather shows the N. ulf-r, frequent in personal names, North. E., Ulverston, Ulpha. In Islay the N. bolstadr, 'a homestead/ appears as -bus, of which, according to the proverb, there are twenty-four : Ceithir 'busana fichead an lie. Among them are Torrabus, Thori's bost or stead ; Lurabus, older Learabolsay (also Lyrabus in Kilarrow), from Leir, ' mud,' as in Shetland Lerwick, also N. leira, a loam field, the muddy shore at low-water mark ; Laoirin, N. Leir-inn y 'the mud,' in Islay is applied to places formed by streams or glens. Asabus, N. Ass-busta<5r, ' Ridge- town'; Ealabus, N. jalda, 'mare,' ' mare-ton,' cf. Joldu-hlaup, 1 Mare's Leap,' an Iceland local name ; Kinnabus, 'cheek-town,' the corresponding Gaelic might be Leacainn ; Risabus, N. hris, 'brushwood' ; 198 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Cornabus, Cornabolsay (1562), ' corn homestead'; Coilabus, also Coulabus, ' Kolli's homestead ' in Kilchoman ; Tosabus, N. t-haust-bus, ' headland town ' ; Cragabus, 4 crook-town ' rather than 1 crow- town,' as in the Guide. Cnoc Bhreanabuis, Brian's- bost Hill; Eorabus, N. eyrrar, 'beach,' 'beach- stead ' ; Carrabus, N. kjarr, 1 copse ' ; Scarrabus, N. skdri, ' young gull or sea-mew.' Persabus, ' Priest's homestead'; Nerabus, N. knorr, 'ship,' hence 'ship-stead, shipton.' N.Jya// is met with in Beinn Tartamhill from N. t-Hjarta-fjall, Hart-Fell, Ben Hart-Ben (Guide, p. 1 1 6), with t of Gaelic article prefixed. Harie, Na h-earradh, 'the higher parts,' corre- sponded roughly with the heights of Kilmeny parish ; of same Norse origin as Harries (q.v.). The N. haugr, cairn, tumulus, sepulchral mound, is met with in Howe (Owo, 1542) at Balinaby ; and at Oa, Mull of Oa (G. an Otha, gen. na h-Otha, Maol na h-Otha). N. sker occurs in Geidhe^zV^, 1 name of a rock in the sea. N. gil, so often applied in Iceland to brooks and tributary streams, appears as A. ghil in The Oa of I slay, Giol-iochdrach, ' Lower Gil.' Portaskaig, once explained as N. askr vik, ' ship's creek,' reminds of Strathasgag in Lochalsh, which has rightly been referred to N. d-skiki, 'river-strip'; 2 in I slay the name may also mean 1 The first element cannot be from N. gjd, creek, as in the New Guide to Islay. 2 Watson's Place-Names, p. 189 ; N. askr, a small ship, a bark + vik, «bay,' hence 'small-ship bay' might be meaning in Portaskaig, where there would have been a ferry manageable by small barks ; for mean- ing cf. Skipd, 'ship-water or -river,' the old name of Port Charlotte. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 199 ' river-strip ferry,' known on the Jura side as Faolin Ferry, also of Norse origin. It is impossible to take " Port-asaig, Ferryport " [New Guide to I slay, p. 72) seriously as the meaning here. But compare Loch Ascog, Baigh Ascog, Mill of Ascog, in Isle of Bute; Askeoge (17th century). The N.g/d, charm, rift, found in the north Highlands as geo, Gaelic geodha, appears in I slay in Braigo, broad-bay, broad cleft or rift ; in Saligo Bay, near Balinaby, which does not mean 'seal-bay,' as has been suggested: the phonetics do not allow of it. A loud roar is emitted by the sea on the strand here, and there is a saying: "The roar of the wave on Fleisgein shore is heard on the Calf of Mull." Near to Kilmeny Church is Keppols, which has been etymologised as from N. keppa-bolstadr, contention-town (Guide, p. 71) ; elsewhere in Islay we have Bolsay, Bolsadh. Not far from the head of Loch Gruinnart is Greineal, from N. graen-vollr, 1 green-field ' ; cf. Greinam, 'green isle' (Lewis). Near Dun Bhore- raig on the Sound of Islay is Grianaig, the phonetics of which do not admit of derivation directly from N. graen-vik, 'green-bay,' a well- sheltered creek which washes the shore of a green plot of ground. "It is truly a green bay" {Guide, p. 71). Compare Grianaig, the Gadhelic form for Greenock (g.v. the Icelandic Grene-vik occurs in Origines Islandicae, ed. Vigfusson and Powell, i. 163. The Icelandic Gor-vik, in the Holmverja Saga, Orig. Island, ii. 73, in formation strongly suggests the G. Gurraig, Gourock), with Grinda- vik in the Landndmabok, south of Rosmhvalanes in Iceland; compare Grinnavat, 'green loch,' in Lewis. 2oo NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND In Bute, too, we meet with traces of the Norse- men. Besides the fragmentary stone cross with Runic inscription found on Inchmarnock, there are in Bute itself the place-names which end in -dale : Ardroscadale, of which an older spelling, however, is Ardrossigelle (1475) ; Dunburgidale, where the Gadhelic Dun prefixed points to a time when Norse was receding and burg was no longer quite clearly understood in the Norse name, which means borg- dale, i.e. ' fort-dale ' ; cf. Dun-bhuirg in Mull, and Dun Bhuirgh in the North Highlands. Kerry lamont \ Ard/amont, point to the Norse name lagmann, ' law- man ' ; Langill has been interpreted lang-gill, ' long- glen ' or -gil. In Ardna/fo^ we have N. haugr, 'burial mound' ; cf. How-more in Uist, and perhaps in the Morvern Rahoy 1 (*Ra.(th)-hauga-ez ! 8), where are the remains of a vitrified fort on a promontory or neck of land projecting into Loch Teacuis. Com- pare Icelandic d haugom, 'at Howe'; Biai'n at Hauge, ' Beam o' the Howe ' ; vi6 Hatiga-vdS, ' over against How-wade or Cairn-ford.' The Norse 4 burial mound isthmus ' would, on the revival of Gadhelic influence, have had the G. rath, 'fortress, residence with an encircling rampart,' prefixed — a word cognate with Cymric rawd, rod, in bedd-rawd, bedd-rod, a grave-mound, gaeaf-rawd, a winter-abode, Breton ret in bezret, 'cemetery.' The Bute name Ascog, Askeoge (17th a), Ascok (1503), Baigh Askock, derives from the river issuing from Loch 1 Modern Gadhelic has also a diphthongal form Rath-huai. It might be written Rath-Shuai as if it contained Soay, 'sheep-isle,' from the Norse. But I have not learned of such an island name near to the place, though a genitival form of Soay, pronounced Shuaidh, is possible. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 201 Ascog, which itself is Norse ; cf. Arscaig, N. A(r)- skiki, 'river-strip/ The attempt to find here the N. haugr, ' mound/ fails, as the -gR would disappear in Gadhelic. Scalpsie, pronounced Scaupsay, 'shallop or ship isthmus or promontory ' ; later the G. ai'd, ' height or promontory,' was prefixed, giving Ard- scalpsie. Rothesay itself once seemed so important as to have almost passed off as a name for the island, judging by a reference in an old document to the 1 isle of Rothysay or Bothe.' It has been interpreted as 1 rule-isle, or the isle of management,' by Dr. King Hewison, from N. raedi, which is impossible, as the older spelling has an r, Rothersay. This shows we have to do with the N. ey> ' island,' and a personal name Rother, hence 1 Rother's isle,' the reference being in the first place to this man's castle, sur- rounded by a moat. Who he was we may infer, I believe, from the Hakon Saga, where we read : " They were gone to Bute to meet those who had been sent thither. But when they came thither the tidings were that they had made an onslaught on a certain castle, and won it on these terms that they who held it gave up the castle and took peace from the Northmen. There was also with the Northmen a ship captain whose name was Ru<5ri ; he was thought to have a claim by birth to Bute. Yet because he did not get the island from the Scots he made great strife on them, and slew many a man, and for that he was an outlaw of the Scottish king. He came to King Hacon in the Southern isles, and swore oaths to him, and became his man, and his two brothers with him. But as soon as they who had given up the castle had parted from the 202 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Northmen, then RuSri fared after them, and slew of them some nine men, for he thought that he had promised them no peace. After that the island came under King Hacon." 1 I have kept the spelling with N. (5, which has been preserved as th ; the name has not come down through Gadhelic ; for the vowel interchange of u, o, compare Carruthers, Carruderis, Carutheris, Carro- thir, Carrothres (1334), Carrothyris (Wyntoun's Chronicle, 1335), 4 the fort of Rydderch,' the King Roderc of Adamnan. Here we find a place- becom- ing a personal name, whereas in Rothersay we have a place named after a person. Although only the termination is strictly Norse, it abundantly testifies to Norse influence. So, too, Cumbnztf, N. Kumre- yar, which the Norse found occupied by the Cymry. Further, the name of the Holy Isle, off Arran, is in Norse Melansay, G. Eilean Molaissi\ and on the roof of St Molaisi's cave is or was, what was taken to be, a Runic inscription. Eilean, 'island,' is, of course, Norse, and the old island name is disguised in the modern Lamlash. From the Almeslache of Fordun, Professor Mackinnon suggests the inter- mediate steps to have been : Eilean Molaisi, Elmo- laisi, Lemolash, Lamlash. The Norse form here arises from confusing the Gadhelic sound with that in some other word. Arran itself is in the Norse Sagas called Hersey, which seems some attempt at render- ing the original. Here we again meet with Norse endings in -dale : Glen Ormidale, Glen Ashdale, Glenscorradale, Garvadale. According to a local tradition mentioned in M 'Arthur's history of the 1 Rolls Series, iv. 351 ; cf. id. 389. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 203 island, there once existed at Margareach a stone column erected in memory of a treaty between the men of Arran and the Norse. Clear Norse influence is apparent in Struey, 'place of streams,' in Kilmory parish, for G. sruthaidh, from root sruth, stream, with the -aidh suffix or extension ; cf. the Strathglass Struy, and the Ross-shire Struie (G. an t-sriiidh). Pladda t at the south end of Arran, is the Norse flatr-ey, which meets us in Flat-ey, ' flat island ' ; Dr. Cameron gives older form Pladow, Plada; Pladda is fairly common in the Western isles, where it is a variant of Fladda, with f de-aspirated to p. South Feorline, and North Feorline, in Shisken, Forling in Blaeu's Atlas, are from N. fjorSing, the fourth part of a land-measure, farthing-land. Loch Ranza 1 is nothing else than N. Reynis-d, ' Rowan- water,' and remains of the rowan tree have been found at the place. Catacol, says Cameron, is for Catagil, " the glen of the kata or small ship, pointing in all probability to the time when ships anchored where are now cultivated fields." Dr. Currie makes it " the rift of the wild cat." In any case the -gil is Norse, and signifies ' a deep narrow glen with a stream at the bottom.' It occurs also in Skaftigill, ' shaft-glen ' ; Dr. Cameron compares Shap-fell in Westmoreland, and notes that skaft is Danish for shaft, haft, handle. Cleite, from N. klettr, rock, cliff, occurs in Cleite nan Sgarbh, ' the ridge- of-rocks of the scarts or cormorants ' ; also Cleiteadh at Sliddery, and elsewhere. Traces of the N. penningr, which has become G. peighinn, ' penny,' are met with in place-names which derive from old land measures : 1 Gadh. Raonasa. 204 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Peighinn, near Sbisken ; Penroch, Pennerivach, which is G. Peighinn Riabhach, ' the brindled or spreckled penny-lands ' ; Benlister, taken by Dr. Cameron as a corruption of Penalister, the Penny- land of Alister, "perhaps the same Alister whose name has been kept in remembrance in the name Gortan-Alister, the little field of Alister." Sannox is a plural formed by adding -s to Sannoc for Sand- vik y the Sandy Bay, of which there are three, the South, Mid, and North, in Gadhelic na Sannocan, the Sannocs. Goatfell, G. Gaota-bheinn, where Norse fjall is translated 1 by ben, is from N. Geitar-fjall, where N. geitar becomes in G. gaota, the meaning being 'goat's fell or wild mountain.' " Until lately there was a hamlet at the head of the new street, now called Douglas Row, at Brodick, which the natives call Breadhaig. This was doubtless the original Brodick, and in olden times the head of the bay." It is spelt also Braithwik, Brethwik, Bradewik (1450). Norse brei&r-vik, i broad-bay,' yields the Gadhelic Breadhaig ; for vowels cf. N. steinn, G. Steinn, N. brei&r, G. Breidh-vat, broad-water or loch. Some of the spellings may have been influenced by the Scots brade. A variant is Brodhaig, the same as Proaig, 1 broad bay,' in I slay. 14. Miscellaneous. aiteal, a small quantity of anything, such as food. This is the same word as the Shetland all, attel y a little portion of meat (Jakobsen's Ordbog, p. 18). It is premature to say on which side the borrowing is. 1 Cf. Roshven in Moidart, as against Rossal (q.v.) in Mull. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 205 bailc, ' the welkii, ; mu'n thiormnaich . bhailc P ac Mhaighstir Alasd .r) = ere the welkin cleared up. Th Norse is velker, 1 a dully rainy sky, a sudden shower,' which Jakobsen thinks is connected with O.N. belgr, 'skin/ what is ' swollen out' ; Ice- landic belgingr, 'a stiff blast.' The G. bailc is also used for spots where no seed has grown in the fields, and is thus empty of crops ; cf. E. to we Ik ; German welk, 1 feucht, milde, lau,' is a side form of wolke, * cloud,' and the Gadhelic is a borrow; cf. G. ball, 1 welt, fringe of a grass-plot,' from E. welt. ballan, tub, vessel ; Stokes compares N. bolli, * bowl,' and thought the G. probably borrowed. If so, it is an early loan, as in E. Irish ballan means a drinking vessel, ' a poor man's vessel,' in Cormac's Glossary. It is the word in E. bowl, and is met with in all the Teutonic languages, and meant originally something round, cf. O.H.G. hirni-bolla, 1 hirnschale.' barp, a cairn, barrow (Isle of Skye, etc.). It is the N. kvarf which in the modern language means 'a hill on the horizon.' The only difficulty is that it appears as Parph, i.e. Parf, * Cape Wrath,' but p for b is not unusual ; cf. Proaig, ' Broad-bay ' ; also Pladda for Fladda. beit, bait, from N. beita, bait for fish. biogaran, a small wooden dish (Rob Donn) ; N. bikarr, a beaker, large drinking cup ? bliong, the fish 4 lythe ' (Scourie); N. bleikja, salmo levis? This would be irregular, however, and I would suggest that the intermediary is some expres- sion used by the northern fishermen in place of the proper name which would be tabooed ; the origin 2o6 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND may be the Norn blink, which, as a taboo-expression, is used in Shetland : 1 I see a blink,' where the reference is to a fish (v. Jakobsen's Ordbog, p. 50). blog, a clumsy fellow ; cf. the Norn blogg, big and clumsy, from O.N. blokk, in blokkstor, enor- mously big. bot (with a close 0), 1 a mound, river-bank ' ; 4 a soft bog or morass,' seemingly Norse ; cf. Shetland b0ti, a strip of land, specially a peat-bank, also a strip of grass-land. Jakobsen (Ordbog, p. 87) con- siders *Wa derivative of O.N. bdt, a patch, hence a little bit of field. If so, it seems we have a dialectal variant-loan in the but of the Isle of Bute, where we have but an loin, the croft of the marsh ; but dubh, the black croft, but curaich, the moor or marsh croft; but na creige, the crag croft ; but na madadh, the croft of the wolves or dogs. Sir H. Maxwell in his Scottish Place-Names writes it butt, and thinks it intermediate between G. both and Pictish pett. This is impossible ; if native it, in the latter sense, is a variant of Welsh bod, 'residence,' cognate with G. both, hut, bothie, E. booth, N. bu?>, Ger. bude, and seems Pictish. bruga, brugan, brugannan, ' rough mossy ground ' (Lewis), from N. brok, ' bad black grass.' bunnsaidh, a short thick-set man, a nugget of a fellow. Norse bunksi, bungsi, a stout and clumsy person (Jakobsen's Ordbog, p. 83). The Gadhelic is used in the sixth movement of the Birlinn by Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair : Bunnsaidh cudthromach garbh, etc. dais, a blockhead; MacBain says, "seemingly borrowed from the Sc. dawsie, stupid," but it is NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 207 uncertain, for we have Danish-Norwegian daase, a stupid person, the Swedish dialectal dase, a lazy, stupid fellow; likewise the O.N. ddsi (not in Cleasby). Forms with short vowel are also found : Norw. dase, a lazy person, Danish dase, lazy, Swed. dase (v. Falk- Torp, N orwegisch-Ddnisches Etymologisches Worter- buck, where the root das is regarded as a probable extension of Indo-Europ. dhe, in O.Ir. dedaim. callaidh, cold, benumbed (Rob Donn), founded on N. kaldr, cold, chilling. cannach, cunning (Reay country), founded on N. kanna, to search, recognise ? claomach, boobish ; duine c. = duine nach eil giar gu leoir, ' one who is not sharp enough ' ; cf, G. claomair .i. fear gun sguich .i. dh'fheumadh am facal chur 'na bhial mu'm bruidhneadh e air a shon fein = a man without grit, who would require to have the word put into his mouth ere he would speak for himself. claomaire, a fool, an absent-minded person. MacBain gives glaomair, a foolish person, which he suggests to mean ' noisy one/ from glaodh, ' to cry, call,' but the G. vowels are different. N. ey gives G. ao ; N. gleyma (obsolete in sense of to make a merry noise), to forget (metaphorical), connected with glam, whence Glamma*8r, GlommuSr, a nickname for Tinkler? cnapach, a boy, a ' lump of a boy ' ; founded on N. knapi, a servant boy (or possibly on N. knappr, a knob, borrowed into G. as cnap, a block). cnuta, a knuckle-joint ; fr. N. kntita, knuckle bone, joint-bone. G. has also cnuidhean, ' the knuckle- joint,' pi. cnuidheannan (pronounced with cr for the most part). 2o8 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND dam, black mud (Rob Donn, and Reay country). Hardly from E. dam ; rather from N. }>am, thick- ness, mugginess ; it would be tarn, but after an, the article, an tarn would become an dam. crasta .i. fochann, ' braird, corn in the blade ' (Assynt) ; cf. N. grasto, * a strip of grass among rocks or in a wilderness ' ; or N. gras-toppr, ' grass- top.' ducach, i doughty, brave ' (St. Kilda) ; also duganta. Tha do bhean air a ciurradh O beulaobh 's o culaobh S i bhi caoidh a fir ducaich Dh' fhalbh a cuid as gach uair. Celt. Rev. ii. 338. Founded possibly on or from N. dyggr, ' faithful, trusty,' — in which word the N. often has a v, dyggvar, dyggvan. The u in Gadh. is long here, having assonance with that in the preceding lines. diiiseal, dusal cadail, slumber ; from N. dusa, doze ; Norwegian dusa, to repose. ealla, iolla : in phrase gabh ealla ris — leave it alone ; or the variant gabh iolla ris = just look at it. There seems no such native word as iolla, view, glance ; it is only a forced interpretation of this single phrase. Perhaps the variants are due to the two sounds of the N. diphthong ei, if we may infer such from I cel. ei appearing as at, ay (hail, nay) in English, but also as ea (steak), or as ei, ey (their, they). While N. ei often becomes G. ao, it also remains as G. ei : are we to think of N. heill (hail !) used in greetings, in which case the Gadhelic phrase would mean "just greet and no more ! say ( hail ' to NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 209 it.' 1 Or else N. heill, omen, foreboding ; in which case the G. would mean originally 'beware!' Zimmer thinks he has found this latter in the Mid. Irish ele ; O. Ir. hele, good luck, favourable omen, and would take M. Ir. elada from N. keillcfi&r, participle perfect of N. hdilla, to bewitch, enchant, spell-bound (v. Kuhn's Zeitschrift, vol. xxviii.) ; N. ey y with which e*i at last concorded, remains as close e in G. eilean, ' island,' N. ey-land. eileanackadk, disattaching in phrase re disattach- ing a stone with a crow-bar : g a heileanachadh, i.e. 1 islanding it ' ? founded on eilean, * an island,' itself from N. ey-land. An unfulcrumed lift, i.e. a lift with- out using a lever, is known as togail muilleir, 'a miller's lift.' fadhaid (mis-spelt faghaid, faodhailt), hunting, the starting of game, from N. vdS-it v p. 55. logaidh, lock of hair on forehead ; especially on forehead of cattle ; mane of a horse ; from N. lokkr, a lock of hair. There is some irregularity, for if this be the right derivation the G. should be loca> gen. NORSE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 211 locaidh. But the pronunciation given me requires to be written with g in accordance with the usual script. nabuidh, neighbour; N. ndbui, 1 nigh-dweller.' piocach, a little brat ; Nome pjakk, also bjakk, applied to a person with little physical force ; also pikke, little, small (v. Jakobsen's Ordbog, sub ' bjakk '). put, a large buoy, usually of inflated sheep-skin ; " Seemingly of Scandinavian origin ; Swed. dial. puta, be inflated" (MacBain's Diet). rei(dk)ne, a barren cow (Rob Donn) ; cf. N. reini, stallion. Doubtful. roc, wrinkle ; roc aodannach, of wrinkled face (MacCodrum's Or an na h-Aoise) ; from N. hrukka, wrinkle, fold. rochal, rattle in the throat ; N. hrugl, hrygla, a rattling in the throat or bronchial tubes. rotaidh, impel; 'rotaidh mi ann thu ' (I will impel you there). Perhaps founded on N. rota, to rout up. rust all, the Uist form of risteal, from N. ristill, 4 plough-share.' For vowel, cf. Uiist, from Ivist. sgaig, trembling fear ; duisg suas, a Ghaidhlig 's tog do ghuth, na biodh ort geilt no sgaig. N. skaka, skdk, shake ? or skakkr, wry, askew. sgall, baldness, from N. skalli, a bald head ; hence sgalltachan, a young bird before it has got down or feathers. sgalan, a hut ; I rish scdldn, i a shade, a hut, a stage, a scaffold ' ; from N. skdli, a hut, shed. sgallais, effrontery, insult ; backbiting ; loud con- temptible talk; from N. skoll, mockery, loud laughter. The Highland Society's Dictionary opta. bench, Uidhist, - - - - - I-vist. uinneagan, - - windows, - - - vind-auga. urracag, - - ring near the thole-pin, founded on N. urga (with double Gadh. diminutive suffixes added). To be added is sguit, ' the footboard in a boat,' for which no derivation has hitherto been proposed ; in the Blrlinn the plural occurs in the phrase : ' A slat- bheoil 's a sguitichean-asgaill,' i.e. 1 her bow-sprit and her foot-board cross-ribs (cross-yards).' I take it to be from N. skzctr, pi. skutir, ' the stern,' and that this also is the origin of sgud, G. sguid, ' ship/ which is given in Armstrong's Dictionary and in Dinneen's Irish Dictionary, though possibly the latter may be from N. skiita, Danish skude, a small craft or cutter, such as used to accompany a fleet for use on rivers or on the coasts, while byrdingr, whence G. blrlinn, was used to carry the supplies. Sguit cannot be founded on E. switch, which becomes G. sguits ; for E. w becoming^* or c compare Whigs, which is the Cuigse of Donnchadh Ban Mac an t-Saoir's poems. Another phrase in the Blrlinn is an fhairge cheigeach, ' the shaggy sea,' where we have the adjective from the noun ceig, ' a mass of shag, clot/ from a side-form of the root in Swedish kagge, 1 a round mass, a thick 258 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND and short body ' ; keg, corpulent man or animal, whence E. keg) Eng. Dial, cag, 6 a stump,' cognate with Lithuanian zaginai, palisades. A diminutive from this loan is G. ceigein, ' a fat man, a tuft/ In the same poem we have the following (30) from the Latin : Gadhclic . Lai 'itt . ntVinir * air ' - aLliall) Ail , n pr del ■ aibheis, - O.Ir. abis, abyssus. dlgCdl, Uld.lCL.Ldl 1UI LllgcUrlrl) UL.Cd.HUb. a r»n1 a con dLllldbdll, ir. vj. ciL.nid.ibj dnii- axilla. nt t" ' fmm piLj 1IU111 a^rail - ' arm-nit ' hv mpta- axilla. thesis from Dare, a bark, - - - barca. UCalllJalLU, UlCbbj UCIlcUlLU. beisteil, fr. beist, - bestia. LcllcdidLlllj Hj. Li. LClCUldLl, juyuub LClC UiallU. 0 user vance, clann, - LIlllLircn, LlcUJj LlllUligll pidnid. -DrymuniL. piaizi, ir., crois crux. ueomnan adernun. 1 0 rm 1 1 1 - ldllllCllll, tVirrmcrh ^fiarmaint' till L/Uiill UeM Hldllll, fi rm 0 m pntn m 111 liidiiicu kuiii. Tnrpnllafh frnm Tnrrall fnnndfd ll^i v.. LI ILo . on ladarn, - M.Ir.latrand,' robber,' latro, latronis. laoch, - laicus. longfikorf, - - ship-port ; encamp- portus. ment, luirichean, - - 'coats of mail,' fr. lorica. luireach, maistreadh, - - ' churning, ' the verb mistura. is founded on milidh, - E.Ir. milid, miles, militis. obair, - opera. brdugh, ordo. pianadh, poena. CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 259 Gadhelic. pongail, sabhailt, saighdear, simplidheachd, spadhannan, spiorad, still, - Latin. through punc, 'point, punctum. note,' from sabhail, - - salvare. M.Ir. saigdeoir, - Sagittarius, 'simple,' with Gadh. simplex, suffix, 'quick and strong spatium. pulls 'j primarily ' the space ' between the outstretched arms, - - - spintus. fr.L. stilus ', or if taken stillo. as pi. of steall. From English or Lowland Scots we have : buird, - - - pi. of bord, from - O.E.bord(orN.-borS) bruideil, - - fr. bruid, from - - E. brute, boghachan, - - pi. of bogha, from - bow. baidealach, - - ' bannered,' fr. baideal, E. battle-merit. 