UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 1"
 
 Landmarks 
 
 of 
 
 Scottish Life and Language.
 
 EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY J. T. PEDDIE 
 
 FOR 
 J. MOODIE MILLER. 
 
 LONDON, HAMILTON, ADAMS & Co. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE MACMILLAN & Co. 
 
 DUBLIN, M'GLASHAN & GILL. 
 
 GLASGOW, JAMES MACLKHOSE.
 
 LANDMARKS 
 
 <Sc0ttisJj Hife antr iangttagt 
 
 WILLIAM LYTTEIL, M.A. 
 
 J. MOODIE MILLER, i AND 2 LINDSAY PLACE. 
 1877- 
 
 All Rights Reserved.
 
 869 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THESE pages have been written in the interests of truth, and 
 with the view of strengthening tht hands of its friends. So 
 dominant is error, and so numerous its supporters, that it 
 becomes the duty of every patriot to break its baleful power, 
 
 M 
 
 g and help to establish in its stead a better state of things. If 
 rt the bondaged mind is to be set free if the conscience is to 
 ^, be quickened if sound knowledge is to be gained there is 
 (3 a call to earnestness and effort which must not be disregarded. 
 Every well-wisher of his fellow-men will respond to it, and 
 OT what he gains for himself in so doing he will not be slow to 
 O communicate to others. 
 
 The subjects embraced in this work are of singular interest 
 
 ^ to every Scotsman. They lie all around the heart and life of 
 
 the nation, and touch at every point many of those questions 
 
 OT which most deeply move humanity. Like all great subjects 
 
 P they are old subjects ; but they have not on that account lost 
 
 2 their vitality. They retain it still, and every exhibition of its 
 
 S? action comes home to us with the added charm that it is the 
 
 action of our forefathers prolonging itself throughout the ages. 
 
 They are the vehicles which bear to us the living thoughts of 
 
 the great and good who have come and gone ; and when we 
 
 open the doors of heart and mind to their entrance, we find 
 
 that they give us light and truth indeed. 
 
 The basis of the work has been laid in a searching observa- 
 tion and a severe induction. These have furnished the key to 
 a reliable interpretation of the language of our predecessors, be 
 
 41G7G6
 
 VI. PREFACE. 
 
 they Celtic or Teutonic Scots of old or Scots of to-day. The in- 
 formation thus obtained amounts to something like a re-discovery 
 of Scotland. It pours its light into a thousand dark places of 
 our national history ; it lets us see the history of the noble 
 Gael more clearly than heretofore ; it tells us who the Scots 
 are, and whence they came ; it brings the heroic Picts into view 
 as a still surviving race ; it revives the forgotten kingdom of 
 the Yeats, and points out their ancient cities, seats, and monu- 
 ments ; and, as for the Britons, it tells us their relationship to 
 the sister nations, and how they came by their name. So with 
 the heroes who have settled in our land during the last two 
 thousand years. Their names are eloquent once more, and 
 the discovery of their meaning throws a flood of light upon the 
 Scottish tribes, clans, and families. Similar results have also 
 been obtained regarding the ancient churches, towns, camps, 
 and stone monuments. 
 
 The exposition of these subjects constitutes the principal aim 
 of the work, and introduces into the perspective of Scottish life 
 many a fresh picture and interesting episode. 
 
 I desire to record my thanks to the Librarian of the Univer- 
 sity of Glasgow, and also to the Librarians of the principal 
 libraries in Edinburgh, for their kindness in enabling me fre- 
 quently to consult books. 
 
 W. L. 
 
 EDINBURGH, June 1877.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PRINCIPLES. INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Page 
 
 CHAPTER I. Truth its own Evidence Historical Detectives, - 12 
 
 , . II. Two Witnesses, ...... 20 
 
 ,, III. Freit-Lore and Heroes, 25 
 
 IV. Clusters of Names Campbell, 31 
 
 ,, V. Clusters of Names Edinburgh, &c., 36 
 
 Division L 
 
 CUMBRAE STUDIES; OR, AN "ALPHABET" OK CUMBRAE 
 LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. Cumbrae Heirlooms, 43 
 
 ,, II. The "Alphabet" of Cumbrae Local Names, - 49 
 
 Btbtaton EE. 
 
 ARRAN STUDIES; OR, AN "ALPHABET" OF ARRAN 
 LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. The Danes in Arran, 98 
 
 ,, II. Fomorian Buccaneers, 106 
 
 III. " Where Heroes Sleep," 109 
 
 IV. The Yeats and Picts, 115 
 
 ,, V. The Primitive Houses of Prayer, - - 120 
 
 ,, VI. Bedesmen, Oratories, and Giants' Monuments, 124 
 
 ,, VII. Getting Behind the Scenes, - - - 133 
 
 VIII. The Church of God's Servants, ... 140 
 
 IX. The "Alphabet" of Arran Local Names, - - 144
 
 Vlil. CONTENTS. 
 
 Si&ist'on IF. 
 
 ARRAN STUDIES. 
 
 Page. 
 
 CHAPTER I. The Baron's Sword-land, - - - 187 
 
 ,, II. Great Sights, 189 
 
 ,, III. Arran Visited : Original Views obtained, - - 194 
 
 IV. The Picture Cave, &c., ----- 199 
 
 ,, V. Lochranza, 204 
 
 ,, VI. Lochranza Places, The Tabail, Neagles, Keilee- 
 
 bertsh, Narahan, The Hospice, The Rainnies, 208 
 
 ,, VII. Sannox Scenes and Sights, - 215 
 
 ,, VIII. Beach-Fountain; The Scots; War-cry of the Men 
 
 of Hawick explained, - .... 222 
 ,, IX. Calweydale ; Candida Casa; Sannock; The Good 
 
 Pastor, 228 
 
 ,, X. Short Sketches of other Notable Places, with many 
 
 New Findings, 238 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A Glance Round Bute, --291 
 
 The Quigrich, 310 
 
 Symbols, - - - 312 
 
 Explanations, 313 
 
 Contractions, General List ; Authorities and References, - 315 
 
 INDICES. 
 
 Index of Local Names, 316 
 
 Index of Matters, 319
 
 Uiibistott & 
 
 PRINCIPLES. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY OBSER VA TIONS. 
 
 EVERY one acknowledges the value and importance 
 of history. Most people like to know something 
 more than the mere passing events of the day or 
 the hour. They will listen with pleasure to the 
 fireside tale, and to the story of the country which 
 gave them birth. The natural interest which they 
 feel and take in their more immediate surroundings 
 will cause them to welcome anything which helps to 
 illustrate or explain them. For the things which lie 
 about us in our infancy and early life are always dear, 
 and when they speak to us we listen to them as to the 
 voice of a friend. When they introduce us to their 
 neighbours we feel happy in the new acquaintance- 
 ship. When they lead us into the great arena of 
 human life, they remain with us to explain its shifting 
 scenes and the various fortune of the combatants. 
 Indeed, throughout the whole length of our lives they 
 are our constant companions and monitors. How im- 
 portant, then, that they should be fitted for their lofty 
 function ! How important that they should- be quali-
 
 10 INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 fied to speak the truth, and to tell us only what is 
 true ! But this is just the very thing they are quali- 
 fied to do, and this is what they always do. The 
 dumb things around us, as we often call them, are not 
 dumb. They have a voice and a message to man, 
 and, in their own mute but eloquent way, they use the 
 one and convey the other. The rocks and the rivers, 
 the fields and the flowers, the ruined fanes where our 
 fathers worshipped, the rifled tenements of the living 
 and the dead these, and many other things in the 
 category of nature or of man's work, bear a message 
 to us, and their voice is always. the utterance of truth. 
 If it is not received as such, it is the fault of the hearer, 
 not theirs. It is man that misunderstands their mes- 
 sage ; it is he who fails so often to seize its meaning, 
 or interpret it aright. Anything, then, is valuable that 
 can help him in this enterprise. Be it a wider experi- 
 ence of the myriad voices which are ever sounding in 
 our ears, or a more careful attention to those of them 
 which, like so many witnesses, are speaking to one 
 particular point ; or be it a reverent regard to the 
 ripened conclusions of those who have gone over the 
 field before him, the result will always justify the 
 means, and the precious fruit gathered in the process 
 will show how valuable is the faculty that enables him 
 to listen without prejudice, and interpret without dis- 
 honesty. 
 
 In the above remarks allusion has been made not 
 merely to history as a thing of value and of interest 
 to every one, but also to the right method of acquir- 
 ing or discovering it. Reference has also been made 
 to the lesson which history reads to us ; and, while all
 
 INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. II 
 
 the three are closely connected, it may be of advan- 
 tage sometimes to bear in mind that any one of them 
 is quite distinct from the other two. 
 
 There is yet another thing which may be noticed 
 here. History, as usually understood, is the record of 
 human life. Man is the great subject of history. 
 Histories of many subjects may be written, but all 
 their varied lights find their point of convergence in 
 man. 
 
 No doubt there is yet another step to be taken in 
 order to make history serve its full purpose. It is the 
 relation of man to his Maker, and in every well-con- 
 sidered history this point, will not be overlooked.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TRUTH ITS OWN EVIDENCE. HISTORICAL 
 DETECTIVES. 
 
 WITH regard to the Principles generally, it may be 
 stated that only a sketch of them can be given here. 
 A separate work may be required for their fuller ex- 
 position. Meanwhile, it may be of advantage to some 
 students to notice a few of the main principles. These 
 principles refer, of course, to the interpretation of lan- 
 guage in Scotland, whether it be written or spoken 
 speech. 
 
 Few persons in Scotland appear to know that when 
 our forefathers wrote the word hair, they pronounced 
 it hawr, as in Hair-stanes. Harlaw may be the same 
 so far as relates to the first syllable, or the whole com- 
 pound may signify "host-hill," "army-hill;" for Hair- 
 stanes signifies " Cairn-stanes " or " barrow- stones," 
 i.e., stones set up to mark a haur or haugr, as in Mon- 
 teviot Park. The term beorh or bearh signifies a fort, 
 fortress, or citadel, and the old Scots came to write it 
 " bear," but they must have pronounced it as if written 
 "beawr." In latter times, however, a different sound 
 was given to the word " bear," and as this term is used 
 in the name of Berwick, the people fancied or feigned 
 that it had something to do with the animal called a 
 bear. Hence arose the canting arms of the burgh of 
 Berwick-on-Tweed, and hence also the story that the
 
 TRUTH ITS OWN EVIDENCE. 13 
 
 early founders of the town found the country infested 
 with bears, and took a week (wick*) to slay them. 
 The old fort at Eyemouth was also called a beorh or 
 bearh, and to this day the pasture fields beside the 
 fort are called bear-fits, or the castle pastures. The 
 word j^ is an old Norse term, signifying meadow-land, 
 pasture-ground, and is found in the name of the Muir- 
 fit Hills a name, however, which often appears now- 
 a-days in the form of Moorfoot. Instances like these 
 show how important it is to read and pronounce cor- 
 rectly what is written, for otherwise we shall only pass 
 from one error to another. We have also to remem- 
 ber that the sounds of the vowels are often very dif- 
 ferent in Lowland Scots from what they are in English. 
 Thus, the Scot, buin is sometimes pronounced very like 
 bein or bene, wealthy, but " buin " means prayer, peti- 
 tion ; and a " bein carl " seems to say that the man 
 has got his boon of blessing in answer to faithful 
 prayer. The poet Wordsworth begins a poem with 
 these words : 
 
 " What is good for a bootless bene ?" 
 With these dark words begins my tale ; 
 
 And their meaning is, whence can comfort spring 
 When prayer is of no avail ? 
 
 In the standard English, boon represents bene and 
 buin, but in Shetland the people say Beaina-Sunday, 
 and by it mean the Sunday (par excellence) of prayer, 
 for it is the Sunday before Christmas. The Norse- 
 men brought this word to our shores, and it is found 
 
 * Wick signifies a cove, creek, station, house, town ; hence Berwick, 
 or Castle-town.
 
 14 TRUTH ITS OWN EVIDENCE. 
 
 in not a few local names, such as Banavie, the Norse 
 boena-ve, or house of prayer; Bonvyte, the house of 
 prayer; Bonhill and Bunhill, the hillock of devotion 
 (probably an early cleric's grave-mound) ; Bent-path, 
 the way to the oratory or house of prayer. 
 
 People who are not well versed in our old Scottish 
 tongue are very apt to be misled by the mere spelling 
 of a word. An example of this occurs in " Hogmanay 
 nicht," and though I have gathered a good deal of 
 lore on this old name, I have never met with an author 
 who could explain it. It would be an easy matter to 
 quote their fancies on the subject, but better results 
 shall, I trust, be gained by stating my own view. 
 Now, the word Hogmanay is properly written " Haug- 
 manay," and (with " nicht ") is clearly the Norse Jiaug- 
 manna natt, that is, the night of the cairn-men or 
 goblins the night on which old freets or supersti- 
 tions have credited them with more than usual activ- 
 ity. An instance of a place-name formed similarly to 
 the term just explained is found in " Pomona," or the 
 Mainland of the Orkney Isles. The word " Pomona " 
 is a compound, r\z.mQ\y,po-mona,peo-monna, or peaugh- 
 monna i.e., Peach-manna Ey, or Pict-men's Island. 
 This is a very remarkable result, and it is one which 
 has been gained solely by a strict adherence to the laws 
 of language. In Galloway we find a hill bearing the 
 name of Markmanna Hill, an example of pure Norse, 
 and signifying robbers' hill or outlaws' hill. 
 
 One of the great principles of true interpretation is 
 to be found in the habit of advancing from the known 
 to the less known, and so advancing that every step of 
 progress shall be taken on firm ground. In this way
 
 HISTORICAL DETECTIVES. 15 
 
 we come, after some careful study, to make what was 
 once less known quite as certain as the well known. 
 For instance, we have the Scots term bull and buily, 
 signifying a festival, play, dance and song, or other 
 sports. Sometimes it is pronounced beil, bell, billie. 
 The English form of the word is bal or ball i.e., a fes- 
 tive entertainment accompanied by song and dance ; 
 and when we proceed tentatively from these facts, we 
 naturally inquire whether the word in question has 
 anything to do with the term "ballad." A little re- 
 flection suffices to show that it has, and that the word 
 " ballad " is a compound of bull and leid or luid, a 
 song, a lay. Hence, a " ballad " is a festival-song, a 
 lay sung or recited at the popular gatherings, such as 
 were usually held on saints' days. If we place the 
 word luid, or its other form luidh, a song, before the 
 word hus t a house, we obtain luidh-kusi.e., a song- 
 house, a holy-song house, a chapel or psalm-house. 
 This shows us how to account for such names as 
 Loch o' the Lowes, the place-names of -Lewes, Lewis, 
 and Liodhus. The last of these is the old Saga form 
 of the name of the island of Lewis. By such a pro- 
 cess we first get a perception or a theory; afterwards, 
 by a careful induction of facts, we come to see that 
 the theory has taken the form and substance of a re- 
 liable truth. If it is so in this instance (and I do not 
 doubt it), the several places in Scotland which are 
 called Lewes, Lewis,, or Lowes, bear a name which 
 indicates that they are the site of one or more ancient 
 oratories or places of worship. When the early sea- 
 rovers or wikings reached the island of Lewis, they 
 seem to have found there such a number of hermit or
 
 1 6 TRUTH ITS OWN EVIDENCE. 
 
 other clerics singing psalms so many times a day in 
 their tiny oratories or clochans, that, impressed by the 
 chief characteristic of their religious service, they gave 
 the island the name of the song-house isle, or psalm- 
 house isle. 
 
 The common term storm presents to our view some 
 instructive facts. It seems to be made up of the old 
 word star, great, and rJdm or rime, hoar-frost. Hence, 
 "storm" may have formerly signified a great frost, a 
 great snow, even as it does to this day when used by 
 the natives of the north-east of Scotland. Here we 
 see that the meaning of hoar-frost, as attached to 
 rhime, narrows its signification to white frozen dew 
 upon the ground ; but a little inquiry suffices to show 
 that rhime or rime does really mean frost, snow ; for 
 the Greek word cheima means frost, storm ; and the 
 Latin hiems is only a weaker form of the*same word. 
 Now, it is certain that a guttural sound very often de- 
 velopes the sound of r; hence cheima becomes chreime 
 and hrime. Dean Monro writes " trair " for the Gaelic 
 word "traigh," a strand, beach, shore ; and this is only 
 one of the many instances in which a guttural devel- 
 opes the sound of the letter r. How ch interchanges 
 with h will be more fully exhibited by-and-bye, but, 
 meanwhile, we may see the fact in the words chelidon 
 or hirundOy a swallow ; circus and hring or ring ; 
 o. h. g. helen, to conceal, and lat. celare ; scot. Jiairns 
 or hreans, brains, and gr. kranion, the skull. 
 
 Having got so far with the word "storm," we may 
 now readily notice another principle in our use of 
 language, viz., that words are frequently not strictly 
 confined to their primary meaning, but are often ex-
 
 HISTORICAL DETECTIVES. I/ 
 
 pressive of one which is akin to it. Thus, in the 
 south-western parts of Scotland, the word storm is 
 usually applied to a tempest of wind and rain, and in 
 these districts I have scarcely ever heard it used in 
 the sense of a great frost or snow. It is the same 
 with regard to the usage of the word fell, feld, or field, 
 a rocky hill or crag. Gaelic gives us ail, eill^ otfaill, 
 a great stone, a cliff, crag, precipice. Old Norse has 
 el, a hail or snow-storm, and so it would appear that 
 our English word "hail " is the same as the Ga^el. ail 
 and the Norse fell. Yet how various is the usage of 
 the terms, and how different their applications. In 
 Norway the word fell or flail is applied to rocky 
 heights, peaks, and cliffs ; but the descendants of 
 Norsemen in Scotland have applied it to compara- 
 tively rounded eminences, such as the Campsie Fells 
 and Cheviot Fells. 
 
 The Celtic word gabhar, or gabar, signifies a goat, 
 a horse, a hound, and corresponds to the sax. haefer, 
 a heifer, steerock or stirk ; lat. caper \ gr. kouros, a 
 boy or lad, as in the compound "Dioscuri," sons of 
 Zeus ; koure, a girl, daughter, and specially the 
 daughter of Demeter ; heb. kaar, a lion or young 
 lion, as in some manuscripts of Psalm xxii. 16. True 
 cognates like these permit us to see what a variety of 
 applications a term may have, and yet through all the 
 varied usage and significance there runs the thread of 
 a generic idea which binds them together, and gives 
 to each a meaning common to them all. Thus, in 
 gabhar and its congeners the main idea expressed is 
 probably that of youthful vigour or briskness, as seen 
 in the progeny of any animal, but especially of domes-
 
 1 8 TRUTH ITS OWN EVIDENCE. 
 
 tic or noble animals, such as the horse and hound, 
 lion and lad. For this, compare sax. cof, a term 
 which signifies brisk, active, nimble, with welsh cawr 
 or " caver," a champion, a giant-like hero. 
 