'tower,' fr. buideil, - - - - - E. bottle. cop, • - - 'foam,' - - - O.E. copp, 'top.' cbpadh, - - 'catching,' - - E. cop, ' to catch,' etc. cnag, - - - 'peg,' - - - E. knag. A Norse origin is here possible, Sw. knaggy Dan. knag. ■ - - - E. couple, coupling. ■ - - E. course. - fr. clabhsa^ - - E. close. ■ - - - M.E. dag, 'pistol.' 'plank, deal,' - ■ E. deal. • - - - E. drag, ' draw.' Norse draga is also possible, pi. of giall y jaw, cheek, O.E.ceafl (very doubt - jowl, - - - ful). - 'cuirass,' - - - E. gorget. - bottom, - - - Sc. grund, ' bottom or channel in water.' ■ - - - E. mail. ■ - - - E. mantle. cupladh, cursa, - clabhsail, daga, - deil, draghadh, - gialan, - gbirseid, gorsaid, grunnd, mailich, mantul, 26o NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND JZiTlgllbfl Or J^UiVCClrlCl kjC0£$* masgadh, - mflciV * mi v 5 plocach, - founded on - E. block. rideal, - - E. riddle riof, reef of a sail, - E. reef. rod, - - M.E. rode, ' road.' sgiursadh, - - founded on - - M.E. scourge. sicir, - - - - - Sc. sicker. sumaid, founded on - E. summit. sta, - founded on - E. stay. soistinn, * effeminacy, dilly-dal- Sc. sosh, * snug, social.' lying,' founded on stoirm, - - - - M.E. storm. sebrsa, - E. sort. thiiilinn, - nasiuil . . . thuilinn, Sc. tweeling, twedlin. 1 sails of twilled canvas, 5 The Norse element even in this sea-piece is not in excessive disproportion to other influences which are at work in the language whose rich vocabulary- absorbs them. There is another poet, contemporary with Mac- donalcl, and his very name, John MacCodrum (17 10-1796), testifies to his Norse extraction, the surname being the Norse Guttormr, ' good or god- serpent.' He was personally known to his North Uist neighbours as Iain Mac Fhearchair Ic Iamhair, John, son of Farquhar son of Iver. The latest editor of his poems records that MacCodrum's native district bears distinct traces of Norse influence in its legendary lore, and that the name of the god Odin survives in Caisteal Odair (Odin's Castle), still pointed out on the farm of Grlminish (Grim's ness). There is there also Leum Odair (Odin's leap) — twelve miles long! — showing the gigantean marks CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 261 of the god's heels, while Ceann Odair (Odin's head) records the burial-place assigned him in folk-tradition. North Uist legenc speaks of his clan as Clann 'Ic Codrum nan ron, the Clan MacCodrum of the Seals. In past times the seal rock of Haskeir was a valuable asset : the seal oil was used for the various purposes for which oil serves, the seal skins were made into home-made harness, and the leanest of the flesh was cooked and eaten. The seals were here held to be the children of a Scandinavian king under spells, an idea which the Rev. Arch. MacDonald inclines to derive from the large full soft eye of the seal, with its appealing semi-human expression. " Hence on one occasion a hunter aiming at a seal with his gun or bow heard the creature begin to sing, in a voice of supernatural beauty, a song lamenting the loss of her dear ones, of which the following are the chorus and a verse : Ho i ho-o hi-o-hao (thrice) Cha robh mise m'6nar an raoir. 'S mise nighean Aoidh Mhic Eoghain Gur edlach mi air na sgeirean ; Gur mairg a dheanadh mo bhualadh Bean uasal mi a tir eile. Upon hearing this the hunter retired, not a little astonished at what he had heard." 1 These verses signify : Ho i ho o hi-o-hao (thrice) I was not alone last night. I am the daughter of Aodh mac Eoghain, Well do I know the Skerries ; Woe betide him who would me strike, A noble dame am I from another land ! 1 The Uist Collection ; The Poems and Songs of John MacCodrum, etc., by the Rev. Archibald Macdonald, Glasgow, 1894, pp. v-vi. 262 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND The Rev. Mr. MacDonald is of opinion that the connection of the seal with the Norse mythology in Uist is seen in this fact, "that at the time of the annual visit to the seal-rock — Bualadk na Sgeire — a horse-racing was held in the district, and there are many still living who remember it, which was called An Odaidh. There can be little doubt that this function was the survival of a Pagan festival in honour of the Scandinavian god Odin, who was so much connected with the district, and that its observance was continued as a propitiation for the slaughter of the seals." This derivation is incon- sistent, however, with the editor's further supposition that the Clann 1c Odrum (recte Codruim) " were originally Clann Odain, afterwards Clann Mhic Odain, which was easily transformed into Mac Odrum." This is folk etymology: yet the oda, odaidh, 4 horse-racing,' goes back on the N. hesta-at, ' horse-fight/ a favourite sport of the ancient Scan- dinavians. I have an engraving before me as I write of a similar sport in the 'horse-biting' of Iceland, figured in Axel Olrik's Nordisches Geistesleben (p. 131). On the other hand the sept's name is properly Clann Mhic Codruim, and goes back on the N. Guttorm-r y which, being unknown to the people, would readily yield to the familiar Odin when folk- etymology sought for a plausible derivation. Mr. MacDonald adds an interesting note to the effect: "It was said that a woman of the same surname, and probably lineage as the bard, used to be seized with violent pains at the time of the annual seal hunt, out of sympathy, it was sup- posed, with her suffering relatives." 1 1 lb. vii. n - CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 263 The verses of the Skye bard, Maclure (Mac-a- Leoir), who came to satirise MacCodrum, com- memorate the association with seals : Iain 5 Ic Fhearchair 'Ic Codruim nan ron A thdisich air an droch ceaird, Ard-eisg nan droch fhilidh, Is mithich dhomhs' do thilleadh trath. i.e. "John, son of Farquhar, son of Guttorm of the Seals, who hast taken up with the wicked art, head-satirist of the evil poets, it is proper for me to repel thee early ! " The MacCodrums, says legend, were metamor- phosed into seals. They retained, along with the amphibious shape, the human soul, and at times, human form. They were seals by day and human creatures by night. No MacCodrum, for all the world, would, if in his proper senses, fire a gun at a seal. 1 With reference to this idea of metamor- phosis, the following plaintive verses may be cited : 1. Ann an Caolas Od Odrum far an caidleadh na r6in Far nach cluinnteadh guth duine ach fuaim tuinne s glag ghebidh 2. Sinn gun doille no soillse, sinn gun oidhche no 16 Air ar fuadach feadh stuaghan is air ar fuaradh troimh che6 3. Mar mhuime 'g altrum a paisdean 's i 'g an taladh gu ciuin Gu bheil tulgadh nan cuantan 7 g ar sior luaineadh 'n ar suain 4. Gur a h-ur-gheal ar n-uirigh an c6ir ionar a' chaoil 5 S gur a cubhraidh an cl6-cadail bhi an caidreamh mo ghaoil 5. An rdn uasal ag gusgal 's an eala 'guileag ri thaobh 'S a'mhaighdean ghuanach a'bruadal ann an uaigneas m'a gaol 6. 'S ann an duthaich an eorna cha sguir c6mhrag no eug S gum bidh d6ruinn chloinn-daoine a chaoidh a sior dol a meud 7. Ach bidh mise ; s mo leannan a chaoidh air aineol fo'n tonn S cha ruig arsneul no aog 2 oirnn gu la dusgadh nan sonn. 1 V. Dr. Nicolson's note in Gaelic Proverbs. 2 Alternative (when the bar is re-sung) : aois, 'age.' 264 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND While it is not possible for me to translate the effect of the original in anything like its complete magic, the following may partly, but feebly if at all, convey the feeling of this Lullaby of the Seal- Maiden who carried off her loved one from among the abodes of men, here called the Land of the Barley, a term sometimes applied to Uist. It is gessa or taboo for her that the sun shine on him whom she has carried off. Her life is in the shadowy Other- World of the Waters : In the Kyles of Od Odrum where the seals are a-sleeping, On the waves the geese greeting, but no mortal near me, Without day, without darkness, without night, without brightness, Far vexed on the billows we are tossed on the sea. As a dear mother soothing her children when weeping, The low lash of ocean is our fond lullaby. And fair white our pillow, and soft is our slumber, Oh, sweet be the meeting with my love by my knee. The Seal's cry ! I hear it, the swan's note resounding, And the maiden in dreams her fond lover sees. In the Land of the Barley men's sorrows may waken, The world's woes may ripen, the world's woes may stay. But me and my loved one ever roam 'neath the breakers, Deathless and ageless until the awakening day. A name for an old female seal in the Outer Hebrides is Brimmald, which comes from the Viking period ; cf. Shetland brimmald, an old female seal: the first part is O. Norse brim = O.E. brim, the sea ; cf. the place-name Bremen ; root as in Sanskrit bkram, to move to and fro, be in unsteady motion. The meaning is sea-walzer. Let me adduce a West Irish legend as to seal- metamorphosis : " In very ancient times some of the clan Coneely, CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 26s one of the early septs of the county, was changed by ' art magick ' into seals ; since then no Coneely can kill a seal without afterwards having bad luck. Seals are called Coneelys, and on this account many of the name changed it to Connolly " (Mr. Kinahan in Folklore Journal, ii. 259 ; Folklore Record, iv. 104). According to a note in Gomme's work, the islanders of Achill seem to consider that they were descended from seals ; cf. Hardiman's notes to O' Flaherty's Description of West or H-iar Con- naught. There is a Seal Island off Donegal ; there are some Shetland legends of the seal (Sac. Antiq. Scot. i. 86-89). Seals are eaten for food in Harris (Martin's Western Isles, 36), and one, called the Virgin Mary's Seal, is offered to the minister (Reeves's Adamnan, 78, note g). The attitude of the Irish to seals is shown : "At Erris, in Ireland, seals are considered to be human beings under enchantment, and they consider it unlucky to have anything to do with seals, and to have one live near their dwelling is considered as productive of evil to life and property. A story current in 1841 describes how a young fisherman came in a fog upon an island whereon lived these enchanted men in their human form, but when they quitted it they turned to seals again" (Otway, Sketches of Erris, 398, 403). Off Downpatrick Head they used to take seals, but have given up the practice, because one or two young fellows had urged their curraghs into a cave where the seals were known to breed, and they were killing them right and left when, in the farthest end of the cave, and sitting up on its bent tail in a corner, there sat 266 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND an old seal. One of the boys was just making ready to strike him, when the seal cried out, "Och, boys ! och, ma bouchals, spare your old grandfather, Darby O'Dowd." He then proceeded to tell the boys his story. "It's thrue I was dead and dacently buried, but here I am for my sins turned into a sale as other sinners are and will be, and if you put an end to me and skin me maybe it's worser I'll be and go into a shark or a porpoise. Lave your ould forefather where he is, to live out his time as a sale. Maybe for your own sakes you will ever hereafter leave off following and parsecuting, and murthering sales who may be nearer to yourselves nor you think." The story is universally believed, and on the strength of it the people have given up seal- hunting (Otway, Sketches of Err is, 230). There is something in heredity in forming the cast of the personal mind. Did not Lord Macaulay when but a boy of six years busy himself with an Epic on Olaus Magnus, King of Norway, from which tradition told him the family were descended ? He easily broke into such strains as : Long, said the prince, shall Olave's name Live in the high records of fame ! And if in addition to the educative influence of the sea we consider the mixed blood of the islesmen, it may be possible to agree that it is to this that the long-headed west-coastmen owe a peculiar humour of their own, with a tendency to ready banter and chaff. MacCodrum would have here easily carried the palm. These mental traits, so characteristic of MacCodrum, by all accounts, are not so prominent CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 267 in inland Gaeldom. MacCodrum holds the first place among Gadhelic satirists. " His satires are not merely vituperative — they are always amusing, and at times they abound in most exquisite wit." Who but himself could have replied so fitly on the occasion of draining Loch Asduinn ? He had arrived too late, and only in time to partake of the refreshments handed round after the first ceremony. " Here, John," said the factor, "is a glass of the water of Loch Asduinn" — it really being some- thing more potent. The poet seized the glass and said : May God bless Loch Asduinn's water. If its aroma be good, its taste is better ; If it be entirely like this 'Twere a pity to drain it off ! His power and love of punning upon words is quite Norse in its precision. " Where did you come from?" said he to a man one day. "I came from Uachdar (this is a place-name, and also the Gadhelic for cream)," was the answer. To which the poet retorted : " Then the dogs will be more likely to lick you." This quick perception of analogies in sound and sense is a notable Norse characteristic, as is also a keen perception of reality with a self-command that avoids exaggeration, — a feature that enabled him to give so true and graphic a description in his beautiful poem on Old Age. This sense of humour was also a notable feature in Dr. Norman Macleod's Dialogues, which are so inimitable in the original. Mairi nighean Alasdair Ruaidh, the famous Harris poetess, even specifies the Macleod Norse pedigree from Olgar : 268 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Thu 'shliochd Ollaghair Bha mor morgha Nan sebl corra-bheann 'S nan corn gorm-ghlas Nan cebl orghan S nan sebd bu bhorb ri eiginn. i.e. "Thou art of the race of Olgar (Holger), great and lordly, of the peaked sails, the grey-blue drinking-horns, of the musical instruments, and of the heroes brave in danger." But great and original as she was, her Gadhelic compositions being truly classic, she seemed not to have been solitary in her power of wit, for having indulged her poetic vein on Mairi Ghobha, saying as she met her : Failt ort fhein, a Nic a Ghobha 'S tu air fas cho odhar riabhach Mairi Ghobha immediately retorted, and correctly completed the stanza : S tu-sa bha gu lachdunn odhar Ged bhiodh-te ga do thodhar bliadhna — the satire being levelled at the Macleod com- plexion (Bian buidhe 'Ic Leoid). It would be possible to find a goodly number of Norse traits in Rob Donn, the Reay bard, in whom sentiment on the whole is subordinate to sagacity and self- command. He had much pawky humour, the gift of terse repartee, gnomic wisdom, and a closeness to 1 realism ' which, if it make him at times rude and unpolished, is yet more direct than an unmixed Celt would care to give expression to. But in his best pieces there is a fine sense of proportion. It has been remarked that the surviving literature of the Scottish Gaidheal is grave rather than gay, and CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 269 characterised by intensity and passion rather than by breadth and ; \umanity, but lacking in sustained energy and in a sen^j g$* proportion. "Now, I venture to think," says Professor Mackinnon, " that on the whole the Gadhelic poets of the Hebrides are less chargeable with these shortcomings than their mainland brothers. There is one notable exception in the case of the Reay country bard, Rob Donn. Of all the Gadhelic poets of the first rank, this man seems to me to exhibit most of those features which one associates with the Teutonic mind and genius. He possesses moral courage and self-restraint, while he is sadly wanting in what Matthew Arnold would call dignity and distinction. But Rob Donn has sprung from a district where the Norse blood is of the very strongest." It is unnecessary to enter into details here which would more concern a comparative study of literature. Nor is it safe to assert that any proverbial sayings have come into Gadhelic directly from the Norse. The realm of ideas is open to all peoples and close analogies may be expected all the world over. Yet occasionally the manner of expression may owe something to the mixed blood of the Highlander : Chan fhiosraich mur febraich ' Nothing ask, nothing learn* comes very close in its terseness to the Icelandic Fr6<5r er hverr fregnviss 1 Who asks will become learned? But it would be absurd to regard this as borrowed, and equally so the other saying : 4 Is righ duine 'na thigh f hein ' (a man is king in his own house), 27o NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND which is not at all borrowed from the Icelandic : 'Hair er heima hverr' (everyone is somebody at home). Sayings like these are universal human. It is the manner that counts, and so far as humour is concerned, it is the peculiar form that tells. We find a broad humour in the Tain Bo Cuailgne, the central episode of the Cuchulainn Epic, and it is characterised by a grave grimness, as, for example, where Cuchulainn brings Conchobar from the field of battle. " Where is Conchobar ? " " I do not know," said L Then he went forth. The night was dark. He made for the battlefield. He saw a man before him, with half his head on, and half of another man on his back (conaccai ara chiunn in fer, ocus leth a chiun fair, ocus leth fir aili for a muin). " Help me, O Cuchulainn," he said, "I have been wounded, and I have brought half of my brother on my back. Carry it for me a while" (Ro-m-bith, ocus tuccus leth mo brathar for mo muin. Ber si'st lim). 1 Here again it is the manner that tells. And putting aside all references to the far past I would, for brevity's sake, instance the British Ass, one of the late Dr. Alexander Nicolson's happiest efforts in this vein, which it is safe to assign as springing, and only capable of springing, from such a mixed race as we have in Innse-Gall. It well carries forward the quality which meets us in men like MacCodrum and Rob Donn : 1 V. Strachan's Selections from the Tdin, pp. 5-6. CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 271 On England's fragrant clover This beast delights to browse, But sometimes he's a rover To Scotland's bonnie knowes ; For there the plant supplies his want, That doth all herbs surpass, The thistle rude — the sweetest food — That feeds the British Ass ! We've read in ancient story How a great Chaldean swell Came down from all his glory With horned beasts to dwell : If you would know how it happened so, That a king should feed on grass, In 'Section D, Department B,' Inquire of the British Ass ! To Grecian sages, charming, Rang the music of the spheres, But voices more alarming Salute our longer ears : By science bold we now are told How life did come to pass — From world to world the seeds were hurled, Whence sprung the British Ass ! There is much of the Norse force in the anecdote told of the Lewis Brieve or Hereditary Judge who lived at Habost (i.e. High-stead), still remembered for his satirical repartees. His name was Morison, a clan of which there were two septs : those of Norse origin, Harris tradition asserts, had as crest a fortress with three heads on one neck, as if to signify that no enemy could attack them unawares. The Judge Morison, having had occasion to come to Seaforth to explain his refusal to pay a factor's overcharge, was annoyed by a cur of a dog let loose 272 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND at him by one of the factor's factotums. A whack from Morison's stick sent the creature a-whining, on which the factotum himself put in his appearance, and gave great cheek and impertinence. The Brieve made some suitable reply by giving him a sound whack on the jaw. The ensuing noise brought out Seaforth himself, to whom Morison explained the affair satisfactorily, and finished up summarily with a couplet, at once cutting, droll, and contemptuous : Balach is balgaire Tighearna Dithis nach bu choir leigeil leo Buail am balach air a charbad S buail am balgaire air an t-sron i.e. Churl and cur of the lairdie Twain one should not allow, Whack the cheek of the churlie And the snout of the curlie-wow ! The pristine vigour of many of this mixed race, the Norse-Gaidheal, occasionally evidences that they were sprung from what Tacitus called the womb of nations — vagina gentium. To prevent dilating on the matter let it suffice to quote an interesting inscription in the churchyard at Rodel, Harris : " To the memory of Donald Macleod of Berneray, son of John, Tutor of Macleod, who in vigour of body and mind, and firm adherence to the principles of his ancestors, resembled the men of former times. His grandfather and granduncle were knighted by Charles II. for their loyalty and distinguished valour in the battle of Worcester. When the Standard of the House of Stuart, to which he was attached, was displayed, a.d. 1745, though past the prime of life, CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 273 he took up arms, had a share in the actions of that period, and in the Battle of Falkirk vanquished a dragoon hand to hand. From this time he lived at his house in Bernera, universally loved and respected. In his seventy-fifth year he married his third wife, by whom he had nine children, and died in his ninetieth year, the 16th December, 1783. This monument was erected by his son, Alexander Macleod of Herries, Esq." On the other hand, there was an effective High- land element that opposed the rising of the 45, due to a greater strain of caution, arising possibly from a mixed ancestry. It was not through lack of martial valour that they did so. Time would fail to tell of the number of distinguished soldiers, which even the Isle of Skye alone sent forth into the world and made British prestige and civilisation renowned abroad and revered. I must be content to refer to the Brave Sons of Skye, by Colonel Macinnes. The mixed race which we name as Highlanders have been among the foremost soldiers of the world : in the ranks of Gustavus Adolphus they counted among the brave ; the field of Waterloo saw their valour ; the Cossacks turned before their thin red line ; many a hard- won fight in India, Egypt, Africa, Canada, the utmost outposts of Empire, testified always to their valour. At Corunna their onset gladdened Moore in dying. And not in war only but in the warfare of the religious life there have been heroes of equal valour ; while ecclesiastical triflings testify but too often to a dour, grim, austere and unlovely element, due to a great extent, perhaps, to the Norse strain, s 274 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND it is but right to remember that from this race came forth David Livingstone, the great African explorer and missionary, who inherited from far-away Ulva the ancestral qualities which helped him in the makings of that noble fame whereby he rests in Westminster. Though the name is Old Gadhelic Donnshleibhe, ' Brown of the Hill/ it is little likely that he was of unmixed descent, which holds true also of William Livingstone, the I slay bard, one of whose best efforts is a long dramatic poem on the Norwegians in Islay. In addition to the evidence of Islay place-names, the fact that such a poet took this subject as theme shows the large influence which the former Norwegian invaders exercised and propagated. Mr. Pattison's trans- lation from the Gadhelic of the wild and vigorous lyric which the poet puts in the mouth of the men from Lochlann as they drop anchor at Lochindaal may be quoted, as giving the poet's view of the Vikings : Here we come but we thus will not leave you — The axe, axe ; To-morrow will startle and grieve you With the axe, axe. A red blazing torch in each dwelling — The axe, axe ; Your goods plundered, your captur'd wives yelling — The axe, axe. Fleeing and cursing and wailing — The knife, knife. The pith of your knees shall be failing For the knife, knife. They who meet us shall leave that place never — The knife, knife ; Morn nor eve shall they see then for ever — The knife, knife ; CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 275 None shall live to tell of the Reaver With the axe, axe. But the raven above shall be croaking The axe, axe ; And then feast on their limbs till he's choking — The axe, axe. After two days the Norse land, a bloody battle is fought, and the poet depicts the Islaymen as victorious ! Times are changed, and men with them. What Livingstone the poet has done so recently enables us all the easier to follow the poets of former ages in their working up the lays which pertain to the Ossianic or Fionn cycle of Gadhelic Saga. Several of these traditional lays which have been transmitted orally for ages, and in several districts far apart, are witnesses. Let me cite Err agon. History fails to tell what particular historical fact was the occasion of the poem. Seemingly some chieftain of the Gall-Gaidheal, or one of his followers, may have inveigled the wife of one of the Lochlann princes. Story tells only that on one occasion the F^inn warriors resented Fionn's neglect to hold the drinking feast after a successful chase, whereupon two of his men transferred their services to the King of Lochlann. With one of them named Aillte the Queen of Lochlann fled to Fionn's camp. To avenge this, Erragon, King of Lochlann, fought with the F£inn. The king over Lochlann in that very hour Was one who won the victory in every field, Erragon, son of Ainnir of the ships, O king ! but his blade and his hand were good. 276 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND The Queen of Lochlann of brown shields Gave deep, full deep love but not aright, To joyous Aillte of deep-red locks, And she went away with him in deceit. Lochlann's king gathered his host, A hard-set fleet that grew with readiness In the one hour there arose with him The nine kings and other peoples. For the realm of the Fians They departed over the sea, They pitched their camps thickly Near the port where Fionn abode. Fionn would give them a great tribute To the host that came to us, To Lochlann's king with his time-honoured weapons, Even that would he give and his own wife. The counsel that Fionn approved, As well as all the chiefs of the Feinn, Was to give, if accepted from them, the king's daughter To the king of Lochlann of the keen weapons. The king's daughter pleads for friendship and fellowship with Fionn, but Erragon will not grant it. A conflict ensues. Erragon was invulnerable to every weapon but the spear of Goll, by which he ultimately falls. The soothsayer had foretold that the men of Lochlann would be victorious so long as Erragon avoided the spear of Goll. But The head of the king of Lochlann of brown shields Goll gained on the ninth day ; There escaped not from the edge of weapons In the conflict from the multitude of tribes — There escaped not home a man Either of king or people of Lochlann. 