 One other example of a similar kind may be given. 
 Our word sea is usually applied to large bodies of 
 water, such as the North Sea, but in proper names we 
 apply it to comparatively small lakes, such as the Sea 
 of Galilee. In the latter usage we have evidently a 
 relic of the custom of our forefathers, and an indica- 
 tion that they applied the term to waters great and 
 small. Some of our local names bear out this view, 
 for in the island of Arran we find Renasay as the 
 name of a small sea-loch, and bearing the significa- 
 tion of pirates' sea. The full old Norse form of the 
 name of Renasay is raeningja saer, but as the inflec- 
 tions disappeared the name took the form of raenin- 
 sae, and by syncopation raeni-sae, or Renasay. The 
 name of Renton, in Berwickshire, passed through 
 similar changes, for of old it was written Reinintune 
 i.e., pirates' town. Martin mentions Loch Kenistill, 
 in the north of Arran, but the latter part of the name 
 must be a misprint of Renistill, that is, pirates' dale. 
 Gaelic-speaking natives of Arran also say Loch 
 Raenasait i.e., the loch of the pirates' seat or dwell- 
 ing-place. Perhaps the men of Arran won't thank me 
 for these interpretations, but they may do so, indeed, 
 if it should occur to them that their forefathers may 
 have been the very men who made war against the 
 pirates, and drove them from their coasts. Even if 
 they should not be so very sure of this, they must be 
 well enough aware that during the broils of the Middle
 
 HISTORICAL DETECTIVES. IQ 
 
 Ages and the struggle for settlements in the land, many 
 things would be done which we should now call rob- 
 bery, but which at the time were only regarded as the 
 proper or necessary thing for the stronger hand to do. 
 The stronger gloried in his conquests, and boasted of 
 his feats as a wiking or slayer, and in such a mood he 
 gloried, too, in his robbery. With his comrades in 
 arms he called their settlement Reinintune or robbers' 
 town, and that just as willingly as others called theirs 
 Reston or Ristun i.e., giant-heroes' town. The spirit 
 that could not brook the overbearing of King Harald 
 carried him through every enterprise that could pos- 
 sibly promise a home, where he should dwell as a 
 freeman, and set up anew the old time-honoured insti- 
 tutions in which he was bred. To the Christian teach- 
 ers it was left to mould him or his posterity into 
 harmony with the principles of a later age. And if 
 in that age Englishmen have ever been charged by 
 their enemies with the doing or perpetration of law- 
 less or piratical deeds, either in the Spanish Main or 
 elsewhere, they have always doubtless been able to 
 justify their acts and to hold themselves in good re- 
 pute. So that whether Paul Hentzer* in his Itinerary 
 speaks of the English as "good sailors and famous 
 pirates," or says that "they are brave in battle, and 
 always conquer their enemies," we know well that the 
 censure and the praise are alike now matters of in- 
 difference. 
 
 * Hentzer : cited, Chips iii. 247.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TWO WITNESSES. 
 
 MANY places have two or more names, and sometimes 
 quite a cluster of names are found clinging to a par- 
 ticular locality. Here we discover a means of obtain- 
 ing a true version of the more obscure names, for while 
 some of the appellations are in good plain Scotch, 
 they are often found to be true versions of their Celtic 
 associates. In other cases the names are all of a kind 
 which speak to a particular fact, and by their harmon- 
 izing testimony often suggest the thought that truth 
 is its own evidence. Let us look at some examples 
 of these relationships. In Peeblesshire we find a place 
 called Edleston and also Pentiacob. Caled. ii. 947. 
 The former signifies the nobleman's mansion or town, 
 and the latter the mansion of the Guyt or Yeat noble- 
 man* The term guyt is found in the name of Zet- 
 land, that is, the land of the Yeats, and these are the 
 Gadeni of Ptolemy. Pentiacob is baile an t-saoidh 
 Guiche, to write the last term in a colled or synco- 
 pated form an act which shall be fully justified in 
 the chapter on the Yeats or Gewictis. (Cps. 380.) 
 
 *It is just possible that this example may not hold good, since the 
 manor of Gillemoriston (said to be the same as Pentiacob) was given to 
 Eadulf, the son of Utred. Vide Chambers's " Peeblesshire " and Guide 
 to Peebles.
 
 TWO WITNESSES. 21 
 
 Ryselaw is about four miles to the south of Dunse, 
 and denotes the giant or mighty warriors' camp-hill. 
 It must refer to the place which also bears the name 
 of Printonian, or, as it was also written, bryntenyn 
 i.e., bruigliean nan aoidhean, the fort or earthwork of 
 the heroes. In these instances, and in others about 
 to be given, it is not possible to take up all the points 
 on which explanation may be desired, but these points 
 will not be missed when they fall to be taken up in 
 those chapters to which they more specially belong. 
 For example, it may have just been asked, "how does 
 bruighean become brynt and print ?" Simply because 
 the old scribes chose to write such a word as this in 
 these several ways. The evidence of this is as com- 
 plete as chronicles and charter-chests can make it, 
 and that they do make it so is as certain as can be 
 desired. 
 
 Ding- or ting is an old word signifying a meeting, 
 an assembly or gathering, and is used in the name of 
 Dingwal i.e., Dingwell, or the well of the gathering. 
 The kind of gathering or concourse in this instance is 
 known, and the country folks resorted to this particu- 
 lar fountain for health's sake, or for wholesome drink. 
 It is one of those clear little basins of pure spring 
 water which, like the Cryslan (coire slan, the health- 
 giving pot) well in Bute, and the Tobar chleacJida 
 mhuintir in Arran, drew together annually, or oftener, 
 troops of pilgrim devotees. Near to the" " ding-well " 
 are the slight but distinct remains of a tiny oratory or 
 sacellum, which the Scandinavian settlers in this local- 
 ity the South-end of Kintyre called Leilveit, that 
 is, the tiny temple, oratory, or sanctuary, but which is
 
 22 TWO WITNESSES. 
 
 now (in the gaelic speech) pronounced lealeit. The 
 terms used in this compound are leil, little, ve, a sacred 
 building, a temple, a chapel, and it, the Norse article. 
 An ancient church in Gigha must have had the same 
 name, but the evidence for this must be reserved for 
 the chapter on Churches. The village of Kilbarchan, 
 Renfrew, has an annual festival on a certain day, 
 which is called Leillies Day, that is, the tiny sanctu- 
 ary's day ves being the gen. sing, of ve. It should 
 also be noted that our ding-wal, in Kintyre, is also 
 called ve-kell i.e., the chapel-fountain, the words 
 being pure Norse ; and when the Gaels mention it, 
 they say tobar veekil and tobar veechal. Now, not 
 aware of the meaning of the "veekil," sciolists are apt 
 to think it is the proper name Michael, and, if they 
 can write Gaelic, down goes the name of Tobar 
 Mhicheil, and out goes the version "St Michael's 
 well." In this way saints are manufactured, and 
 country people said to be superstitious where in real- 
 ity there is no ground for it. 
 
 Another name for the Place of Leilveit has yet to 
 be noticed. It is a Gaelic one, and when I first heard 
 it pronounced I thought it was lag a' chlaidh, the 
 hollow-place of the burying-place ; but a little reflec- 
 tion showed that the latter portion of the name was 
 sounded in such a way as to make this view inadmis- 
 sible. Further, the term cladh is not used in the south 
 of Kintyre to denote a grave or burying-place, and 
 the term lag is in no sense or degree applicable to the 
 site of the little oratory in question. Several visits to 
 the spot, and a growing acquaintance with the Celtic 
 speech of the residents in its vicinity, enabled me to
 
 TWO WITNESSES. 23 
 
 perceive that Laggachiluigh is really a slightly cor- 
 rupted form of latJiradi chill ghuidlie, the site of the 
 house of prayer. 
 
 It is very certain that the name of Lathult in Hy 
 or lona, is leilveit ; and near Livingstone we find the 
 name of Lilticochee an instructive compound of the 
 old Scots lille or leil, tiny, small, and the Gaelic taigh- 
 ghuidJie, house of prayer the tiny oratory. The term 
 ve or wey is found in a very considerable number of 
 Scottish localities e.g., in Weydale, the sanctuary 
 dale, on Gala water ; and here, as Hill Burton tells us, 
 (Hist. i. 171), "in the pretty pastoral village of Stowe 
 there was a ' girth ' or sanctuary." For further par- 
 ticulars about ve and its gaelic equivalents, see 
 Trahoun in the Cumbrae Studies. Captain White, 
 in his Archaeological Sketches, p. 91, refers to Lagga- 
 chiluigh, but is unable to perceive its meaning, and he 
 misses altogether the site of Pont and Blaeu's Kattikil, 
 for this latter chapel was correctly placed, nearly three 
 centuries ago, by Pont on the left bank of Glen- 
 braikary water, and its remains were seen not many 
 years ago on that part of the river-holm which is still 
 called Straveelo i.e., sratJi chill ghuidhe, the oratory 
 dale. The sites of these little chapels or bede-houses 
 are within an easy walk of Carskey, or, as Pont 
 writes it, Karskiah and Kariskiak names which 
 readily remind one of the Norse personal name of 
 Kari, and may be likely enough to signify Kari's gau 
 i.e., Kari's " gay " or quarter. But if not his " gaw," 
 then possibly his koi or kei i.e., sepulchre or cove- 
 tomb ; for in the garden of the hospitable house of 
 Cariskey there may be seen the great massive slab-
 
 24 TWO WITNESSES. 
 
 cover of the flag-kist tomb one of those structures 
 made for the interment of the mighty dead, which the 
 learned call kistvaens, or kist of stone. Within this 
 narrow house, we may safely presume to say, the old 
 hero-chief was laid " hoylaid," according to ancient 
 custom, as described in the words, " Ctiairich sinn san 
 tulaich an laoch" we interred the hero in the hillock. 
 Beside him were placed his arms, for in this Carskey 
 tomb were found a bronze dagger and an urn, the for- 
 mer of which was acquired by the late Professor 
 Macdonald, of St Andrews. Here also, or close by, 
 were found some quaighs and basins of stone, which 
 are still preserved on the spot. Half a mile to the 
 north-east of Cariskey may be seen the remains of an 
 ancient burg or strong house, which was called Lef- 
 ansbye in Font's time. This is clearly another Norse 
 designation, and as clearly Leofwine's bae (bye) or 
 mansion. He was doubtless one of the yarls or men 
 of rank, as the term yarl or earl signifies, and would 
 have a following of karles and blender, who tilled the 
 ground and fought and hunted with their chief. From 
 a distant land he came, and when his galley first 
 weathered the Moyle and brought him safe into the 
 haven of Carskey, he would have to encounter men of 
 a strange speech, for the old Picts or Peaghtes dwelt 
 in the land, and probably the Firbolgs as well. By 
 force of arms he won his sword-land, or perchance, as 
 sometimes, by helping some Celtic chief to conquer his 
 enemies, and receiving in reward for the same a settle- 
 ment for himself and his men. '
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FREIT-LORE AND HEROES. 
 
 IT is certain that great numbers of Northmen settled 
 in Argyll, and on the islands and shores of the Clyde. 
 The evidence will appear as we proceed, and exists 
 assuredly in no stinted measure. It is well, then, to 
 know that they were men of a noble race men who 
 were often highly accomplished, and who could at will 
 lead an army, guide a fleet, storm a burg, and in prose 
 or verse describe it all. Dasent tells us that they were 
 of no savage or servile race, and when the overbearing 
 of King Harold forced them to fight it with the king 
 or depart, they manned their dragon ships, and set 
 sail in search of homes where, like true Tories of the 
 olden time, they could maintain their ancient usages 
 and "world-old laws." Freemen at home, they would 
 be freemen abroad, and to them we owe much, per- 
 haps most, of that spirit which regulates our guilds, 
 burgh councils, and system of representative govern- 
 ment. A kind of science they had called Freets 
 (nors&fraedhi], and which appears to have formed the 
 staple of their religious doctrines. They believed in 
 Buri, " the Producer ; " in Beer his son ; and in the 
 three sons of Boer Odin, Vili, and Ve who, as aesir 
 or divinities, created the heavens and earth, and men 
 who dwell upon the earth. Their ancient lore tells us 
 of the aesir or mighty gods, and of Odin their chief; 
 of Asgard, their city ; of the howf or court in it called
 
 26 FREIT-LORE AND HEROES. 
 
 Gladsheim, the home of radiance ; and of Valhall, 
 where dwell the einlieriar or chosen heroes who fall in 
 battle. The exploits of Ty and Thor, of Baldur and 
 Heimdall, are the theme of many an old Edda song 
 or grandmother's tale in verse ; and their traditions 
 do not fail to describe the wars of the giants with the 
 gods, and the busy life of the brounies or dwarfs who 
 dwell in the caverns of the rocks. In these fables the 
 Norsemen believed, as well as in wraiths, fetches, and 
 guardian spirits. They had priests and altars, sacred 
 buildings and sacrifices, spaemen and spaewives (sooth- 
 sayers), workers in charms and enchantments, trollmen 
 who used magic songs and runes and sorceries of many 
 kinds. Their goddesses, Frigg, Frau Holla (the kind), 
 Frau Bertha (the bright), and others, must not be for- 
 gotten in this rapid glance at the chief points of north- 
 ern mythology,* and of which one object is to prepare 
 the mind for the possible discovery in our own land 
 of some of those Jwrgs or pagan altars which the early 
 Teutonic settlers may have reared. 
 
 Edward A. Freeman in his charming Old-English 
 History tells us that the name of Leofwine signifies 
 "a dear fellow." Leaf, dear ; comp.liefer; superla- 
 tive liefest, occurs in the Song of the Fight of 
 
 Maldon : 
 
 He let there of his hands liefer fly, 
 Hawk for the wood. 1. u. 
 
 He lighted there 'mid the men 
 That to him liefest were. 1. 43. 
 
 * See Dasent's Burnt Njal, Nilsson's Prim. Inhab. of Scandinavia, 
 and Thorpe's Northern Mythology. For Frigg and Freya see Cornhill 
 Mag., May 1872.
 
 FREIT-LORE AND HEROES. 2/ 
 
 We still use the word, as when we say " I would as 
 lief do so and so." The term wine, scots wynn, means 
 a man, fellow, warrior, and occurs as a surname 
 Wynne as well as in such names as Godwine, a good 
 fellow; Darwin, a dear fellow, the latter being equiva- 
 lent to Darling. Hence, also, the word kraken, or 
 krak-win, a war-man, a fighting fellow the prefix 
 being krieg or krig, war, battle. Everybody knows 
 that "kraken" is often used to designate that myste- 
 rious monster called the " sea-serpent," but I am not 
 aware that the name has hitherto been explained by 
 any one. It is not, however, a foreign one, for it has 
 long been in use as a surname in the west of Scotland, 
 and there it is also found in place-names. Nor is the 
 name in that region very much disguised, but only so 
 much as one might expect from the influence of the 
 Gaelic tongue. Accordingly, the Danish krig, or the 
 German krieg is pronounced in the west: pretty much 
 like kairg and kierg, but where the Gaelic or other in- 
 fluences are strong, there it is sounded much like carg 
 and carrig. The suffix win in kairg-win becomes in ' 
 or nin, and this may be ascribed to Celtic influence, 
 but it can also be explained by a wider law. For the 
 result we get Kairg-on and other forms the whole 
 compound signifying war-man, or warrior. And an 
 honourable name' it is, without doubt, since so many 
 of our old families rejoice in their descent from heroes 
 and warriors of old. 
 
 Here are two authorities on the Kraken which may 
 now be given, and which may also serve to make my 
 younger readers more familiar with the name of that 
 prodigious beast, or " beira " (beithire), as the Gaels
 
 28 FREIT-LORE AND HEROES. 
 
 would call it. The former of the two is the Scotsman 
 newspaper, and the passage referred to is as follows : 
 " He is coming at last ; there can be no doubt of it. 
 At this very moment he is making his way leisurely 
 through the depths of the North Sea. When Mr J. 
 last saw him, he was just on the point of taking a 
 header, with the view of going down so as to get out 
 of the way of the keels of ships and other impedi- 
 ments. Very likely he is working up a blue-book 
 while finning slowly towards us. Of course we refer 
 to the Kraken." Nov. 19, 1873. The second officer 
 of the barque Pauline says that on a certain occasion 
 off Cape San Roque " there were five whales near the 
 ship. The largest was attacked by a serpent. The 
 reptile coiled two complete turns round the thickest 
 part of the whale's body, and appeared possessed of 
 complete power over the fish. The whale, in an agony 
 either of pain or terror, was continually throwing it- 
 self half out of the water. He considers the serpent 
 to have been at least 150 feet in length." Scotsman, 
 Nov. 22, 1875. 
 
 Whatever may be thought of the beira or sea- 
 serpent, we readily find many analogies to such a 
 name as Kairguin. Thus, rinc, renke or ranke, sig- 
 nify a man, a warrior. Hence, with the definite 
 article as an affix (which is the Danish and Norse 
 idiom), we get rankin, that is, the warrior ; runciman, 
 the warrior-man ; Rankleburn, the name of a place 
 mentioned in The Queen's Wake, and which is also 
 somehow associated with the " old Song of the Grey 
 Goss Hawk." Now, rankil means warriors' hill pro- 
 bably the site of an old camp or fenced town of the
 
 FREIT-LORE AND HEROES. 29 
 
 Scotts of Buccleuch and the compound shows us 
 how the letter h in hill, old sc. hulle, disappears when 
 the term hill is used as a suffix. It is the same with 
 other words which begin with h, and it may here be 
 observed that the practice of eliding this letter in com- 
 pound terms is so common in the Scots tongue that it 
 deserves to be regarded as an established idiom or 
 rule. Many examples of it will be given in a subse- 
 quent section. 
 
 By a similar method of inspection, we find that 
 Danskin means or signifies the Dane ; Friskin, the 
 Frisian ; Wynning, the warrior ; Fleming, the stranger ; 
 Frame, the foreigner the last of these, in its adjec- 
 tive form, being the word used by Cuddie Headrigg 
 when he speaks of one who "routed like a cow in a 
 fremd loaning." Old Mortality, chap. 14. From the 
 term fram, fraeme, frem, we have the name of Formby 
 i.e., strangers' town (between rivers Mersey and 
 Ribble), Framlington in Coquetdale, and our own 
 Dunfermline i.e., da fremlings 1 toun, the foreigners' 
 town. The definite article da, de, di, &c., is used in 
 many Scottish names, as will be shown in a separate 
 section. From other terms denoting men, heroes, 
 warriors, we have Forfar, firdha-baer, warriors' town ; 
 Forston on the southern Roman barrier with the same 
 meaning; Forres i.e., Forres-town or heroes' town, 
 like Hermand, a contraction for Hermandston, that 
 is, the nobleman's town, and equivalent to Mastertoun, 
 the component parts being Jierr, or herra, a lord, a 
 ruler, and man or mand, a hero, a man, as in March- 
 mond, the march-man or warden of the marches, and 
 originally equivalent to marquess. The word Herman
 
 3O FREIT-LORE AND HEROES. 
 
 is, under Gaelic influence, annuin, and suggests Arm- 
 strong, a name which is also written Armistrang and 
 Armstron. The last of these varying forms may be 
 seen in Canobie Kirkyard, and the second one is the 
 usual form given in the old heroic songs of the 'Bate- 
 able Land. Now torn is a tower, and the Scots write 
 and speak it indifferently torn and tron, just as we 
 have brunt or burnt, Burdoswald or Bridosald. Hence 
 we have armin's torn, laird's tower or fortalice; and 
 such is the Scottish habit of dropping or eliding a 
 final n, th^t we next get armistorn, armstron, etc. 
 
 The term firdar was greatly used by the old Scots, 
 and signifies men, strong men, warriors. Dunbar writes 
 fure in the more modern Scots, and in our local no- 
 menclature it is often spelled in the same way. Some- 
 times, however, it is written freik, and sometimes faire, 
 as in the Gothic foer, a. strong fellow, a champion. 
 Several examples have just been .adduced, but a few 
 others may be added here. Thus, Fairnlie means the 
 warriors' camp or settlement all the original settle- 
 ments being fenced or stockaded places and so also 
 does Fairlie near Largs, for the old form of the name 
 is Fairnelie. The latter differs from the former. only by 
 the presence of the old definite article, as in 'rank-in.' 
 
 Fortescue signifies the warriors' district or barony ; 
 Forgislagh, in Arran, the warriors' place of sepulture, 
 and equivalent to Furleyn and Forleyn. In " forgis" 
 or feorgis, we have the modern form of the plural 
 number, and of which another example occurs to me, 
 viz., Ferguslie, near Paisley, denoting the warriors' 
 camp or station, the heroes' fenced town. It is inter- 
 esting to notice that Fireburn, in Coldstream parish,
 
 CLUSTERS OF NAMES. 31 
 
 means the warriors' camp; and that Fairy-castle, in 
 the vicinity of Billy Mire, is the warriors' fort or 
 brough. In Ayton we find Fairneyside the warriors' 
 side or settlement (saeti) in close proximity to Flem- 
 ington or strangers' habitation. 
 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CLUSTERS OF NAMES CAMPBELL. 
 
 I SHALL close this 'Division' with a short study of 
 one or two more of these clusters of names. A very 
 remarkable instance is found in the name of Campbell 
 and its associates. Of these, one is a Gaelic equivalent; 
 another is a compound of Gaelic and Norse ; while 
 "Campbell" itself is pure Norse. It is strange that 
 the famous name of Campbell has not hitherto been 
 correctly explained ; but after all there is not much 
 cause for wonderment when it is considered how greatly 
 the study of language in Scotland has been neglected. 
 A little attention to it now, will yield us some profit- 
 able and instructive results. 
 
 With regard, then, to the name " Campbell," I should 
 say that it is a compound word, and that the first term 
 in the name is the old Scots word kamp or kemp, as it 
 is variously written. Sometimes the .term takes a 
 diminutive form, as in the ballad of Kempie Kaye a
 
 32 CLUSTERS OF NAMES. 
 
 title which reminds us of the Kaempe Viser, or heroic 
 ballads of the Danes. As to its import or meaning, 
 the word kamp is equivalent to hero, champion, warrior, 
 hero-chief, hero-leader (of the host.) With the Scots of 
 the heroic and middle ages, the term was a favourite 
 one, and was in frequent use. It occurs as a surname 
 Kemp, and in the common term kemmin, meaning 
 one who works with a will, and goes through his task 
 with the greatest energy. It also occurs as a verb, 
 especially in the phrase " kemping on the hairst rig." 
 In names of places it is very often found ; for instance 
 in the name of Kempock, at Gourock i.e. kempu-haug 
 in the old Norse, and signifying the champion's cairn. 
 The greater part of this cairn has disappeared, but the 
 place of sepulture is still marked by a great rude pillar- 
 stone. Probably the champion in this case was one of 
 the old sea-rovers or " wikings," as Mr Freeman writes 
 the term, and who for centuries, according to the late 
 Prof. Cosmo Innes, reaped their harvest of plunder 
 along the shores of the Clyde. But these adventurers, 
 as we shall see by and bye, did more than plunder : 
 they took possession of great portions of the land, 
 settled in it, and left their inheritance to their posterity. 
 With Kempock we may compare Cambo, hero's hall ; 
 Kampsos, hero's house or hero-chiefs hall ; Cameton, 
 warriors' town (near Camelon) ; Campsail, hero-chief's 
 hall ; Cambusbarrin, the heroes' camp ; Kempis-riggs, 
 warriors' riggs at Largs ; Camaslie, warriors' camp ; 
 Kambis willis, warriors' graves ; Camstraddin, the hero- 
 chiefs or champion's dwelling the last being clearly 
 a boggled form of kempu-stadrin. These are only a 
 few of the local names in which our word kamp or
 
 CAMPBELL.. 33 
 
 kemp occurs, but a much fuller list will be found in 
 the chapter on Heroes and Warriors. 
 
 Having so far prepared the way for a right under- 
 standing of the origin of " Campbell," let us now come 
 to close quarters with it. But, first, let us notice the 
 forms which kemp takes in those languages which are 
 akin to the Scots tongue: O. E. kempa or cempa; Ger. 
 kaempe; Dan. id., Sax. cempa; High Dutch kampf; old 
 Norse kempa. Taking the last of these kempa as a 
 basis to work on, we find that the Norse genitive singular 
 is kempu; hence kempu-bol, the champion's residence, 
 the hero-chiefs residence. The term bol signifies a 
 dwelling, a domicile, a hall, villa, residence, tower, peel- 
 tower ; and, in different periods and districts, has been 
 written in various forms, such as bole, boel, beil, biel, 
 beale, bell, etc. It has only to be added that the old 
 inflections disappear, and, accordingly, we obtain the 
 varying forms of Campbell or Cemp-bell, Kampbell or 
 Kempbell, but all of which simply mean the " hero- 
 chiefs hall." 
 
 The conclusion which has just been stated is strongly 
 confirmed by the fact that a man of the name of Camp- 
 bell is also called "Gui'neach" by the Gaels. Now 
 gui'neach or guimh-neach is a compound of the Norse 
 gumi, a warrior, and the Gaelic suffix neach, a person, 
 an individual. The Celts have aspirated the letter m 
 mgumi, and the meaning of Guineach is the "warrior- 
 person," or, simply, the " warrior." 
 
 It will be noticed that " Campbell " was, in the first 
 instance, the name of a place or residence. As usual, 
 the dwellers there, or occupants, would designate them- 
 selves as "of" such a place, and hence, in the second
 
 34 CLUSTERS OF NAMES. 
 
 instance, the origin of the surname of Campbell. The 
 next step was to add the Norse suffix ling to the 
 name of Campbell, and bring into use the patronymic 
 of Campbeling, that is, a man of the Campbell family 
 or Clan ; in other words, one of the Campbells. Now, 
 this is exactly what has been done, and when we see 
 a Gael write the surname of " Mac Camalain," we can 
 tell him (though, probably, he is well aware of the fact) 
 that the said patronymic signifies the son of the Camp- 
 bellite. Nor is this all, for here we must notice the 
 important fact that the name of Mac-camalain is used 
 alternatively with Ballantyne, or as its equivalent. 
 What, then, is the meaning of " Ballantyne ? " It is 
 simply the Gaelic baile-an-t-suinn, that is, the hall or 
 residence of the hero or hero-chief. As the name of a 
 place, it has exactly the same import as Campbell, and, 
 like the latter, it came to be used as a surname or 
 patronymic. But Ballantyne is the same as Bannatyne 
 i.e., both are merely Anglicised forms of baile-an-t- 
 suinn; and the Bannatynes of Kampsus or Bannatyne 
 in Bute, were so long there, and so early in possession 
 of that property as to justify us in believing that, like 
 thousands of other lairds, they were called by the name 
 of their town ; in other words, by the name of their 
 tower or mansion and the lands attached to it. But 
 wherever the baron Bannatynes of Bute got their 
 name, this much we know for certain, that Kampsus 
 is the perfect equivalent of Bannatyne, and, while the 
 latter is a Gaelic name, the former is old Scots or 
 Norse. After what has been already said, any one 
 will readily see that Kampsus is simply the usual and 
 idiomatic contraction of kamp's mis i.e., the hero-
 
 CAMPBELL. 35 
 
 chiefs house, the baron's peel. Nor let any one ima- 
 gine that by using " baron " as equivalent to hero, 
 champion, or hero-chief, I do in any wise depart from 
 the strictness of truth or of established historical usage, 
 for the term baron originally signified a hero, a war- 
 rior, and, as a consequence, one who received lands 
 for his valour, or won them bravely with the sword. 
 Kampsus, in Bute, is now written Camus (i.e., Campus,) 
 and Kames Castle (i.e., Kamp-hus Castle) ; and the 
 name of Bannatyne appears now to be confined to 
 Port Bannatyne ; but the fact that it is so used 
 strongly supports the other reasons which can be ad- 
 duced for saying that Bannatyne must have been the 
 Gaelic name of Kampsus or Kames Castle. 
 
 One is greatly tempted to dwell upon a subject so 
 interesting, and to recapitulate the successive steps of 
 the argument in a more concise manner. But our 
 limited space forbids further enlargement, and it may 
 be hoped that the remarkable cluster of names which 
 has just been expounded will long continue to bask 
 in the radiant sunshine of that new light which now 
 surrounds them both as individuals and as members 
 of a distinguished group.* 
 
 *Camden, speaking of the Place of Kames, in Bute, says: " Aliam 
 habet (Bota) arcem ad sinum, qui sermone patrio Games, hoc est, 
 Kampso's .vocatur. " Scotia, p. 25. The Bannatynes held the tower and 
 lands of "Games" or Kampsus in the time of King Alexander III., 
 and it is highly probable that they had established themselves there as 
 early as the days of Somerled.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CLUSTERS OF NAMES EDINBURGH, &c. 
 
 'THE city of Edinburgh has been called or designated 
 by several names, and these, for obvious reasons, claim 
 attention. The subject, however, is so vast that only 
 an outline of it can be given here. It shall find an 
 appropriate place in a subsequent chapter, where it 
 can be treated of in a full and critical manner. 
 
 " Edinburgh " is a Scottish or Teutonic compound, 
 and signifies 'the mighty heroes' citadel.' The first 
 part of the name is the same term as the Norse jczttmn, 
 and the Anglo-Saxon eoten. Not unfrequently do we 
 find eoten andjtztunn written with a "d," as in Hedna- 
 tiden, or the Age of the Champions ; Aydencraw or 
 Aldencrawe, the fortified clearance or fenced town of 
 the warriors ; Eodin-ha' or Eden's-Hold, the heroes' 
 fortalice ; Ednaham or Edynham, the giant-heroes' 
 town ; Edna, Ethoyn, Ituna, or Ythan river, the cham- 
 pions' river; Adniston, the warriors' town; Attinburn, 
 the giant-warriors' camp ; Edinken, the champions' 
 burial-place ; Edinholm, the warriors' vale ; Edin- 
 ample, the giant-heroes' dwelling. Compare Athan- 
 ric, the name of a Gothic king who died in 382, and 
 which clearly signifies ' king of the warriors.'
 
 EDINBURGH. 37 
 
 Sometimes the compounds are irregular, that is, in- 
 stead of the genitive or possessive case, the nominative 
 is used. This is a fact which has been established by 
 induction and other scientific appliances. Instances 
 of the irregular compound are found in Addergil-hill, 
 near Brayryshaw, Ewesdale ; Edderton, warriors' town ; 
 Ether Knowe, the warriors' mount, (a fort) ; and in 
 Heathry-gripps, or the giant-warriors' grave-mounds. 
 The last example is properly Heathry-gripp, and it 
 was also called Finnis-cairn i.e., carn-nam-feinne, the 
 champions' cairn. In Chambers's Peeblesshire, men- 
 tion is made of Hardegrepes, a name which means 
 the same as Heathry-grip, although the r be trans- 
 posed. Childe Ether is the name of one of our old 
 heroic ballads ; and it is easy to see how the word 
 etJier or eather might suggest in later times and sustain 
 the notion that an Ether Knowe had something to do 
 with adders or snakes, and serpents. It is very certain 
 that this confusion of language has given rise to many 
 of the popular tales about giant-serpents in various 
 parts of Scotland. 
 
 Under the influence of aspiration, or from slovenly 
 articulation, the t in eatan or eoten disappears, and 
 hence the origin of such forms as Emro or Eambro 
 i.e., eadna-borg, the warriors' citadel ; Ambro', in Bute, 
 a grand old brough, and its name signifying the giant- 
 warriors' burg or citadel ; Annan-street, on the Border, 
 and signifying the causeway of the mighty heroes 
 probably Romans; Hempres, in Moray, with the same 
 meaning as Eambro and Ambro; Anster or (corruptly) 
 Anstruther i.e., eadna or eathna-stadhr, the champions' 
 town, and clearly so, because it is the equivalent of 
 
 410766
 
 38 CLUSTERS OF NAMES. 
 
 Balcaskie i.e., baile-nan-gaisgeach, the town of the 
 brave men*; several places called Anrue, Annroe, or 
 Andrew i.e., eadhna riodh, the champions' station or 
 camp (rath) ; Ambleside, the slope of the giant-heroes' 
 dwelling. A curious but significant compound occurs 
 in Ayrshire, viz., Martnaham, that is, mothar-eatna- 
 fiaim, the ruin of the champions' dwelling the first 
 term being Celtic, and the other two Scots or Scoto- 
 Norse. The place so called is a desolated rath or 
 camp in a loch-islet about six miles to the south-east 
 of the town of Ayr. 
 
 One other variety of eaten or eoten has yet to be 
 noticed. It is ent, or eont, or eond, plural enter, eonter, 
 eonder, and yonder. Hence, we have several places 
 called Enterkin, or the giant-heroes' burial-place ; 
 several instances of Yonder-field, Yondertoun, etc., all 
 meaning warriors' field, town, or the like ; Honister 
 Crag, the giants' town cliff. 
 
 James Melvill, in his Diary, p. 160, speaks of the 
 " Read-eattins," but his commentator makes a poor 
 figure in his attempts at explanation. The history of 
 the term need not be given here, for it has already 
 been given in some of the works quoted as authorities 
 at the end of this volume ; but it may be briefly stated 
 that eatin, eoten, jcetunn, etc., signify a hero, warrior, 
 champion, and, in the popular tales, a giant. The 
 next stage of the word's history was to give it the 
 meaning of ogre, troll, giant-demon, etc. This last- 
 mentioned signification is probably the right one for 
 
 * Compare " Tir nam beann, nan gleann, 's nan gaisgeach," the land 
 of the fells, the ghylls, and the heroes.
 
 EDINBURGH. 39 
 
 the deep and dark chasm of Hen-hole, or giant-ogre's 
 hole, under the Hoy Shevit,* on the East Marches. 
 
 " Duneaden " signifies the warriors' citadel. Some 
 write the name in this way, and others in a different 
 way as Dunedin ; but the Anglicised spelling is a 
 matter of indifference so soon as we have found the 
 true Celtic orthography. And found it is now, for here 
 it is : dun-nan-aoidhean, the citadel of the mighty 
 heroes. Compare Bergonian (Hill Burton, I. 87), 
 properly buirganeean i.e., brugh nan aoidhean, or, 
 the . warriors' fortress. Mr Burton errs greatly in sug- 
 gesting that the people about Dun-maeaisneighin 
 adopted the sages' name of Rerigonium and changed 
 it into Bergonian. This, however, will be fully ex- 
 pounded in its proper place, or in the chapter on the 
 aoidhean and other heroes. There, it is to be ^ hoped, 
 a good deal of the mist and mystification which, like 
 a spectral cloud, has been woven industriously round 
 a number of Scottish questions, will be dissipated, 
 and the fresh sunlight let in upon the dark places. 
 
 Wyntown, speaking of Ebrawce, says he also built 
 " Edynburgh, and gart'them call it Allynclowd, De 
 Maydyn Castell in sum plas, De Sorowful Hil, it 
 called was." i. 54, bk. 3. c. 3. line 131. 
 
 Here Allenclowd may signify the crag of the bul- 
 warks or fortifications, but by and bye I shall pro- 
 bably determine it to be the princes' crag or rock-hall, 
 from the Pictish cluid or gluid, a leader, a prince, a 
 chief. Let us observe the significant fact that Alcluid 
 
 * Shevit. The Marchmen, or Borderers, call Cheviot Fell the Hoy 
 Shevit.
 
 40 CLUSTERS OF NAMES. 
 
 is also Alcuin (Hill Burton), and both of these have 
 easily and naturally the same sense, viz., the rock-fort 
 or palace of the generals or princes. I cannot pause 
 here to speak about the Gaelic def. article, and the 
 manner in which the popular tongue uses it, but it is 
 certain that the people generally throw it out in 
 proper names ; though sometimes it is used in the 
 very same name and sometimes not. 
 
 The next name on Wyntown's : list is Maydyn 
 Castell, that is, teamjiair nam maitliean, the nobles or 
 princes' palace-tower. And the last of his synonyms 
 of Edinburgh is De Sorowful Hil. We should notice 
 here the old definite article, de, equivalent to da, ta, 
 etc. The term "ful" is our modern fell, a hill, a rocky 
 crag, and the " sorow " is the Gaelic sara the whole 
 being a mixed version of dun nan sara, the citadel of 
 the worthies or nobles. The name reminds us of 
 Haddington a name, by the w r ay, which has never 
 been explained that is hofdingia-tun, the more mo- 
 dern heuedinge-town, and signifying princes' town. 
 Compare "All-vel til Hofdingia fallin," every way 
 suited to a prince. 
 
 At Largs we have Braidsaura riggs as a synonym 
 of Kempis riggs, or champions' riggs ; and this ex- 
 ample shows us how the people use the Celtic word 
 sar, pi. sara. With these we may compare Sorow- 
 les-field, near the Cowdenknowes, and meaning the 
 worthies' lis or camp ; also Sorby or Saur-by, in Wig- 
 tonshire, which is explained by its Gaelic equivalent 
 of Taghar an t-adhbh-air, the chieftain's peel-tower. 
 ^ Camden tells us that the Britons called Edinburgh 
 " Myned Agned," that is the hill of the stronghold
 
 EDINBURGH. 4! 
 
 Welsh addnaid, a refuge, a strong fort ; Gaelic fasgadh. 
 In the parish of Dairy, Ayrshire, there is a great 
 ruined stronghold called the Eatnagh Craig, from 
 addnaid, as pronounced under Gaelic influence. 
 
 The Winged Camp of Ptolemy, and the Castrum 
 puellarum, will find a fitting place in our chapter on 
 the Picts. The name of Auld Reiky is probably the 
 Scottish rik, ryke, a kingdom, a realm, and indicating 
 that Edinburgh is the Kingdom-town or Capital city. 
 The old English is reye, and the Norse is riki, power, 
 might, empire, kingdom, as in Austurriki, Austria. 
 Compare Rikit-moss, i.e., the peat-moss of the com- 
 munity or local commonwealth (in the Lennox ;) also 
 Harrige or Harris, i.e. the host-realm, the kingdom of 
 the army or host (of Northmen). The best version of 
 Auld Reiky that occurs to me is Empire City. 
 