1 ^he whole of "Erragon" is literally rendered by the Rev. A. Macdonald in Saga- Book of Viking Ciud, iii. 416 ff. CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 277 Another lay^.till popular is that of the Muirear- tack, variants of which are .Muiliartach, Builiartach. Mr. Campbell of A liree though, the name denoted a personification & the Osterling or Eastern Sea. Perhaps it may be the word muir } * sea, ' compounded with an adjective formed from the obsolete irt, iort, ' death,' and personifying the death-bringing sea. Campbell of I slay suspected that the poem was " composed in remembrance of some real invasion of Ireland by the sea-rovers of Lochlann, in which they got the worst of the fight." 1 The Muireartach is represented as the foster-mother of Manus, king of Lochlann. The Norse superiority at sea is represented by this Old Hag taking away the magic cup of Fionn : Beverage ne'er filled that horn But turned to beer and wines, Or some other strong pure drink Which the heroes quaffed betimes. By drinking from this vessel it was believed that Fionn and his men were always assured of victory. Manus having been worsted, returned home, and it was then his foster-mother offered to go and fight Fionn, and secure the precious cup or horn. Her husband, the Ocean Smith, alone accompanied her ; she got the cup of Victory and returned to Lochlann. Manus then resolved to fight Fionn once more, but the men of Lochlann were again defeated and the cup recovered. She returned again and met her death. And Manus vowed : " I will give words again, if the smooth Muilear- tach has been killed, that I will not leave in Fair 1 West Highland Tales, iii. 144. 278 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Erin hillock, place of shelter or islvd, that I will not leave in the cross-trees of my ships, Erin fairly- balanced, full-weight — if it does not take to kicking at sea when it is being lifted from its sea-walls, I shall put crooked hooks into the land to draw it from its fastenings ! " And the reply was : " Numerous are the shipmen, O Manus ! that could lift the fifth part of Erin ; there are not as many ships on salt water as would lift the fifth part of Erin " 1 Another curious folk-tale tellsof akingof Lochlann's daughter. In a glass apparatus she was in the habit of coming to Scotland every year to set fire to it. The legend tells of a plan whereby eighteen pipers were got together — nine couples arrayed circularly so as always to be moving round. Attracted by the sound they made, she also began to go round till she fell in her glass gear amidst the pipers and was dashed to pieces. The woods of Scotland were safe ever after ! It has been surmised that the Norsemen burnt the woods wherever they could, thereby preventing the natives from smelting iron, and it may be but an after-glow of this destruction that is reflected in the legend of Donan or Dubh A' Ghiuthais, who is credited with having been sent by her father, the king of Lochlann, to burn the Highland woods, that he might thereby be able to find a market for his timber. She had the reputation, not only in Uist but also in Lochbroom, of being able to fly through the air in a chariot of dark clouds, carrying on her devastations. Once a woman at a shieling perceived her, and having blessed the Norse princess, she fell 1 Rev. J. G. Campbell's The Fians, p. 144. CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 279 down in a shapeless mass ! Another form of the legend has it, as in Strathglass, that the woods were burnt in the time of Queen Mary. Another tradition tells how Sithean, son of the king of Beirbhe, was killed by Fionn. Beirbhe is thought by some to mean Copenhagen, but more probably Baile mdr na Beirbhe means Bergen, older form Biorgvin. A variant Buirmb occurs in a legend which I wrote down in 1891 in S. Uist. As it reflects some encounter with the Norsemen of long ago I may be allowed to translate it here. In this version the form An Fhinn was used as a collective noun for the usual An Fke'inn (the Fayn, the Feen, or Fingalians). fionn's head-keeper. 1 Once upon a time the Finn (i.e. the F£inn band) were going about from place to place. Their wont was to pitch their camp where darkness came on and so to pass the night. They would always have one to keep on watching. This particular night the watch fell to Gille-nan-Con (i.e. the Lad of the Dogs). The brave fellow was arrayed in the High- land garb. By his side he carried a quiver and bayonet and sword. What time the Finn took to rest he was steadily and steadfastly on the beat. It was the winter season and the night turned out badly with snow and cold. How steadily soever he kept upon the beat Gille-Cinn-Chon- Fhinn was growing benumbed and pinched with the snow. He said to himself : I'll go into the camp to warm my- self till the shower passes. In he went and lit the 1 For original, see Appendix. 28o NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND fire ; as he was warming the calves of his legs thereat, he looked out and perceived that the snow-storm was about to pass off. He perceived a foot-print in the snow. " I am undone," he said to himself, " and it is death to me seeing I know not who has passed by; (yet) I shall die but once. I'll chase off after the man who has left his foot-print ; there is no knowing but I shall overtake him and that in due time he will make known to me who he is." Off he chased after the man who had left his foot- print. Far or nigh as he was from him, what with bounding and what with running, he perceived him. He saw he was out of proportion for his size, but though he is, says Gille Cinn Chon Fhinn to himself, I shall not return till I find out who he is or else I'm a dead man. Gille-Cinn-Chon-Fhinn was at running speed while the other man was only at a walking pace. As he was climbing a steep twixt two bens he overtook the Big Man and entered into conversation with him. " You have passed by the camp and I am come to inquire as to who you are since no man is to go past it without our knowing who he is, whence he is, and whither he is going. We keep guard for that pur- pose, and his life will be taken away from whom- soever we do not get information. It is on this account I am come after you to find out who you are, and I should be much obliged to you if you would tell me." " Get out of my way, you worthless fellow," said the Big Man; 4 'you need to bring all the Finn to face me ere I should tell my lineage." " Were I to bring all the Finn," he made answer, CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 281 " one whole bone there would not be in your body, — what they would not crush with their hands, they would burn red with their breath." Then when he cast at me the big spear he had in his fist he hurled it 17 feet into the ground. And when I threw at him the little javelin I had under my arm he exclaimed : thy dart in its cunning hath reached my heart and the physician can't heal me. Then the little fellow said : that is worse for thee who didst not erstwhile declare thy lineage ere Gille- Cinn-Chon-Fhinn gave thee combat in the lonely glen. Said the Big Man, reclining with his elbow on the ground : I am Seadhain, son of the King of Bergen, Son of the Big Man of roughest cudgel, And his name was Tighinn-gu-teach^ Leader of five hundred dogs. The foot of the bold hath passed the camp, A daring step and very keen, I swear by Fionn of the Fiann, 'Twas not Fionn himself nor Ossian. 'Twas not Diarmad of pure mien, 'Twas not Niall of Locha Luim, 'Twas not one of Fionn's men Who met last night in the lonely glen. Smartly arrayed I took and chased Along the moss of roughest paths, My pace was bounds and leaps, The Big Man's pace was steady. It was there I overtook him, In Ben Bheag between two rocks, And asked of him with due respect, Whence, Big Man, art thou ? 1 The giant would not tell his name till he was dying : he then said his real name was " Futurity " — the reciter's explanation. 282 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND " My little fellow, my little man, Thou did'st inquire, 'twas not discreet ; You had need bring all the Finn Ere were told to thee my kin." " All the Finn were I to bring, No whole bone were left in thy body ; What they'd crush not with their swords, With their breath they'd redly burn." It was then he hurled at me The great spear from out his fist And his cast did downward bring it, Seventeen feet into the earth. It was then I at him threw The javelin small from 'neath my arm ; I threw it slant-wise at his heart, And he was wounded in man's blood. " Blessings on thee ; and go thy way Youthful hero of wavy tresses Thy cunning javelin smote my heart, And mine eye physician heals not." " ' Tis for thee that it is worse Thou didst not thy lineage tell Ere Gille-Cinn-Chon-Fhinn Gave thee converse in the lonely glen." " I am Seadhain, son of Bergen's king, Son of the Rough Man of coarsest blow, Whose name hight, on coming home, Leader-of-five-hundred-dogs." Then I placed him on his side And took his measure by his feet. He was seven feet in breadth And eighteen feet in length, And vain mortal men ought not To give combat to such braves. A glance at the table of contents of Campbell's Leabhar na Fdinne suffices to indicate that the Norse CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 283 wars figure largely in the later developments of the Ossianic cycle. The Lay of M anus, of which Mac- pherson made some use in his Fingal, is a fifteenth century reminiscence of the wars of Magnus Bare- legs, who fell in Ulster in 1103 a.d. It is still popular : A day that we were hunting on a sea-side, slope We did not fall in with the chase. There were seen very many ships Sailing high from the east. To the herald the reply comes : Manus is our leader, The honourable chief of the Red Shield. He will take the wife from Fionn And Bran over the waves in spite of him. And the lay proceeds until we learn that Bounteous Manus was overthrown In presence of the rest on the sward, And on him, though it was no kingly honour, Was put the tie of the three smalls. Manus is then depicted as left to Fionn's mercy, who gives him the choice of friendship, fellowship, and love, or else to take what he can from the Fians. Then Manus says that as long as he lives he will not direct a blow against Fionn, and ends by adding : " I regret what I have done against thee " ( 5 s aithreach learn na rinn mi ort). This was how the people liked to hear the Norse king portrayed. The lay closes by Fionn replying : You did it not against me, 'Twas to yourself you did the sore, And the men who came from your land They will return there never more. 284 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND The other pieces in which the Scandinavians figure in the Ossianic lays are numerous ; among them are " The Lay of the Banners," " The Norse Herald," " The Norse King's Stratagem," " The Adventures of the Nine with the Norsemen," " Fionn's Expedition to Lochlann," " The Adventure in the House of the King of the Fair Strangers." The scene of "The Lay of the Great Fool" is laid partly in Lochlann ; a folk-tale narrates a curious tale about Gilbhinn, daughter of the King of Lochlann ; and Tiree folk-lore knows of an incident concerning a Norse princess, and styles the whole narrative An Caoineadh Magaidh, " The Mock- Weeping." 1 THE MOCK-WEEPING. 2 During the sway of the Norsemen in Tiree, a Norse lady with her husband and two children dwelt on the island. Though noble, she was never- theless an exceedingly cross-tempered dame, and the Tiree folks feared her greatly. Yet though of so fierce a nature that her own people were in awe of her, she had fondly loved her two children, a boy and a girl. I do not now recollect how she happened to come to Tiree at first, whether it was of her own will or in company with her husband and his followers, 1 For original, see Appendix. 2 This tale was very kindly given me by Mr. John Maclean, Glas- gow, who heard his mother narrate it among the other stories of his childhood. I translate it here, as I feel it gives something that is reminiscent of intercourse with the Norse, and of the past in Tiree Parallel illustrations may yet be heard occasionally among the old folk of Skye, Uist, Barra, and Lewis. CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 285 seeking shelter from stress of weather — for the latter reason, I believe. At any rate ^he conceived a Jeej_ love for the place, and made the tsl<±nd her home. Nor did she wish to quit it q+ any time, although her husband often used to leave her by herself when he and his followers went off a-viking, seeking plunder, and breathing slaughter and death. One day a pressing message reached her from Lochlann, an entreaty that she should return thither as quickly as possible. Whether the message came from her father or from her husband I do not remember now, but she had perforce to depart in such haste that she found no opportunity of bringing the children along with her. She left them in charge of the islanders, warning them to exercise every care, and threatening that if aught ill befel the children that she would wreak her vengeance upon all. The Tiree people were very pleased to be free from the Norse lady for a season, inasmuch as they had suffered much hardship at her hands. Yet they were quite glad to take every care of the children ; it seems they were nice, and the island-folk had great regard for them. Whatever the reason was of the Norse lady's leaving Tiree, it delayed her beyond her expecta- tion, and more than two years had gone by ere she came back again. Shortly ere she returned her two children died, in spite of all the care bestowed on them by their guardians. The Tiree people were quite sorry for the death of both, but they had more anxiety as to what might befal themselves on their mothers return. 286 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND It seems that it was about the beginning of summer that the Norse lady came back. Ere she reached the island the Tiree men somehow got word that she was near hand, and they were in great fear, for they were sure that, unless her anger were in some way averted, on hearing of the death of both her children she would leave no dwelling without being pillaged and burnt, nor man nor beast without being slain or killed. Accordingly, when they heard of the Norse lady's approach, all the islanders gathered together to consider what means, if any, might be found to avoid her anger. On having listened to many a counsel and having rejected it, one grey old man came forward who said that it was of no use for them to endeavour to defend themselves by force of arms, that the Norse- men were much better equipped and were better trained in warfare than the men of Tiree, that, despite all their bravery, the islanders would in the long run be despoiled and killed. " Fellow-countrymen," he said, "though great is our fear as to what may befal us in consequence of the death of the two children of the daughter of the king of Lochlann, I am of opinion that there is none of us who does not lament the death of the two fine children who have died ; nice children they were, and we all greatly loved them : sure and certain are all of us who are present here to-day, that we never refused them aught that might comfort them while they were with us, that we spared them nothing that might benefit them when ill, and that our hearts are filled with sorrow that they have died. Now, friends, I am thinking that could we let the Norse CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 287 lady perceive the sorrow we feel, and in such a manner as might impress her mind and touch her heart, that we might avert her wrath and get free from our present hard case. Therefore, my counsel to you is that we collect together to the port where she is to land every cow and calf, every sheep and lamb, in the place, that we separate them from one another, putting the cattle and the sheep on one hill, the calves and the lambs on another hill where they will see each other and yet be unable to get together. In that case I wager for what I'm worth (literally, by mine head) that such lamentation will be heard as will affect the Norse lady at heart, were her heart harder than the rock on which this island lies." The Tiree men adopted the old man's advice. Long ere the Norwegian ship had come to port, the Norse lady was filled with wonder and great amaze- ment at the sorrowful crying she was hearing from off the land. No sooner had the ship put into port than the Norse lady sent for the elder men of the island ; she enquired of them what the meaning might be of this crying which she was hearing since ever she came in sight of land. One of the elders made answer that a heavy loss had recently befallen them on the island, a loss so great and so mournful that the very beasts them- selves were in sympathy with the inhabitants thereat. This reply caused the Norse lady the more astonish- ment. On gazing around her, and having beheld how sorrowful and sad was each face, she said quite friendly how sorry she was for the loss which had befallen them, and that she would do anything in her power to assuage their sorrow if she could. 288 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND The elders then took courage, and quietly and with seemliness told her what had occurred to the two children she had left behind her : how one after the other had taken ill, how every remedy that could be got was tried to restore them to health, and what great sorrow had fallen on the island by their death. Long ere the elder had finished the Norse lady was a- weeping and lamenting, as if she would break her heart. Instead of slaying and destroying the islanders, as she threatened at her departure that she would do, she thanked them with her blessing for their kindness to her children. According to another version which I heard from some one, I do not know from whom, the Caiilech Beur, the Old Wife of Beare, said that " Little Miosachan, son of Lochlann's king, Was buried in a cairn at Baile Phuill : And Ulabhag, daughter of Lochlann's king, Was buried in a cairn 1 at Crossapoll." I took down in Uist a curious tale about the Red-lipped Maiden (or Queen), whom Direach Ghleann Eitche Mhic Cailein had fixed on as a fitting spouse for Murchadh Mac Bhriain. There had been war between the Lord of the Fountain (Gruagach na Tibirt) and the Lord of the Island (Gruagach an Eilein). Direach had come to arrange terms of peace, and the Lord of the Fountain wished to give him his daughter, the Red-lipped Maiden, in marriage. When Direach saw the maiden and the greatness of her beauty, he resolved to take her with him, but not to gaze 1 Lit. under stones, hence ' cairned.' CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 289 upon her again until he should present her to Murchadh Mac Bhriain, his world-king, for whom he thought that she would make a fitting queen. Murchadh, who was son to King Brian Boirmhe, who fell after Clontarf in 10 14, was one day hunting on the hills alone, and a mist came on. He had got no sport. He heard a great noise on the hill, and then observed a powerful man with a burden of faggots on his back. Though he had never seen Dlreach before he knew that it must be he, and what Murchadh heard he now understood to have been the axe of Direach cutting wood. Suddenly Murchadh saw a Stag with Golden Antlers and a White- Hound with Red- Ears go past him, and as he had no sport hitherto he gave chase. The head of the dog was close to the thigh of the deer, and Murchadh's hand close to the thigh of the dog, yet Murchadh could not overtake the stag. Nuair a b'aird air an fhiadh 'S ann a b'isle air a chu, Nuair a b'airde air a chu 'S ann b'isle air Murchadh. At last the stag and the hound got out of his sight, and he was left to wander alone on the hill. When night came on he saw a light, went to it, and found a house there. On going in he found the dog and the deer tied, and there he met Direach. After mutual greetings he asked for a draught of water. Direach gave Murchadh a full cuach, and Murchadh drank half of it. Thereupon Direach took a small knife and cut the vessel round, removing the upper half of it so as to leave the remaining half full of T 290 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND water. He was at the time under spells that he must always drink a full measure. He quaffed it off and took his harp. Four handmaidens danced, and all pleased Murchadh very much. Then the Red-lipped Maiden, who had been in deer-form, dressed and danced before Murchadh by herself, and the king's son was enchanted by her grace and beauty, and declared his love for her. Direach gazed after her as she danced, and told how this was the second time he had ever looked at her coun- tenance since he had resolved to keep her for Murchadh, his world-king. On awakening in the morning they found that the Red-lipped Maiden had been stolen by a giant. Direach gave pursuit and won her back. On his return he found Mur- chadh awaiting him. That night, however, the Red-lipped Maiden was taken away by the three harpers of the Red Hall in Lochlann (tri chruiteirein an Tallaidh Ruaidh an Lochlann). Direach set out after them, but they had got into their boat. He had to go back for his water head-dress or diver's cap. Then he gave pursuit, but the harpers had got to Lochlann before him. On going to the Red Hall he heard there was to be a marriage between the Harper-in-Chief and the Red-lipped Queen. The Red-lipped suggested delay, that plenty of meat and game be got for the feast. The harpers went to fish, and left the Red-lipped in a chamber guarded by seven locks. Direach could not find out where she was imprisoned. He questioned Sorcha, the mother of the harpers, and again failed. He then gave her an intoxicating draught and found out. The first leap he took CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 291 he broke the seven locks ; the next leap he broke the secret doors, and she sprang on the tip of his shoulder. He brought the Red-lipped to where the Harpers' long boat was beached, and putting her on board pushed out from shore. The Harpers then arrived, fixed their hooks in the boat and began to drag it back to shore. Dlreach always had with him the sword, Lorg Chroiseach, that never left the remnant of a blow. He smote the rods, but this time in vain. They were bespelled, defied him, and were on the point of dragging him ashore when the Red-lipped spake: " Though they have sorcerers' enchantments on their rods they have no power over the boat itself. Let them have the board." He cut off the board in which their hooks were fixed, and ere they could get their hooks free he was out on the main with the maiden. The Harpers speedily left off, and in anger returned to the Red Hall in Lochlann. They gave three screams so horrible that every woman with child lost her child and every mare her foal. On the return of the Red-lipped from Lochlann Murchadh and she went to Cathair nam Manach, Monk- ton, where they were married, and happy ever after. So much of Norse reminiscence in typical native romance. MacBain pointed out that the mythology in Mac- pherson's Ossian 4 'smacks of a Norse and not a Celtic origin, for Celtic or Gadhelic it is not." 1 He introduces Fingal as contesting with Odin, whom he calls Cruth Loduinn, the spectre of Loda. " The whole scene and the contest itself is a mixture of 1 MacBain in the Celtic Magazine for 1887. 292 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND Milton, Job, and the Norse antiquarianism of Mac- phersons time." That the episodes in the Fionn- Ossian Saga which show Norse influence are numerous is allowed, and indeed patent to all. The origins of the Saga itself, however, are complex, and have not as yet been unravelled satisfactorily. Anterior to the Norse invasions, the language and literature of the Gaidhealtachd in Ireland and in Scotland were one. It is possible that indirectly at least these invasions hastened the growth of a separate Highland and Hebridean literature. And if they helped to break up the unity of linguistic form sooner than otherwise would have been the case, it seems likely that we owe them a greater unity of spirit in the domain of government and national feeling. 1 I might instance the letter sent to the King of France by the Scottish Parliament declaring that Bruce was King. No less than four- teen of the twenty-four names represent the ancient Celtic kingdom of Scotland. Mr. E. M. Barron 1 We ought not to leap too hastily to the conclusion that irrecon- cilable racial antagonisms have been permanently fostered by the clash of races to the exclusion of things of higher worth on both sides. Carsewell and Kirke in Scotland did much for Gadhelic literature and life, but it cannot be maintained that they were of unmixed Celtic stock ; in Ireland the work of Bedell and of Keating still bears fruit also, and both of them were ultimately of non-Irish lineage. William Salesbury, the chief translator of the first edition of the Welsh New Testament, was of Norman descent on his father's side. Mr. Alfred Nutt has pointed out that the " amazing thing about the North-men, and the Normans their descendants, is the single- minded realism of their political aims and conceptions, unfettered and unclogged by any racial or linguistic prepossessions " (v. Celtic Review, April, 1909). This was a policy that paid them, on the whole, in Normandy, in Italy, in England, in Ireland. But the heritage of passion and emotion transferred from age to age is a factor likewise, unhappily sometimes for evil. CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 293 has reviewed the evidence recently and finds that the people who won the War of Independence were "the inhabitants of the Celtic part gf Scotland fight- ing under leaders, many of them Celtic, and under a king whose mother was a Celtic countess, and who claimed the crown by virtue of his descent from a Celtic king. And I do not think it can be disputed that, if Bruce had not secured the support of the north in 1308, the independence of Scotland would not have been won. From the north he obtained men and staunch support when he needed both most. From Celtic Scotland in the west his arms raided England. From Celtic Scotland in the north and west he captured one by one the strongholds of the Scottish Lowlands. For it cannot be denied that it was not until he had Celtic Scotland behind him that the strongholds of the south fell." 1 The Scottish love of freedom, in short, has been intensified by the advent of the Norseman, who within his lights was law-abiding at home if cruel as Viking abroad. " Perhaps to him," says Dr. Magnus Maclean, 2 "we owe our continuance as a race to this day. He has carried with him over the wave the breath of freedom and strenuous en- deavour, and infused them into the life of this great nation, helping Britain to build up and maintain a world-wide empire and supremacy upon the seas." In arresting the development of native literature, despite cruelties which could never be atoned for, the Norse influence has, nevertheless, wrought itself 1 Scottish Historical Review, 1 909, page 1 37. 2 The Literature of the Celts, page 215. 294 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND securely into the tissues of the national life, which owes its pre-eminence to its power upon the waves. Its extent, varied as life itself, may be inferred from the bulk of the linguistic elements which derive from that womb of nations. I have recorded these. And more than these, — a love eloquently voiced in Dr. John Macleod of Morvern's " Farewell to the Sound of Mull": 1 the love of the sea remains. Ged a shiubhail mi cian B'e Caol Muile mo mhiann Cha d'eirich a ghrian air na's b6idhch': B'e sud Caol mo ghraidh D'an tug mise baigh O laithean mo leanabais is m'6ig\ i.e. Though far I have travelled, the Sound of Mull was my choice ; the sun rose not on aught more beautiful : that was the sound I loved, fondly loved since the days of mine infancy and youth. By way of commentary on the Gaidheal's assi- milation of the Norsemen, let me in conclusion rehearse a folk-tale. It illustrates the Celtic belief in Magic and in Transformation, and is doubly striking as showing these old beliefs clustering around an historic personage, who here passes into myth-land. The folk-tale is that of THE ADVENTURES OR LEGENDARY HISTORY OF KING MAGNUS, 2 a king not yet forgotten in the folk-lore and fancy of Innsegall. 1 Music and words in The Killin Collection, by C. Stewart, Edin- burgh, 1884. 2 It used to be a model tale of adventure, hence the phrase : Gach eachdraidh gu eachdraidh Mha?iuis. Eachdraidh is here used in the old sense of Exploit, adventure': cf. Echtra Chonnla. CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 295 There was a king, hight Magnus, and he set out with a ship and crew. Soon a storm and tempest arose so that he could not steer the vessel. Having encountered a heavy sea, he was shipwrecked on a rock-bound coast, and lost both crew and ship. He alone was saved. His shoes he had to cast off into the sea, and barefooted he must climb up the rocky shore, and with his toes gripping between the grass- grown clefts he got up to the green sward above. There, in front of a wood, he saw what seemed to be a great big town. On seeing the little houses in rows, he was wondering what sort of folk there were there, and he arrived at the outskirts of the place. At a house that stood apart, he met a wee tiny man at his doorway, making shoes. He under- stood him to be a shoemaker. The little man started on beholding Magnus, who with his great body was standing facing him. In a fearsome voice the shoemaker inquired what wild man this might be or whence he had come. He answered that he had come from the bounds of Lochlann far away, that he had lost crew and vessel, and would be very grateful to him for telling him whether there were any way of getting off from that kingdom, what kingdom it was, and what sort of people lived there. The shoemaker made reply that it was the Kingdom of Little Men. Magnus then asked if there were any way of getting out of it, or whether there were any means of making some money by work. The shoemaker said that there was a good way of earning money, that a quantity of wood was being cut and had to be carried on men's backs to town, that overseers were needed ; 296 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND there were ships too to carry the timber away, and he thought Magnus could earn a good wage quickly. "Well," said Magnus, " I greatly need it. I have no shoes for my feet, not a wrap, and if you are good enough to make me a pair I would lodge with you and you would be paid full well." " I have no means of making them for you," said the shoemaker. And when he saw that he had no means of doing them for Magnus he laid hold of a mastiff's head and weighed it. He wrapped a piece of its hide about Magnus's feet and drew it together with thongs as if it were a bag. 1 " Be off now," he said to Magnus, " to where the Keeper of the Wood is." " Get me rope and axe," said Magnus. When the shoemaker had done so, Magnus pre- pared to set off for the wood, and at his appearance the crowd of little men started at seeing such a brave. From Magnus's intense desire to quickly get big wages, he was cutting and drawing as much timber as thirty of them ; and because of his wish to do too much, he became intensely parched. He searched the wood for water with which to quench his thirst, but no pool did he find. In the middle of the wood he chanced upon a beautiful green mead, with a big flat stone laid over it. In the hope of finding water underneath he put his hand below the stone and lifted it on its edge. What did he perceive but a stair leading underground. He descended, and suffered neither the rope nor the axe out of his hand. On entering he found a chamber gleaming *An allusion to the old cuaran or 'mocassin.' CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 297 with light and diamonds. On a chair within there sat a dame, the like of whom he had never seen. At the foot of the stair he let go the rope and the axe, and went up to where the lady was and besought her for a drink. She had a vessel with wine beside her, and another small vessel which she filled. Such was his thirst that he drank it right off, and so strong was the wine that he at once asked how it got there and what her own name was. She made answer that from her great beauty they called her Sun -of- Suns -and -Moon -of- Moons — a princess, daughter to the King of Isle Eubney. "There came a murderous robber, who bespelled me and left me in this underground dwelling. He has others of my kind elsewhere, whom he has under spells." " How long will he be absent from you ? " said Magnus. " Twenty days," she said, "and were I sad or solitary there is a chess-board by me here, and it would suffice for me to strike it with my finger and he would come back at once." So strong was the wine, and so much did Magnus partake thereof, that his blood raged within him and up he got. " Neither robber nor villain have I seen but I would settle him," he said, and with clenched fist he struck the chess-board, which broke into two halves. He felt the underground house a-shaking. And from his great terror he cooled down. Off he went, and through anxiety and care he left the rope and axe at the foot of the stair. He reached to the shoemaker's house. He took to bed and feigned that he was sorely ill. 298 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND The robber then came to the underground dwell- ing where was the lady. ' 'What, my wicked dame, caused you summon me in such haste ? " " My sadness only, my dear," she answered. " I partook of overmuch of the wine, and I fell over and struck my elbow on the chess-board, and it broke in two." This was on the point of having saved her were it not for the forgetful act of Magnus. The robber got up, and from suspicion he began rummaging the place. Unluckily he came across the rope and axe at the foot of the stair. He returned to where the lady was, holding them in his hand. " See, you wicked woman," he called out, "one of the woodmen has been with you since I left." The robber dressed himself up in rags and tatters, and he set off disguised as beggar, the rope and axe with him. Coming up to the woodmen, he asked who had lost those things. "Oh," said one of them, "it is the Big Man who was along with us who lost that." " Where is that fellow ? " said he. " He is in the shoemakers house," was the answer. To the shoemaker's house he came, and asked if such a man were there. " He is ill in bed," was the reply. " Go and fetch him," said the robber. The man went to Magnus's bed and related what had taken place. Magnus then grew more ill than ever. The shoemaker reported that Magnus was unable to come. CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 299 "If so," said the robber, "I can go to him." And up to him he went, and heaved him on his shoulder- tip (lit. on the ' shower-top 1 of his shoulder). From which moment Magnus was unconscious alike of earth and of air until he stood on his two feet in front of the woman in the house underground. The robber took a sharp big piece of iron he had and held it out for the lady to hold. " Provided you have never before seen the man facing you, strike him to the ground," he said. " Well," said she, " I have never seen the man, and therefore I will not." He withdrew the iron and gave it into Magnus's hands. " Provided you have never before seen the woman facing you, strike her and cut her down." Magnus bethought him of the favour the lady had shown him, and he said that he would not hit her, that he had not seen her, that he would upon no account touch her. The robber then pulled the iron from out of Magnus's hand, and he struck the dame with the iron on the crown of her head and hewed her to the ground, until the blood was finding its way into Magnus's shoes. Then Magnus went on his knees in the blood, beseeching that his life be spared. "Spare you I. shall," said the robber, 4 'but it is not in the form in which you are that I will leave you." He heaved Magnus then upon his shoulder and brought him to the top of a mountain seven miles high from peak to base. Seizing a handful of earth from beneath his feet he struck Magnus on the forehead. 3oo NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND "Quit your present shape," he said, "and be- come an ape, a four-footed creature, and so far like unto a dog." But of his sense he could not deprive him although he changed his shape. And with reason retained he came down the mountain. He reached the base, where there was flowing down from the forests a great river carrying on its bosom much wood to the sea. He then perceived a vessel becalmed not very far from land, and noticing an old tree stump close to the waves he made for it and set it afloat with his paws. On having got out into the depths he began to cry aloud in such manner as he could. The day was fine and the captain of the vessel was walking on board. " 1 am bound by oath," he declared, " to relieve any man I find in need." Then he sent out two of his men in a yawl, and when they came up to him he was coming to meet them as best he could. "O," said one of the lads, "this is no man at all, more likely it is the evil spirit in this guise." " Even so, and if it were, we will bring him to the captain since he has asked." They seized on poor Magnus and they placed him in the bottom of the yawl, for they dreaded his look. For a time he lost his senses, and when they drew up to the big vessel they thrust him on board with such a toss that he lost his senses once more. The captain came to see what they had. Magnus at once recognised the captain, and he began kissing the deck where the captain was standing, and to kiss the boots that the captain had on. "O!" said the captain, "this is a trained pet CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 301 that belonged to some great one. Who knows but he is hungry; fetch him \/hat remains of your meal." Magnus then bethought him, for he had sense, were he to eat the sailors' leavings that this is what they would go on giving him, and, though an- hungry, he would wait to see what he would get. He began to sniffle and put his nose to it, and he would not eat a bit. "Well," said the captain, "this is a trained pet. Bring him what is left over from my own dinner." Then was brought him broth and meat in plenty, and heartily he partook. The captain brought him to the cabin. In the city for which the vessel was bound there was a powerful man called Sultan, and to him the vessel belonged — as one of his fleet. When they cast anchor, with many more besides them, in the harbour, there came a beautiful boat out from land, with a finely arrayed lad who had a paper authorising him to procure the signature (or hand-of-write) of every one on board, for Sultan was in need of a clerk, and the best at the pen he would have. The lad went over all the vessels and got the signatures of all the men. He came at last to the vessel where poor Magnus was. The captain and all on board signed, and the paper was put on the window sill in the cabin, where was the 'ape.' When the captain went up on deck the ' ape ' laid hold of the pen with his paw and made several strokes. Such dislike had the sailors to him that they watched all his movements and told the captain that the dirty brute had spoiled the paper. The captain went below and looked at the paper. 3Q2 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND " None in the fleet can use a pen like this creature and much I fear that I may lose him." The messenger lad brought the paper to land, met Sultan, and handed him the paper. He turned backwards and asked — -Who did this?" The messenger broke out into derisive laughter. " No man at all did that : it is due to a queer creature the captain has on board." " Whatso creature it be, here is the best penman- ship of the lot : go and fetch me the writer." Off the lad went. On the skipper's observing him return, he said " I knew this beforehand." The ape had to be put ashore. This Sultan had but one daughter. She was in a locked chamber and kept by the robber already spoken of, and on oath that she was not to gaze on any man's face save that of her father. Her father having become excited at possessing such an accomplished creature as this, brought the ape with him to the door of the chamber. The girl called out to him to beware lest it might be a man in that shape in disguise. " No man was ever in that shape," said the Sultan, and he brought in the 1 ape' where his daughter was. As soon as ever the f ape ' entered the chamber the Castle began to shake. The robber sprang in. " You wicked dame!" he said, - you have broken the oaths that were between us." They changed into two eagles and flew at one another in the room. Poor Magnus was under their feet, and with the fury with which they fought CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 303 they got above him so that he got one of his eyes put out. They flew out of the chamber : she be- came a black eagle and flew above him and was getting the better of him at every turn. By the side of the castle there was a mighty river, and the robber made for the water. He sprang into the current as a trout : she followed him as a black fox. As he was on the point of being caught by her he spread himself out (or transformed himself) into roe or spawn. She then transformed herself into a black cock and by the river's bank she began to devour the spawn. She then changed herself once more and went up as a beautiful maiden to where her father was. " I have devoured the beast's roe," she said, " and am resuming my bodily form and show you that it is a man that is here." She raised a handful of earth from beneath where Magnus was and struck him on the face with it. " Quit the form in which you are," she said, and he was in his former shape as a man, save that he was one-eyed. I conclude that like as Magnus of the legend, reminiscent of Magnus Barelegs, who fell in Ulster, and still sung of in heroic Gadhelic lays by fire- sides in the west, bore the mark of having been in the Kingdom of Little Men, so the Highlander of to-day to a large extent bears the mark of Norse influence. His legends and fairy-songs are wit- nesses. When Coinneach Odhar's mother saw the 304 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND spirits of the dead at Cnoc Eothail, 1 in Uig, Lewis, it was a daughter of the King of Lochlann that showed her where the stone of prophecy was to be found. No maid could be chosen to nurse the heir at Dunvegan if she were unable to sing the Ban- shee's Lullaby to guard him from every ill : a lullaby, however, wherein his mother tells that the child is neither of Clan Kenneth nor of Clan Donald, but of a clan to her more preferable, that of Leod of the swords and coats of mail, whose father's native land was Lochlann. 2 And in earlier times I infer that the Norsemen in Lewis preferred to bury apart : it is known that some clans, as that of the Clan Aulay at Uig, could with difficulty be reconciled to new lairs being laid out for the townships instead of being for the clans as in former days. And in literature the strophic ballads of the Fionn-Ossian Cycle, extending to from eighty to two hundred lines, greatly vary in technique and style from that of the older Cuchulain Cycle. The endeavour to work up the Ossianic lays into an epic cycle of ballads is prominent from the Viking period. But from the thirteenth and four- teenth centuries the old Celtic style of prose narra- 1 Bh eothail? cf. Beothail, p. 64. For the legend see Prophecies of the Brahan Seer, ed. A. Mackenzie. 2 Chan ann o Chlann Choinnich thu Chan ann o Chlann Chuinn thu Slol as docha linn thu ! Siol nan Leodach nan lann s nan luireach B'e Lochlann duthchas do shinnsear. (Miss F. Tolmie's Collection of Hebridean Songs in MS. and cf. Campbell's Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition, vol. v. 145, where there is also a tale about An Dubh Ghiubhsach, daughter of the King of Lochlann, and how she thinned the woods of Lochaber.) CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 305 tive asserts itself once more. The Celts have in this form revealed their genius : prose romance is the Celtic form for epic narrative. And the rise of the prose sagas in Iceland seems intimately connected with the contact of the founders of Icelandic prose literature with the Gaidheal in the Hebrides and in Ireland, — the land which ere the coming of the Vikings was known simply as firiu. These Icelandic Sagas, even in details, though with great differences, recall the old Irish epic narratives which they in so many ways resemble. 1 The influence in some respects was reciprocal, though that of the Norse on the Gaidheal was at once more powerful and more baneful. For Ireland in the days of Turgesius the account of Keating is woeful. He tells of the slavery {moghsaine) of the Gaedheal to the men of Lochlann and of the rent and tribute imposed on them: "a Lochlannach king over every cantred in Ireland, and a chief over every district and an abbot over every church, a steward over every townland, and a mercenary or hired soldier over every house, while the house- holder had not the disposal of as much as a hen of his own property ; and were there but one stripper (aon ghamhnach) in the house neither the babe one night old nor the sick person would get her milk, but it was kept for the soldier, and if he were not satisfied he took the householder with him to the J Es ist die gemeinkeltische Form der epischen Dichtung, die uns in Island entgegentritt, und dass sie eine Errungenschaft der engen Beriihrung der Norweger mit den Iren auf Irlands Boden im 9. und 10. Jahrhundert ist, wird kaum mehr bestritten. — Dr. Zimmer in Die Kultur der Gegenwart : Die Romanischen Literaturen und Sprachen mit einschluss des Keltischen, p. 64. U 3o6 NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND assembly in pledge for his maintenance. The Lochlonnaigh exacted an ounce of gold each year from every man in Ireland or else the nose from his head. And neither lord nor lady wore a mantle or dress but the cast-off clothes and mantles of the Lochlonnaigh ; they were not permitted to give instruction or frequent church, — but the Loch- lonnaigh were in their churches and in their duns, — with no professors or clergy, without books or jewels in the abbey-churches and monasteries through fear of them ; without a file, without a philosopher, without a musician according to the laws of the country ; without the daughter of a king or lord or chief wearing silk or embroidery ; without the son of a king or a chief learning feats of agility or casting: with no feast or banquet held among friends, but what remained after the foreigners had been sated therefrom." 1 Making due allowance for the rhetoric, the reality was deplorable enough. We may to some extent infer, aided by the strength of the linguistic influence, what straits were in store for the folk of Innsegall. A change was wrought by time in the people themselves, who grew more and more Norse. During the nonage of Amhlaoibh, son of Gothfruidh " who had an hereditary right to be king of the Isles," the Hebrideans sent envoys to Muircheartach O Briain, king of Ireland, to send one of his kinsmen of the royal blood to rule over them. He sent his kinsman Domhnall, son of Tadhg O Briain, "and he held sovereignty over them for three years, when he began to tyrannise over them, and for this reason the people of the 1 Keating's History of Ireland, ed. Dinneen, iii. 177 CONTINUATION OF NORSE INFLUENCE 307 Isles sent him back to Ireland." 