 NOTE on Dunedin : The term aoidh, plural aoid- 
 hean, which forms the latter part of this name, occurs 
 in a very large number of local names. Sometimes it 
 is so mispronounced as to suggest the thought that 
 ighean or nighean is used, and at other times it is so 
 corruptly spoken that persons who have but little 
 acquaintance with Scots and Gaelic imagine that the 
 people say " ossian." For example, there is in the 
 south of Kintyre a great and very primitive-looking 
 fortress which, besides its other names, is called Car- 
 aoistheatt and Carnaoisthean. Now, this name is pro- 
 nounced in such a way as to make the latter part of it 
 appear to be very much like Ossian. The same sort 
 of pronunciation obtains in several parts of Arran, 
 and hence it has been imagined by uncritical observers 
 
 c
 
 42 CLUSTERS OF NAMES EDINBURGH. 
 
 that they have found the grave of Ossian, the grave of 
 Fingal's daughter, and those of other ancient worthies. 
 But the entire conclusion is a false one, for the more 
 correct Gaelic-speakers of Arran pronounce the local 
 names referred to in such a way as to show conclu- 
 sively that these names speak of the graves, hills, 
 and camps not of "Ossian," but of the aoidhean or 
 heroes. In one case, a Gaelic-speaking native of 
 Arran gave me the name of Cnoc-nan-aoidJiean, in as 
 correct and pure a pronunciation as it is possible for a 
 Gael to acquire. The meaning or import of this local 
 name, is the warriors' hill ; but in the bright days of 
 Gaelic, or its golden age, the word aoidJi signified a 
 foreigner, a guest, a foreign hero, an accomplished or 
 clever fellow.* This subject will be fully elucidated 
 in the following Studies in Arran and Kintyre, and 
 has been mentioned here chiefly for the sake of show- 
 ing the extravagancies into which the neglect of 
 language and its local varieties may lead people. 
 
 * Also homo peritus, a learned man, a skilful person.
 
 CUMBRAE STUDIES, 
 
 OR 
 
 AN "ALPHABET" OF CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CUMBRAE HEIRLOOMS. 
 
 THE object of this Alphabetical arrangement is to 
 illustrate the advantages which it offers for comparison 
 and ready reference. By these and other means the 
 greatest possible accuracy is obtained, and philological 
 science greatly advanced. 
 
 I offer no apology for placing these Cumbrae Heir- 
 looms first ; for one of the first principles of scientific 
 research is to proceed from the known to the less known, 
 and as these Cumbrae names are more familiar to me 
 than any other local names in all the world, I have 
 lovingly and perseveringly endeavoured to discover 
 their significance, and to add something to the stores 
 of our national history. If it be a pleasure to visit 
 new lands, and traverse for the first time historic 
 scenes, it is no less pleasurable to travel over well- 
 known ground, and find it becoming more and more 
 peopled with the living actors of the far-off past. And
 
 44 CUMBRAE HEIRLOOMS. 
 
 such has been my experience in the Cumbraes. Places 
 which once were tenantless became thronged with 
 warriors in their camps, clerics in their hospices, and 
 anchorets in their retreats. The very glens in their 
 solitude became more solemn, when discovered to 
 have been the dells of devotion to which the early 
 Christians often repaired, and from whose hallowed 
 precincts many a prayer was directed to the Father of 
 Lights. There is scarcely a field that does not offer 
 some object of meditative research ; and, if two small 
 islands have been found to contain so many interesting 
 monuments and unexpected memorials of the past, 
 the fact may be received as a call and encouragement 
 to the investigation of a wider field and more national 
 area. The notes on the Cumbrae Names are neces- 
 sarily brief, and have been purposely written in clear 
 and simple language ; but, so soon as the opportunity 
 occurs, I hope to weave together the scattered facts 
 into a connected narrative or organic whole, and 
 thereby to supply one of the missing links between 
 the history of the Mainland and that of the Islands to 
 the west. 
 
 To the student of the early Church in Scotland, 
 certain of the following notes will serve to show what 
 a number of churches, oratories, and other Christian 
 institutions adorned the Cumbrae Islands in the age 
 prior to the irruption of the Northmen towards the 
 close of the eighth century. In some respects these 
 Islands may be justly compared with lona, for the 
 churches in all the three suffered fearfully during the 
 first fury of the invaders ; and if it was the fortune 
 of lona to have her desolated sanctuary rebuilt, and
 
 CUMBRAE HEIRLOOMS. 45 
 
 her venerable Cathedral upraised, so now it has 
 become Cumbrae's turn to have her ancient ecclesias- 
 tical glories revived, and to have planted on her soil 
 the new Cathedral of the Isles. 
 
 Many of the articles will also serve to show how 
 deeply the Norse influence has stamped itself upon our 
 shores. The names of places afford ample proof of this, 
 but a vast amount of additional testimony, drawn from 
 the living language of the descendants of the Bran- 
 danes, comes in to support and establish the conclusion. 
 There is, however, nothing like facts, and the facts 
 which determine this point will be found stated in 
 abundance all through the following pages. I have 
 no particular partiality for the Scandinavian tongues, 
 or a greater than I have for the Gaelic or the Welsh. 
 The merits and excellencies of both are well known ; 
 and, as a mere seeker of truth and truthful history, I 
 am content to take what I find in the land. Gaelic 
 place-names abound in all the Buteshire Islands, and 
 are found as closely associated with those of old Scotch 
 and Scandinavian origin as are the descendants of the 
 Celts in the closeness of their community with the 
 posterity of the Danes. Similar results have been 
 found elsewhere. When we come to treat of Berwick- 
 shire and the Lothians, we shall not only see how 
 intimately blended different races have become, but 
 also how beautiful and varied is the web of their local 
 nomenclature. 
 
 It will readily be perceived that the study of the 
 Inner Hebrides could not have been long in hand 
 without our encountering the vexed question of the 
 Picts and Scots. Accordingly, it has been so ; and,
 
 46 CUMBRAE HEIRLOOMS. 
 
 \\hile I have not neglected those authors who have 
 discussed the point, I have chiefly pursued my inquiries 
 through the hitherto much-neglected field of language. 
 Determined to take nothing upon trust or arrogated 
 authority, I have uniformly acted on the principle, 
 " Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good." 
 Applying this wise and thoroughly scientific maxim 
 to the study of the languages which Celts and Teutons 
 have introduced within our bounds, I have gone 
 onwards from fact to fact, making each new point 
 established a stepping-stone to others, or using it as a 
 powerful implement wherewith to rend the barriers of 
 the unknown. As for the results, they can only be 
 properly given under the separate headings or divisions 
 to which they respectively belong ; and, while I may 
 here refer the reader to the sections which treat of the 
 Scots, Picts, Caledonians, etc., it may help to prepare 
 him for the notes first to come, if he will glance over 
 the summary contained in the following report of a 
 Lecture by the author : 
 
 The subject was introduced by a few observations 
 on the Celts, Scots, and Picts. The first of these three 
 well-known names was shown to be the same word as 
 "Caled" in the name Caledonia, and terra Caledonia 
 was accordingly explained as the land of the Gaels. 
 The Scots bear a name which anciently was written 
 skatar, and which literally signifies heroes, warriors. 
 The Picts or Peachts were described as a Celtic race, 
 and consequently as speaking a Celtic tongue. They 
 were the very same people as the Meatae, and it was 
 shown how Tir-nam-BeacJmch, the land of Peacts or 
 Picts, becomes tir-na-mBeacJiach />., tyeer-na-Mea-
 
 CUMBRAE HEIRLOOMS. 47 
 
 chach, or land of the Meatae. The Gewicts or Yeats 
 were also shown to be a people closely akin to the 
 Picts, and several instances of the use of these tribal 
 or national denominations in names of places were 
 given. The lecturer next noticed a number of old 
 Scots or Norse terms, which were of old in use to 
 designate heroes, warriors, and brave men. One of 
 these was found in Assynt-shire, that is, the shire of 
 the mighty heroes; Hassywells, mighty heroes' camp. 
 Others were found in such place-names as Risapol, the 
 giant-heroes' dwelling ; Edinburgh, the fortress of the 
 giant-heroes ; Forfar, warriors' town ; Heathery-grip, 
 giant or champions' grave-cairn ; Goudenbery, the 
 heroes' camp. 
 
 Attention was next directed to the most ancient 
 names of places of Christian worship in Scotland. 
 Kelso, Glasgow, and Kilsyth were adduced as examples, 
 and explained to mean, or literally signify, house of 
 prayer. These were Celtic names ; but the old Scots . 
 used we (way) to denote a temple, a sanctuary, a holy 
 place. " Kovin" had the same meaning a term which 
 the Gaels adopted from the Norsemen, and which they 
 wrote conihan. The old Celtic clergy sometimes adopted 
 words from the Greek tongue, and used them as names 
 of churches. Of these, eccles, was one ; baislcac, a 
 basilica, was another. The latter term is represented 
 in " Paisley " that is, the palace-kirk. Sometimes 
 places of Christian worship took their names from the 
 house or cell of ' the man of prayer.' Instances of 
 this were found in such names as Keilreivin, Kilrecan, 
 Kileirvan, all of which literally signify the house of 
 the man of prayer. Among "Fyvie Landmarks" were
 
 48 CUMBRAE HEIRLOOMS. 
 
 noticed carn-na-feinne, the heroes' cairn ; Cairnchedly, 
 the Gaels' cairn ; Lethenty, the grave-monument of 
 the hero or champion ; Staneminhill, the stone memo- 
 rial-cairn hill ; Makkishillock, the champions' barrow 
 or grave-mound ; Ardlogie, the hill of the house of 
 prayer ; Lewes, the psalm or holy-song house ; Towie, 
 the palace ; Dennyleir, Danes' camp ; Doulybrig, 
 fiends' brig ; Blair-fuil, the field of carnage ; Fordown, 
 warriors' hill or hill-camp ; Darnabo, the abbot's or 
 lord's oakwood ; Crichnalead, the locality of the cairn- 
 grave ; Gwav-an-ailly, the gorge of the precipice ; 
 Peath o' Minnonie, the path of the cairn-memorials ; 
 Cairnhill of Pettie, the cairn-hill of the Picts. At the 
 close of the lecture, the Rev. Dr Milne proposed a 
 hearty vote of thanks to the lecturer, which was cor- 
 dially given. Aberdeen Free Press, January 22, 1876. 
 For the Picts and Yeats or Gewictis, see Gouklan- 
 park, Magga-clagh, and other articles. For churches, 
 hospices, oratories, and hermits' cells, see Trahoun, 
 Cnoc-cill-Rainne, Balakeleid, Cullough, Balacewn, 
 Cullyleyne, Gairannies, Keill Mawris, Keillachreasain, 
 Macillhenish, Portgelsie, Penance-Hill, Belstane, Pea- 
 par-holls, Ballach-Martin, Cravies-heol, Creang-gowar, 
 Creang-hahk, and passim. There are strong reasons 
 for believing that the ancient church of Santa Vey, in 
 Wey or Little Cumbrae, is the Ailen-na-ingen* church 
 of Tighernac, who states that it was built in the year 
 714, and his testimony is confirmed by the Annals of 
 Ulster. 
 
 * That is, the Island of the Virgins. W. F. Skene, Cps. 428. 
 Beya and Maura are the two famous Cumbrae Saints.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ALPHABET OF CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 AlRACK FAULD: Gael. Fal-an-airick, the shepherd or 
 grazier's fold. 
 
 AIRD HILL : Gael, aird, height, headland ; compare 
 an t-ard, the hill. 
 
 ALLINAGREACH : Gael, ailiun na gcreach, the islet of 
 the clauba-dows. " Clauba" is the Gaelic claidh- 
 eamh, a sword, a glaive ; Lat. gladius. It is evident 
 that the root is clad or glad, and is probably akin 
 to Swed. glat, shining ; O. Norse glad, brightness. 
 Is not a sword, therefore, the shiner, the shining 
 brand ? " Clauba," or clobby, takes also the form 
 of clam on account of the Irish method of writing 
 " mh " a method which dispenses with the " h " as 
 a character, but which it indicates by a dot or point 
 placed above the preceding letter. There is still 
 another form of clauba or clobby, or clab. This is 
 scollop, a word which is formed by prefixing " s " to 
 clab, or clob. Hence scollop-shell, slige-chreach ; 
 but it must be observed that the " clauba-dows " of 
 allinagreach are the horse-mussels of the South, and 
 not the scollop-shell of the palmer. 
 
 ALLINS, The, or The Eillans, old Gaelic ailiun, oilean, 
 modern, eilean, island ; na-h-Eileana, the Islands 
 "The Allins." 
 
 ALLIN-TUIRAIL, Gael, ailiun tuir fhail, the islet of
 
 $0 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 the noble's tower, the islet of the lord's tower. On 
 east side of Wee or Wey Cumbrae. 
 
 ALLT-GOUTE, or Auld Goute Gaelic Allt-guidhe, the 
 dell of devotion ; the glen of prayer or of supplica- 
 tion ; old Norse bcena-gilit, the glen or ghyll of 
 prayers. At " Billikellet." See Sir John Sinclair's 
 stat. acct, xi. 391-397. Compare Bullul or Bonhill, 
 that is, bcena-holl) bcenahulle, the hillock of devotions. 
 Beaina Sunday (Edmondston's Glossary) is Sunday 
 before Christmas, and is observed as a very sacred 
 festival (Principal Barclay). " Beaina " is bcena, 
 buina. Hence Bomby, i.e. bouneby, house of prayer. 
 
 ARRIN KUIBIL, or Arthin Cuibil, the Gaelic form of 
 Heatherene Keipel, which see. 
 
 AULD CASTLE, see Allin-Tuirail. 
 
 AULD CREANG-GOWAR BUTT ; " butt " is a croft, a 
 small piece of land. See Correy Hill and Coir-an- 
 tobrich. 
 
 AULD GHOUTE. See Allt-Goute. 
 
 AULD HA' (Hall), at Portanaugh. It is the "Sheriff's 
 auld Ha' or House." It was a castle or fort, and 
 occupied a strong site on a crag. Portanaugh 
 appears to be the Gaelic Port-an-adJibJiaidh, the 
 port of the Residence. The site of this Auld Ha' 
 is close behind No. 9 Clyde Street, near the Miln- 
 port. 
 
 AYRIE PORT, Gaelic airidJt, a shealing ; old Norse 
 skali, the house of a peasant, shepherd, dairyman, or 
 fisherman. The remains of the shealing still exist 
 at Ayrie Port. Compare Port-an-aire, the chieftain's 
 port, and Norse eyri y a shingly beach, a gravelly 
 shore.
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 51 
 
 BACK CRAFT, at " Port Key" (Pont and Blaeu), or 
 Portrye. 
 
 BALACEWN [bally-kewan], Balekewn, Ballakewn (Reg. 
 Mag. Sig., A.D. 1536), Balakewin (Pont, circa A.D. 
 1600), Belikewn (James Boyle, laird, A.D. 1704), 
 Ballycown (Eaton Reid, map, " Buteshire"), Bally- 
 cowan, or Ballychowan; Gaelic Bail' -a-cJwmhain t 
 the hall or town of the shrine, Shrine-Hall. It is 
 evident that a primitive cell or lodge of devotion 
 stood at Ballycown. The field beside the glen of 
 Ballycown bears the name of Keill-Fauld, that is, 
 Kirk-Field. A short distance up the hill there are 
 the remains of a moated hillock, or camp, which 
 bears the name of Fourta-Aykkar, Norse frodha 
 ceckar, that is, the learned-men's monticle or moated 
 camp, the Sages' moated-grange, the wise-men's 
 fenced-hillock. The Norsemen or Northmen called 
 the Venerable Bede " Froude " (frodhr in their 
 own tongue, a term which signifies " knowing, 
 learned, well-instructed, wise"). " Froude," like 
 many adjectives, evidently came to be used as a 
 "noun." With Fourta Aykkar, or Frouta ALckar, 
 compare Bon Accord, that is, Boena ceckar (Norse), 
 a final " d," as often, being added. Now Bon Ac- 
 cord is, accordingly, the hillock of devotion, and 
 evidently is the name of a knoll on which stood an 
 ancient church, or which was raised over a saint's 
 grave. See Trahoun, Allt Goute, Cullough Craft, 
 and Sandy Fauld, all of which serve to illustrate the 
 subject. " Cullough" is probably formed from cill- 
 ghuidlie, lodge of devotion, house of prayer. "San- 
 dy" is the -Welsh or Kymric san-dy, holy-house.
 
 52 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 Compare Wedale (the Vale of Gala- Water), that is, 
 We-dale, or holy-house dale, (Norse ve t a temple, a 
 church). The term " shrine" is often applied to a 
 saint's grave. It has also other applications, e.g., 
 
 " Thou who hast deign'd the Christian's heart to call 
 Thy church and shrine." The Christian Year, I7th 
 
 Sunday after Trinity. 
 
 Note Baile-dJiion, the place of refuge, the fenced resi- 
 dence. The Gaelic baile is a 'Place,' a hall, residence 
 or military station, a fort or fenced-house, a rath 
 (which is glossed by baile. Joyce, Irish Names, p. 
 335.) Earls, nobles, and kings resided in bailies 
 and halls, but the bander (yeomen, carls, peasants, 
 husbandmen) dwelt in shealings, Norse skali, def. 
 skalinn. The bcender were often, or usually, free- 
 holders, udallers or " bonnit-lairds." 
 
 The Welsh word beili must be akin to the Gaelic 
 baile. Hence, beili-cun, the captain's court (*>. a 
 hall), the chieftain's residence. Compare the Welsh 
 glud, a leader, a captain, a chief or chieftain. Hence 
 the Pictish Gaelic Alcluid, that is, the hall of the 
 chief, the residence or court of the nobleman, pro- 
 bably a king or kinglet. 
 
 With Ballycown compare the Gaelic dion-aite, a refuge, 
 a sanctuary, and ballacha-dionaidh, hedges, fences. 
 See Psalm Ixxx. 12, Gaelic and English versions. 
 " Haye," Hague, is a fenced place, a place with a 
 bulwark. Compare Norse Iiagi, a fenced field. A 
 " girth," or girth-stead, is a place of refuge, a sanctu- 
 ary. It is the Scots form of the Norse grida-stadr, a 
 place of security, a sanctuary. We find stad used in
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 53 
 
 Muk-stat or "Mug-stot," Isle of Skye, that is, Monk- 
 Stead, Monk-Toun. "Muk" [mook] is Norse, and 
 signifies monk. At Fame Island there is Megston 
 Rock, z.e., Monks-Toun Islet: see Hill Burton, i. 171. 
 
 Ballychown may be compared with Bail'-athchuinge, 
 the place of supplication, and with Bail'-achain, the 
 place of prayer. 
 
 The Gaelic Bail' -aoigJi-cJiumJiainn signifies the hall 
 of the doughty hero, or hero-chief. The earthworks 
 or ramparts of the old site of Ballycown remain to 
 this day. 
 
 Baile-Chuinn is Conn's Hall, or Conn's fenced resi- 
 dence. Conn is Cuthon. Sean Dana, 265, cited 
 High. Soc. Diet., sub voce Gointe. 
 