1 In short, the Hebrides had become at that time strongly domi- nated by Norse sentiment, and not until several generations passed did the Gadhelic element absorb what it was not possible to obliterate. The quarrels of the Norse chiefs were not behindhand, as witness the feuds between the Macleods of Lewis and others. And meantime the power of the Gadhelic-speaking mothers, silently and lovingly exerted, aided by the ideals of Christianity, and the whole external com- plex of historic environment paved the way slowly but surely for tranquillity. Men were led to per- ceive the barbarity of the times ; human slaughter could never have been other than criminal ; higher ideals and other duties more noble were inviting men's minds to higher issues which were constantly pressed by the Church on their attention as the voice of the unfolding Order of the World. Thor and Odin were dead ; night fell on the gods. And some may thus feel how here likewise All is best, though we oft doubt What the unsearchable dispose Of Highest Wisdom brings about, And ever best found in the close. Oft He seems to hide His face, But unexpectedly returns, And to His faithful champion hath in place Bore witness gloriously ; His servants He, with new acquist Of true experience from this great event, With peace and consolation hath dismiss'd, And calm of mind, all passion spent. 1 lb. p. 309. APPENDICES. MILLS WITH HORIZONTAL WATER-WHEELS. 1 My attention was first drawn to these by the Rev. R. L. Ritchie, of Creich, on his return from a visit to Norway, where they are numerous. He tells me that at the Sogne-fjord in Norway there is a mill where the stone is placed directly over the axle and the wheel horizontal in the stream, quite identical with a mill at Clashnessie, Stoer Parish, Assynt, Sutherland. It points to a very old system of grinding corn by a simple contrivance, and it seems to me to be the next step in the transition from the quern to the modern mill. Mr. Ritchie fortunately met a photographer near the place on the day of his visit, and he took good photographs of the whole, as I can testify from a personal inspection on Tuesday, 1 3th July, 1909, along with Dr. Mackenzie, late of Normanton, Yorks, who on his yacht kindly brought me to the spot. An elderly and kindly man, named Munro, addressed us in Gadhelic and brought us over the mill, explaining that it was used as late as last year for grinding barley, that in fact it was the last in working order in these parts. There was another mill, with the water-wheel on the horizontal, at Allt na Braain, on the way from Stoer to Lochinver ; another was formerly in use near Lon, by Ard Chuilinn, Reay Forest ; another at Acharisgill, Kin- lochbervie, and I gather that mills on the same principle are to be traced in Lewis. So far, Clashnessie Mill is the only one that I have personally seen where the outer wheel lies horizontally in the stream. The first photo- graph shows the mill from below the bridge ; a burn ^ee p. 48. 312 MILLS WITH HORIZONTAL WATER-WHEELS passes at the spot, and the water is readily diverted to the mill-wheel as required. The walls are thick, without any lime, and the building is thatched. The second scene shows the mill as one stands on the bridge looking across the Bay of Eadarachaolais, towards Badcall. The third scene shows the water-wheel, in its horizontal position, with water-shoot, somewhat confined and dark. This wheel is immediately under the grinding-stones. The spindle in the water-wheel revolves one of the grinding-stones, the upper one, if I recollect aright. This wheel turns with the sun. The current of water shoots through the opening, which figures as a white window in the photograph ; it strikes strongly against the bevelled boards of the wheel and sets it in motion. In the bottom of the lade there is a plank in which the lower end of the revolving spindle is fixed. At the side there is a lever for lifting and lowering the wheel and the top grinding- stone. In the fourth scene this lever (i) is seen on the left ; it serves to regulate the grinding, rough or fine ; above is the hood (2) where the grain is put in ; directly below is the hooper (G. dbair), which lets the grain into the grinding-stones ; underneath it is the top-stone of the mill, which is removable by two men, with the aid of planks, when it is necessary to sharpen the stones, — the process being termed breacadh na claiche (the ch is sounded as dh in the last word : 'clai-e) ; also, breacadh na braain. The top-stone is whetted on the obverse side {air an tuathbhel : the phrase used by the guide : cf. tuathbel, 1 withershins,' in Eriu 2, 161). Around the top-stone is a rim to keep the ground corn from being spilled ; it has an opening to the front, a ' broch,' where the meal is sifted out. To the side is a small wooden 1 coggie 1 used in connection with the feeding of the mill. My own impression at present is that, owing to the prevalence of this design in Norway, and the absence of such mills in those parts of Scotland outside the Norse influence, that we ought seriously to consider whether the introduction of the horizontal mill-wheel to move the MILLS WITH HORIZONTAL WATER-WHEELS 313 ' quern 9 is not due to external influence, and to be dated after the Norwegian invasions. The quern was, of course, used alongside of them. A few years ago a quern was in use at Unapool in Assynt. Mr. W. G. Collingood kindly tells me that there is one place in Fljotshlfd in Iceland called Arkvern, meaning, of course, ' water-mill.' He did not enter it when passing, and he can only say that in Iceland handmills (querns) are common, and he has seen them at work there. Such mills, however, Mr. Ritchie has seen in Norway. In Mr. Goudie's book on The Antiquities of Shetland he seems to say that such mills are, or were, common to Sweden and Norway (not Denmark), the Faeroes, Orkney and Shetland, Caithness and Sutherland, the Hebrides, Man and Ireland, but that very few are left in Britain. I would ask whether those that are found are not to be met with in those districts which show Norse influence ? In any case, the archaic nature of the Clashnessie Mill justifies my referring to it in passing. NON-NORSE ORIGIN OF DRUMRAFN. 1 (The old name for Dunrobin.) " The earliest recorded name of this Castle is Drumrafn, Drum being Celtic for back, ridge, sea-terrace or raised beach, and Rafn (pronounced Rabin), the name of the chiefs of several Prefects left to rule the country by Rognvald Gudrodsen in the reign of King William the Lion. 2 A continuation of the same terrace two miles westward, called Drummuidh (pronounced Drum Muy), the terrace of the plain or open ground, is the site of the Technical School. "In 1 40 1 the Castle was called Dunrobyn, after the Earl of that name, Drum being changed into Dun, a fort or castle, but the old name recurs in 15 12, when a 1 seisin ' of the earldom and castle is witnessed by David Stewart, ' Constable of Drumrabyn.' " 3 The name Dunrobin is a later and different name, being the Celtic Dun { fort,' with Robyn, the name of the Earl, added : 1 Robin's Fort.' Robin is a pet form of Robert. There is no evidence to show that Rafn was ever pronounced Rabin. On the contrary N. hrafn appears in G. Ramasaig, ' raven's bay ' (v. above p. 189); Ramsey, from Hrafns-ey, Rafn's or Raven-isle ? Norse fn never yields a b or p in Gadhelic, cf. Tanera, 'harbour-isle,' from N. hafnar-ey (v. p. 158).* x See p. 65. 2 Orkneyinga Saga, pp. 407, 408. 3 Viking Club, Old Lore Miscellany, Oct. 1909, p. 199,— article by Dr. Joass, ed. by the Duchess of Sutherland. 4 Watson's Place-Names, p. 259 ; also Thamnabhaigh (ib. lix.). NON-NORSE ORIGIN OF DRUMRAu' 315 From the fact that an indubitably Celtic name Drum Muigh, — the latter properly written with g as being cognate with Old Gaulish magos, plain, open ground, — there is no probability that Drumrafn is a Gadhelic-Norse hybrid. Nor are there instances of drum ' ridge ' ever becoming dun ' fort.' Rabhann, sometimes pronounced rafan, is ' a species of grass * of which sheep are fond. Mr. Watson has spotted it already in Bada-rabhainn * clump of ravanl and thinks the root is connected probably with Welsh rafu ' to spread ' ; rafon * berries growing in clusters'; 1 the word being almost certainly a Pictish loan, and defined as a long grass growing in shallow muddy parts of lochs or pools, and formerly used for feeding cattle. 2 It occurs in Sutherland place- names, and in Am Bad Rabhain, ' the ravan-grass clump ' in Lochbroom, in Feith Rabhain, in Gairloch, and in A lit Bad-a-rabhain in Dunrobin Glen. 3 This is certainly the word in Drumrafn, * the ravan-grass ridge or terrace,' and the latter part is Pictish. A word rabhag 1 the portion of any soft food which one has left uneaten, the remains, e.g. of porridge and milk ' is daily used by me, and though the vowel is long it may be connected in root ultimately. Names with druim are usually followed by a word descriptive of some feature in the landscape and not by a personal name. 1 Celtic Review, ii. 242. 2 Watson's Place-Names, lxxxvi. 244. 3 Id. 237. THE FEARCHAR LIGHICH TRADITION. 1 The Reay country folk-tradition regarding Fearchar Lighich, which I have given as illustrating the influence of the Norse legends concerning Sigurd, may be appro- priately cited in the original Gadhelic as contributed some years ago to the Peoples Journal. The idiom is true to the Reay country, and the whole story is all the more valuable in that the narrator keeps to the folk-tradition, all unconscious of external influences which confessedly arose in the far past. It merits preservation. Duthaich Mhic Aoidh. (Reay Country.) Anns an earrann so de 'n rioghachd mar anns a' chuid eile de Ghaidheiltachd na h-Alba, bha e mar chleachdadh aig an t-sluagh, ma's d 'thainig paipeiran naidheachd gu bhi cumanta a bhi cur seachad na h-oidhiche gheamh- raidh ag aithris nan seann sgeulachdan a bha air an gleidheadh air chuimhne bho linn gu linn leis na daoine a thainig roimhe. Am measg nan sgeul a bhitheadh trie air aithris bha sgeulachd no eachdraidh Fhearchair Leigh. A reir na sgeil 's e ciobair bh' anns Fearchar, agus bha e tamh ann an Gleann-Gollaidh aig ceann deas Loch Eribol. Ri linn Fhearchair bha e cumanta do dhaoine 6g a bhi dol mach gu feilltean do thaobh deas na h-Alba le sprdidh, agus bu trie a chaidh Fearchar ann am measg chaich. Air la araidh, bha e mar so air feill ; thachair duine uasal ris a chur fior fhuran air, agus dh' fhiosraich deth ce as a thug e am bata a bha aig 'na laimh. 1 See p. 90. THE FEARCHAR LIGHICH TRADITION 317 " Thug," ars Fearchar " a Gleann-Gollaidh an Duthaich- Mhic-Aoidh." " Faithnich' tu a' chraobh as do ghearr thu e, ris " ars an duine uasal. " 'S mis a dh' aithneadh na 'm bithinn faisg di " fhreagair Fearchar. H Lan duais bheir mi dhuit" ars an duine uasal, " ma theid thu air ais do Ghleann-Gollaidh gus a' chraobh so. Agus 'nuair a ruigeas tu i, seall aig a bun agus gheibh thu toll natharach ann. Fan ri taobh na craoibhe air son beagan uine agus chi thu se nathairichean a' tighinn mach as. Na bean doibh agus na falbh gus am pill iad. 'N uair philleas iad, 's e nathair gheal a bhitheas air deireadh. Leig each as ach glac ise, agus thoir thugam-s' i 's cha chaill thu air." Rinn Fearchar mar gheall 'n uair phill e dhachaidh. Chaidh e dh' ionnsuidh na craoibhe, fhuair e an toll, chunnaic e na nathairichean, ghlac e an te gheal, agus thog e air leatha gus an duine uasal. 'N uair rainig e bha 'n duine uasal ro thoilicht'. Gun dail chur e an nathair anns poit air an teine, agus dh'orduich e do Fhearchar a coimhead gus am pilleadh es, agus feart mhath thoirt nach leigeadh e leis an uisge goil thairis. Cha robh an duine uasal fad sam bith air falbh 'n uair thoisich an t-uisge ri goil, agus a dh' aindeoin na dheanadh Fearchar bha e brath am bord a chur as a' phoit. Mu dheireadh loisg Fearchar bochd aon de mheuran, agus stob e, gun smuainteachadh ciod bha e deanamh, 'na bheul i. Ann an tiota bha suilean a thuigse air am fosgladh, agus fhuair e eolais air doigh leigheas air gach tinn is pian thainig riamh an car duine. An sin, phill an duine uasal, agus 's e cheud ni rinn e, am bord a thoirt as a' phoit agus a mheur a thumadh anns an uisge agus a cur 'na bheul. " O ho," ars es, agus e teanndan ann am fearg ri Fearchar, " cha 'n 'eil feum sam bith an so a nis. Cha d' rinn thu mar dh' iarr mi ort, agus air an aobhar sin cha 'n fhaigh thu do dhuais." Cha robh comas air ; phill Fearchar air a rathad dhachaidh, agus ma phill cha robh neach tinn a thachair ris nach do leigheasadh leis bho 'n ghalar. Mu dheireadh, thainig e gus a' bhaile anns an robh righ a' comhnaidh aig an am. 318 THE FEARCHAR LIGHICH TRADITION Thachair gu 'n robh an righ gun chomas imeachd le cois ghoirt, agus bha leighean an righ fein air an dochas gun leigheasadh iad e, a chall. Chual Fearchar so, agus gun dail chaidh e gu geata 'chaisteil agus dh' eubh an ard a ghuth, " A' bhiast dhubh ris a' chnamh gheal." Dh' foighnich an righ co bha an sud. Dh' inniseadh da gu 'n robh fear siubhail a bha cumail am mach gu 'm fear leigheas no leigh e fein. " Thugadh an so e " ars an righ. Chaidh Fearchar a ghairm steach, agus nuair a sheas e air beulaibh na cathair, dh' foighnich an righ ris, am bu leigh e. " Seadh, le ar cead," ars Fearchar. " Ma ta," ars' an righ, " ma leigheiseas tu mis, bheir mi dhut ni sam bith a dh' iarras tu gu leth mo rioghachd." Ann an tiota, leigheis Fearchar an righ. " Ciod nis tha thu 'giarraidh," ars' an righ. " Tha," ars Fearchar h-uile eilean mara tha eadar Rudha Stor an Asainnt gu Ceann Dearg Arcamh." " Tha t' iarrtas agad," ars an righ ; " agus mar an ceudna mir mor eile de fhearann air an tir-mhor a'd dhuthaich fein." 'S e " siol Fhearchar Leigh " theireadh muinntir an tos ri sliochd Fhearchair. Mu dheireadh chaidh so ghearradh goirid gu " Mic Fhearchair " no na " Corrachaidhean." Air son aobhair nach eil gle shoilleir aig an am so, thug fear, mu dheireadh, de dh' oighreachan dligheach Fhearchair Leigh, seachad a choir an oighreachd do Mhorair Mhic-Aoidh, bho chionn coir is da cheud bliadhna air ais. An deigh sin, thainig ceann air Siol Fhearchair mar fhine a bha comharraicht' measg sluagh Duthaich-Ic- Aoidh ; agus air an la diu mach bho theaghlach no dha, cha 'n 'eil neach ann tha dol fo an ainm " Corrachaidh " no " Mhic Fhearchair." D. Mac Aoidh. CURE FOR EPILEPSY AS PRACTISED IN 1909 IN LEWIS AND IN WEST SUTHERLAND. Although I do not assign this procedure as such to Norse influence, I mention it here from its extreme interest as a survival, and as one or two elements in the rite — the giving of his own blood to the patient to drink, and the cutting of the knots — may possibly be met with by some student of archaic Norse rites in the remoter valleys of Norway and of Iceland. I quote my notes : On June 15, 1909, I saw J. M. in the township of B. He suffered from epilepsy, for which he had been treated two years previously at the Infirmary, Edinburgh. I asked what he had been trying since I saw him last. He then told me in broken sentences, interrupted by short recurrent fits, how some months previously he had gone to Lewis to see one N. M. at C. in the parish of B., by Stornoway. This man's father was held to have a gift of curing epilepsy, but had died eight years ago. The son was taught all his father knew. His procedure was to take blood from the patient's left foot, and he caused the patient to drink it. This is a chief point in the ' cure ' : the patient must drink his own blood. The ' doctor ' then cut a piece of each nail and of each toe, also some hairs from the eyebrow and moustache : these he wrapped up in papers. He then made a sioman or straw rope of the length of the patient : he made three such. Thereafter other three, each of the length of the patient's outstretched hands and body ( 'gam thomhas air an aitheamK) in one span. These straw ropes were put crosswise on the body of the sufferer. The ends 320 CURE FOR EPILEPSY were then folded and knotted. The knots were then cut and the cuttings put in papers, and the whole contents buried in a place where neither sun nor wind nor rain could get at them. The whole procedure was to expel the demon of epilepsy. It was held desirable in such cases to bury a black cock on the spot where the patient had the fit for the first time. The sufferer was also directed to drink out of a copan-cinn, or skull-pan, taken from an old cemetery on the island of H., which he did for some weeks. The peculiar taste was fresh in the mouth the next morning as it was on the previous night. The patient, a well-living man, and a Free Church man, confessed that during this treatment, if he was not better, he was not much worse. And with kindly thoughts towards this old-world rite, with simple heart, he once more set out for Edinburgh. He did not hear the words of the incantation, but he could see the lips of this survivor of a long line of medicine-men move as he repeated the charms to himself. I felt much moved as the sufferer told me this and in touch with ages almost as distant as when the glorious mountains were brought forth that I then gazed upon, and near bye were children's young voices and the sea's mysterious murmur. An old shepherd was present and — inexpressible to myself — my thoughts were at the heart of things. Church Door at Hyllestad, Saetkrsdaal. See Appendix. DOOR PILLARS OF HYLLESTAD OR SAETERSDAL. 1 These are now in the Christiania Museum. The figures are on the pillars of a church door supposed to date from 1150. If examined from the bottom of the right-hand panel upwards, the third panel shows Sigurd, armed with sword and shield piercing the dragon's body. The second pillar at the bottom shows Sigurd roasting Fafni's heart, which is here represented by three gobbets on a spit, as on the Isle of Man stone. Sigurd is also represented as inserting the thumb of his left hand into his mouth. 2 The Norse myth is well known. It suffices here to recapitulate how, after Sigurd had pierced the dragon Fafni through the body, Regin cut out his heart, and told Sigurd to roast it for him while he took a sleep. Sigurd took the heart and roasted it on a spit, and when he thought it roasted enough, and as the blood frothed from it, he touched it with his finger to see if it were quite done. He burnt his finger and put it into his mouth, and when Fafni's heart's blood touched his tongue he understood the language of birds. He heard a bird tell- ing its companions that Sigurd should himself eat the dragon's heart. A second bird said that Regin would deceive him ; a third said that he ought to kill Regin ; another one counsels that he should take the dragon's treasure. All these things Sigurd performs, and rides off with the treasure on Grana's back. The Sigurd representations on the Manx Crosses con- 1 See pp. 92, 95. 2 v. Proceed. Soc. Scott. Antiq.^ June 13, 1887. x 322 DOOR PILLARS OF HYLLESTAD clusively show that this story was known in the Isle of Man. The incidents in the Fionn Saga and in the story of Ferchar Lighich are given a Highland setting but they still are only variations on the Norse theme which meets us in the Elder Edda. GILLE-CINN CHON FHINN. 1 The original runs thus : Bha'n Fhinn aon uair a' falbh dh'aite gu aite agus far an tigeadh an oidhche orra bu ghnath leo camp chur suas ann airson gun leigeadh ead seachad an oidhche : an comhnuidh bhiodh fear-faire mach aca. An oidhche seo thachair gur h-e gille-nan-con air an d'thainig faire a' chammpa. Bha'n deise Ghaidhealach air a ghille tha- paidh bh'ann an seo. Bha balg-saighead air a chliathaich agus a bhiodag s an claidheamh. Bha e cruaidh spaid- searachd gu trang nuair a ghabh an Fhinn mu thamh. S e am a gheamhnaidh a bh'ann agus thionndainn an oidhche gu h-olc le cur sneachda agus le fuachd. Bha Gille-Cinn Chon Fhinn 'ga lathadh cho trang s gan robh e spaidsearachd s ga mheileachadh leis an t-sneachd. Thubhairt e ris fhein theid mi stigh gan chammp ga m' ghaireadh gun teid an fhras as. Chaidh e stigh s bheothaich e'n teine s bha e dianamh garadh chul-chas. Thug e suil a mach agus bha toiseach togail aig an fhrois shneachda s thug e toigh dha luirg ann san t-sneachd. Thubhairt e ris fhein : rinn mi mo mhiabadh (destroyed myself), tha'm bas agam s gun fhios agam co cha seachad : cha'n fhaigh mi 'm bas ach aon uair. Sinidh mi air an neach rinn a lorg gun fhios nach beirinn air s nach innseadh e dhomh co a 2 le socair. Thug e as deigh an duine rinn a lorg agus fada goirid ga 'n robh e air falbh na dheannaibh agus na ruith mhuthaich e dha agus bha e a cumadh le miadachd ach gad a bha cha till mise 1 P. 279. 2 Dialectal for e. 3 2 4 GILLE-CINN CHON FHINN gu faigh mi mach co a ar neo bidh mi marbh. Bha gille cinn chon Fhinn na ruith s cha robh duin' eile dianamh ach straid-cheum. Direadh maolaidh eadar da bheinn rug e air an duine mhor s cha'idh e na sheanachas. Thaineadh sibhse seachad air a chammp againne agus thaineadh mise fiach co sibh a chionn cha'n eil duine ri dhol seachad oirnne nach fheum fios bhi againn co a no co as a thainig e na ca bheil e dol. Tha geaird againn a mach airson sin agus neach sa bith nach fhaigh sin a mach bidh bheath air a gearradh air falbh. Se sin chuir mise as ur deigh-sa air-son gu faighinn a mach co sibh s bhithinn fad as ur comain airson gu'n innseadh sibh dhomh e. Teich, a dhuine gun diu, ars a fear mor, as mu rathad : cha builear dhut an Fhinn uile tho'irt na m' choinnimh m'a sloinninn-sa mi fhln. An Fhinn uile, os esan, nan tugainn-sa ann, an cneamh 1 slan cha bhiodh n ur collainn : chuid nach pronnadh ead le'n lamhan is dearg a loisgeadh ead le'n anail. Sin nur thilg e orm an t-sleagh mhor bha na dhorn gu'n chuir e i seachad sios seachd troidhean diag ann san talamh. Sin nur thilg mi air an crann beag a bha fodh m' shail : bhuin do chrann gleusda dha m' chridhe s cha dian a lighich mo leigheas. Thubhairt fear beag an uair sin : gur h-ann tusa 2 s miosa sin nach d' rinn do shloinneadh a chianamh mu'n tug gille-cinn chon Fhinn comhrag dhiot ann san troma ghleann. S mis, os a fear mor, Seadhain Mac Righ Buirm Mac an f hir mhoir bu ghairg trosd S gur e b'ainm dha tighinn gu teach Comhrag nan coig ceudaibh con. (S e na laighe air uilinn air an lar.) Lorg an bgain seach 3 an t-ath Ceum rbthach 4 s e ro dhian Luigheam air Fionn nam Fiann Nach b'e Fionn fhein no Oisean. 1 Dialectal for cnhimh. 2 Dialectal for dkut-sa. 3 astigh an rod. 4 16dhar. GILLE-CINN CHON FHINN Nach b'e Diarmad a ruisg glan Nach b'e Niall a Locha Luim Nach b'e h-aon a chuideachd Fhinn Choinnich a raoir s an troma ghleann. Thrus mi m'eideadh, thair mi as Feadh na mointich bu gharbh truis Bha mise 'na m' ruith s 'na m' leum Bha fear mor na chruaidh cheum. S ann a sin a rug mi air S 'bheinn bhig eadar dha sgoir S gu'n dh'fhiosraich mi dheth gu foil : Ach f hear mh6ir cb 'd as ma sin ? Olach : 11 Ach f hir bhig sin s ach f hir bhig Gad a dh'fharraid cha bu ghlic Cha builear dhut an Fhinn uile Tho'irt gu sloinneadh an aon duine." Gille-Cinn : " An Fhinn uile nan tugainn ann An cneamh slan cha bhiodh na d' cholluinn Chuid nach pronnadh ead le'n lann S dearg a loisgeadh ead le'n anail." S ann a sin a thilg e orm An t-sleagh mhor a bha na dhorn S gu'n chuir e i seachad sios Seachd troidhean diag annis 1 an talamh. S ann a sin a thilg mi air An crann beag a tha fodh m' shail (i.e. achlais) Gu'n chuir mi e siar air a chridhe S lot mi fhin e lan fuil fir. " Beannachd dhuts ! eirich gu teachd Oganaich oig a chuil chlannaich ; Bhean do chrann gleusd a'm chridh S mo shuil lighich nach leigh. 1 S. Uist dialect = anns. 326 GILLE-CINN CHON FHINN S gur ann dut-sa s miosa sin Nach d'rinn thu do shloinneadh a dhianamh M'an tug gille-cinn chon Fhinn Comhradh dhiot ann sa troma ghleann." "Mise Seadhain 1 Mac Righ Buirmb 2 Mac an fhir ghairg 3 bu mhor trosd." S e bu ainm dha tighinn-gu-teachd Comhraig 4 nan coig ceudaibh con Chuir mi an sin e air a thaobh Thomhais mi'n t-6g air a throighean Bha seachd traighean ann a Had 'S a h-ochd diag air fad ann. S cha bu choir do mhacu 5 baoth Dol a chomhraig laoich mar sin. Bho Mdr nic Fhinghuine, an Dalibrog. Alternatives : 1 Sithean. 2 Beilbh. 3 mhoir eitich ghairbh. 4 Ceanndard nan seachd ciad con. 5 Mhacaomh. AN CAOINEADH MAGAIDH. 1 [FHUAIR me an sgeul so o laimh Mhr. Iain Macill- sheathain, an Glascho, air reir aithris a mhathar nach mairionn.] Nuair a bha Tiriodh fo chumhachd nan Lochlannach bha bean-uasail Lochlannach (their muinntir an eilein gur h-i nighean Righ Lochlainn a bh' innte) a fuireachd anns an eilean le a fear agus a dithisd chloinne. Ged a bha i uasail bha i air a shon sin fhein 'n a boirionnach fuathasach crosda, agus bha na Tirisdeich fo mhor eagal roimpe : ach ged a bha i de nadur cho borb agus gu'n robh eagal aig na fir fhein roimpe bha gaol mor aice air a dithis chloinne, balach agus caileag. Cha'n'eil cuimhne agam a nis cia mar a thachair dhi tighinn do Thiriodh an toiseach, co dhiubh a b'ann le a toil fein no ann an cuideachd a fir agus a dhaoine a ghabhail fasgaidh roimh anradh side (tha mi'm beachd gur h-ann air son an aobhair mu dheireadh a thainig i ann), ach coma co dhiubh ghabh i gaol mor do'n aite agus rinn i a dachaidh ann. Cha do dh'iarr i an t-eilean fhagail aig am sam bith ged a bha a fear 'ga fagail gle thric leatha fein nuair a bhiodh e a falbh le a luchd- leanmhuinn fiach c'aite am faigheadh e creach ri thogail no daoine a mhort agus a mharbhadh, gus an do thuit aon latha air an d'thainig fios cabhagach a Lochlainn ag iarraidh oirre tilleadh dhachaidh cho luath agus a b'urrainn i. Co dhiubh a b'ann o h-athair, an Righ, no o a fear a thainig am fios cha'n'eil cuimhne agam a nis, ach b'eiginn dhi falbh leis na h-urrad de chabhaig agus nach d'fhuair i cothrom air na paisdean a thoirt leatha, agus dh'fhag i iad air curam muinntir an eilein, ag earalachadh orra a h-uile 1 v. p. 284. 328 AN CAOINEADH MAGAIDH curam a b'urrainnear a ghabhail dhiubh agus a maoidh- eadh orra na'n eireadh beud sam bith go'n chloinn gu'n diuladh a h-uile aon aca air a shon. Bha na Tirisdeich gle thoilichte a bhi saor o'n Bhan- Lochlannach car ghreis, oir dh'fhuiling iad moran cruadail bhuaipe, ach bha iad deonach gu leoir deogh churam a thoirt air a cloinn oir tha coltach gur h-e paisdean laghach a bh'unnta agus gu'n robh speis mhor aig muinntir an eilein dhaibh. C'ab'e'r gu de an t-aobhar a thug a' Bhan-Lochlannach air falbh o Thiriodh ghleidh e i na's fhaide na bha duil aice agus bha corr is da bhliadhna air dol seachad mu'n do thill i a rithist. Beagan mu'n do thill i chaochail an da phaisde a dh'aindeoin gach curam a fhuair iad o'n fheadhainn a bha sealltainn as an deigh. Bha bron gu leoir air na Tirisdeich air son bas an da phaisde, ach bha iomaguin ni's mo orra air son na dh'fhaodadh tachairt dhaibh-fhein nuair a thilleadh am mathair. Tha e coltach gur h-ann toiseach am t-samhraidh a thill a' Bhan-Lochlannach. Mu'n do rainig i an t-eilean fhuair na Tirisdeich fios air dhoigh air chor-eiginn gu'n robh i aig laimh, agus thuit eagal mor orra, oir bha iad cinnteach mar an rachadh bacadh air chor-eiginn a chuir air a fearg nuair a chluinneadh i mu bhas a da leinibh nach fhagadh i tigh no aitreabh gun a chreach is gun a losgadh, no duine no creutair gun a mhort no gun a mharbhadh. Uime sin nuair a chualas gu'n robh a' Bhan-Lochlannach a dluthachadh ris an eilean chruinnich a h-uile duine de mhuinntir an eilein an ceann a cheile fiach an rachadh aca air seol sam bith fhaotainn chum fearg a' Bhan- Lochlannaich a sheachnadh. An deigh dhaibh ioma comhairle a chluinntinn agus a dhiultadh thainig sean fhear liath air adhart agus thubhairt e nach robh e gu feum sam bith dhaibh fiachainn ri iad- fhein a dhion le fearas-airm, gu'n robh na Lochlannaich gu m6r na b'fhearr air an armachadh agus gu'n robh iad na's ionnsaichte ann an cogadh na bha na Tirisdeich, AN CAOINEADH MAGAIDH 329 agus a dh-aindeoin gach euchd a dh'fhaodadh iad a dhianadh gu'n rachadh am mort agus am milleadh aig a'cheann mu dheireadh. " A luchd-duthcha," ars'esan, " tha mi smointinn ged a tha sinn fo mhor eagal air son na dhfhaodas tachairt dhuinn air tailleibh bas da leinibh nighinn Righ-Lochlainn tha mi'n duil nach'eil aon againn nach'eil a caoidh an da leanabh bhoidheach a shiubhail, a chionn is e paisdean laghach a bh'unnta, agus bha gaol mor againn uile orra, agus tha fhios is cinnte aig a h-uile neach a tha lathair ann seo an diu nach do dhiult sinn riamh dhaibh ni sam bith a bheireadh solas dhaibh fhad 's a bha iad leinn, agus nach do chaomhainn sinn ni sam bith a dhianadh feum dhaibh nuair a bha iad tinn, agus gu'm bheil ar cridheachan air an lionadh le bron a chionn gu'n do shiubhail iad. Nis, a chairdean, tha mise a smaointinn nam b'urrainn sinn am bron a tha sinn a faireachduinn a leigeil ris d'on Bhan Lochlannach ann an doigh a dhruidheadh air a h-inntinn agus air a cridhe gu'm faodamaid tilleadh a thoirt air a corruich agus gu'm faigheamaid saor as a' chas anns am bheil sinn. Uime sin, is e a tha mise a' comhairleachadh dhuibh gu'n cruinnich sinn a dh-ionnsuidh a' phuirt aig an tig i air tir gach mart agus laogh, gach caora agus uan, anns an duthaich, agus gu'n sgair sinn bho cheile iad, na mairt agus na caoraich air aon chnoc agus na laoigh agus na h-uain air cnoc eile, far am faic iad a cheile ach far nach faigh iad a choir a cheile, agus tha mise a cur mo cheann an geall gu'n cluinnear an sin tuireadh a dhruidheas air cridhe a' Bhan-Lochlannaich ged a bhiodh e na's cruaidhe na a' chreag air am bheil an t-eilean seo steidhichte." Ghabh na Tirisdeich ri comhairle an t-sean duine, agus fada mu'n d'rainig long a' Bhan-Lochlannaich port bha i air a lionadh le ioghnadh agus le iomaguin mhoir leis a' chaoineadh mhuladach a bha i a' cluinntinn air tlr. Cho luath agus rainig an long am port chuir a' Bhan- Lochlannach fios air seanairean an eilein agus dh'fharraid i dhiubh de bu chiall do'n chaoineadh seo a bha i* cluinntinn o'n thainig i ann an sealladh air tlr ? 33° AN CAOINEADH MAGAIDH Fhreagair fear de na seanairean i gu'n d' thainig call mor air an eilean o chionn ghoirid, call cho m6r agus cho muladach agus gu'n robh na creutairean fhein ann an co- fhaireachduinn ris na daoine air a shon. Chuir an fhreagairt seo am barrachd ioghnaidh air a' Bhan-Loch- lannach agus nuair a dh'amhairc i mu'n cuairt oirre agus a chunnaic i cho tursach, bronach, a bha gach coltas, thubhairt i gu coibhneil gu'n robh i duilich air son a' chall a thainig orra agus na'n rachadh aice-se air ni' sam bith a dhianamh chum am bron a thogail gu'm bitheadh i ro thoilichte a dhianamh. Ghabh na seanairean a sin misneach agus ann am briathran ciuin agus stolda dh'innis iad dhi mar a thach- air do'n da leanabh a dh'fhag i as a deigh, mar a thuit iad aon as deigh a cheile ann an tinneas, mar a chaidh gach leigheas a b'urrainnear fhaotainn fhiachainn chum slainte aisig air ais dhaibh, agus mu'n bhron a thuit air muinntir an eilein nuair a chaochail iad. Fada mu'n do sguir an seanair d'a iomradh bha a' Bhan-Lochlannach a caoidh is a tuireadh mur gu'm bristeadh i a cridhe, agus an aite mort agus milleadh a dhianamh air na Tirisdeich mar a mhaoidh i nuair a dh'fhag i is ann a thug i taing agus beannachadh dhaibh air son an coibhneis d'a cloinn. A reir seanachais eile a chuala mi o chuideiginn, cha'n'- eil fhios agam co, thuirt " A' Chailleach Bheur " gu'n robh : " Miosachan beag mac Righ Lochlainn Fo chlachan ann am Baile Phuill, Is Ulabhag nighean Righ Lochlainn Fo chlachan ann an Crosapoll ud thall ! " ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE. IN addition to Na Horgh at Castlebay, Barra, add Loch Thorranish, above Bornish, S. Uist. Horgar-nes, the promontory of the sacrificial grove, ' grove or Harrowness.' When followed by a vowel rg may stand : cf. Horgay, Torgay, in the Sound of Harris. Pp. 79, 164. gearraidh. The plural of this Norse loan is gearrachan\ the district about Gerinish is called Na gedrrachan. On the other hand, gearraidhean * cuttings ' is the pi. of Gadh. gearradh. This word seems to occur in Gearra-heilgh ^ ' holy-garth,' if we take the latter part of the comp-pound from N. heilagr ' holy ' or else N. heill ' good omen, good luck.' N. heilagr translates L. sacer sanctus, and in pagan times must have meant 'consecrated.' Adjoining is Heilibost, ' holy-stead.' At Gearra-heilgh there was a leabaidh chrabhaidh or ' bed of devotion,' as there was also at Dalibrog (S. Uist), quite close to the brog or dun from which that township is named. Pp. 117, 190. geadas 1 pike ' (not ' pipe '). P. 1 2 1. With Habost cf. Halan, Talan (S. Uist) 1 high-land ' ? P. 172. The Norsemen in Fuiday were said to have been the last who remained of them in the southern parts of the Long Island. The story of their extinction is that an illegitimate son of MacNeill of Barra fell in love with one of the Norse maidens, and that she acquainted him with the fact that though the Norsemen were invincible by daylight they were weak and powerless after sunset. The young MacNeill invaded their island during the night 332 EXAMPLES OF LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE and they all fell victims to his sword. This legend may- contain the detritus of some actual interracial skirmish. There are peculiarly large graves in Fuiday and they may date from Viking times. P. 177. Dfiigearaidh (Outer Isles) from N. dy-gerfti i bog-garth,' 1 bog pasture-land.' Cf. Dubhat, from N. dy-vatn ' muddy- water.' P. 195. G. Gurraig, 1 Gourock ' might possibly have been a bay named after Gu5ro5. Of a contemporary of Magnus Barefoot we read in saga : " Lawman hight the son of Gu5ro<5, king of the South-Isles." Ard-Lamont may preserve the son's name, and Gourock, from N. Guftroftr- vik, that of the father. P. 1 99. cil t a long inland creek as in cillerivagh (Long Island), 1 mud-bay-creek ' from N. kill ' a small bay ' ; Norwegian keila ' a small sound' (dialectal); M.H.G. kel 'a bight'; kti t a deep place on a sea-bottom between two sand banks (Jutland). The -lerivagh is N. leir as in Lerwick (q.v.) and vagr 1 bay.' There is no tradition of a church about the places called Killerivagh in the Long Island. P. 218. cuile : Craig Chuilebrat (Eriskay) : swelling-steep craig or rock? O. Norse Mia, 'hall, sphere, tumour, boss'; Norw. dial. Mia 'boss, round growth on trees.' N. brattr 1 steep.' Hence ' hillock-steep '-rock. " In Benbecula at Nunton there is A'Chulla : possibly it is the Kula or Hillock above the beach so called that gives the name." — Rev. Allan Macdonald. -mul, ' islet ' (v. p. 1 70) : Causamul, Cobhsamul, from N. KoVs-holm ' Col's islet ' : for Col, a man's name, see Origines Islandicae, i., 290 ; for phonetics cf. abhsadh. plod, vb. n. plodadh, ' to float timber down a river ' ; a fleet ; N. floti, ' float.' rafan (p. 315) is used in Uist for a certain grass that grows in bogs. In a poem by Rob Donn it occurs in the place-name Bard-Rabhan, and defined as 1 the remains of a spate or tide on the shore.' See Celtic Monthly for 1900, p. 64. EXAMPLES OF LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE 333 sgeod, an upturning lip : N. Sk/od, ' flap/ Dan. skifd ' skirt' sgod, sense : chan eil sgbd aige * he has no sense.' Cf. Dan. skitte, to care, mind, heed : skitfdestys, careless. screab, sgreab, a sea-bird whose young disgorges fat oil ; the shear-water. Skeat marks E. scrape as Scandi- navian, Dan. skrabe, to scrape. siofag, stobhag, ' a straw, candle-wick, rush-pith,' from Scandinavian; Icelandic sef, Swed. saf, Dan. siv ' a rush,' + Swed, veke 1 a wick ' (a twist of threads for a lamp), Norw. vik, ' a skein of thread.' Provincial English seave * a rush.' Siobhag seems to be seave-wick, rush-wick, and a Norse loan. -sta, from N. statsr ' stead ' ; Scarista, Scarasta, N. skara-statSr 1 sea-mew stead ' ; Tolsta ' Toli's stead ' ; Hosta, N. kauga-staSr 1 burial-mound stead ' ; and further examples for Lewis in Watson's Place Names (p. 271). stacach, deaf, short in the hearing (Uist.) : cf. Dan. stakket, short, brief ; stakaandet, short-breathed. The G. is founded on a Scandinavian root stak. starcach, firm : N. starkr 1 strong,' treabha, a thrave ; from N. prefi, E. thrave (M'Bain). treisgeir, spade for peats. It contains N. -skeri 1 cutter ' as final part : peat or turf-cutter : v. toirrsgian. EACHDRAIDH MHANUIS. ANNS an leigear a ris creidimh ann an Cruth-Athar- rachadh, comh-cheangailte ri cuimhneachan air Manus, rlgh Lochlainn ata fhathast ainmeil an Innse-Gall. Mar chomharradh air so theirear : Gach Eachdraidh gu Eachdruidh Mhdnuis. Rlgh bh'ann d'am b'ainm Manus. Dh'fhalbh e le sgioba 's le soitheach. Thainig stoirm is annradh air 's cha robh i ag gabhail stiuireadh dha. Thachair muir confhadhach ris ; chaidh an long a bhristeadh air gar- bhlach a bha fiadhaich 's chaill e'n long 's an sgioba. Cha do shabhail duine bh'innte ach e fhdin. B'fheudar dha na botunnan a leigeil dhe mach air a mhuir : is b'fheudar direadh le a chasan ruisgte an aoduinn a gharbhlaich. Bha e a' cur ordagan a chas ann an sguir a bha fiar a' tighinn thrompa rau'n d'fhuair e gu flar a bha gu h-ard. Chunnaic e sin coltas baile mhoir os a chionn ann am bial coilleadh. Bha e ag gabhail ioghnaidh, — 's e 'faicinn taighean beaga bldeach 'nan streathan, de'n seorsa daoine a bh'ann. Rainig e sin iomall a bhaile. Bha tigh beag iomallach ann a shin agus duine beag bldeach dianamh bhrog aig an dorus. Thuig e gur h-e grlasaich a bh'ann ; agus 'nuair a thog an griasaich a cheann chlisg an cridhe aige le mlad an duine a chunnaic e mu 'choinneamh 'na sheasamh. Dh'fhoighneac an griasaich dhe le guth losal eagallach roimhe : gu de'n duine fiadhaich a bha'n so no co as a thainig e ? Thuirt e-san gun tainig a criochan Loch- lainn fad air falbh 's gun a chaill e a sgioba 's a shoitheach ; gum biodh e fada na chomain nan innseadh e dha an robh saod aige air faighinn air falbh as an EACHDRAIDH MHANUIS 335 rioghachd so no gu de an rloghachd a bh'ann no gu de an seorsa dhaoine a bha ann. Thuirt an griasaich ris gum b'e Rioghachd nan Daoine Beaga a bha ri radh rithe. Dh'fhoighneac an so Manus dheth an robh saod aige air faighinn aisde no an robh cothrom airgiod a dhianamh ann le h-obair. Thuirt an grlasaiche ris gun robh deagh chothrom aig' air airgiod a dhianamh, gur robh m5ran do luchd coille ga gearradh s ga tarruing ann am buill air am muin, gur robh daoine a sealladh thairis orra is soithichean ga tarruing air falbh agus nach creideadh e nach dianadh e-san tuarasdal mor ann an uin' aithghearr. An ta, osa Manus ris, tha mise dona dheth. Chan eil gas bhrog agam ach nam biodh tu fh&n cho math 's gun dianadh tu paidhear bhrog dhomh bhithinn a fuireach agad agus bhiodh tu orra 1 phaigheadh. Chan eil innleachd agamsa air brogan a dhianamh dhut, os an griasaich. Ach nuair a chunnaic e nach robh innleachd aige air brogan a dhianamh do Mhanus rug e air cheann gaghair is chothromaich e e. Shuain e pios do sheich mu thimchioll. Chruinnich e ri cheile am pios leathrach mar gum biodh poca no balg aige. Falbh a nis, osa Manus, far a bheil fear-coimhid na coilleadh agus faigh dhomhsa tuagh agus ball. Nuair a rinn an griasaich, so, chuir Manus air doigh gu falbh dh'ionnsaidh na coille agus 'nuair a nochd e riutha chlisg an sgioba de dhaoine beaga a bha sud nuair a chunnaic 'ad an diunnlach. Leis an toil a bh'aig Manus tuarasdal mor a dhianamh ann an uine aithghearr bha e a tarruing 's ag gearradh uiread ri deich ar fhichead dhiubh. Leis an durachd a bh'aige gus cus a dhianamh bhuail pathadh mor e. Dh'fhalbh e feadh na coille fiach am faigheadh e Ion as am faigheadh e deoch. Cha robh Ion a tachairt ris. Thachair an so blianag bhriagh ghorm ris ann am miadhon na coille agus leac mhor air a leigeadh air miadhon na blianaige. Le dochas gu faodadh uisge a bhith foidhe chuir e lamhan foidhe is 1 =air do. 336 EACHDRAIDH MHANUIS thog e air a h-oir i. Gu de mhuth air ach staidhir a dol sios fo'n talamh. Ghabh e sios air an staidhreadh 's cha do leig e'm ball no'n tuagh as a laimh. Nuair a nochd e stigh bha rum ann a sin a' dearrsadh le solus is le daoimein. Bha baintighearn' 6g nach fhac e riamh a leithid a' suidhe air cathair as an rum. Leig e as am ball 's an tuagh aig bonn na staidhreadh. Ghabh e suas far an robh am boirionnach is ghuidh e deoch oirre. Bha soitheach fiona ri a taobh agus soitheach beag agus lion i an soitheach. Mar a bha esan le iota a phathaidh dh'ol e far a chinn e. Bha flon cho laidir is dh'fhoigneac e gu de a chuir an sud i no gu de bheirte rithe. Thuirt i ris leis mar a bha i cho briagh gur e'n t-ainm a bh'aca oirre Grlan-nan-Gnan-agus-Gealach-nan-Gealach is Bana-Phrionnsa Nigh' Righ Eilein Eubnaidh. Thainig fear-reubainn, os ise. Thug e mise leis 's mi fo gheasaibh aige s fo bhoidean. Dh'fhag e ann an so mi ann an tigh fo thalamh. Tha feadhainn eile aige dhe m' sheorsa ann an aiteachan eile fo bhoidean. De'n uine bhios e ga d' dhith, osa Manus. Bithidh fichead latha os ise, ach nam biodh mulad no bron orm tha clar-tailisg rim thaobh ann a so is dh'fhoghnadh dhomh mo mhiar a bhualadh air 's bha e agam. Mar a bha flon cho laidir 's a mhiad s a ghabh Manus dheth bha 'fhuil air a togail. Ghabh e null. " 'Chan fhaca mi fuamhair no mac na te so nach dianainn sud sa so air," s e 'cur fairis a dhuirn. Bhuail e'n clar-tailisg. Rinn e da leth dheth, ach dh'fhairich e'n tigh fo thalamh a dol air chrith. Leis an eagal a ghabh e chrath e dheth an deoch. Ghabh e air falbh, is le diachainn 's le curam dh'fhag e'm ball 's an tuagh aig bonn na staidhreadh. Rainig e tigh a' ghrlasaiche. Gabhar dha'n leabaidh is gabhar air gun robh e fuathasach bochd. Thainig an so am fear-reubainn dha'n tigh fo thalamh far an robh ise. De, a dhroch bhoirionnaich, a thug ort a leithid de chabhaig a chur orm ? os esan. Chan eil a ghaoil, os ise, ach mar a bha mi leis a mhulad. Ghabh mi tuilleadh sa choir de'n fhion. Thuit EACHDRAIDH MHANUIS 337 mi null, os ise, agus bhuail mi m'uilinn as a chlar-tailisg is chaidh e na dha leth. Bha so an deis a sabhaladh mur a bhith an dlchuimhne a rinn Manus. Dh'eirich am fear-reubainn agus leis an amharus thoisich e air siubhal an taighe. Ach gu cearbach fhuair e'm ball s an tuagh aig bonn na staidhreadh. Thainig e nuas s iad aige 'na laimh far an robh ise. S eadh a dhroch bhoirionnaich, seall far an robh' fear de ghillean na coille comhla riut bho dh'fhalbh mise. Dh'eid am fear-reubainn e fhein suas ann an luideagan s ann am barlagan. Dh'fhalbh e s am ball s an tuagh aige ann an riochd baigeir. Rainig e muinntir na coil- leadh. Dh'fhoighneac e dhiubh co chaill sud ? O asa fear dhiubh, 's e'n duine mor a bha c5mhla ruinne chaill sin. C'aite a bheil e? os esan. Tha e ann an tigh a ghriasaich, os 'adsan. Rainig e tigh a ghriasaich. Dh'fhoighneac e dhe'n ghriasaich an robh leithid so a dhuine stigh aige. Tha e tinn air an leabaidh, os an grlasaich. Falbh, os am fear-reubainn, is cuir a nuas e. Dh'fhalbh an grlasaiche suas. Nuair a dh'innis e mar a chunnaic e bha Manus bochd ciis na bu bhochduinne no bha e riamh. O ! as an grlasaich, chan urrainn dha tighinn a nuas. Mar a h-urrainn, os am fear-reubainn, is urrainn mise dhol suas. Chaidh e'n so suas is thog e air fras mhullaich a ghuaille e. Chan fhaca Manus bochd lias air talamh no air athar gus na bhuail e air a dha bhonn air blalthaobh a bhoirionnaich anns an t-seomar fo'n talamh e. Rug e air corran mor geur a bh'aige is shin e an lamh a bhoirionnaich e. " Mur a faca tu'n duine ud riamh mu d' choinneamh gearr gu lar e." An ta, os ise, chan fhaca mise an duine riamh 's bho nach fhaca cha teid mi ga bhualadh. Thug e as a laimh-se e s thug e'n laimh Mhanuis e. Y 338 EACHDRAIDH MHANUIS Mur a faca tu-sa am boirionnach ud riamh mu d' choinneamh, os esan, buail i is gearr gn lar i. Smaointich Manus am fabhar rinn ise ris-san. Thuirt e nach buaileadh, nach fhac e i, nach robh aobhar aige, nach buaileadh e idir i. Spion am fear-reubainn an so an t-iarrunn a laimh Mhanuis. Bhuail e'n t-iarrunn oirre-se ann am mullach a chinn is ghearr e gu lar i. Bha'n fhuil an so a dol a stigh air bial nam brog aig Manus. Chaidh Manus an so air a dha ghluin as an fhuil ag iarraidh maitheanais bhuatha. Gheibh thu sin, os am fear-reubainn, ach chan ann sa chruitheachd sam bheil thu a dh'fhagas mise thu. Thug e leis air fras-mhullach a ghuaille an sin Manus bochd. Thug e gu mullach beinne e anns an robh seachd mile o a barr gu a bonn. Thog e lan a dhuirn dhe'n uir a bha fo a chasan 's bhuail e air an clar an aoduinn e. Fag a chruthachd a bheil thu, os esan, 's bi 'na d' apa, — beathach ceithir chasach coltach ri cu. Cha b' urrainn e a thur a thoirt bhuaith gad a dh'- atharruich e a chruthachd, agus le a thur bhuail e air tearnudh leis a bheinn. Rainig e bonn na beinne. Bha abhuinn mhor a tighinn a nuas thromh na coillti- chean. Bha i a sputadh leithe moran dha'n choillidh. Mach air an fhairge mhothaich esan ann an so soitheach ann am flath goirid o thlr. Chunnaic e seann bhun' craoibhe ann am bun na stuaidhe. Chaidh e tarsuinn air a chraoibh. Bhuail e air a flodadh a mach le a spogan. Nuair a fhuair e mach aig doimhneachd bhuail e air sgreadail leis an t-seorsa sgreadail a b'urrainn e dhianamh. Bha caiptein an t-soithich s an la cho briagh a spaidsearachd air bord. Tha mise fo bhoidean duine sam bith a chluinneas mi ann an eiginn gum bheil agam ri a thoirt as. Chuir e dithis dhe na gillean air falbh le geolaidh. Nuair a rainig iad is esan bha e a' tighinn 'nan coin- neamh le dhlchioll fh&n. EACHDRAIDH MHANUIS 339 O, osa fear dhe na gillean, cha duine tha'n so idir, is coltaiche gur h-e th'ann an t-an-spiorad ann an riochd. Osa fear eile, ge b'e sin fhein e bheir sinn a dh'ionn- suidh a chaiptein e bho na dh'iarr e e. Rug iad air Manus bochd 's chuir iad fairis ann an urlar na geolaidh e leis an diumba a bh'aca dha'choltas, 's bha e greis ann am paisean aca, 's nuair a rainig iad an soitheach thilg iad suas innte leis an ath throsd e 's bha e san ath phaisein a rithist. Thainig an caiptein a nuas a shealltainn de bh'ann. Dh'aithnich an so Manus an caiptein 's a mhionaid. Bhuail e air p5gadh clar-uachdar na luinge far an robh an caiptein a' seasamh 's air pogadh nam botunnan a bha mu a chasan. O, os an Caiptein, 'se peat ionnsuichte a bha aig urra mhor a tha'n so. Chan eil fhios nach eil an t-acras air, os esan. Bheiribh a nuas fuighleach bhur bidhe ga ionnsuidh. Smaointich Manus an so le a thuir fhein nan itheadh e fuighleach nan seoladairean gur h-e so a leanadh iad air a thoirt da ach ged a bha'n t-acras air gun dianadh 'e faighidinn flach am faigheadh e na b'fhearr. Bhuail e air smotraich ris : chuir e a shroin ris, s' chan itheadh e gearradh dheth. Ta, os an Caiptein, 'se peat ionnsaichte tha'n so. Bheiribh a nuas fuighleach mo dhinnearach fhein chuige. Thainig a sin turan 1 a nuas do bhrot s do dh'fheoil is neo-ar-thaing mur itheadh Manus so. Thug e leis sios dha sheomar e. Ciod a bh'ann ach an t-aite an robh 'n soitheach so dol bha duine cumhachdach anns a bhaile ris an canadh iad Sultan agus 's ann leis a bha'n soith- each. Bha cabhlach shoitheach aige. 'Nuair a dh'acraich iad 's gu leoir a bharrachd orra 's an acairseid thainig bata brlagh mach o thlr agus gille air a chur suas ann an deagh eideadh is paipeir aige ag iarraidh lamh- sgriobhaidh h-uile duine bha 'san acairseid is Sultan ag iarraidh cleireach-sgriobhaidh, 's am fear a b'fhearr gum biodh e aige. Shiubhail an gille na soithichean uile 's 1 Plenty. 