 Ballycown was probably a shrine or haly-kirk up to 
 the ninth century the Viking Age and afterwards 
 a chief or chieftain's hall. Nairaghan (Lochranza, 
 Arran) is the Gaelic naomh-dhion, a sanctuary. See 
 Glen Aock, Hawars-ward, Clochuin Heann, Gairan- 
 nies, Creang-Gowar and Cullyleyne. 
 
 BALAKELEID. Pont and Blaeu. This name is variously 
 spelt, e.g., Ballikellat Reg. Mag. Sig., Balakeleid 
 Pont, circa A.D. 1600, Belliskelliat Testament, 
 A.D. 1612, Balliekellit Inquis. Spec., 1654, Bal- 
 likelliat do., 1658, Bellikelliot do., 1685, Belli- 
 killiot do., 1696, Billikellet Old Stat. Acct, xi. 
 391-397, Ballykellet New Stat. Acct, v. Bala- 
 keleid or Ballykellet may be the Welsh or Kymric 
 beili-culiad, the knoll of austerity, the knoll of ema- 
 ciation. In front of the homestead there is the 
 Maiden Knowe knoll. See Macillhenish, the field 
 of the cell of austerity, and Cullyleyne. Compare
 
 54 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 also Lann-leire, the church of austerity, Joyce, p. 
 311. The Welsh beili-ciliad is the yard or mound 
 of the retreat ; query " comrich, a safe retreat," 
 Old Stat. Acct. ? Comrich is comaraich, protection, 
 mercy, favour, grace ; also a sanctuary or place 
 of refuge. Compare Armstrong, and Black's Pict. 
 Tourist's Guide, p. 549, 2Oth edition. A " retreat" 
 is a refuge, a sanctuary. The Welsh beili-celydd 
 is the knoll or yard court of the retreat, and 
 beili-golaeth is the knoll or yard of worship. The 
 Welsh beili-gwellad signifies the knoll of amend- 
 ment, and which "amendment," as many facts show, 
 was sought for in prayers, worship, penance, and 
 austerities. For this, see particularly Port Gelsie, 
 Keillachreasain, and Macillhenish.* The Welsh or 
 Pictish Gaelic beili-glud, baile-gliluid, signifies the 
 chief's yard or court, and bail* -d -chleith> the chief- 
 tain's hall. 
 
 But what I deem the true origin of Balakeleid or 
 Bellikilliot is the Gaelic Baile-cJiill-ghuidhe, the 
 house, hall, or town of the cell of prayer. Compare 
 " Rathwhillet," the modern Rathillet, Rath-chill- 
 g/mid/ie, the fort of the cell of prayer. Vast support 
 can be given to these last two renderings. Indeed, 
 so far as such a subject is capable of demonstration, 
 they have been demonstrated. Kelso, Glasgow, and 
 Kilsyth " Kilvesyth" have all the same significa- 
 tion viz., the cell or house of prayer. The original 
 form of these names is now written ceall-ghuidJte or 
 
 * Compare baile-dhiolaidh, the place or town of penance, or of resti- 
 tution.
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 55 
 
 clll-ghuidtie. Dunkeld or Dun-caillenn must signify 
 the mount or fort of the house of prayer. In Kin- 
 tyre we find a place called Dounavvachallow i.e.y 
 Dun-adJibhadh-cheallghuidhe, the crag-mount of the 
 house-of-prayer building, the rock of the church 
 stronghold. For " cell of prayer " we may variously 
 and correctly say, house of prayer, lodge or cabin of 
 devotion, oratory, chapel, church. The Welsh latin, 
 Ian, or land, signifies enclosure, area, yard, court; 
 and it came to be a favourite term for an oratory, 
 chapel, or church. So belli, a yard, a court, a knoll, 
 may have been applied to the small enclosed areas 
 or yards which early Christians dedicated to prayer, 
 and anchorets to austerities. 
 
 In old Scots the word bull signifies a feast, a festival, 
 play; and kel or keld means a well. It may be worth 
 noting whether we may not have here a bllly-keld, 
 that is, a buil or buily-keld, and signifying the festi- 
 val well. In Wey Cumbrae we have a Bel-stane, or 
 Buil-stane, that is, the festival stone. In Cunyngham 
 there is a well called the Play-well or Billies-well 
 (from bull), and in Bute there is a name which con- 
 tains the same word. See Bidder Well, the name of 
 a fountain near Balakeleid. See Allt Goute for 
 bcena-gilit, and notice that "n" is sometimes changed 
 into "1," as in Bononia, now Bologna, Bonhill or 
 Bullul, struan or struell. Bcena-gilit might thus 
 readily become Billy-killet, and it is curious to note 
 that the former translates Allt Goute. 
 
 BALLACHILLAYVE, Bealach-CJdll-gJuddhe, the vale of 
 the Oratory. It is in Wey Cumra, and so are the 
 two following :
 
 56 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 BALLACHANTOUM, Bealach-an-tuim, the pass or vale of 
 the peaked knoll. 
 
 BALLACHANTOYE, BealacJi-an-tsuidJie, the pass of the 
 resting-place. 
 
 BALLACH MARTIN. Pont and Blaeu. In the Great 
 Seal Register this name is written, according to 
 Eaton Reid, Ballochmertin, and in the Retours it is 
 similarly spelled. Its original seems to be the 
 Gaelic Baif-aoidh-Martin, the residence or town of 
 the learned-man Martin. Probably there was a 
 church here called Ceall-aoidJi-Martin, the church 
 of the learned-man Martin, and, after this church 
 ceased to exist, the town which had gathered 
 around it acquired its present name by the substitu- 
 tion of baile for ceall, cill, or Ian. About a thousand 
 paces to the south-south-east of Balloch Martin 
 there had evidently been a church inscribed to 
 Ringan or S. Ninian. See Cnoc-cill-Rainne. The 
 Gaelic aoidh signifies homo peritus, a learned man, 
 an accomplished man. It is used very much in 
 the sense of " froude" z>., knowing, learned, well- 
 instructed ; wise, sage. See Fourta Aykkar, and 
 Balacewn. Accordingly we may take Balloch 
 Martin as signifying Sage Martin's Town ; and 
 when it is remembered that S. Ninian was honoured 
 in the neighbourhood, it occurs to me that Bally- 
 killit may really be Baile-cill Jot, the town of Saint 
 Ita's Church. This seems all the more likely, 
 because we know that S. Ita was much associated 
 with Senoc, and that the name of the latter is pro- 
 bably contained in the names of Sannoc's field and 
 Sannoc's hill (near Kirktoun o' Cumbrae). Senoc
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 57 
 
 is remembered in the names of several churches in 
 the west, and sometimes his name appears with the 
 honorary prefix mo. It then becomes Moshenoc, 
 and is pronounced mohennoc and mahannoc. This 
 early ecclesiastic has a church in Kintyre, and 
 another apparently in Glen Sannocs, Arran. At 
 the latter place there is an ancient sculptured stone, 
 showing a man's head of noble aspect and of 
 magnificent features. It is not unlikely to be a 
 remembrance of S. Senoc, or of some other early 
 "father" in the church of Gleann-cill- Senoc. We 
 shall see that the Isle of Cumbrae had churches 
 inscribed to the memory of Mary (Muire) or. Maura, 
 Callumkeill, and apparently Saint Fillan. Besides 
 these, there are places in Cumbrae with ancient 
 names which signify respectively the Nun's Ora- 
 tory, the Penitent's Cell, the Cell of Austerity, the 
 Oratory, the Abbot's Meadow, the Residence of the 
 chiefs of the clergy, and the Preceptors' Borg or 
 stronghold. Even these do not complete the list of 
 Cumbrae names which indicate ecclesiastical sites 
 and institutions. The conclusion is obvious that 
 the Isle of Cumbrae must have been, in many 
 respects, the rival of Hy or lona in the early ages.* 
 
 BALLACHOWAN, Ballycowan, see Balacewn [Balla- 
 kewn.] 
 
 BANCLAN TOYE, Gaelic Ban-ghlan or Bean-ghlan, holy 
 woman. Toye, or Toey is the Scotch form of the 
 Danish tue, a hillock, a mount, a mound. Hence 
 
 * Martin, as a surname, is often used for Mac-taggart /.<., the 
 priest's son.
 
 58 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 the above compound signifies Holy-woman Hillock. 
 
 It is in Wey Cumbrae, and has no doubt a refer- 
 ence to Bey or Saint Vey ("Wey"). Compare 
 
 Fauld Tie. 
 BARBAY HILL, Gaelic barr-bnidhe, the yellow hill, the 
 
 hill bright with the bloom of the golden furze. 
 
 Properly written Barrbuy. With " buy " compare 
 
 the sound of the English words " buy," " Guy," &c. 
 BARON MACFEE'S HALL. At Breaghogh. 
 BARONY OF THE HILL. Formerly a freehold of the 
 
 Hunters, and sometimes called the barony of Kames. 
 
 The baron would be a yeoman, udaller, or holdar. 
 
 For the other Cumbrae baronies, see New Stat. 
 
 Acct., vol. v. In Bute sonn &s\&flatJi are applied to 
 
 barons. 
 
 BARR-END, that is, hill-end. 
 BARR-HEADS, the hill-head. 
 BARR-HOWE, or barr-hoy, that is hill-hill, from Gaelic 
 
 barr, a hill-top, and Danish hcei, a hill. 
 BAYE'S CHURCH ; see Santa Vey. 
 BEARDIES PLUM ; at Balakeleid. 
 BEARRINS ; Norse barin, the grange, the hamlet. A.S. 
 
 beorhin, the rampart, the grave-mound. 
 BEGAR WiLLY, or Begar Wally ; Bey's pillar-stone, 
 
 from gal y a pillar-stone. " Begar" is in the genitive 
 
 case. 
 
 BEL BAY, on Figatach. 
 BEL CRAIG, see Figatach. 
 BEL-STANE. As this is a pure Scots compound, it is 
 
 properly written buil-stane ; bnil, a festival, feast, 
 
 play, amusement ; and sometimes pronounced buily 
 
 in Kyle, Bute, and Orkney. Compare " buily " in
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 59 
 
 Edmondston's Glossary. The Welsh is careg y wyl, 
 or maen y wyl i.e., the Stone of the festival or play. 
 On saints' days it was customary to hold such a 
 festival. This stone is in Wee or Wey Cumbrae, 
 and close by it there is a sculptured stone of a very 
 interesting character. There is a Bel-stane at 
 Cransha, Dairy, Cunningham ; and there is a Billy- 
 well, alias Play-well, between Dreghorn and Kil- 
 maurs : see Play-hill. 
 
 BENNITS, or bennids, Gaelic beinn-nan-nid, the hill of 
 the nests (of sea-maws). It is at Cnoc-Nid-Aylan, 
 which see. 
 
 BESSYS PORT (two of them). Gaelic port-na-bJifeise, 
 the port of the festivals, assemblies, or gatherings. 
 But King Hakon sent Thorlaug Bosi from the 
 Cumbrae shore to Largs with troops, and there is a 
 Bessy's Port at Balloch Martin Bay. Sea-rocks are 
 called does, Norse bodha-skeri, the rock of " boding" 
 or warning breakers. The other Bessy Port is near 
 Port Knox, and is marked by a ledge of rocks. 
 
 BEUGHA'S CHURCH. The Gaelic Beugh probably re- 
 presents the Latin Baya or Beya, since we have 
 Kil-Bucho in Peebleshire (Chalmers' Caledonia, ii. 
 958). See Santa Vey. 
 
 BEYE'S CHURCH, see Santa Vey. 
 
 BEYE'S GRAVE, see Santa Vey. 
 
 BIDDER WELL, OR BUTTAR WELL, that is, the peti- 
 tioners' well, the wishing well. Old Eng. bidder, in 
 " Piers the Plowman," &c. There is a Buttar Well 
 in Dairy parish, Ayrshire, and there are several 
 places called Buttar Burn, as at Dundee, and in 
 Cumberland. The Bidder or Buttar Well is at
 
 60 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 Allt Gout, which see. Glens or ravines appear to 
 have been much resorted to for prayer. See various 
 edicts of Councils, Kings, and Popes, in Fergusson's 
 " Rude Stone Monuments." See also the article, 
 Well. 
 
 BIG BANK, or Meikle Bank. 
 
 BIG BRAE, near the Lome. 
 
 BIG CRAFT, or B. croft. 
 
 BIG CUMBRAE, that is, Isle of Cumbrae. 
 
 BIG HEAD, near Nouyorrach. 
 
 BlL-DEEP, that is Blae-deep, the blue-deep. Compare 
 Blamyre, dark mere or lakelet. 
 
 BLACK ROCK, a skerry off Ringan's Port. 
 
 BOLLS-ROCK, that is Boes-rock, from the Norse bodha- 
 skeri) a skerry or rock of "boding" breakers; Shet- 
 landic baa (Principal Barclay), Norse and Hebridean 
 boe. The boding breakers warn the sea-farers. See 
 Bullers Bouies. 
 
 BOULDER, the "split :" on Allin-Turail. 
 
 BOULE FAULD, Gaelic buaile, a dairyman's shealing. 
 
 BOURTREES CRAIG. 
 
 BOYDS-PORT is probably Abbot's port, Gaelic port- 
 abaid. Compare ' black-boyds ' i.e., black abbots. 
 
 BRACKEN bight. 
 
 BRAID ALLINS. 
 
 BRAIDWICK, The ; breideag, a patch of land. 
 
 BRAIGHOGH, OR BREAGHOGH. Probably the Gaelic 
 bruigheog, a hall, a mansion. Baron Macfee's Hall 
 stood here in Tree-field. Timothy Pont writes this 
 name Brecach Wodrow, Breckoth while in the 
 Retours we find it spelled Braikothe. Brodick, in 
 Arran, is " Braizay " (Archd. Monro, A.D. 1 594),
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 6l 
 
 that is, Braigay, a name which Arranmen still pro- 
 nounce Breaghogh. The same name occurs twice 
 in Bute. Compare the Gaelic brugh-an-aoigh, the 
 hero's hall, the chieftain's hall or fort. Braigha- 
 neogh, in Dunlop, is probably Brugh-nan-aoigh, 
 the heroes' fort. It is probably the same as Aikan 
 Castle i.e., heroes' castle, from Brugh-nan-aoighean. 
 See "Irish Names," p. 522. Compare Brocket's- 
 brae, Muirkirk, and Brocket, at Monkton, in Kyle. 
 The Norse braga-haug signifies warriors' cairn or 
 grave-mound, and it is remarkable that such cairns 
 existed till lately at Braizay, in Arran, and at Brug- 
 hog, in Bute. There was probably a similar cairn 
 at our Braighogh, for there are still several " Stannin 
 Stanes" near the homestead. The Norse bragda- 
 hagi signifies the field of exploits, and it may be 
 noted that the Norse bragdh is very like the Gaelic 
 burach, an exploit ("Armstrong's Gael. Dictionary"). 
 It is pretty well known that in old writings a " z " 
 really represents the letters "g" and "y." The 
 strong Norse element in the population of the Bute- 
 shire Islands readily accounts for the change of 
 Bruigheog into Breaghogh the latter being spelled 
 in accordance with the Gaelic pronunciation of the 
 letters " ea." Compare the Lowland-Scotch sound 
 of -puir> guid, and fnil with the Buchan pronuncia- 
 tion of the same words -peer or peir, gweed, feel. 
 
 BRAYKAN KNOWE, Kirktoun. 
 
 BREAGHOGH, the same as Braighogh. 
 
 BROT GHELSEY, see Port Gelsie. 
 
 BUINNOIGHIES, Gaelic buinne-na-h-oighe, the maiden's 
 statue or image. There may have been an image
 
 62 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 here, as the place is at Allt Goute (right bank) ; and 
 for analogies we find that there was an image in the 
 Church of Hamer (A.D. 1356) near Whitekirk, East 
 Lothian, and one in Wedale, Gala Water: see Hill 
 Burton, i. 171, second ed. of History of Scotland. 
 Wooden images, or statues in wood, of the founders 
 or patrons of churches of the 6th and /th centuries 
 were common in Ireland, and no doubt in the 
 Gaelic portion of Scotland. Some of these are still 
 preserved in islands on the west coast of Ireland: 
 Dr Petrie, Sir J. Y. Simpson, Archaeol. Essays, i. 71. 
 But take rather boone-hagi, the field of prayer, that 
 is, land given to the church, kirkland, regarding 
 which the Retours speak as existing in this quarter. 
 The Norse is bcene-hagi i.e., the field of prayers, 
 land given to the clerics for prayers. The old 
 English and Scots boon or beain is prayer, and 
 afterwards, an answer to prayer, that is, a boon, a 
 gift: see Allt Goute and Kirk-land. 
 
 BULLERS BOUIES, that is, the billow-inhabiting sker- 
 ries ; Dan. bcelger, O. Norse bylgjur, billows, and 
 but, a dweller, only in compounds, as haug-bin, a 
 dweller in cairns. They are at Portachaur. 
 
 BURD GHELSEY, burd, Miss, lady, damsel. Ghelsey 
 or Ghillsuy, house of prayer, hence Lady-kirk ; but 
 see Prot Ghelsey, and compare Burdsyards, Forres. 
 
 BUSHY CRAIG FORSE (a new name) ; Norweg. fors, 
 old Norse fos or for s, a waterfall, hence " Foyers" in 
 Fall of Foyers (fors), and Phys-gil. 
 
 BUTT, The, at Auld Creang-Gowar. Gael, buta, a 
 patch of land, a croft. Compare old Norse bygd, 
 portion of land, district, settlement, colony, county.
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 63 
 
 The definite form bygdin, or boegdhin, is clearly 
 
 " Buchan," that is, the colony, the inhabited district. 
 
 Compare Buitland between Calder and Currie, Baid- 
 
 land, Dairy, and Isle o' Buit. 
 BUTT, The (Kilwhinlick's). There is another Butt at 
 
 Keillachreasain. 
 BUTTAR WELL, see Bidder Well. The letter "i" in 
 
 Scotch is very often sounded as a short " u." 
 BUTTER-LUMP, a skerry at Green-Gheot. 
 BYRRINS, see Bearrins, and compare Byrin, Byron, the 
 
 grange, the hamlet. 
 
 CAIBEAL BHEIGH (ky-bal vey) : Chalmers' Caledonia, 
 
 iii. 561, but there badly written : see Santa Vey. 
 CAIRNS, at Toumanteinn, Houmbay, Nether Breag- 
 
 hogh, Kirktoun, Fintrey Bay, Sheannawally, Hill o' 
 
 hills, and probably at Lauts-Birrial. 
 CALLIN'S LOCH, Lock na cailinn, the Maiden's Loch. 
 CALLIN'S MEYRE, Norse maere, a mere, a meyre, a 
 
 lakelet, hence the Lady's Lakelet. These two last 
 
 must refer to St Vey. 
 CAMBRAY: Old Stat. Acct., xi. 391. The same as 
 
 Cimbraes, Cumra, Cumbrae, and Cumbraes. 
 GAMES, Kaimes, or Kames 
 CARRGHEOT, carraig a! gheodha, the creek-point. 
 CATHEDRAL OF THE ISLES, vide Collegiate Ch. 
 CAVES, see Macfee's cave, Gipsy cave, Monks' cave, 
 
 Ryssel cave, and Kings-cave. 
 CHAPEL-ON-ISLAND OF THE VIRGINS, built A.D. 714: 
 
 Annals of Tighernac and Annals of Ulster. This 
 
 church or chapel must be Santa Vey, or S. Vey's 
 
 Church in Wee or Wey Cumbrae.
 
 64 ' CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 CHAPEL VEY, or Chapel Wey. 
 
 ClL-Y-LEIAN, the Nun's Oratory: see Cullyleyne. 
 
 CIMBRAES: Old Stat. Acct. xi. 391, and Keith John- 
 ston's Gazetteer. 
 
 CLAGHADOUAN, the hero's grave-mound, cladk an 
 tsuinn. 
 
 CLANYPOTT (Bute MSS.), Abbot's Meadow, obtain 
 apaidli. 
 
 CLEWSHFARLAX POINT, the point of the oratory of 
 the pilgrims, rudlia cill-gJiuidhe fearfhalbhan : it is 
 at Port Isaich, and near Ringan's Port. 
 
 CLOCHUIN-HEANN, the old house of prayer, cill-gkuid- 
 kean sheann. The name is preserved in an old 
 Cumbrae legend, and Ballycowan must have been 
 the locality. Culyough-hant, in Kilbarchan, has the 
 same meaning. 
 
 CLYDE STREET, on Rock-heads, Gael, deiteadh, Norse, 
 kleit, a rock, a rugged rocky ridge. On this crag 
 stood the Sheriff's Auld House or hall. 
 
 CNOC-CILL-RAINNE, pronounced knockillranny, and 
 signifying the hill or hillock of the Church of Ringan, 
 that is, Saint Ninian. Ninian is Nenn and Monenn, 
 the varieties being created by the use of the honorary 
 prefix and suffix. This church must have stood on 
 the knoll between Ringan's Port and Portighash, for 
 the latter signifies the port of the ruined house of 
 worship: see Portighash. The port a little further 
 south is called Port-isaich, *>., port taesech, Prince's 
 Port, and Ninian, the famous missionary, was a 
 prince. My philological studies alone led me to 
 the discovery of this church, and ample corrobora- 
 tive testimony in support of the fact turned up
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 65 
 
 afterwards. The details cannot be introduced here, 
 but shall be given elsewhere. It may be said, how- 
 ever, that traces and relics of the church and its sea- 
 wall existed till recently, and the marks of these 
 may still be seen. There are indications that S. 
 Ninian's Church was visited by many pilgrims and 
 devout people. Did King Hakon hear mass at this 
 church or at the Ballycowan Church? See Clochuin- 
 Heann and Balacewn. The Norsemen called reli- 
 gious pilgrims " Romferlar," that is, Rome-ferles. 
 Hence Ferla-vik, pilgrims' creek. 
 
 CNOC-NlD-AYLAN, Gaelic cnoc-nid-na-bhfaeilean, the 
 hill of the sea-maws' nests. Faeilean, a sea-gull 
 (Joyce, 469). 
 
 COIR'-AN-TOBRICH (a name partly new), the vale of 
 the fountain. 
 
 COLLEGIATE CHURCH, The, with provost and canons : 
 see Bp. Ewing's " lona."* 
 
 COLMis KIRK, see Sanct Colmis Kirke. 
 
 CONCH-BUCKIE bay. 
 
 COREY'S CRAIG. 
 
 CORREY HlLL, near Coirantobrich. 
 
 CORSBURN, it passes near Trahoun cross and shrine. 
 
 CORSS, The, a field beside Corsburn. 
 
 COSEY GLEN, near Monks' Cave, and other caves, 
 Gaelic cuas, a cave, a cove. 
 
 'COVANS-BRAE, Covans-fields, and Covans-well, Gaelic 
 com/tan, a shrine, as in comhan-an-truaghain, the 
 shrine of the meagre-one (one reduced in body by 
 
 * On the third day of May, A.D. 1876, the Collegiate Church of 
 Cumbrae was consecrated as the Cathedral of the Isles.
 
 66 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 austerities). A "shrine" is often a saint's grave, 
 and sometimes it signifies a holy place. The 
 Covans-lands are beside Trahoun lands, and may 
 have their name from the shrine of Maura or Mary. 
 Trawhuirrey is at Trahoun [trahoon], and is clearly 
 the Gaelic Traigh-Mluiire> Mary's Strand : see Tra- 
 houn, and notice the old Norse kofin [kovin], the 
 convent cell, the oratory. For " shrine" and " sanc- 
 tuary," compare Exodus xv. 17, and Psalm Ixxviii. 
 
 54- 
 
 CRAIGACHAISTEIL, the crag of the castle-like rock 
 i.e. t towering like a castle. 
 
 CRAIGANFEACH, Gaelic creag-nam-fitheach, the ravens' 
 crag ; Norse hrafna-bjarg. 
 
 CRAIG-NA-BHFIOLAIREAN [craignavillaran], the crag 
 of the eagles. It is affirmed that eagles built their 
 nests here. It is the same as Faurlan Craig. 
 
 CRAIGLEE, the hoary rock. There was an islet-rock 
 bearing this name at the head of Millport Pier. 
 
 CRAIG NABBIN, Norse nabin, the projecting bluff of 
 high rock. Nab is knoup, knob, neb. 
 
 CRA.Vltt-ttv.Q'LiGa.elicgeod/i-nan-craibhthigk, the creek 
 of the devout folk pilgrims going to Santa Vey. 
 
 CREANG-GOWAR, Gaelic ceithreanne-nan-guidheachair, 
 the Bedesmen's Hospice. The Hospice of S. Ber- 
 nard is now a monastery. The term guidheachair 
 literally signifies a bedesman bede, prayer one 
 who prays, a supplicator, a petitioner, a " bidder. " 
 " Go war" is goughar, gui 1 chair. The Welsh form is 
 gweddiwr. Compare Creann-sheanta, in Arran, 
 that is, the 'old hospice.' The 'hospice,' in the early 
 age of the Scottish Church, would receive clerks or
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 6/ 
 
 ecclesiastics, persons coming as to a college or school 
 for instruction, and palmers or pilgrims both cleric 
 and laic. In some respects it was very similar to the 
 Missionary establishments which I have visited in 
 India. The hospice of the sixth century was scarcely 
 a cloister. Garengyr in Wales had a hospice, and is 
 evidently the same name as our Creang-Gowar. 
 The Norse tongue gives us greina-kofar [kovar], i.e, t 
 huts of boughs, wattled or wicker-work cabins 
 query, cells of religious men ? Notice ceithreanna- 
 coibhre, the hospice of help or of protection, i.e., a 
 sanctuary, as one may think. But ceal-chobhair is a 
 sanctuary, an asylum, and so is comaraich: see Gair- 
 annies. 
 
 CREANG-HAHK, or Creang-Haque, pronounced Creang- 
 hakk, but properly Cayran-Hoigh, Gaelic ceithreanne 
 na h-oighe, the hospice of the maiden, the Lady- 
 Hospice. It gives name to the field beside the old 
 kirk site, and probably refers to one of Maura's es- 
 tablishments. Penance Hill is close by. Compare 
 Cayran in Kintyre, Kirn near Dunoon, and Chirne 
 on Fame Island. Catrine is the same word, and 
 .the town so-called in Ayrshire once contained a 
 house or hospice for religious men. This hospice, 
 at Catrine, was called St. Cuthbert's. 
 
 CULLOUGH CRAFT, Gaelic cill-ghuidhe, the cell or 
 lodge of devotion. It is the old name of a field at 
 Ballycown. 
 
 CULLYLEYNE, Kymric cil-y-lein, the Nun's Oratory. 
 Some remains of this oratory may still be seen. The 
 site is near Druimskillin, Ballykilliot. Compare Dol- 
 y-Lein, the Nun's Meadow (Camb. Guide, p. ill.)
 
 68 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 CUMBRAE, so spelled in Eaton Reid's map of Buteshire. 
 
 DAM-DALE i.e., Dame-dale, or Lady Dale. Com- 
 pare " Dam Margrat Douglas," on Montgomery's 
 shield over the manse garden-gate. 
 
 DAM-HEAD i.e., Dame Head or Lady Eminence, as 
 in Castle-head and Beinty-head. It names the 
 upper portion of the Kirktoun lands. There is a 
 hillock or eminence near the homestead. 
 
 DANISH CAMP: Old stat. acct, xi. 391-397. It 
 must refer either to Torr-mor or Doun-craig. 
 
 DAW-GLOUN, Gaelic damk-cJduain, the ox-meadow. 
 It is on Pammachrey. 
 
 DOUCHANN, dubk-ckeann, black head, black point. 
 
 DOUGLON, see Daw-gloun. Captain Andrew Craw- 
 ford's house stood in it. 
 
 DOUN-CRAIG, Gaelic Dun-cathair-aoigJie, the rock of 
 the heroes' castle. It is clear that Douncraig, or 
 Douncaraig, was also called Lyde-doun [li'doon], 
 i.e., the Norse lydha-doun, the warriors' hill or hill- 
 fort. " Lyde " becomes lythe, leyth, leith, ley, leigh, 
 lyte, and lit. Hence Leith-peel, that is, Warriors' 
 peel-tower. This hill-fort had a vitrified bulwark. 
 See Lyde-Doun, Vitrified Fort, and Port rey. 
 
 DRUIMSKILLIN, Gaelic Druim-chillinn, the hill-ridge 
 of the little chijrch. It evidently refers to Cully- 
 leyne, the Nun's Oratory, close by. The name is 
 sometimes given in the form of Drimskillogh or 
 Druimscullough i.e., Dniim-chillghuidhe, the hill- 
 ridge of the house of prayer, the ridge of the 
 lodge of devotion. See Cullough Craft. The re- 
 sults gained here are beautifully clear.
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 69 
 
 DUNARAILLE, the fort on the cliff a new name, but 
 marking the distinct foundations of an ancient fort. 
 DUN-CRAIG, see Doun-craig. 
 
 EAGLES' CRAIG. 
 EERIE PORT ; see Ayrie Port. 
 ElNYAN BRAE ; see Innean Brae. 
 EiS-HiLL, i.e., Blaze-Hill : see Haisill Duib ; Norse 
 eis. 
 
 FAIRLAND POINT (Robinson's Chart), Gaelic faire, 
 a height, a hill, and English land ; also written 
 Farlan, and Farland, and pronounced Faurlan. 
 Query, faar-land, sheep land, from Danish faar, 
 a sheep ? Compare the Norse fallanda forat, a 
 perilous precipice (Thorpe), and ferlane hill, i.e., 
 ferlanna holl, the pilgrims' hill. 
 
 FAULD HALBERT, Norse hoi-bard, the verge or edge 
 of the hill. 
 
 FAULD MAKNEANSH, Gaelic magh-an-aenaigh, the 
 field of the gathering, fair, or assembly. This field 
 is beside Play-Hill, and both names point to the 
 games and sports which were held on festival days. 
 
 FAULD MoiRE, that is Mary-field. It is beside 
 Glastirin. 
 
 FAULD TIE, the field of the mount, Danish tue. 
 
 FAULD ToWR, Gaelic achadh-fliobhair, the field of the 
 fountain. But see Tarraigh. 
 
 FlGATACH, the name of a farm. The homestead is 
 near Bel-Craig ; hence the Gaelic Baile-nam-feigh- 
 athaich, the fortress of the sharp slayers, the citadel 
 of the keen pirates, the bloody warriors' fort, the
 
 70 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 fell giants' burg. Compare the " Sharpeathins " 
 (sharp or keen giants) of Norfolk county, and see 
 Borrow's "Wild Wales," i. 348-352. In James Mel- 
 vill's "Diary," p. 160, we find " Read-eattins," i.e. t 
 red warriors, red giants. A Cumbrae tradition pre- 
 serves the memory of this fortress, but the discovery 
 of the fortress itself was made by me before the 
 tradition came to my knowledge. The summit of 
 Bel-Craig still retains the marks of this ancient 
 stronghold. It is certain that " Bel " is baile a 
 term often used to signify a residence or military 
 station, a fortress : Joyce's " Irish Names," p. 335. 
 With sharp-eathin cf. Sharpit-law, Kelso. 
 
 FILL-CAM KNOWE, Gaelic cnocan-feill-Chaluim, the 
 knoll of the festival of Calum, that is, Callumkeill or 
 Saint Columba. This knoll is near Sannoc's Hill. 
 " Cam" is Ca'm, Cal'm, Calum, Colum. 
 
 FlNNES BOG, that is maiden's fen, homfinne, a maid. 
 
 FlNTRAY BAY, the bay of foes or enemies Danish 
 fiender; Norse fjanda vagr, foes' bay. 
 
 FORGUS-BUTTS, or the bedesmen's crofts ; near Keil- 
 lachreasain, which see. 
 
 FOULE-PORT ; there is a port or haven of this name in 
 Bute, and which is also called port-athaiche, i.e,, 
 giant-warriors' port. This shows that "foul-port" 
 is simply a version of Portnafue, that is, the port of 
 the foes or giant-warriors port nam fuath. The 
 Foule-causeway, near Ayr, means the causeway of 
 giants, or rather, of demon-giants, as in Deils-cause- 
 way; and Thirlwall signifies Titans' rampart, giants' 
 barrier. Our Fouleport is, therefore, equivalent to 
 port nan athaiclie, the port of the mighty warriors,
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. /I 
 
 and possibly refers to the Northmen. A huge dyke 
 of great boulders stretched across the bight, but 
 these have been carried off and used as materials 
 for the building of the new pier. Several great slabs 
 of stone apparently grave-stones were found at 
 the bleach-green near the Tea-well in this quarter. 
 The Danish val means a battle-field, and v some- 
 times becomes f. Faill signifies a cliff, but I do 
 not think either of the two last suggestions can be 
 entertained : see Russel cave. 
 
 FOURTA AYKAR, the name, apparently, of a camp-like 
 knoll in the hill region of Ballycowan. Old Norse 
 froda ceckar, the learned-men's monticle, the sages' 
 moated camp : see Ballycowan. There is a place 
 called by this name at Kilmarnock, and another at 
 Templand in its vicinity. The Norse firda-ceckar 
 is pirates' moot-hill, or warriors' mount; and this, is 
 very certainly the term used in Fairnlie, now Fairlie, 
 i.e., firdhanna-leie, the warriors' encampment: these 
 were, without a doubt, the wikings or Scandinavian 
 sea-rovers, and who are also called Loch-lings or 
 loch-fellows, because issuing from the loch now known 
 as the Baltic. 
 
 GAIRANNIES, or Gheiranies, the name of a field on 
 Creang-Gowar; Gaelic achadh-na-gceithreanna, the 
 field of the Hospice, the field of the Lodges (of 
 devout men). With the Gaelic ceithreanna, lodges, 
 private cells, compare the Kymric cyfrindy, a lodge, 
 a house or hut of privacy. Cyfrinfa [kivrinva] has 
 the same meaning. In " gceithreanna," the first 
 letter eclipses the second, and the letter " t " dis-
 
 ?2 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 appears in the aspiration. Hence the phonetic form 
 geiranna, or gairana, and the more contracted form 
 greanny or granny. The latter is found in Grannies- 
 Craft, a name which tells us that a hospice or esta- 
 blishment for religious men existed at Balloch Martin. 
 These hospices are likely to have had sanctuary 
 rights or privileges, for on Camden's map of Con- 
 naught a place is marked bearing the name of Grany 
 o Male, or Y e Sanctuary. See Creahg-Gowar. 
 
 GANTACKS, The; properly Gvvantacs, Gaelic aite-na- 
 gcuantaich, the place of the sea-dwellers. These are 
 rocks in the sea, and their name expresses the same 
 idea as the one found in Bullers Bouies. 
 
 GARBROUGH, properly Gartbrough, Gaelic gart-a'- 
 bhrogha, the corn-land of the burg or fortress the 
 reference being to Kennara Brough. 
 
 GAWNS-GLEN, the chasm glen; Norse gja-in, gawin, 
 the chasm, gulf, cleft at the foot of the Glen. 
 
 GLASTRAN, properly Glastirin ; Kymric clasdir, y glas- 
 dir, the glebe-land ; hence the Pictish Gaelic glastir- 
 ighin, the maiden's glebe-land, the Lady Glebe. It 
 is near Fauld Moire, which see. 
 
 GLEAD STANE, the highest point or peak in Isle of 
 Cumbrae, height 417 feet. Scotch glead, gleid, a 
 bright fire, a blaze; Norse glced, hot embers, burn- 
 ing coals. In the Northern Mythology, " Glad " is 
 Day's horse, and signifies brightness, radiance ; 
 hence Glads-steinn, the radiant stone, perhaps be- 
 cause brightened up by the first rays of the rising 
 sun. Glatt-steinn in Swedish signifies the shining 
 stone. The Welsh gallt denotes an ascent, a cliff, 
 a hill, a height ; hence Glead-stane, the peak-stone,
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 73 
 
 the stone of the Peak.* Glut, in Berriedale, is 
 apparently near a hill-top. A gled or glead is a 
 kite Falco milvus. 
 
 GLEN AOCK [aock], Gaelic gleann-aoigh, the hero's 
 glen, the glen of the hero-chief. The Gaelic aoigh 
 is also written aid/i, and the latter term denotes a 
 chief, a hero-chief. Hence the name of Pollock, i.e., 
 Baif-aoigh, the hero-chiefs hall or residence. The 
 site of Glen Aock cairn is in Hawars-ward, and in 
 this cairn or grave-mound several kist-vaens were 
 found in the year 1869. Urns and other relics were 
 taken out of these slab-kist graves and deposited in 
 Paisley Museum. -f- See Nouyorrach. 
 
 GLEN TOUTHAR, Gaelic gleann-tuatJi-air, the glen of 
 the chiefs estate, or the glen of the bishop's estate 
 air, a chief, a chieftain, lay or clerical ; hence, an 
 abbot, bishop, superior, or principal (as of a college), 
 a provost. This term was applied to the head-man 
 or provost of the clergy in lona (Bp. Ewing, lona, p. 
 32). Perhaps Glen Touthar \s gleann-a' -tsuaidhfhir, 
 the glen of the learned-man, the sage's glen. 
 
 GoUARDS HlLL, or Gourt-hill, that is, the manor- 
 house hill : Swed. gort, Dan. gaard, O. N. gerdi, 
 gard, a homestead, a manor-house (Worsaae), the 
 house on an udal or freehold estate, a baron or 
 yeoman's house and lands. This name clearly 
 points to a Norse settlement in Cumbrae, and may 
 
 * Compare Gallt-y-Fforest (Wales), i.e., the Height or Hill of the 
 forest. Ystraclffin, page 149. 
 
 t The reader will find further details on the subject of this article by 
 referring to ' Fomorian's grave ' in the Index. 
 
 E
 
 74 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 indicate that the Northmen seized the lands of 
 Ballykellet. 
 
 GOUKLAN PARK and G. Wood ; probably Gouchallan, 
 i.e., Guech-ghallan, the Pictish pillar-stone. The 
 Gevvictis are mentioned in an old Chronicle of The 
 Scots, and seem to be the same people as the Pechts. 
 See Dr Skene's edition of the ' Chronicles/ p. 380. 
 There is an ancient pillar-stone (gallan) in Gouklan 
 wood. Gewict is the same as 'zet' in Zetland. 
 