34o EACHDRAIDH MHANUIS chuir iad an lamh ris. Thainig e dh'an t-soitheach an robh Manus bochd mu dheireadh. Chuir an caiptein a lamh ris a phaipeir 's a h-uile duin' air bord. Chuir e'm paipeir air oir ann an uinneig a sheomar. Bha'n apa shlos s'nuair a chaidh an caiptein suas rug e air a pheann na chru is thug e dha no trl sgroban air cul a phaipeir leis a pheann. Leis a' ghrain' a bh'aig na seoladairean air bha iad cho furachail air 's dh'eigh iad ris a chaiptein gun robh an creutair grannda an d'eis a phaipear a shalach. Thill an caiptein sios is rug e air a phaipeir : " Chan eil lamh-sgriobhaidh a chreutair-sa aig mac duine sa chabhlach agus 's mor m'eagal gun caill mi e." Dh'fhalbh an gille bha na theachdair leis a phaipeir gu tlr is choinnich Sultan e. Shin e dha am paipeir. Sheall e air a chul-thaobh. " Co rinn so ? " os e-san. Rinn an teachdaire bha leis a phaipeir gaire-fanoid air. " Cha duine a rinn sud idir ach creutair neonach a th'aig a leithid so a chaiptein air bord." " Creutair no creutair, is e a lamh-sgriobhaidh as fhearr 'sa phaipeir agus falbh agus thoir a nuas chugam-sa e." Dh'fhalbh e sios leis a bhata is nuair a chunnaic an sgiobair an gille a' tilleadh. Dh'aithnich mi so roimhe, os esan, agus b'fheudar a chur air tlr leis a ghille. Cha robh aig Sultan a bha'n so ach aon inghean 's bha i ann an seomar glaiste agus i fo bhoidean aig an fhear-reubainn chianda nach robh fiorannach aice r'a fhaicinn ach aghaidh a h-athar. Leis mar a bha a h-athair cho mor m'a d&dhinn, an uair a fhuair e leithid so de chreutair a bha ro-ionnsaichte thug e leis an apa a steach gu dorus 'an t'seomair. Dh'eigh ise mach e thoirt an aire, gum faodadh firionnach a bhi ann san riochd ud. Cha robh duine riamh anns an riochd ud, os e-fhein (Sultan). Thug e steach an apa far an robh an inghean. Cho EACHDRAIDH MHANUIS 34i luath 's a chaidh an apa a steach dha'n rum chaidh an caisteal air chrith. Leum am fear-reubainn a steach. A dhroch bhoirionnaich, bhrist thu na boidean a bh'eadarruinn. An sin leum iad 'nan da iolaire a stigh 's an rum 's thoisich iad air a cheile. Bha Manus bochd fo na casan agus leis an diol a bh'aca air a cheile chaidh 'ad air muin Mhanuis agus chuireadh an t-suil as. Mach as an t-seomar gabhar, 's dhirich ise an so 'na h-iolaire dhuibh os a chionn-sa, s bha i a' faighinn buaidh air a h-uile car. Bha abhuinn mhor an sin a dol seachad aig ceann a chaisteil. Sud slos am fear-reubainn dh'an uisge 's leumar 'na bhreac dh'an t-sruth. Leum ise na balgaire dubh as a dheaghaidh. An uair bha e gu bhi 'n sas aice so, sgaoil esan 'na iuchar. Sin an uair a leum ise 'na coileach dubh air bruach na h-aibhne 's bhuail i air itheadh na h-iuchrach. Chuir i an sin car dhith-fhein 's chaidh i suas 'na maighdeann bhriagh far an robh a h-athair. " Dh'ith mise iuchar na beiste agus tha mi gu gabhail anns mo choluinn, agus gus a leigeil fhaicinn dut-sa gur h-e duine th'an so." Thog i lan a duirn dhe'n uir a bha fo spogan Mhanuis 's bhuail i ann an clar an aoduinn e. " Fag a chruthachd am bheil thu," deir i. S bha e 'na dhuine mar a bha e roimhe ach gun robh e air leth shuil (v. pp. 294-303). GADHELIC SOUNDS IN LOAN-WORDS FROM NORSE. In the following examples a hyphen after a letter or combination of two letters denotes initial position ; a hyphen both before and after denotes medial position ; a hyphen before a letter or combination of letters denotes final position. The changes, though sometimes complex, preserve remarkable regularity. It is to be observed that Norse final or intervocalic kk, pp, tt become respectively c (i.e. k), p, t ; Norse k, p, t become g, b, d ; Norse g, b, d become ' aspirated ' and practically disappear in Gadhelic speech. The results arrived at may be tabulated for reference. With the aid of the Index further examples may be multiplied. Some difficulty occurs with the ' medials ' of Gadhelic script which are really voiceless, though lacking the preceding glide common before voiceless consonants in Gadhelic. For previous treatment see Watson's Place-Names of Ross and Cromarty, pp. lvii-lx. Norse. Gadhelic. kk c N. bakki, bac, 'bank'; bakka-vatn, Bacavat, ' ridge-loch, bank-water ' \ t- ha-bakki, Tdbac, ' High Bank ' ; cf. stoc, stac. pjakk, piocach : hrukka, roc. akkeri, acair, 'anchor'; Brekka-dalr, Bracadale. pp p N. knappr, cnap ( knob ; blow.' happ, tapadh \ tapag (q.v.). Two Lewis examples are given by Mr. Watson : kappa-dalr, Capadal, 'champion's dale'; Cleibisgeir, ' ? from kleppr, a plummet, lump,' + sker, sgeir ' skerry.' GADHELIC SOUNDS 343 Norse. Gadhelic. tt t Slettr, Sleil, parish of Sleat, Skye. skattr, Scatail, N. skatt-vollr, Scatwell. klettr, cleit, 'a rocky eminence.' att-dalr, Atadail, Attadale, 'horse-right-dale.' Mr. Watson finds an instance in Lewis Brataig, brattr-vik, 'steep-bay'; also in Cadboll, N. kattar-bol, ' cat-stead ' {Place-Names, p. 40) ; drops out in fri, frith, N. frett ; fritt^ freit ; vb. freti; fr0t (Shetland), k- c- (k) kollr, 1 summit,' Coll (Lewis) : Kirki-nes, Rudha Chircnis (q.v.) : Kirkaig; Kirkibol. N. klombr, glamair, a smith's vice (my only example in initial position), vik, -aig, Arasaig, ar-6s-vik, ' river- mouth-bay.' eiki-skiki, CoiWe-eagascazg (q.v.) ' oak-stripe wood ' ; Eignaig (q.v.). piocach ; piit (q.v). h6p, Loch Hob (Hope) ; Obbe ; 6b ; Oban ; Obbenin ; Djup-vlk, Diabaig, * deep-dale.' gnipa, ' a peak,' gmoba, grloba : gnupr, gnob ' (q.v.). laupr, lopan (q.v.). The p has an on-glide preceding it. v. Lobban (p. 120). Tongue ( Tunga) ; Teamradal ; tarp (q.v.). Here perhaps Oda (q.v.). gat, Gdt man cat (Watson, 45); Gott Bay (Tiree) Got; grjot, Gride, AGhride 'the Creed,' N. Grjot-a, ' stony or grit-channelled river' (Lewis) ; Jidean, pidi-gea.na.idh. -t -der -tr -der setr, 'a seat, stead, dairyland'; appearing ter- -dar -dar minally as shader. " Hence the township name Shader ; also Sheshader, sja-setr, ' sea- stead'; Errshader, from eyrr; Kershader, from kjb'r, copse; Linshader, from lin, ' flax ' ; Shulishader, either stead of the pillar or of the solan geese ; Laimshader, ' lamb- stead'; Quishader [Cuidha-seadar, kviasetr, ' fold-stead '], kvi or quoy or pen-stead ; and personal names in Ungshader, Caryshader, k- g- -k -g -k- -g- P- P- -P -b -P t- t- -t- -d- r-t -t l-d 344 GADHELIC SOUNDS IN Norse. Gadhelic. and Grimshader (Ung, Kari, Grimm) " (MacBain's Early History of Zewis, p. n). -dd- Flatr-ey, Pladda. -t hrtitr, ruta, 'ram.' -It -It holt, 'rough ground': Erisolt, 'Erik's holt'; JVeidall, neyt or cattle holt ; Sgianailt, skjona- holt, the holt of the dappled horse (Watson, Place-Names, p. 268). g- g- gil, gil; Geisagil, Glsgil; gagarr, gadhar (gdd'ar) ; gunnr-, Gunna, Gunn ; gedda, geadas ; gerSi, gearraidh ; gja, geddh. -g- -g windauga, uinneag, 'window.' gagarr, ga{dh)ar- y - hrugi, riithan, riighan. Smuga-vik, Smutig, Smiiithaig, ' cave-bay ' ; Tadudal (Tweedle, Lochcarron), haga-dalr, 'pasture-field,' with the usual prefixed t (Watson, p. 195); Bugis-dalr, Bao{gh)asdal, Boisdale, ' slight-bay-dale,' SigurS-haugr, Siwardhoch (1168), Cyderhall (Watson). -g -gh, vagr, -bhaigh; skogr, -sco, -sgo; haugr, Hoghmdr, Howmore; Hoe, Toe. b- b- bac ; bodha ; Borve (q.v.). p- Proaig (q.v.) : cf. Putharol, N. bu5ar-hol, 'the hill of the booth' (Watson, 265, where there are several instances under Bu5, 'a booth,' genitive buSar). Also eyrar-boer, Eoropie, Ebrrabaid/i, ' beach -town.' d- d- Dyr-ey, Diura 'Jura,' deer-isle; dorg, dorgha, drogha; dregg, driog; droinip (q.v.); Dudil (q.v.) ; terminal dail, N. dalr, ' dale,' Laxdale, Zacasdaz'lj N. Lax-ir-dalr, 'salmon-river- dale ' : eyrar-dalr, Ebradal, ' beach -dale ' ; Langa-dalr, long-dale, Langadal; Dibidail ' deep-dale.' -gg -g dregg, driog; egg, eig 'ridge, edge'; egg-nes, Aignish, ' ridge-ness.' -gg- -g- Skeggis-sta5r,^/^rj-fo,Skeggi's stead (Watson* 271). LOAN-WORDS FROM NORSE 345 Norse. Gadhelic. -dd- -d- Todden Hill, (t)-odd-in, 'the point,' with / of Gadhelic article prefixed, and Norse article suffixed : for the latter cr. /ov «a z/«/, ' loch of the horses ' (Lewis) ; Gaoilein ; and Gillen (q.v.) ; A?r.y «<2 z/a/, ' fell of the water- tails. -pt -bnt J^opta, tobht. nn- n- Hnausborg, Nomhasburgh. -rb- -rr- Kjarbarey, Kerrera, Cerreraidh. - rg . -rr- Borgar-vik, Borreraig : Borgar-ey, Borreray. -rg -ary erg, -ary : Asgrimsaerg, Askary, Assary. -rgr -gh horgr, Horogh. -rg + b r g /-horg(ar)-bolsta(5r, Torgabost. hr- r- hryggr, Rtgg (Snizort) : hrafns-vik, Ramasaig : hrutr, riita : hrafns-ey, Ramsey. nr yggJ ar - Dol 3 Regebol (1530), Ribigill, 'ndge- farm or stead.' ro- -or r Cross, Lors (Islay). ro- Kross-bolsta5r, Crossbost, 1 Cross-, rood-stead.' -1 fugl, JFulasgeir. -gm- -m- Logmann, Laman, M^Laomuinn. - gr - -r- SigriSr, Sindh. -gn- -n-, Magnus, Manus : Rognvaldr, Raonall (Rd'u//). -gt- -t- Sigtrygg, Sitrig, Sitric; M'Etterick. -to- -rl- byromgr, oirlinn : ijoroungr, jeoirling. •ro- -rr- gGfo^gearrmdh: Tumisgaror, Timsgarry, 'Tom s Garth ; Irumsgarry, Ihrums Garth. -rSr fit melr-fjoror, Meil ar\s)t, 'Melfort'; also Suam- [rst eart, Cndideart, MTfdeart, 'Moidart' (q.v.). rr garSr, gdrradh, ' garden, enclosure.' -3 -d ti5, tid : utreiS, utraid. -0- -ah, Lamaraig, Lamraig, N. hlaft-hamarr-vik (q-v.) ; Soay, Sau(5a-ey, ' sheep-isle ' ; BreiS-vatn, Breibhat, broad-water or loch (Lewis) ; also Breadhaig, Brodhaig (q.v.). -th- ta<5i, 'an in-field,' whence, with diminutive, Tathag (Gairloch), ' small home-field ' : na Tathagan, 1 the small in-fields ' (Watson, 231) ; th here represents dh. 346 GADHELIC SOUNDS IN Norse. Gadhelic. ■1 -1- i(5a, 'a whirling eddy,' to/a, 'a fishing bank at sea,' Manx, aahley, ' a place marked at sea to nsh on : cf. N. o becoming / m birlinn. -or- -rr- Lruorod, Gorraidfi ; staor, : melr-staor, -Ir- -1- Mealasta, 1 sea-links-stead ' ; Mungarsta, -nK- -ng- munkar-staSr, f monks' stead.' -IK- -rc- myrk, ' dark,' Mircol, * dark hill ' : Mircavcit, 1 dark-water.' -rk + b -r- orkn-bolstaor, urbost (bkye), seal-stead. -gar- . -gra- lagarcSr, lagraid (q.v.). -rt -rp torf, tarp. -r, -rr torf, toirsgian ; tarf-dalr, Tarradal ; brfiris-ey, Orrasa. -m- -m- hrafn's-vik, Ramasaig ' Raven's bay.' -in nn(mhn) t-hafnar-ey, Tannera ; thamhn, 1 harbour ' (Eris- lroi7\ • "NX l-» a {V» ss. . Ild.111. -IS- -s- klifs-gro, Chsgro, ' stream of the cliff ' (Watson, p. 20oy. r -ir -P gljufr, Glup {Poll a Ghluip). -llt -It alft, ' swan,' Altanis, ' swan-ness ' (Lewis) (Watson, p. 270). -llr -lbh, -lv kalfr, calbh : Ulfs-ey, Ulbha. -lb Ulfis-setr, Ulbister (1566), Ulbster; Ulbustle (Kildonan). -Is s halsa, abhsa (a u sa) q.v. ; but Mis, ' neck ' is Gob Hais (Lewis) (Watson, 268). kv- CU-, CO Kvia-setr, Cuidha-seadar, ' fold-stead ' (Lewis) ; Koidale, ' fold-dale ' (I slay) ; kvi, Orkney ' quoy,' cui 1 enclosure ' : Quiramg (Skye) ; Kvaran, Cuaran. -okr -abhcair slokr, slabhcair (q.v.). tv- to- tvinna, toinn. >- st- J?erna, stearnal (q.v.). P- t- )?orisdalr, Torrisdal, ' Thori's or Thorir's dale.' (A further change, under Gadhelic develop- ment, Dun-Horrisdale) : froskr, trosg : J>opta, tobht h- t, t-h + haf, iabh, 'ocean'; holmr, Tolm, T>\in-iuilm. LOAN-WORDS FROM NORSE 347 Norse. Gadhelic. h- T-Iallaffr i nio UmIvi se- TTialt-lano 1 SpnJtniwn ^ShptlanrH hp- ha- Hpla-arlalr Strath 7Ta//adalc hi- 1 hlnnnr * l^mnphino" rnllpr * Jmmt? Imm/J ^faff 1111111111} liXLlii V^lllil w 1 UUtl j i>lvfVfl} til/oil'^ olcillj lpvpr rnffin-trpstlp oav-hanfilp * hr- i hrukka, roc, ' wrinkle.' -x-(cs) cas- Laxardalr, Lacasdail, ' salmon water-dale.' -kks- cs- stakks-a-vatn, ' stack-river loch,' Stacsavat. -nev- mh lang-ve : lamh, lamhaidh. us. + a ng Tunga-gerSi, Beinn Thungairidh ; Tungavat, ' toneaip watpr ' iTrom «;hanp of thp lorh^ • T ntiPtivinf ' lone watpr or loph ' • cjfancrar-pv 'pole-isle,' Stangraidh (Watson, p. 266). nn byrSingr, birlinn. -ndr -nd sandr Handa. Sanda ■ Sanda-hhaiV '^and- wick.' -nd 'd mio-mind Miasaid ' narrow- <;oiind 5 ^Wat«:on nt p. 269); ]?rondarnes 5 Trdntarnis (17th c), Trotternish, ' Thrond's ness ' (Skye) ; *Mun- di-fjor5, Mude worth (1373) v. Gael. Soc. Inv. Trans, xxv. 73, Miiidcart (with long nasal u), Mundi's fjord. -nd- nn- windauga, uinneag. (MacAndy, p. 55, is a doubtful case of nd remaining.) nt ass-Endi, A.saint, Assynt, 'ridge-end.' V- f- vaSill, fadhail (faodhail). u vik, Uig, cf. Irish uiging, 'fleet,' from N. vi'h'ngr. 1 -V- a- Scat-vollr, Scat' at, ' Scatwell ' : vollr occurs as wall in Dingwall (q.v.) ; Kirk-vik, Kirkaig, Inbhircircalg ; Lamraig ; Ardheslaig (q.v.). -bh-, u ; (w) -vagr, -bhagh, Stedrnobhagh, Ste6rnua. vik, Uig] cf. Ir. uiging-. (Wicklow). sv- f- svart-bakur, farspag (q.v.). J Bugge points out that Irish laideng, 'a fleet,' is from N. leffiangr, an expedition at sea ; service in sea warfare ; all that is required for such service, ships, provisions, and men. 348 GADHELIC SOUNDS IN Norse. Gadhelic. su- Sveyn-fjorS Suaineart, 'Sweyn's firth'; Svordr- dalr, Suardal, 1 Sward-dale.' -f- (-V-), -bh- ofarr-skiki, Over-scaig. f- f- fidean ; Fiskavaig ; flathadh ; fulmair j f joru- setr, Feori-seadar, ' ebb-tide shieling' (Lewis). -f drops in finals in compounds under weak stress ; grof, ' a pit,' hence stream ; Alla-gro, 1 eels' stream ' ; Mola-gro^ 1 pebbly-beach stream.' -f -f rif, riof; klif, cliof; Fjar-vik, Fivig, Fiabhaig, 'sheep-bay' (Watson, p. 272). -bh- (v) skarf, sgarbh ; rof, Robhanis (Rudha Robhanis\ the Butt of Lewis, from rof, an opening, Hole-ness — with reference to the 'Eye of the Butt' — (Watson, p. 270) ; Grafir, 'pits,' Graver. -fr -p(?), v (bh), f gljufr, Poll a' Ghluip ; stafr, 'a staff': Staffin, 'the staff'; Staffa, 'staff (basalt) isle'; final -r always drops but (?) Loch a' Ghlobhuir (Lewis); also Gleann Ghleadh- airean (Watson, p. 267). -rf -rp torf, tarp. -fj- -bh-, -v-, -, f jail ' mountain or fell ' : Rbinebhal, hraun- -mh- f jail, 'rough-fell'; Grinnabhal, 'green-fell'; Sbval, sau<5r-fjall, ' sheep-fell ' ; Suaineval, ' Sweyn's fell ' ; B. Laghal (Ben Loyal) ; Aoismheall (St. Kilda). 1- 1- Lacasdle; Lanndaidh; Beinn Laghal (Loyal) Ljotr, 1 M&c-Zeoid. -1- -1- Skulamus, Sgulamics, ' Skuli's moss * ; keila, cilean ; sili, siola. -1 -1 melr, Melfort, Melness, Melvich. -lg- -11- Holger, Ollaghar ; also Gearraidh Allagharai. -als- -abhs-, au, halsa, ab/isadk, v. abhsporag, tabhs. For the reverse cf. kaup, ' pay ' ; calpa, ' principal set to interest.' 1 Ljotr, a companion of Arnfinn, the brother of Anakoll, a viking from the Hebrides: Orkneyinga saga, ch. 101. Is he the ancestor of the Macleods ? queries Prof. A. Bugge {On the Fomorians and the Norsemen, p. 36). LOAN-WORDS FROM NORSE 349 Norse. m- Gadhelic. m- -m- -m n- hv- -m- -m n- -j- merki, £ banner,' meirghe (Zimmer) ; mor, marag (q.v.) ; melr, Me/ness (q.v.); meiss, me'is ; mjo-fjall, 'narrow hill,' Mimheall\ Skula-mus, 'Skuli's moss'; mjo-sund, Miasid, 'narrow sound.' sima, sioman; hamla, amall; Lamraig (q.v.). Orm, Ormadazl, Ormsary (q.v.); Orms-skikki, Ormscaig. na-biii, nabnidh, 'neighbour.' p- Hvarf, met with several times in Icelandic cape names, meaning 'rounding, turning,' Am Parph, Am Parf, Cape Wrath ; Puitig, Whiten Head (An Ceann Geal) = *Fuitic, hvit-vik. c-, (ch ?) In Lewis Am Parph is called An Carbh ; for Norse rf becoming rbh cf. sgarbh, N. skarfr ; as to the c sound cf. Camasort, G. Loch Chamasort, Loch Hamasord, Lewis, N. hvamms-fjorSr, 'firth of the grassy slope' (Watson, p. 267). This sound may have been ch at first due to the sound of Norse h. v, bh hvalls-ey, 'whale-isle,' Valasey (Watson, p. 266). Vaul(?) (q.v.). f- Futerne, an old Gadhelic form of Hvitern, Whithorn ; fiuit (Book of Leinster), N. hvitr, 'white.' far-as, N. hvar es, ' where is ? ' (Cogadh Gaedh- el re Gallaibh ed. Todd); from these old forms one may infer *Farf, *Fuitig, which with de- aspirated /(cf. G. siur, fiur, piuthar) yield Parph, Puitig. f hjalm, 'helm,' falm ; /a/w-adair, * the tiller.' drops out in laom from N. Ijdmi. sgiilan from N. skjdli. rbmag from N. rjdmi. Callanis (Calarnis) from N. Kjalarr-nes. g/up, gen. gluip from N. gljtifr. Fear Halmadairigh from N. Hjalmunds-erg. 35o GADHELIC SOUNDS IN -j- drops out in Loch Thartabhat from N. /-hjarta-vatn, 'hart or stag loch ' (Watson, p. 272). (Possibly add the map form Thurso, G. Inbhir- Thebrsa, N. Jpiorsa, rather than >6rsa.) N.B. — (1) palatalization is introduced in Gadhelic where N. -j- is absent in Smiiithaig, N. Smuga-vik. Diurinnis, N. Dyr-nes. Giodhai (Gigha), N. GuS-ey. Lebdhus, cf. N. Lodose. If from IjdftaMs, 'song or lay-house,' it is a case where j has not dropped. feodhail, feadhail (dialectal variants for fadhail), N. vaSill. (2) Sometimes a letter is developed in the map form of the word after it has been taken over, e.g. G. siobarsgaig, Skibber- cross, which Mr. Watson thinks is possibly N. si<5u-bur-skiki, 'side-bower-strip.' The k is due to the sk in -skiki : Syborskeg, Schiberskeg (1562). Norse. Gadhelic. ja- ia- jarl (older, eirilar), iarl ' earl.' ja eo gja, gebdha. jo- io- pjokk, piocach (q.v.). -jo- -ao- lj6mi, laom (q.v.), ' blaze.' -i- grjot-a, Gride, Creed (q.v.). ia- mjo-vik, 'narrow-bay,' Miavaig; mj6-grof, 'narrow stream or pit,' Miagro (Meathagro) (Watson, p. 269). -11- skjola, sgulan. -eb- Ljotr, Mac-Ledid ; fljot, Strath-i%^ ' Strath- Fleet.' -ju- -ia- dj up -vik, ' deep-bay,' Diabaig. u, o(?) gljufr ' abrupt descent in the bed of a river ' ; Globhur: Loch a Ghlobhuir (O.S.M. Loch a' Ghluair) (Watson, p. 267). -tr -t, -d, ta -setr, -said : Lin-setr, Llonasaid, Linside. hrutr, riita, 'ram.' -tn -t -vatn, -bkat y ' water or loch.' -ts -s hrutsdalr, ' ram's dale,' Rusdal. LOAN-WORDS FROM NORSE 35i Norse. Gadhelic. -sp- -s- (through ps, bs) : aspi-dalr, { aspen-dale ' : Inner- absdill (Blaeu's map) ; Inbhir- d! dail, Inver- asdale (Watson); cf. abstol, ostal, 'apostle' for bs, s, sk- sg- skogr, Sgoghairigh, Scourie; skip, sgioba, 'crew'; sker, sgeir; skata, sgat, sgait, 'skate.' -sk -sg J>orskr, trosg : -skiki, -sgaig, -scaig, Arscaig. si- sl- slokr, slabhcar. w- u- windauga, uinneag (u'n e ag), 1 window.' au 6 rauS-dalr, ' red-dale,' Rodal, Rodel (Harris) ; staup, stop ; laupr, Idban, Idpan ; sauSa-ey, ' sheep-isle,' Soay ; haugr, 1 burial-mound,' Hogh, Howmore ; Togh ; straumr, 1 stream,' Strom (Strome Ferry) ; staurr, ' a stake, point,' Stor, Stoer (Assynt) : Staurr-inn, 1 the point ' (Orkney Saga) ; hraun-ey, Rona. u (?) haugr, Ardnahoe, G. Aird na h-ughadh, ' height of the home or burial tumulus ' (New Guide to I slay, p. 69) ; [rucan, suggested to be from N. hraukr is from Sc. ruck, owing to final consonant, as well as to long u : there is also the short, rue, rucan\ -a- windauga, uineag (u'nn e ag), ' window.' -i- SigriSr, M'Siridh ; ping-vollr, 'Dingwall'; Grinnabhat, 'green water,' Grinna-bhal, 'green-fell '; sili, siola ; skilja, sgileag, sgi/ig; ristill, ristea/l; skip, sgioba. -e- timbr, Teamradal ; cf. Sigtrygg, M'Etterick (at least as one spelling has it). -u- Rustall (Uist form of risteall) ; cf. U'ist for i-vist. This drops entirely ; -skiki, -scaig : Kalis-skiki, Calasgaig, 'Kali's strip'; ofarr-skiki, 'over or upper strip,' Overscaig. 1 (ee) hli5, Ben Lee (Skye) ; dik, ' ditch,' Dig, 'Digg' (Skye); sfld-vik, Sildeag, Shieldaig, 'herring -bay'; l's-hliS-vik, ' ice -slope -bay/ Islivig (Lewis, v. Watson, p. 272); si'ma, s\oman\ Grlosamul, 'grice or pig mMi or hill,' N. grisamuli. 352 GADHELIC SOUNDS IN Norse. Gadhelic. e spik, G. spile, ' a spike.' y i hryggr, 'ridge,' Rigg (Snizort); hryggjar-b61, 'ridge-ton,' cf Regeboll (for Rigiboll), now Ribigill ; byrSingr, birlinn ; kyrri-vik, 1 quiet bay,' Kiriwick; myrk, 'dark,' Mircavat, 4 dark- water'; Mirc-ol, 'dark-hill' (Watson, p. 269). u hryss-dalr, Ristol, 'mare-dale,' Allt Ruisteil (Watson, p. 260). y iu dyr-ey, 'deer-isle,' Diiira, Jura; dyra-ness, DiuriniS) Duirinish ; Durness, u Dy-dalr, Diidil, ' bog-dale ' (Islay). ua yr-dalr, 'yew-dale,' Uadale. e e hestr, ' horse,' Eist (Duirinish) ; gerSi, gear- raidh\ eski-dalr, 'ash-dale,' E i sgida/ ) Eska- dale ; gedda, geadas ; klettr, chit : Melr, -Afe/ness, etc. ea hellis-vagr, 'cave-bay,' Loch Thealasbhaigh (Lewis), i dregg> driog. a, a (?) brekka-dalr, Bracadal^ Bracadale ; heror, tara, taraidh (v. crann tara). Is irregular; (cf, the Islay open e in a group of words for a : maduinn, in Islay nzetuinn, metinn : further Sc. hake becomes G. ta ir c, where a is sounded as long open e). e e sletta, ' a plain,' slettr, ' level,' SUit y Sleat (Skye) ; gress, Greis, Gress (Lewis), root as in E. grass ; cf. Grosavat^ i grassy loch ' (Watson, p. 272). i frett, frith (q.v.) (the quantity is long ; tt be- coming th is unusual), se ei grasn-holm, Greinam, ' green-isle ' ; Greineal, ' green-hill ' ; Greinatot. i (?) Snizort, Snesfurd (1501), N. Snaesfjord, 'snow- firth' (M'Bain, v. p. 188). If so, cf. graen- vik, Grianaig (Islay), and Greenock. u (?) slaemr-vagr, ' slim or small bay,' Slumba (Watson, p. 194). LOAN-WORDS FROM NORSE 353 Norse. Gadhelic. ae, ce ao laek-in, loek-in, 'the brook,' Laogin. -ogm- -aom- lggmenn, lagamaSr, logma&r, M'Laomuinn. aS -adh-, (ao)- vaSill, fadhail (faodhail) ; variants of which are feadhail (Watson, p. 260; cf. An Fheodhail, ib. 237). Beinn a bh-fadhla (bhaoghla), Benbecula. 6 a morg, marag ; orn, Arnish, 1 eagle-ness ' ; stoS, ' harbour,' Stathinnis. Strond, Strond, Strannda. Rognvald, Raull. o mol, gen. malar, 'pebbles on the beach,' G. mot, also mat, mul, 'a shingly beach.' Orfiris-ey, Orasa, 'Oransay'; stoS, Port a Stoth, * port of the harbour.' ey e ey-land, Mean, 'island': Eacleit, ey-klettr, ' island cliff.' eyrar-staSr, ' beach-stead,' Eirasta. eyrar-a, 1 beach river,' Eirera. eyrar-boer, 'beach toun,' Edrrabaidh. stremyr + nes, Stremnis, ' stream-ness ' (Islay). e, e eyrr-bol, G. eiribol, Erribol, 'gravel-beach stead'; eyri-skiki, 'gravel-beach strip,' Poll eirisgeig (also aorisgaig : Watson) ; cf. Kinsal- eyre (Skye). reyrr-vik, ' reed-bay,' Reraig (Lochalsh). eu [from ey + fj] ey-fjor5r, Euord, ' isle-firth ' (transferred from the firth to the island): ey-fjall, Euval ey-fjorSr, Euport (Watson), u Eysteinn (Oistin), Huisduinn, ' Hugh/ but Dun Aisteann (Lewis). reynis-staSr, 'rowan-town,' Beinn Runastaidh, ' Rowantonhill ' (MacNeill's New Guide to Islay, p. 116). ai (in finals) : Ve-ey, Fuidhai(dh), ' house-isle ' : other spellings, Bywa, Buya, Wiay. ao reyni-vatn, ' rowan-water ' Raoinavat (Lewis). dreyr-vik, ' blood-bay,' Draoraig (Applecross : Watson, p. 280). reynis-a, 'rowan-water,' Loch Raonasa (Loch Ranza) ; reykr, 'reek,' Raoiceadal. 354 GADHELIC SOUNDS IN Norse. Gadhelic. Reynir is common in Icelandic names : small rowan groves existed there at the time of the Settlement ; the rowan was sacred to Thor. Eynort, Acfneart^ ' Eyvind's fjord.' eyrr-in, ' the beach ' (with suffixed article feminine) ; dative, eyri-inni, G. aorunn, 1 level land by the sea ' (Cintire) ; aoireann (Tarbert). 1 ei ao Stein-brekka, 'stony slope, 5 Staonibrig (Eng- lished Stony bridge!); stein-setr, 'stony shieling,' Loch Staonsaid. seiSr, saoidhean : Eiriks-ey, Ao l risga. 1 In Iceland eyrr is a noun feminine with an r in the inflexion and a charac- teristic i, which has caused a vowel change and appears in the dative and accusative singular. The modern form is eyri; genitive eyrar, dat. and acc. eyri : eyrar-sund, the Sound ; Helsingja-eyrr, Elsinore : Danish ore, Swedish dr. The change from r to / in the northern Gadhelic gives aoileann, with prosthetic f, faoileann ; hence, e.g. 's an Fhaoilinn, 'in Lochinver.' That at the Argyllshire places with this name there were ferries is true, but it is a secondary meaning, the primary sense being ' the beach. ' This is the right derivation, not that on page 142. A meeting held on such gravelly beaches was called eyrar-]>ing, as at Drondheim (Niftaros), on the gravelly bank of the river Nid. And since on the Dornoch Firth there are such Norse names as gisnar-brygga, 1 leaky bridge, 'the Gizzen Briggs'; Meikle ferry (N. mikil) ; Whiteness (hvitr-ness) ; Balna- gall, 'Norsemen's toun'; Plaids ; 'the flats,' N. Jiatr (the s being from the English plural form and later), I am disposed to conjecture that the name Tain, Tene (1227), represents a reminiscence of the N. eyrar-^ing. Owing to the lighter stress in this position \ing could result in ten, and not in Tin as in Tmwald, etc. This seems strengthened by the existence of another Tain near the head of Dunnet Bay. For the vowel e in the old spelling cf. N. timbr, G. Teamradal, 'timber-dale.' We have here to do with a case of retaining the most memorable part of the compound, which has not at all been pre- served in Gadhelic, which loss leaves us short of scientific certainty. From ecclesiastical influence the place was named after St. Duthuc {Baile Dku'aich) by the Gadhelic people to whom naturally, whether living near the spot or at a distance, the association with the saint was uppermost. I need scarcely add that Morrich more, the large 'sea-plain' to the east, has been utilised foi meetings of the military in recent times. Certain flat coffin-stones in the Tain burying ground are reputed to resemble some similar ones in Norway. As they have no inscription no stress can be laid on these of which I possess good photographs through the kindness of the Rev. R. L. Ritchie, Creich. Were Tain of Pictish origin Gadhelic would have kept the word most probably, as it did Inbhir Pheofharan, ' Dingwall.' LOAN-WORDS FROM NORSE 355 Norse. Gadhelic. ei5 (Ey), aoidh (uidh), q.v. : Geit, ' goat ' : Gaotabheinn, 'Goat Fell.' rood, rdobag (q.v.), founded on N. reip(?); Leir-in, ' the mud ' ; Laoirin (Islay). ei steinns-a, Steinsha, Steinsay (q.v.). breiS-vatn, Breidhvat, 'broad loch or water'; Breasdet, breiS-ass-klettr, ' broad-ridge cliff ' \ Breaclet breiS-klettr, ' broad cliff.' beit, ' pasture land,' Beid-ic, ' pasture bay ' (Lewis) (Watson, 264). e eiki-skiki, 'oak-strip,' Coille-iagascaig (ib. 235). meiss ; meis (i.e. me l s) ; Eiriks-ey, E l risga, Eriskay (also with ao). e Ieiri-b61sta5r, 'mud-stead,' Leirable (Kildonan); Leurbost, Lewis, i, i keila ; cilean, cilig (q.v.) ; Geisagil, Gisgil. io(?) bleikja: bliong. a a staf(r)-in, 1 the Staff,' Staffin (Skye) j hamli, amall ; bastl, basda/, turmoil, gaiety, haf, tabh\ skalkr, sgalag. bakki, bac; hlaS-hamarr-vik, Lamrig. stanga, stangaram ; knapi, cnapach. hall, holl, t-halla, talla. skarfa, sgarbh\ skata, sgait. o at, hesta-at, -att, oda, odaidh (q.v.). cf. gat, G6t (Watson, 45) ; Gott Bay (?). e(?) kaggi, 'round mass,' keg, 'corpulent man or animal,' G. ceig, 'a mass of shag, clot,' ceigeiuy ' a tuft, a fat man ' (MacBain). u(?) Bjarni, M'Burney. a a armaSr, armunn; skari, sgdireag\ bla, 'blue,' Bid vein, 1 blue-fell.' hafr, db/i, tdbh ; ra-ness, Rdnish. sparri, sparr; gas, Gdsacleit, 'goose-cliff.' a Asketill, Tasgill, MacAskill. -aga- agh-, (ao) laga-vollr, ' law-field,' Beinn Laghal, Ben (-aya-, -aia-), Loyal ; Laiaval, Layaval (Uist), of like mean- ing. The short d sound in the G. is against z 2 356 GADHELIC SOUNDS IN Norse. Gadhelic. the suggestion of taking the word from N. leiS-fjall, ' levy or slogan hill.' For treatment cf. Baghasdal, Boisdale, v. -ugi- under -g-. o o ]?orketill, Torcull; Ma.cCorcada.le. J>ormo5r, Tormod. hross-ey, 1 horse-isle/ Rosaidh. okar, okr, ocar, 'interest on capital.' GoSormr, M&cCodrum. klof, clobha. b(?) krokr, crbcan. u brok, 'bad black grass,' bmga, brugan, 'rough mossy ground ' (Lewis), a torf, tarp ; bolli, ballan. (Here also the unclear a for o in unstressed syllables: Eira^z/, as well as Eiri&?/, Erribol.) Orkbol, Arboll 1 (Watson, 47), ' seal-stead.' 