 GOWAN FAULD, at Balloch Martin, and probably 
 named from a cell of prayer (comhan). 
 
 GOWK STANE, properly Gauch stane, from clach- 
 athaich, giant's stone, and accordingly sometimes 
 called Deil's Cast, as having been tossed over from 
 Bute by a demon-giant, or troll. 
 
 GRANNIES CRAFT, a croft at Balloch Martin. Gran- 
 nies, as a name, is the same as Gairannies, which see. 
 
 GREEN GHEOT, the green creek ; Gaelic geodh, gaeth, 
 or gaot, a creek, an inlet. Gheot is written in this 
 way in order to indicate the hard sound of the^, as 
 in Stock-ghyl, i.e., the spring or fountain ravine. 
 Some of the natives of Cumbrae say Green-goke, 
 but both forms can, with certainty, be referred to 
 the Gaelic geodh or gaot. 
 
 GURAG MEYRE, that is, the lady-lakelet ; Welsh 
 gwraig, a woman, a lady ; Norse maere, a mere, a 
 lakelet, as in Thril-mere (the goblin-lake). Like 
 several other names of places in Wey Cumbrae, this 
 name must refer to Saint Vey. 
 
 HAGUE or Haudge Hills, from Norse hagi t out-lying 
 pasture : hence hagman, a keeper of cattle.
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 75 
 
 HAISILL DUIB, from Eis-hill, which see. 
 
 HAWARS FAULD, that is, Cairnfield, from hawar, Norse 
 haugar, cairns raised over the dead. So Hawars 
 Hill, Hawars Port, and Hawars Ward are respec- 
 tively cairn hill, cairn port, and cairn field. Old 
 English worth, i.e., ward. See Taylor, " Words and 
 Places," p. 80, 4th ed. 
 
 HEATH ERENE KEIPEL DYKE, that is, the dyke of the 
 giants' contest, or giants'-contest-dyke. The Old 
 Norse shows us that the " Read-eattins" mentioned 
 by James Melvill in his "Diary," p. 160, are red 
 giants, and that eateren is the definite plural of 
 eatter, jaetter, or jaetnar. The letter h is prefixed, 
 for our name can scarcely be from hetjur, heroes. 
 HeatterS or HeatherS Greip translates Cam net 
 feinne (the heroes or giants' cairn) in a Scottish 
 local name. The term " keipel " signifies contest, 
 and is a form of quavil, quibble, cavil, scuffle, 
 squabble; Dan. kiv, kivill, kicevle. Kobold, a gob- 
 lin, may be noticed here. See Houllon Keipel 
 Dyke. 
 
 The Gaels pronounce this name Eithrein Ceibeil : see 
 Arran Kuibil. 
 
 HIDDOCK CRAIG, hooded crows' crag. 
 
 HlLL, The; the same as South Kames, and lies be- 
 tween Over Kames and Lower Breaghogh. It is 
 the name of one of the so-called baronies or free- 
 holds. The Collegiate Church stands on this pro- 
 perty. 
 
 HlLL O* HILLS, perhaps from Torr-na-k-tt/aidh, the 
 hill of the grave-mound, as there is a cairn here. 
 
 HOLM BAY, probably Houen bay, Hounbay, then
 
 76 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 Houmbay i.e., cairn-bay, from hone, a cairn, plural 
 houen; Norse Jiaug. There are remains of old 
 cairns here. A Jtolm is a meadow. 
 
 HOLM SKERRY; holm, an islet, and skerry, a sea-rock: 
 at the Allins. 
 
 HOULLON KEIPEL DYKE i.e., the dyke of the ogre- 
 giants' contest. In the legends, the ogre-giants or 
 fiend-sprites become the dark or swart elves, and 
 were regarded as malignant demons. They were 
 also called uvaetter, evil or hurtful wights. Houllpn, 
 pronounced Jiolin, is very like the Norse Jiolden, gob- 
 lins; but it may rather be a derivative of the Welsh 
 gwyllion, goblins, ogres. According to old tales, 
 this Dyke was reared by ugly, black ogres, and this 
 suggests the Welsh hyll (hull), gloomy, ugly. It is 
 also called Deil's Dyke. In the parish of Dunlop 
 there was a great stone called T' Ogre Stane and 
 D'ogger-stane, i.e., the ogre-stane. Under Christian 
 influences the demon-giants came to be summarised 
 and embodied in one personage Auld Mahoun. 
 
 HOUSE, the Sheriff's Auld. It stood at Portanauks, 
 i.e., the port of the ruined residence or mansion. 
 
 INNEAN BRAE [in'yan], Gaelic innean, inneoin, or 
 aoinean, a steep slope or declivity, an anvil-like crag ; 
 Norse enni, Swed. cznne or einni, modern panna or 
 pande, the forehead, brow, and metaphorically a 
 steep crag, a precipice. The Norse hamarr is a crag 
 standing out like an anvil : cf. Irish Names, p. 197, 
 sec. series. This name is often used at the Moyle of 
 Kintyre and in Antrim. 
 
 ISLAND OF CIMBRAES: Old Stat. Acct. xi.
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 77 
 
 JEEN FAULD, the hillock or rocky-hillock fauld, Gaelic 
 dionn. 
 
 KAMES BARONIES, and K. bay ; camus, a bay ; but 
 Kempis bay is warriors' bay, 
 
 KAMLET, Norse kamblet, the little ridge. 
 
 KEILLACHREASAIN, Gaelic cill-ci -chreasain, the peni- 
 tent's cell or oratory. The place is in the vale of 
 Lagalein, and near Fintray Bay. Compare Macill- 
 henish. 
 
 KEILL WELL, kirk-well, near the manse gate. 
 
 KEILLY-COLM'S KNOWE, the same as Fill-Cam Knowe. 
 
 KELL-BAR, Norse Kell-Beyar, Bey's well i.e., S. Vey's 
 well; even although Beyar-kell may be the more 
 common idiom. There is a Kelbar in Skye. 
 Martin's West. Is. 
 
 KEILL CROFT i.e., kirk croft. 
 
 KEILL FAULD i.e., kirk-field, at Ballycowan. 
 
 KEILL-MAWRIS, Kilmauris, and, by many analogies, 
 Kimauris, Cimauris, Cimbraes all of these being 
 originally Cill-Moire, Mary or Maura's church. Kil- 
 maurs, in Cuningham, is usually pronounced Kimaurs 
 by the older parishioners. Accordingly, Cimbraes or 
 Cumbraes Isle is likely to be Eilean-cill-Muire, Mary- 
 kirk Isle ; and Wee, Wey or Little Cumbrae, may 
 originally have been Eilean-cill-BheigJi, Island Kil- 
 Wey. Compare Kilbeg in Chalmers' Caledonia, ii. 
 958, and see the next article. 
 
 KEILL-METHE /.<?., the kirk-mark for a certain fish- 
 ing bank or station. Along with other facts, it 
 shows that the term till, keill, or kil was used in 
 naming the church which stood at Kirktoun.
 
 78 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 KENNARA BROUGH, that is, the Preceptors' burg or 
 stronghold. A grand old name, and purely Norse 
 like so many more in the Cumbraes. The precep- 
 tors were clerics, of course. They were probably 
 the bishops or abbots who usually resided at Pam- 
 machrey, but who would be likely to shelter them- 
 selves here during the Norse invasions of the Qth 
 century. After the burg or brough had been demo- 
 lished, the Gaels called the place Larin, that is, the 
 site of the fortress ; but the Cumbrae Norsemen 
 retained its old name, and in their own tongue wrote 
 it Kennara-borg. Relics and traces of this burg 
 may still be seen on the green hill-end near Porta- 
 chaur, and these were observed by me long before 
 I had any knowledge of the meaning of its names. 
 One of these names is now usually written Lorn, 
 but properly Laurn. 
 
 KlL-FAULD, see Keill Fauld. 
 
 KILWHINLICK'S KNTOWES. 
 
 KILWHINLICK'S LANDS, called Pammachrey, and 
 Finmachy (Foulis' Survey, 1758). 
 
 KING'S CAVE, properly Keyn cave, from koi, a cave, with 
 the suffixed article. It is also called Monks' Cave. 
 
 KING'S CHAIR, i.e., Keyn-chair, the cave chair. 
 
 KING'S LAND of Balekewn ; see Eaton Reid's 
 " History of Buteshire," p. 230. 
 
 KING'S STAIRS, basaltic columns near Cumbrae Light- 
 house. 
 
 KlNNABBTN, Gaelic ceann, head, headland, and Norse 
 nab, definite nabbin, a bold bluff"; or ceann na 
 beinne, end of the hill ; or ceann na h-aib/me, the 
 headland of the stream-tide (at the Swirls).
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 79 
 
 KlRKLAND: Inquis. Spec., Ballykellet, A.D. 1654. 
 KlRKTOUN of Cumbrae. 
 
 KNUPKURR, cnap-garbh, the rugged rock-hillock. 
 KUMBRA BEG, and K. Moir : Pont and Blaeu. Gor- 
 don of Straloch gives Cumbra mora. 
 KUMREY, Kumreyar : " Hakonar Saga," iii. 223, 227. 
 
 LAGAHAVIN, Gaelic lag-aoibhinn, the beautiful or 
 
 delightful hollow ; or lag a' cliomhain, the vale of 
 
 the shrine. 
 
 LAGALEIN, Gaelic lag an lein, the vale of the meadow. 
 LAGNAGLASH, lag na gclais, the vale of the pools. 
 LAURN, The ; Gaelic larin, the site (of the burg or 
 
 fort). This name is also written Lorn, and marks 
 
 the site of Kennara Brough. 
 LAUSY HILL, the hill of the blazing fire, from Gaelic 
 
 lasadh, or Scotch lowe. 
 LEAUDY, The ; Gaelic an leacJul, the grave-slab. It 
 
 is a long block of stone on the brae at Toumanteinn, 
 
 and traditionally reported to mark a grave. It has 
 
 nothing to do with a ' lady.' 
 LEANY BURN, i.e., meadow burn. 
 LEUACH, The ; Gaelic an laogk, the calf. 
 LOCH-LEECH, the lake of the ' leech ' or physician. 
 LOCHLETS o' Monymor. 
 LONE, the meadow. 
 LORN, see Laurn. 
 LOTS-BURIAL : there is a knoll here which is very like 
 
 a great barrow or cairn, and possibly it is a place 
 
 " Where heroes sleep." 
 ' Lot ' is frequently an anglicised form of IcacJit, a
 
 80 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 grave-monument, as in Lots-wyfe, on the Muir-fit 
 hills (fit, pasture). 
 
 LYDE-DOUNE or phonetically Lie-Doon, Norse lyda- 
 doun, heroes' fort. See Doun Craig. 
 
 MACALLIN'S BOG, i.e., my lady's fen, from cailinn, a 
 maid, virgin, lady, with the honorary prefix ma, mo. 
 It is also called Finnes Bog. 
 
 MACILLHENISH, Gaelic magh-ckill-tlieannais, the field 
 of the cell of austerity. The field is in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Keillachreasain. 
 
 MACLELLANS YARDS, perhaps the Gaelic magh-chill- 
 Fhaoilein, the field of Fillan's church. There is a 
 well here close by the site of an ancient building. 
 
 MAGGA CLAGH, Gaelic cladh - na - mBeachach, the 
 burying- place of the Pechts or Peachts (Picts). 
 The term cladh, or claogh, is frequently anglicised 
 clagh and clough. This is an old name of the 
 cairns at Sheannawally, and is mostly used in 
 Magga Clagh Rock, and Magga Clagh Point. 
 There was a Magga or Meaga Law at Haylie, 
 Largs ; but little of it now remains except the 
 gigantic kistvaen, which the " law " a cairn of vast 
 size protected. 
 
 MAIDEN KNOWE ; in front of Ballykellet homestead. 
 
 MlDDALTONS YARDS, probably mey-dal- toun, i.e., 
 Lady-Dale Town. It is near Santa Vey. 
 
 MlLLAR-BURN, abh-na-mbiolair,\he. brook of the water- 
 cresses. 
 
 MILLEIR CRAIG, from Mey-Leir i.e., Maiden Camp, 
 or Lady-Fort. Vestiges of this bulwark remain on 
 the hill or craig so called, and near Tammis Loch.
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 8 1 
 
 MILNPORT : Old Stat. Acct. xi. 
 MONEY-HILL ; peats (moine) were dried here. 
 MONKS' CAVE ; at Stor-hills. It is over one hundred 
 
 feet in length, quite dry, and difficult to find. In 
 
 evil times the peapar or fathers (clerical) of Santa 
 
 Vey must have lodged here. 
 MONNYMOR, Gaelic monadh-mor, the great hill-heath : 
 
 it is written Monymoir in the Retours of year 1658. 
 MULLANCE, or Mullins, i.e., the little summits, the 
 
 gently sloping hills (Joyce, p. 380.) 
 
 NINIAN BRAE, properly Innean with a fragment of the 
 definite article prefixed. 
 
 NlNNEAN PARK ; see Speannill Dale. 
 
 NORWEGIAN CAMP : New Stat. Acct. v. 
 
 NOUYORRACH, Gaelic an-uagh-fhomhoraich, the pirate's 
 grave. It is in Glen Aock, and may refer to the 
 cairn which was opened in the year 1 869. The 
 name may also be rendered the Buccaneer's Grave. 
 
 OLD GLEBE, at Damhead. 
 
 OVER GAMES or Bellikilliot (Retours.) 
 
 PADDOCKWELL CROFT, in Dame-dale. 
 
 PAMMACHREY ; also written Penmauchrie, Gaelic baile- 
 maithe-fliearghuidhe, or baile-na-maithe-fJieargJiuidJie, 
 the residence of the chiefs of the clergy. These 
 chiefs may have been abbots see Clanypott, and 
 Kennara Brough. The name is written Pammathrie 
 in the Retour of Sir James Stewart, Knight, A. D. 
 1658. The Gaelic fearghuid/ie is a bedesman, a man 
 of prayer.
 
 82 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 PARR HOWE, see Barr Howe. 
 
 PEAPAR HOLLS, pronounced very like 'pypar hulls,' 
 and signifying bedesmen's hills ; Norse papa, pro- 
 vincially pcapa, a bedesman ; literally a father ; 
 plural papar ; Norse holl, old Scotch hull, a hill. 
 These hills are south of Santa Vey, and there are 
 Pools among them. There is a Pypars' Cairn in 
 Bendochy, Strathmore : Pyperdean is three miles to 
 the west of Fast Castle, and Pyper Caves are found 
 in Bute, Arran, and Cantire. 
 
 PENANCE HILL, on the north-west side of the Manse 
 garden and quite near to it. A perforated rock on 
 the hillock marks the spot where apparently an an- 
 cient church, cell, or chapel, stood. The Romans, 
 that is, the Roman Catholics, did penance here 
 (Laird Auld per George Finnic). Probably an image 
 was fixed to the perforated rock. Prot Ghelsey seems 
 to have been the older name of the place. 
 
 PLAY HILL, the hill nearest to the Shighan Hills. 
 The name points to the sports and games which 
 used to be held on festival days, and corresponds to 
 Fauld Makneansh, the field of the fair or festival- 
 assembly. Lausy Hill, adjacent, indicates the place 
 where the "taunal" fires were lighted: see Bel- 
 stane. 
 
 PORTACHAUR, Gaelic port-dha-cJiar, the port of the 
 two friends : referring probably to Beya and Maura. 
 See Breviarium Aberdon., pars estiv. f. CXLVI., and 
 car in High. Soc. Diet. 
 
 PORTANAUKS, see Port Knox. 
 
 PORTATHRO, *>., port a* triath, for port-an-treach, 
 the chiefs port, the nobleman's port the reference
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 83 
 
 being to the Stewart or Sheriff of Bute. It is the 
 old Gaelic name of Shirra's Port, or Sheriff's Port, 
 and it may be compared with Paltreath, the old 
 Gaelic name of Hunterston in West Kilbride. Pal- 
 treath is baile a treith, the hall or mansion of the 
 chief: as applied to the neighbouring farmstead, it 
 is corrupted into Palteath and pronounced po'teath. 
 From triat/i, which is still applied to chiefs like 
 Lochiel, we have the Scots troch-,throgh-,or thruff- 
 stane, signifying a chief's grave-stone or sepulchral 
 monument, and mentioned here as a quite original 
 discovery. Baranthrow, now Renfrew, signifies the 
 brugh or castle of the chief or lord brngh-an-trcagh 
 which shows the broad old way of pronouncing 
 Gaelic. 
 
 PORTAVAUT, Gael, port a' bhait, the port of the boat. 
 It is near Bullers Bouies. 
 
 PORT GELSIE, the name of the field beside Penance 
 Hill. It is very clear that " Gelsie" [ghellsue] is the 
 same as Kelso or Calkou, Glasgow or Glascho, Kil- 
 syth or Kiluesyth ; all of which signify house-of- 
 prayer. Now, the Scotch term prot must signify 
 penance, penance for a crime, fault, or wicked deed. 
 This is clear from a comparison of the Norse bot, 
 O. Eng. bote, Dan. and Swed. bod, Dan. bade and 
 brcede. Hence our Port Gelsie must have been cor- 
 ruptly so written for Prot Gelsie i.e., Penance Kirk. 
 Compare brunt for burnt, brod for board ; also Bout 
 Scot-Ian (bout is bdd, penance) near Cumnock, the 
 Bout Hill o' Scone, and Brod or Breid Sorrow Flush 
 i.e,, the penance-sorrow kirk at Largs. The 
 Gaelic breith, penance (Armstrong), is probably a
 
 84 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 loan word from the Danish. Notice Burd, a term 
 used by the Scots in addressing a maid or young 
 lady: hence, query, Burd Ghelsey, that is, Lady- 
 Kirk ? Compare Burdsyards, near Forres, and the 
 ballad of Burd Helen. 
 
 PORTIGHASH, that is, port tigh f/iais, the port of the 
 ruined house (of worship), and clearly referring to 
 the larach or desolated remnant of S. Ninian's 
 Church, which stood it cannot be doubted be- 
 tween this creek, or port, and Ringan's (S. Ninian's) 
 Port. The name may, however, be port-tigh-ghuidJie, 
 the port or haven of the house of prayer : cf. Tagoat, 
 i.e., house of prayer, Killeush, id., from cill-gJiuidhe, 
 which also gives us Glaguv or Glasgow, and Ghellsey 
 in our Port-ghelsey, q. v. 
 
 PORT ISAICH, or Port-tiseach, Gaelic port-taesech, i.e., 
 Prince's port. Compare " taesec clande Canan" 
 (Book of Deer), and toiseach or taoiseach, a leader, a 
 chief, a prince, a primate, a nobleman. S. Ninian 
 was a prince, a primate ; and this port is near 
 Ringan's Port. 
 
 PORT KNOX must have had a name very like this prior 
 to the time when Jas. Knox, chemist, caused the 
 steps to be cut in the rock at this port. The true 
 original of the name seems to be the Gaelic port an 
 adJibhaidh fliais (the port of the ruined Residence), 
 a compound which readily yields Portanaughis, Por- 
 tanaukis, or Port-nauks. The ruined residence re- 
 ferred to would be the Sheriff's Auld Ha' or House, 
 and which formerly stood on an elevated crag at the 
 head of the port. 
 