6 b brokr, brbg: hrokr, rbcas. hop, 6b : oss, bs (short in unstress, Ar-ds). a spola, spal : {cf Olafr, E. Irish Alaib, whereas N. Anlaf becomes Amldib). u skj61i, sgulan : Romundr (of which there was a side form with u t however), Manx Rumun, Mac Cruimein ; ofreska, iiruisg (q.v.): re fr here cf. Globhur, Gluair referred to under -ju- ; cf. clobha, N. klof, where in G. the bh drops out, and yields (clo u ). u u Ulfs-ey, Ulbha, Ulva, ' Wolf's or Ulf's isle.' Uspakr, NLa,cUsbaig (Scalpa) ; -Asbaig (a side form). hund, 1 hound,' Hundagro, ' dogs' stream ' (Watson, 268). kuml, 'cairn, burial mound,' — itself a loan in Norse from L. cumulus, — G. Traigh Chumil, 'beach of the cairn' (ib. 269). urS, 'aheap of stones'; unS-vik, Loch Urradhag. {Ourahag), 'the bay of the heap of stones 1 N. erg, aerg, itself a Norse loan from O.G. airge, 'shieling,' has been suggested for the Ar in Arboll, hence 'shieling-stead.' LOAN-WORDS FROM NORSE 357 Norse. Gadhelic. near Arnol' (ib. 271); funa, fuine, 'bake' (Zimmer). u' bugr, G. buigeir (q.v.). o SumarliSi, Somhairle, Somerled, M'Sorley. Knut-fj6r5, Cnoideart, Knoydart. Sturli-mos, Strolamus, 'Sturli's moss,' as Mac- Bain suggested; hlunnr, lonn (as well as lunn, lund). hrukka, roc (MacCodrum's Oran na h-Aoise). Truiseil) N. ]?urs-v6llr, 1 giant-field,' or 1 land of the giant(-stone) ' — the right derivation ; it accounts for G. t, and cancels that suggested on p. 78 ; for metathesis cf. trosg, J?orskr. u u hrutr, ruta ; hrugi, rughan ; skum, sgum, foam. UtreiS, iitraid ; skruf, sgruan. sdla, sulaire ; hus, Hiisabost, 1 house-stead.' u The vowel quantity is shortened in fulmair; udabac (but also udabac) ; Gunna, Gilnn- (bjorn ?). a falmair, a side form of fulmair. ua, 6 ua briandi, boandi, bondi, buanna ; buanaidh, ' a bully' (Rob Donn) ; cf. MacCodrum, who uses it for a ' paid soldier, rough fellow ' : Nis o'n 's buanna ro dhaor thu Tha ri buaireadh nan daoine Dol mu'n cuairt air an t-saoghal Chum na dh'fhaodas tu 'ghoid. Caraid is Namhaid an Uisge Bheatha. INDEX. Aberfeldy, 83. abh, 121. abhsadh, 138, 255. abhsporag, 113. Abhuin, 180. A 5 Chulla, 332. acair, 138, 255. acarsaid, 138. Acha-forsa, 159. Adamnan, 2, 6, 14. Adamnan's Vision, 68. Aedan, 6. Aegir, 100. Affric, 5 n. aibhist, 113. -aig, 192. Aignish, 186. Aile cluithe, 15. ailm, failm, 255. Airigh, 164. Airigh Ghuthairigh, 196. airinn, 113. Airnemul, 170. aisileag, 123. aiteal, 204. Alap, 50. ale, 122. Alcaig, 152. Allagharai, 348. Allagro, 348. Alloway, 162. Allt na Gile, 174. Altanis, 346. amall, 117. Amat, 154. Am Bru, 177. amhus, 127. Amlaiph, 22. Am Monach Mor, 2411. An Caoineadh Magaidh, 284. An Carbh, 157. An Cnap, 193. An Fhadhill, An Fhaodhaill, 193. An t-Halach, 148. Anderson, Dr. J., 46. Angus the Mormaer, 23. Angus Mor, 43. Anlaf, son of Sitriuc, 25. Anlaf, 50. Annals of Clonmacnois, 9. Annals of Tigernach, 55. Annals of Ulster, 9, 11. Annandale, 151. aoireann, aorunn, 140, 354. Ao'risg, 79. AoVisga, 176 m Aoismheal, 183. Appleby, 166. Arailt, 17. Arboll, 356. Ard-heslaig, 136, 158. Ardnahoe, 200. Ardtornis, 159. Ari Frodi, 8. Arisaig, Arosaig, 159. Arkle, 165. Armadale, 188. armunn, 135. Arnaval, 189. Arnimul, 179. Arnisdale, 158. Arnish, 186, 189. Aros, 189, 194. Arscaig, 154, 200. arspag, 122. Artbranan, 11. -ary, 191. asaileag, assilag, 123. Ascog, 200. INDEX 359 Aspuig, 57. Asabus, 197. Assary, 165. Assynt, 156. Attadale, 343. Aud, 16. Aulavaig, 189. Avenlussa, 195. Avik, 171. Ayr, 162. bac, 118, 138. Bacavat, 171. Back, 185. Backies, 154. bailc, 205, 255. bairlinn, 142, 256. Balfour, 151. ballan, 119, 205. ballart, 214. Balulve, 197. Bannerman, W., 23. barp, 205. Barra, 176. basdal, 355. Bayble, 172. Bearraraig, 189. Bede, 2. Beirbhe, 278. Beidic, 355. beit,_2c>5. Ben Armin, Ben Armunn, 135, 156. Ben Auskard, 157. Benbecula, 137, 173. Ben Hope, 155. Ben Lee, 173. Benlister, 204. Ben Loyal, 157. Ben Sgrithill, 158. Beinn Smeorail, 157. Ben Stack, 156. Beinn Tealla, 192. Beinn Thuncairidh, 192. Beothail, 64. Beowulf, 4. Berisay, 176. Berneray, 186. Biggarts, 162. Bigholm, 162. biogaran, 205. biorsmaid, 133. biota, 119. Bjorn, 18. Birkisco, 189. birlinn, 138, 256. Birsay, 32. Bisset, 62. Blaithmac, 13. blanndaidh, 214. Blar Leana, 1 50. Blavein, 189, 355. bleaghan, 214. bliong, 121, 205. Blith-bhal, 174. blog, 206. bodha, 137, 143. Boisdale, 344. Bolsay, 199. Book of Deer, 23. Book of Kells, 14. Boraig (N. Borgvik\ 192. Boranis, 135. Borera, 183. Boreray, 135, 176. Borve, 135. bot, 206. Bracadal, 187. Braebost, 188. Brae-langwell, 153. Brahunisary, 196. Brataig, 343. Breaclet, 191. Breadhaig, 204. Breasclet, 191. Breivat, 345. Bremner, 62. Brian, 21. Brimmald, 264. brisgein, 214. Brodick, 194, 204. Brodhaig, 204. brog, 116. Brora, 154. Brude, 6. Brue, 172. bruga, 206. Bruic, Bruga, Briuig, 143,. bruith, 114. Brunanburgh, 162 n. buanaidh, buanna, 118. bugaire, 124. Bugge, 3, 4, 12. Bugge, Professor, 146 n. buigeir, 124. Bunivochil, 129. bunnsaidh, 206. Burg, 192. Burns wark, 162. -bus, 197. 360 INDEX buta, 113. -by, 154. Cadboll, 153. Caithness, 154. Calascaig, 158. Calda, 154. Caldbost, 172. callaidh, 207. Callarnis, 76. calpa, 133, 165, 256. Calva, 130, 176, 192. Camas Thairbairnish, 148. Camus Fridaig, 47. Camus Thorsta, 47. Cannach, 207. caoile-pianan, 142. Capadal, 342. carbh, 138. carbhair, 143. carbhanach, 214. Carbost, 188. Carioway, 162, 185. Carmichael, Dr., 45. Carrabus, 198. Carruthers, 202. Carswell, 36 n. Castle Gylen, 175. Catacol, 203. Cattadale, 195. Causamul, 332. Cealabost, 188. Cealasaidh, 176. Ceallach, 18. ceigeach, ceigein, 257. ceigein, 105. Ceoldale, 153. cedsanaich, 143, 256. Charlemagne, 15. Chester, 21. Chisholm, 62. Christison, Sir R., 48. Chronicle of Man, 32, 33. Chronicles of Huntingdon, 14. Chronicle of Melrose, 28. Chronicon Scotorum, 12. cil, 332. cileadair, 133. cilean, cilig, 121. Circnis, 193. Clsamul, 170 cisean, 1 14. Clach Rurig, 48. Cladh an Easbuig Eraild, 54. Clan Iver, Account of, 56, 52 n. claomach, 207. claomaire, 207. Cleibisgeir, 342. Clet, Cleit, 179, 203. Cleitshal, 172. Cliof, 348. Clisgro, 346. clobha, 113. Clontarf, 17, 29. Clouston, 163. Cnag, 138. Cnap, 138, 192, 256. cnapach, 1 14, 207. Cnoc a Mhoid, 135. Cnoc Bhreanabuis, 198. Cnoc Eothail, 304. cnuta, 207. Coilabus, Coulabus, 198. Coille-eagascaig, 99, 136. Coinne, 214. coit, 139. Coll, 173. Colonsay, 173, 193. Columba, St., 6, 14, 15. Comgall, 11. Conisby, 197. Constantine, 17. Cop-na-hoe, 190. Cormac, 6. Cornabus, 193, 198. Cornaig, 193. Cors, 345. corrs, 152. Cracabhal, 172. Cracaig, 189. Cragabus, 198. Craig Chuilebhrat, 332. Craigie, Dr., 20, 21, 106. Craignish, 160. Crann-taraidh, 96. crasta, 208 Creed, 171. creigeir, 214. crkpaild, 109. Crinan, Abbot, 24. Crinan, 28. crocan, 113. crois-tair, crois-tara, 97. Crossbost, 345. Crosspool, 153, 193. Cross wall, Croswell, 166. cudainn, 119. cui, 179. Cuidha-seadar, 197. Cuigse, 257. INDEX 36i cuile, 332. culaidh, 139. Culbo, 152. Culdees, 151. Cumbre, 202. cus cus, 114. Cyderhall, 154. dail, 214. dais, 206. -dale, 192, 202. dam, 208. Damsey, 194. davoch, 131. Dee, 5 n. Diarmat, Abbot, 15. Dibaig, 158. Dicuil, 7. Dig, Digg, 351. Dingwall, 135. dirid, 124. Diura, 176. Diurinish, 188. Docha'fuir, 131. Dochfour, 151. Don, 5n. Donald, 17. Donald Ban, 29. Donnan, 1 1. dorgha, 121. Dornadilla, 153. Draoraig, 353. dreag, driug, 105. dreollan, 143. dreolan, 215. drilleachan, 128. driog, 113. drogha, 121. droinip, 143, 256. drub, 215. Drumrafn, 314. Drum Hallastein, 347. Dub-gall, 15, 54, 55. Dubhat, 332. ducach, 208. Dudil, 195. Duigearaidh, 332. Duirinish, v. Diurinish. duiseal, 208. Dunbarton, 15, 22. Dun Bhoreraig, 195. Dun-bhuirgh, 135. Dun Chroisbrig, 196. Dun Dornagil, 153. Dun Eistinn, 353. Duncan, King, 25. Dungaftr, 28. Dunolly, 1 44. Dunrobin, 314. DunstafTnage, 160. Dun'tamhnachan, 155. Duntuilm, 170, 190. Dunvegan, 191. durga, 215. Ealabus, 197. ealla, iolla, 208. Earabhic, 171. Earl Orm, 25. Earl Gilli, 38. Earl Rognvald, 26. Earl Thorfinn, 27. Earshader, 171. Easdale, 188. easgann, 169. Eckil, 55. Edda, 42. Eggerness, 162. Egilsay, 6. Eigg, 11, 46. Eignaig, 159. eilean, 176, 215, 256. Eilean Heast, 188. eileanachadh, 209. Eirebal, 65. Eirera, 186. Eirigil, 153. Eist, 188. Ella, 54. Ellisetr, 195. Elrifrica, 37. Embo, 153. Enchegal, 1 n. Ensay, 192. Eolasairigh, 177. Eorabus, 198. Eoropie, 186. Eothail, 304. Eresaid, 195. erg, v. Airigh. Eriska, 63, 159, 176. Erisolt, 172. Erradale, 158. Erragon, 275. Ershader, 343. Eskdale, 136, 152. A pre-Norse word : Dun Ollaig, v. Reeves's Adamnan, p. 180. 362 INDEX Euort, Euport, 353. Euval, 353. Exe, 169. -ey, 192. Eye, 138, 185. Eynort, 354. Eyrr, 155. fadhaid, 209. fadhail, 137, 353. Fairlie, 162. falc, 122. falmadair, 256. falmair, 124. Fallside, 135. Faoileann, 141, 354. Faolin Ferry, 199. Faroes, 8, 162. farradh, 144. farspach, farspag, fairspreig, 122. fartan, 209. fasgadar, 125. Fath flth, 74. Fearchar Lighich, 90. Fell, 167. feoirling, 133. Feorishader, 348. Feolann, 140. Feorline, 203. Fergus, 37. Fiabhaig, 348. fidean, Fidden, 170. fidi-gearraidh, 170. fidi-geodha, 170. fine, 114. Fingal, 36. Fiskavaig, 189. fiulpande, fiullande, 146. -f jail, 198. flagais, 144. Flateyjarbok, 32. Fladda, Flodday, 176. flathadh, 144. Float, 166. Floddigarry, 190. Foill, 173, 193. fblaibh, 144. Forsinain, 159. Forsinard, 159. Forsnavat, 345. Foula, 177. Fraser, 62. Frith, 72. Fuiday, 42, 177. Fuidhaidh, 177. fuine, 114. Fulasgeir, 345. fulmair, 124. fulmar, 125. fulocht, 115. fulpanta, 145. gadhar, 130. gairm scoile, 98. Galbraith, 60. GalgeSSlar, 18, 32. Gallaibh, 154. Gall-Gaidheal, 18. Gallie, 60. Gallienus, 3911. Galloway, 14, 32. Gait, 59. Galtway, 166. Galweidia, 18. Gaoilein, Gao'Pin, v. Castle Gylen, 174, 345. Gaotabheinn, 355. garadh, 215. Garefowl, 129 n. -garry, 190. Garwoling, 131. Gasacleit, 355. Gategill, 168. Gauld, 59. geadas, 121, 331. gearraidh, 117, 190, 331. Gearra-heilgh, 331. Geidhesgire, 198. geil, 175- geinn, 119. geo, geodha, 179, 199. geobhlaich, geoillaich, 209. geola, 139. Gigha, 63, 177. Gil, 63, 153. Gilhow, 168. Gill-Adomnain, 37, 38. Gille Brlghde, 37, 58. Gillen, Gilen, 174. Gilsay, 177. Gil Water, 161. gingach, 209. Giol, 198. Gisgil, 153. Gizzen Bnggs, 354. glamair, 119. glamhadh, 209. Gleann Choiredail, 195. Glen Aros, 192. Glenastle, 195. INDEX 363 Gleneigedale, 195. Glen Forsa, 192. Glen Osamail, 196. Globhuir, 348, 350. glomach, 209. Gluip, 171, 210. gnioba, 210. gniobunn, gnibunn, 122. gnob, 210. Goat-fell, 131, 204. gocaireachd, 210. gocaman, 134. Godred Crovan, 33, 43, 197. Gofraidh, 38. Gofraig, son of Aralt, 16. Golspie, 154. Gometra, 177. Gonnamul, 179. Goraidh, 50. Gorman, 11. Got nan Cat, 173. Gott Bay, 173, 193- Goudie, G., 6. Gourock, 161, 199, 332. Goylir, 128. Grafand, 76. Grant, 62. Grastle, 195. Greenock, 161. Greineal, 199. Greis, 171. Grennan, 166. Greshornish, 189. Grianaig, 199. Gride (Creed), G. A } Ghrfd, 171, 186. Grimisay, 177. Grimshader, 344. Grinnabhal, 186. Griosamul, 172. Groa, 177. Grosavat, 352. Gruinard, 158. Gruinnart, 166, 196. guga, -ichean, 130. gugairneach, 130. gulond, 129. Gunn, 54. Gurraig, 332. Giiterbock, Dr., 9. Guthleif, Guthleik, 41. GySja, 84. 1 About 1202 Norse records speak of ' Island, i. 613. Habost, 172. Haco, 39. haf, 137. Haitsean, 54. Hale (Haugh), 149. Halmadairigh, 70. Handa, 178. Harald Hair-Fair, 16. Harie, Na h-earradh, v. Harris. Harris, 185. Harrow, 164. Haversay, 130, 178. Hecla, 179. Heilibost, 331. Heist, 179. Heistam, 188. hele (O. Ir.), 209. Hell, 68, 69. Hellaval, 189. Hellisay, 178. Helmsdale, 153. Hermetray, 179. Hersey, 202. Hestam, 170. Hestaval, 130, 186. Hirta, 183 m 1 Holsta, 333. Horneval, 189. Horogh, 79. Howe, 198. Howmore, 200. Hoy Head, v. Soay, 177. Huisdean, 54. Hundagro, 356. Hunish, 189, Hunterston Brooch, 44. Husabost, 188. Hyde, D., 85, 97. Hylipol, 193. larl, 134. Iceland, 8, 16. Icolmkill, 13. Inchiguile, 168. Inchmarnock, 41. Ingemund, 33. Ingibiorg, 25. Ingvarr, 18. Inis-Padraig, 10. Innse-Gall, 1, 16, 59. Inverasdale, 136. Inversannda, 159. "the islands that are called Hirtir," Orig. 3^4 INDEX iola, 101, 146. Iola, 85. Iona, 14, 42. I say, 179. isbean, 215. I slay, 179, 194. Isle of Man, 18. -isp, 179. Ivor, 15. Iubhard, 171. Jakobsen, 6n., 12. Jura, v. Diura. Jurby, 197. Karl Hundason, 28. Keating, 62. Keldur, 182. Kelly, 176. Kensaleyre, 190. Keose, 172. Keppols, 199. Kerrera, 175. Kershader, 343. Ketil Flatneb, 16, 19, 21. Kilbar, 45. Killegray, 176. Killerivagh, 332. Kiloran, 42. King Karl, 30. Kinnabus, 197. Kinsaleyre, 162. Kirby, 197. Kiriwick, 352. Kirkaig, 171. Kirkapol, 192. Kirkibol, 153, 188. Kirkjubae, 21. Knapdale, 173. Kneep, 172. Knoydart, 159. Koidale, 196. Kylestrom, 158. Kynagarry, 196. Laamar, 137. Lacasdle, 186. Lacsabhat, 172. Lagman, 33. lagraid, 147. Laiaval, 157. laidul, 147. Laimshader, 172, 186. Lamalum, 170. Lamarigeo, 179. lamh, lamhaidh, 126. Lamlash, 202. Lamont, 51, 136. laimhrig, lamraig, 101, 137. Lampay, 189. Landn£ma-bok, 5, 21. langhadal, 147. Langill, 200. Langwell, 154. lanndaidh, 149. lanntair, 149. laoch, 135. Laogin, 196. Laoirin, 197. laom, 215. Laphroaig, 194. Larg Fell, 168. Largs, 39. Laxa, 171. Laxay, 186. Laxdale Saga, 16, 17. Laxford, 195. Lay of Manus, 36. Leacainn, 197. Lee, 173. Leffen, 131. Leidil, Liodail, 173, 192. Leirable, 355. Leodamus, 196. leog, leoig, 210. Lephenstrath, 131, 133. Lerwick, 197. Leurbost, 355. Lewis, 19, 51. Lianacui, 179. Lianamul, 179. Librig, 193. Liddisdale, 158, 159. Lingay, 179. Linshader, 343. Linside, 135, 162. -lip, 179. Liuravaig, 189. LjoShus, 184. Lobban, 120. lobht, 215. locair, 119. Loch Ainort, 190. Loch Ascog, 199. Loch Drolsey, 194. Loch Eishort, 190. Loch Erribol, 155. Loch Eynort, 190. Loch Friosa, 192. Loch Hamasord, 349. INDEX 365 Loch Harport, 190. Loch Hope, 155. Loch Inchard, 156. Loch Langabhat, 186. Loch Langadail, 195. Loch Laxford, 156. Loch Ranza (G. Raonasa), 136, 203. Loch Restill, 161. Loch Sholam, 196. Loch Stockinish, 186. Loch Stornoway, 160. Loch Thartabhat, 350. Loch Thorranis, 331. Lochlan, 21. Lochy, 5 n. logaidh, 210. lonn, 119. lopan, 118, 119. Lossie, 196. Lothlend, 9. luim, 147. Lulach, 33. Lunga, Lungay, 179. lunnan, 120. Lurabus, 197. Lusard, 195. MacAlpin, K., 14, 17, 22. MacAndy, 55. Mac-Askill, 53. MacAulay, 50. Mac-Beth, 25, 28, 29. M'Burney, 18, 58. MacChuthais, 57. M'Clymont, 51. MacCodrum, 53, 96, 260. MacCorquodale, 53. MacCruimein, 53. M'Cure, 18, 58. Macdonald's Birlinn, Latin Loan- Words in, 258. Macdonald's Birlinn, English or L. Scots Loan-Words in, 259. M'Dougall, 1 Allan, 44. M'Dougall, t8. M'Dowell, 18. M'Eur, 18, 58. M'lver, 52. Maciver-Campbell, P., 89. Mackellar, D., 68. M'Ketterick, 18. M'Killaig, 18. Mackinnon, Lachlan, 1. M'Laomuinn, 51. M'Lauchlan, MacLochlainn, 54. Macleod, Mary, 56. Macleod, 49. Maclennan, 59. MacMathghamhuin, MacMath- ghamhna, 18. M'Nicol, 52. MacRaild, 54. MacRaing, 60. M'Siridh, 57. Mac Swan, 56. MacSween, 56. MacUis, 57. M'Varish, 52 n. M'Venish, M'Vanish, 52. MacWilliam, 29. Maeldoid, 59. Magnus, King, 26. Magnus Barelegs, 33, 36, 51. Magnus MacArailt, 17. Malcolm II., 24, 29. Malcolm, King, 23. Malcolm III., 25. Manish, 186, 189. mantul, 116. Manus, 277. Manx Crosses, 43. Marag, 113. Marishader, 189. mart, 109. Martin, 42. Marwick, 62, 171. Masgeir, 171. Masson, 63. matal, 116. Maxwell, Sir H., 109. Mealasbhal, 172. Mealasta, 346. meilearach, 215. meirghe, 116. meis, 115. l The Clan Dougall regarded the Raven as their Clan Bird, as being in some sense their own. The Rev. James MacDougall, in writing of the Raven, the Clan Dougall Bird, says : "We must look for the origin of the Clan's strange attachment to this bird not to the tales of the Gadhelic race, but to the wild mythology of the ancient Scandinavians." (v. The Lorn Galley, pp. 18-20, published by MacDougall & Son, 21-23 North Street, Sheffield, 1909.) 366 INDEX Melbost, 172. Melfort, 155, 160. Melness, 155. Melvich, 155. Menzies, 62. Merkland, 133. Merseburg charm, 71. Miasaid, 347. Miaval, 349. Migirnes, 194. millteach, 215. Mimheall, 349. Minginish, 187. Mingulay, 179. Mircavat, 352. Mircol, 352. Mod, 135. Moddan, 29. mog, 134. Moidart, G. ('Mridarf) ' Mundi's fjord? 5 153, 156. Molagro, 348. Mugstad, 188. Muireartach, 277. -mul, 170, 332. Mull, 169, 192. Munch, 32. Mungarsta, 346. Mungastle, 158, 159. Musal, 154. Myles, 59. Mylsk, 52. Myrkvifjord, 27. n^buidh, 211. Napier, J., 4. Need-fire, 87. Neidalt, 172. Neidelan, 172. Nerabus, 198. Nereby, 197. Nicolas, 52. Nicolson, 52. Nithsdale,"i5i. Nogi, 84. Nomhasburgh, 197. Norse temple, 67. Oa, 198. 6b, 215. Obair-pheallaidh, 83. Oban, 155. Obbe, 155, 186. Obisary, 165, 191. ocar, 133. Oda, Otta, Odaidh, 74, 262. O'Donovan, J., 9. oglachd, 256. Oidhche Ghlanadh Nan Cas, 4. Oisgill, 189. Oistin, son of Olave, 15. Olaf the White, 17, 22, 24. Olaf Cuaran, 25. Olave, 15. Olave Bitling, 37. Oldshore, 161. Olgharra, 56. Openham, 158. Opinan, 155. Oransay, 159. Orasa, 'Oransay,' 190, 193. Orbost, 346. Orcades, 6. Oreval, 189. Orfir, 180. Orkneyinga Saga, 25, 27, 28. Ormadale, 161. Ormidale, 39 n. Ormsary, 160. Orphir, 138. Orrbost, 188. 6s, 215. Osdal, 189. Ose, 189. Ostaig, 189. Oterveaul, 183. Overscaig, 351. Oykel, 28, 56, 154. Pabaill, 172. Pabbay, 180. Papa Stoor, 6. Papabyli, Papyli, 6. Papae, Papar, 5, 8, 21. Parbh, 157. Hvarf. 1 peighinn, 133, 203. Penninghame, 133. Pennyghael, 132. Pennygown, 132. Penrioch, 204. Pentland Firth, 2. Persabus, 198. Physgill, 163. Picts, 22. 1 Hvarf, 'turning point,' occurs several times in Icelandic names of capes, and is used for Cape Farewell, Greenland. INDEX 367 piocach, 115, 211. Pinminnoch, 168. Pinwherry, 168. Pladda, 203. pliad, 215. plod, 332. Poll a Ghluip, 180. Portaskaig, 198. Portuig, 195. pramh, prlam, 215. Proaig, 194, 204. Piiitic, 157. put, 211. Putharol, 344. Quheyin, 190. Quinish, 190. Quirang, 61, 190. Quishader, 186, 190. Raasay, 130, 180. rabhann, rafan, 315, 332. rachdan, 256. Rachryn, 9. Raghnall, Raonull, Ra'ull, 51, 256. Ragnall, son of Godred, 17. Ra'hoy, 200. Ramasaig, 189. Ranish, 130. Rankine, 61. rannsaich, 216. raob, raobag, 117. Raoicedal, 353. Raoinabhat, 353. Raonuid, Raonuilt, 51. Rarnish, 180. Rath-, 200. Rathlinn, 9. reang, rang, 139. Reef, 172. Reeves, 1 1 n, 62. Reginald, 51. reidhne, 211. Reraig, 353. Restill, 161. Rhenogenos, 5 n. Rhifouir, 151. Ribigill, 352. Rigg» 352. Ringan, St., 6. Riof, 348. Risabus, 197. Risay, 180. Rispin, 166. risteal, 117. Ristol 352. Robbanis, 348. Rocabi, 85. roc, 211. roc, 216. rocas, 122. rochal, 21 1. Rodel, 186. Roinebhal, 172, 186. Roineval, 189. roiseal, 216. Roishader, 190. Roisnish, 172, 186. Rokabarra, 182. romag, 115. Rona, 180, 189. Rosaidh, 130, 180, 186. Rosnavat, 345. Rossal, 192. rotach, 147. rotaidh, 211. Rothesay, 63, 201. rucan, 351. Rudha na Circe, 171. rug, 216. rughan, ruthan, 118. Rusdal, 350. rustall, 211. ruta, 130. Saddell, 160. saidh, saidhean, 121. Saligo, 199. Sanaigmore, 195. Sanda, 160. Sandaig, 159. Sandray, 180. Sandside, 155, 162. Sandwood, 155. Sannox, 204. saoidhean, 121. Saorbheinn, 132. Satiri, 27, 160. scalla, sgalla, 216. Scalpa, 180. Scalpsie, 201. Scarabhat, 172, 186. Scarba, 181. Scarinish, 193. Scarista, 186, 193. Scarrabus, 198. Scatwell, 133, 152. Schaffhausen, 14. Schetelig, H., 47. -sco, 189. 368 INDEX Scotia, 24, 27. Scourie, 154, 189. Scoval, 189. Scrabster, 155. screab, sgreab, 332. Sea-Farer, 3. Seaforth, 186. Seal in legend, 263. Sealtuinn, 347. Seil, 160. Seilibhig, 172, 186. seis, 212. -setr, 135. sgaig, 211. sgailc, 216. sgaireag, 122. sgait, 121. sgalag, 117. sgalain, 133. sgalan, 211. Sgalasaig, 194. sgall, 211. sgallais, 211. sgarbh, 122, 129. sgeigeach, 216. sgeir, 216. Sgeir nan Gall, 168. sgeod, 332. Sgianailt, 344. sgileag, sgilig, 117. sgioba, sgiobair, 216, 256. Sgiobanish, 194. Sgiogarsta, 344. sgionnas, 212. sgiot, 212. sgithiol, 212. sglumach, 212. sgod, 216, 256, 332. Sgoghairigh (Scourie), 141. sgol, sgoladh, 113. sgor, 120. sgor, 148. Sgoraig, 158. sgoth, 139. sgreag, 216. sgridhinn, 216. sgriodan, 216. sgroill, 217. sgru'an, 117. sguan, 212. sguig, sguich, 212. sguil, 120. sguilear, 212. sguirean, 212. sguit, 257. Sgulamus, 348. sgulan, 120. sgum, 357. -shader, 343. Shawbost, 186. Shieldaig, 158. Shona, 181. Shony, 101. Shulisheder, 156. Shuna, 159, 181. Shureval, 189. Sigtrygg, l8 - Sigurd, 17, 29, 95. Sigurd the Stout, 39. Sildam, 172. Slldinish, 172. siobhag, siofag, 332. siola, 117. siolag, 121. sioman, siaman, 117. Sionabhat, 'Sin or Shin Water,' 155- sionn, sionnachan, 142. Sitriucc, 146. siurra, 147. Skaftigill, 203. Skelbo, 153. Skene, 40, 41, passim. Skiary, 153. Sklbo, 153. Skipa, 198 n. Skipafjord, 27. Skipness, 160. Skotlandsfjord, 2. Skye, 52, 187. slabhcar, 212. slapach, 217. Sleat, 36 n, 172, 191. sloe, 147. Slumba, 352. Smalaig, 195. Small-holm, 163. Smiuthaig, 158. smog, 217. Smoo, 158. Snlzort, 188. Soa, Soay, Soay, 130, 181, 189. Soalum, 179. Soarary, 191. sod, 217. Sodar, Sodor, 'the Southern isles, 5 19, 163. Solmund, 39. Solway, 167. Somerled, 37. INDEX 369 Somhairle, 52. Sorag, 83. Sorbie, 160. Soroba, 160. Soval, 172, 348. spadair, 217. spain, 113. spairn, 217. spal, 120. sparr, 120. sparraig, 256. spealg, 217. speic, spic, 120, 217. spiris, 217. spitheag, 217. spor, 217. sprangach, 213. spriod, 213. sprogail, 213. sproig, 217. sraid, straid, 217. St. Kilda, 44, 151. -sta, 333. stac, 217. stacach, 333. Stack-an-Armuinn, 183. Stack Lii, 183. Stacsavat, 196. StafTa, 160. Staffin, 143, 188. stagh, 139, 256. stailinn, 218. staing, 118, 218. stalla, 218. Stallir, 184. Stall-phosda, 78. stamhnaich, 213. 1 stangaram, 121. staoig, 218. Staonibrig, 354. Staonsaid, 135, 354. stapluich, 148. stapluinn, 257. starcach, 333. starrach, 148, 213. stearnal, 127. Stefdnnsson, Dr., 19. ste'idh, 213. Steinnis, 186. Steinsha, Steinsay, 194. Stemster, 155. stengall, 120. Stennock, 163. steorn, 218. Stephens, G., 45. -ster, 135. stic, 213. stiuir, 139, 256. stiuiremach, 256. stoc, 256. Stoer, 351. Stoneybridge, 354. stop, 116. storag, 119. Stornoway, 185. Story of the Ere Dwellers, 16. str-, 167. stracaire, 213. Stranid, 151, 153. strath, 108. Strathasgag, 198. Strath Halladale, 153. Stremnish, 196. stri, 218. Strond, 172. struth, 108. Struey, Struy, 203. stuc, 213. Suaineart, 36 n., 156. Suaineval, 348. sudh, 139, 257. Sudreys, 38, 39. Suisgil, 174. sulaire, 127. Sulby, 197. Sulishader, 190. Sulvein, 156. susdal, 134. susdan, 133. Svein, 17. Swansea, 36 n. Swordale, 153. Tabac, 171. 1 For the variants stamhnaich, stannadh see Glossary to my edition of Dain Iain Ghobha : the Lewis form is stamnadh, from N. stafn ' stem,' fyrir stafni ' to aim at,' 'to be engaged in a work,' confirming MacBain's suggestion in Further Gaelic Words and Etymologies. Fear gun stamnadh = a. man without self-control. Closely connected in meaning but of native origin is stdineadh (Lewis) : duine gun s. = 1 a restless man,' Ir. staoinim, I curb ; for phonetics cf. caoinim ' I weep ' : dialectal cdin, a' cdineadh : Ir. c6inim, cdinim ' I weep,' cognate with E. 'whine.' 37o INDEX tabh, 100, 148. tabh, 121. tabhs, 127. tachlag, 124. Tahay, 181. Tain, 354. Talan, 331. Talisker, 191. talla, 107, 218. Tallant, 194. Tanera, 158. Tao'udal, 344. tapadh, 214. tapag, 214. Taransay, 181. tarp, 117. Tarradale, 152. Tarskavaig, 189. Tasgill, 53. Taskill, 355. Tathagan, 345. Teamradal, 136. teine-eiginn, 85, 99. tein-thara, 96. teirung, 132. thamhn, 148. T-heggs-ey, 194. Thorfinn, 18, 31, 32. Thorkell Fosterer, 30. Thorstein, 17. Thorter Fell, 167. Thrumster, 'Thrum's stead,' 155. ]?urs, 109. Thurso, 27, 155. tid, 131. Timsgarry, 345. Tinvvald, 164. Tiree, 192. tiurr, 218. tobhta, 116, 139, 257. Tocamol, 196. Todden, 168. toi(gh)eam, 122. toinn, 214. toirp, 118. toirrsg, toir'sgian, toirpsgian, 118. tolm, 170. Tolmie, 56. Tolsta, 333. Tong, 158. Tonghill, 166. Tongue, 192. top, 218. Torfness, 30. Torgabost, 345. Torr an Sgridhinn, 192. Toradale, 195. Torcull, Torquil, 50. Tormod, 50. Tormailt, 50. Torrabus, 197. Torrisdale, 153. Torull, 57. Torvaig, 189. Tory Island, 10, 12. tosg, 118. Tracht Romra, 167. Traigh Chumil, 356. traill, 134. Traligill, 153. tratan, 214. Traube, Dr., 8. treabha, 333. treisgeir, 333. trilleachan, 128. Trodday, 181. trosg, 121. Trotternish, 187. Troudale, 168. Trudernish, 194. Truiseal, 78, 357- Trumsgarry, 191, 345. tuathbhel, 312. Tumason, 57. Tungavat, 347. turan, 339. Tursaichean, 77. Tynwald, 135. Tynwald Hill, 66. Tyrvist, 52. Uamh Bhearnasaig, 195. ucas, 121. uchd, 214. udabac, 116. Udale, 136, 152. udrathad, utraid, 117. ugsa, 121. uidh, 138. Uidhist, 257. Uig, 185, 218. Uigedail, 195. Uigshader, 190. uinneag, 113, 257. uisliginn, 214. Uist, 52, 186. Ulabhag, 288. ulbh, 214. Ulbster, 155. INDEX 371 Ullapool, 158. Ullinish, 189. Ulva, 181. Una, 62. Unapool, 153. Unganab, 131. Ungnaciile, 132. Ungshader, 343. Urchaidh, 64. Urrachdaig, 149, 153. Urradhag, 356. tlruisg, Urisk, 79. uslaig, uslainn, 214. Uspak, 39. utraid, 131. Valasay, 182, 349. Vatersaidh, 186. Vatersay, 181. Vatisker, 171. Vaul, 173, 193. Viking, 12, 20, 64. Viridomaros, 5 n. Vita Columbae, 6 n. Vuya, 181. Walafrid Strabo, 14. Waltman, Dr., 109. Waternish, 188. Watten, 155. Wiay, 177. Wicinga cynn, 12. Wick, 154. Wicklow, 12. Wigton, Wygton, 166. Zimmer, H., 11, 54 n., 58. 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