 PORT LOY, or P. Ley ; Gaelic port-achlaidh, the port
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 8$ 
 
 of fishing ; but, as the Minister's Rock is adjacen^ 
 it may be port-ollaimh, the port of the learned-man 
 or minister. Compare Port-lagha, port of the hill 
 (Joyce, 378). 
 
 PORT-KEY. Pont and Blaeu. There cannot be a doubt 
 that this is the Gaelic port a raith, the port of the 
 Fort. Compare Joyce's Irish Names, pp. 261, 266. 
 The fort or citadel referred to is Doun Craig or 
 Lyde Doune [li'doon]. It had a vitrified wall or 
 bulwark, and was built on a crag beside the port or 
 haven which gives name to the farm of Portrey or 
 Portrye. Its western face is protected by a three- 
 fold rampart of earth with intervening trenches. 
 See Vitrified Fort. 
 
 PRIEST HOWE, a name sometimes applied by the 
 rabbit-trappers to the dale or hollow of Santa Vey. 
 
 PRIEST HOY, i.e., Priest-hill. 
 
 PRIEST'S GRAVE, at Santa Vey, and probably a cleric's 
 grave. 
 
 PROT GHELSEY, or P. Ghelsue : see Port Gelsie. 
 
 PYPAR HILLS: see Peapar Holls. 
 
 RINGAN'S PORT, at Cnoc-cill-Rainne, Creang-Gowar. 
 
 ROUND TOWER (remains of), at Santa Vey, and pro- 
 bably of the Irish ecclesiastical type. 
 
 RUSSEL OR RYSSEL CAVE, a new name, and one sug- 
 gested by Uamh-Athaich (giant's cave) in- Bute. In 
 the Old Norse tongue rtst, or rysel, signifies a giant, 
 a tall strong man ; and the same word is written 
 vrisul in the Heliand. Hence rysels-hellir, giant's 
 cave, i.e. y Ryssel cave, by a compromise. Compare 
 Dolls-hellir, the goblin's cave, the cave of the demon-
 
 86 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 giant (Ork. Saga, p. 77), and our Scotch word doulie 
 (Norse doll), a goblin, a spectre, a terrifying figure 
 (such as husbandmen station in fields), a scarecrow. 
 Rees^-dale in Kintyre and Ryse-dale at Largs sig- 
 nify giants' dale, the dale of the tall strong fellows, 
 and these were certainly a race of Northmen. Re- 
 sipol is risa-bol, giants' dwelling on the top of Ben 
 Resipol and Rushen Castle, Isle of Man, is Risan- 
 naL-borg, the giants' burg. Our Russel Cave is the 
 Waterloo Cave of the Ord. Sur., but this also is a 
 new name, and the former seems preferable because 
 the cave shows marks of inhabitation. Dearc-athaich, 
 or giant-warrior's cave, in Kintyre, was a favourite 
 residence of the old champions. 
 
 SAINT BEYE'S CHURCH, or S. Vey's Church (Caledonia, 
 iii. 561), or S. Wey's Church; at Santa Vey, Wey 
 or Little Cumbrae. See Chapel-on-Island of the 
 Virgins. 
 
 SAINT WEY'S GRAVE is, apparently, near Santa Vey, 
 but the story is too lengthy to introduce here. 
 
 SANCT COLMIS KIRKE: Archd. Monro, A.D. 1594. 
 This may have been Keillmawris (Maura's Kirk) and 
 also, by "double" dedication, Columkille's Kirk. 
 Dr Reeves gives several examples of a double dedi- 
 cation. 
 
 SANDY FAULD ; query, Welsh Sandy, holy house ? 
 
 SANNAKS-FlELD and S. Hill, or Sanochs F. Gaelic 
 san-aoidke, a holy learned-man ; or from S. Senoc. 
 
 SANTA VEY, in the heart of Wee or Wey Cumbrae. 
 This is the name used by natives of the Island, and 
 they apply it to the ruined church near Gurag
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 87 
 
 Meyre (lady-lakelet). There is evidence that some 
 people formerly said Wey as well as Vey ; and 
 there is a well-known traditional tale which very 
 clearly shows that the people, in times not long past, 
 called Wey Cumra (Little Cumbrae) Weyin Ham- 
 mar, i.e., The Wey Islet, " Hammar" being the 
 old Scotch pronunciation of the old Norse holmar, 
 an isle or islet. Now Wey is the Lowland Scotch 
 form of the Latin Beya (St Bey) and of the Gaelic 
 Beugh (?), and comes from an oblique form of the 
 name in such Gaelic constructions as Ceall-Bheigh, 
 feill Bheigh, etc. See Saint Beye's Church, and 
 references. 
 
 SllEATJNAWALLY i.e., Sheann-ulla, Gaelic scann-uladh, 
 old cairn (over the dead), old burying-place. 
 
 SHEANNAWALLY POINT is the Gaelic Rndha nan 
 seann-nladh, the Point or Headland of the ancient 
 cairns. It is the northern point of Wey Cumbrae, 
 and four, if not five, cairns mark the spot. The 
 name is pronounced Shennywally or Shannawally 
 by all the older natives of the Cumbraes, and in 
 this they come as near to the original as Lowlanders 
 can. See Magga Clagh. 
 
 SHEEGHAN HILLS, or Shighan H., Gaelic Cnocana 
 nan sichean, the hills of the fairies. Munro gives 
 the form " sichean," but the word is very variously 
 spelt. These hills are right north of the parish 
 Kirk, and old folks have some curious tales to tell 
 about the elves which were supposed to inhabit 
 them. A great gap separates the Sheeghan Hills 
 from Play Hill and Blaze Hill (Lausy or Lausa H.) 
 Our name is badly given in the Ord. Survey Map.
 
 88 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 SHIGHAN HILLS : see previous article. 
 
 SHIRRA'S GLEN and S. Port : see Portathro. 
 
 SKAIT POINT, the wing-like point, from Gaelic sgiath, 
 sgeith ; or Swed. skate, a rocky point projecting into 
 the sea. 
 
 SPEANNILL DALE, or Speinill, Spienill, Spuinill; pro- 
 bably Bean-, or buin-hill, with "s " prefixed a com- 
 mon practice and hence from bcena-Jioll (Norse), 
 the knoll or hillock of prayers, Devotion-knoll ; re- 
 ferring probably to Maiden Knowe. For illustra- 
 tions of bcena, Sc. beine, buin, see Allt Goute and 
 Balacewn. The name may have formerly been ap- 
 plied to the whole of the dale of Over Kames, but 
 at present it seems only a synonym for Innean or 
 Ninnean Park. But the name may be from the 
 Danish pannill (with "s" prefixed) i.e., the diminu- 
 tive of panna, a steep bluff crag, such as towers aloft 
 behind Kames House, and on the edge of Speannill 
 Dale. This view is favoured by the manifest origi- 
 nal of Innean or Ninnean Brae and Park ; and 
 accordingly the name of Speannill or Spannill sig- 
 nifies the little anvil-headed crag. See Innean Brae. 
 In England, " Spene " is found ; from panna, with s 
 prefixed. 
 
 SPOIG, The a rock ; Gaelic eilean na spaig, the islet 
 of the ham, i.e., the ham-shaped rock. 
 
 SPUNKY RABBIE'S COTTAGE stood on the lands of 
 Keillachreasain. 
 
 STEAD-HAUM-BAY i.e., Stead-haun-bay [n becomes 
 m before fr], from O. N. stadhr, stad, stead, town, 
 city, as in Muk-stad, Mugstot, i.e., Monk-stead or 
 monk-town, in Skye. The Norse stadhr or stad
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 89 
 
 also signifies a church institution, a religious estab- 
 lishment. The term haun is O. N. hafn, a port, a 
 harbour. Hence our stead-haum is stead-haun 
 town-harbour, or the harbour of the church-esta- 
 blishment town, and clearly refers to the kirk-town 
 of Santa Vey. Compare Huney, i.e., harbour island, 
 in Shetland, (Edmondston) ; also the Norse hvamm, 
 a grassy slope or vale ; and Saxon staed, a ' stade,' 
 staith, or landing-place : see also Wey's Key-house, 
 and compare The Whaum near Peebles. 
 
 STINGIN-GHEOT, or Steakkin-gheot (gote), from the 
 Norse stceck, a rill of water flowing from a spring ; 
 definite stceckin, the spring-rill, and in Scots pro- 
 perly written stuikken. Hence our name signifies 
 the spring-rill creek, or little-syke bay. Compare 
 Stykken-bay below, and Stock-ghyl-force in the 
 north of England. Stockers-well occurs in For- 
 martin, and simply means the spring-well. 
 
 STOR-HlLLS, a purely Norse name stor-holl and 
 signifying great or lofty hills, lofty cliffs. Hill is 
 hull in old Scots and old English, and the Norse is 
 holL These hills form the south headland of Wee 
 Cumbrae. 
 
 STRUAN, The ; Gaelic sruthan, a streamlet, a syke. 
 
 STYKKEN BAY, the streamlet bay, from the Norse 
 stceck. 
 
 STYKKEN GHEOT, or Stingin G., but the latter cor- 
 ruptly meaning the streamlet creek. 
 
 SWALLA HEUGH, the name of a lofty cliff at Craig- 
 anfeach ; Gaelic /#*'// (a high cliff), with "s" pre- 
 fixed. Hence svaill and Swaill, with Scotch IieugJi, 
 a cliff. 
 
 F
 
 90 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 SWIRLS, The; whirlpools at Kinnabbin, called svelgar 
 by Norsemen. 
 
 TAMMIS HILL is the same as Mey-Leir Hill, and 
 shows remains of a fortress ; Gaelic an-t-adhbJia- 
 Beigh, Beye's Garrison or fort the name growing 
 out of tag-bey, tang-bey, tan-bey and tambey. 
 Tankar Ha', Kilmarnock, comes from adhbha, a 
 mansion, a strong house. But tamaidh signifies an 
 indolent person, and may have been applied to 
 monks ; hence Monks' Hill. The Gaelic daimh 
 signifies a church, a learned man, and tradition 
 reports that there was a chapel on Tammis Hill. 
 
 TAMMIS LOCH and T. Yards. 
 
 TARRAIGH, or Torraigh, or Taragh Hill. Gaelic cnoc 
 an team/track, the hill of the wide prospect. So 
 Joyce, Irish Names, p. 284. Fauld Towr is beside 
 it ; hence towr i.e., tawer, Gaelic teamhair, a hill 
 commanding an extensive prospect. 
 
 THORN-HEAD : perhaps from torn, thorn, a tower, as 
 in Jocks-Thorn, alias Jock-Torn ; and head, an 
 eminence ; hence tower-hill. 
 
 TONNAL HILL ; Gaelic cnoc a! tionail, the hill of the 
 assembly, fair, or gathering. Compare the Norse 
 ting-hull, council hill. 
 
 ToRR-MoR ; near the Cathedral. Jamieson saw re- 
 mains of an earthwork or fort upon its summit. 
 
 TOUMANTEINN, Gaelic tuam-an-tsuinn, the cairn or 
 grave-mound of the hero, or the champion's cairn. 
 The spelling " Tomont End" is quite wrong; and 
 our name clearly belongs to the rifled cairn near to 
 the Leaddy [leddy] on north-east point of Isle Of
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 91 
 
 Cumbrae. " The Leaddy" simply means the grave- 
 slab. Compare Ballantine or Bellenden z>., bail* 
 an tsuinn, the hero's hall. 
 
 TRAHOUN. This very interesting name has been 
 known to me from my earliest years, and I know 
 well how the older natives of Cumbrae pronounce 
 it. The spelling of the name used here is as good 
 as any that can be devised. Drummond, in the 
 New Stat. Acct, writes " Troughewan" for Trahoun. 
 The name is found in several localities e.g. y Tro- 
 houn or Troughwhen in Redesdale, Northumber- 
 land ; Torquhan in Wedale (Sanctuary dale : Norse 
 ve), Gala Water Valley ; Treuchan, Perthshire ; 
 Troquhain near Balmaclellan, Kirk-Cu'bry ; Troqu- 
 hain, about two miles east of Kirkmichael in 
 Carrick ; and Stroquhain on Cluden Water, Dum- 
 friesshire. The last example shows the name with 
 the letter " s" corruptly prefixed, and this same cor- 
 ruption has partly but only partly obtained in 
 Cumbrae. Some people in Cumbrae have been 
 heard to say Strahoun, but the great majority of 
 the older natives of the Island always said Trahoun. 
 After several years' study of language, and vast 
 attention paid to this name, I have been led to see 
 that Trahoun is the Gaelic dear-dhun or deur-dhun, 
 i.e., a penitential station, an oratory or place of 
 prayer, a place of devotion. The compound term 
 deardhun literally signifies tear-hillock, tear-knoll, 
 and like uladh [ulla] was often applied to the grave- 
 mounds of early Christian teachers and saints. To 
 these grave-hillocks many folk resorted for prayer 
 and penitential devotions. A saint's grave is often
 
 92 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 called a shrine. In the year 1823 a shrine stone-coffin 
 and cross were found together on the lands of Tra- 
 houn. The exact spot where these reliques were 
 discovered is well known to me, and it may be 
 easily found by any one who will take ten or twelve 
 ordinary paces southwards from the west window of 
 No. 14 Guildford Street, Trahoun. 
 
 We may now say Trahoun Cross and Shrine. We 
 may even say Trahoun Girth, and Trahoun Sanctu- 
 ary. For Torquhan is at Stow in Wedale, and 
 Wedale (as a local name) certainly signifies Sanctu^ 
 ary-Dale. As certainly the name of Wedale must 
 refer to Torquhan, and point it out as a Sanctuary. 
 Now, Torquhan is the same name as Trahoun, and 
 Hill Burton tells us that " in the pretty pastoral vil- 
 lage of Stowe there was a ' girth ' or sanctuary " 
 (Hist, of Scotland, i. 171 second edition). And, to 
 complete the argument, it should be stated that it 
 does not appear that the sanctuary in Wedale was 
 a sanctuary as enjoying the "king's peace," but only 
 a sanctuary as a popular and sacred oratory or place 
 of devotion. So with our Trahoun. We can only 
 call it a sanctuary in the sense of its having been 
 regarded by the people as a fit and favourite place 
 for devotion, and for obtaining by prayer the peace 
 which is above all peace. 
 
 But when we speak of Trahoun shrine or sanctuary, 
 let us bear in mind that the main idea expressed by 
 the name of Trahoun is that of Tear-hillock a 
 grave-mound where penitential confessions were 
 made to God who made the heavens, and where
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 93 
 
 petitions were offered up for pardon and for the 
 grace that bringeth salvation. 
 
 It can scarcely be doubted that a church stood near 
 the Tear-Hillock. The amenity and beauty of the 
 locality; the analogy of many chosen sites of ancient 
 churches in Bute, Arran, and Kintyre; the purely 
 ecclesiastical character of the Trahoun shrine-coffin, 
 as Burton and other writers demonstrate; an old and 
 persistent tradition which credits the place or its 
 immediate neighbourhood with the site of an ancient 
 church; recent excavations which have brought to 
 light fragments of bones and of an oaken coffin in 
 the vicinity of the western gate of The Garrison 
 all these unite in support of the conclusion which 
 ascribes to the lands of Trahoun the site of an 
 ancient church, and associates them with the rel- 
 iques of a wasted sanctuary. 
 
 The devastation of Trahoun may be safely referred to 
 the ninth century or thereabouts. The sacrilege 
 may have been perpetrated by the fierce wikings, 
 but more likely by the Gallgaels (the offspring of 
 Celtic and Scandinavian alliances), for old chroniclers 
 tell us that these Gallgaels (gal, foreign) were worse 
 enemies to the churches and their owners than were 
 even the fierce slayers of the North (Chron. Picts 
 and Scots, p. 404). 
 
 The subject before us is capable of receiving much 
 additional illustration from sources which have not 
 yet been referred to ; but the necessary brevity 
 studied in these notes forbids further enlargement 
 here, and it may only be added that the upper por- 
 tion of Trahoun Cross is now at The Collegiate
 
 94 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 Church of Cumbrae, and that the shrine-coffin of 
 Trahoun must have been used to raise the walls of 
 one or other of the two houses which Gilbert 
 Lennox built. For uladk, see Joyce, 326, and 
 Pennant's Tour, ii. 341 : see also Covans-brae and 
 Trawhuirry. Note. The Dragon of Dunning, men- 
 tioned in the stories told about S. Serf, must be re- 
 ferred to deardliun, as explained above. 
 
 TRAIL ISLE: see Allin-turail. 
 
 TRAWHUIRRY. This is as ^\&m\ytraig]i-Mhuire, Mary's 
 Strand, as anything can be. 'Traigh' is a sea-beach,, 
 a strand : compare tigh Mhuire or Mary's house 
 Gniomli xii. 12 and tra for traigJi, as used by Dr 
 Reeves in the phrase, " Tra mor, great strand " 
 (Vita Colum.) Trawhuirry is the name of the 
 sand-and-gravel beach or strand which forms the 
 western portion of Garrison bay or Breaghogh bay. 
 It has thus a close connection with Trahoun [trah- 
 hoon], and may indicate that the name of Mary or 
 Maura was associated with the latter. The Gaelic 
 treabJi Mhuire signifies Mary-by, Mary-toun, Mary's 
 hamlet or village, and this compound may have been 
 originally used as well as the original of Mary's 
 strand. The two are so like one another that a 
 little carelessness in the matter of pronunciation 
 would, in the course of time, expunge the distinc- 
 tive difference. 
 
 The Welsh traethfair is Mary's strand, and traetJi y 
 cwrv signifies the strand of the shrine. The latter 
 of these two might, under Gaelic and other influ- 
 ences, give us our Trawhuirry. Compare Glen- 
 whurry, Old Kirkconnel, where a St Connel is said
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 95 
 
 to have been buried; also Balweary, Balquharry, 
 and Pinwhirry. These last, along with many others, 
 suggest bedesmen's strand for Trawhuirry, but the 
 discussion of the question would outrun the limits of 
 these notes. The letter " s " is sometimes corruptly 
 prefixed to Trawhuirry, just as it sometimes is to 
 Trahoun. 
 
 TREE-FIELD ; query Tre-field, or Trey-field ? Here 
 stood Baron MacFee's Hall the Baron o' the 
 Breaghogh. Tales are still told of the Baron, who 
 was massacred by ' kernes' (caterans) in a particu- 
 larly savage manner. 
 
 TROHORK, the name of a pool at Barr-end, Kames. 
 Gaelic turloch, a place where water lodges in winter; 
 and this was characteristic of the pool. There is a 
 table-like mass of rock between the Gas-Works and 
 Torrmor, which Cumbrae folks appear to have tra- 
 ditionally associated with religious rites (Keddie's 
 Paper, Transs. Glasg. Archaeol. Soc., pt. iii. No. xiv.) 
 This table-rock is not very remote from the site of 
 Trohork pool, and it is perhaps worth remarking 
 that the Norse term horg signifies a group of stones 
 for sacrificial rites, a stone group or altar, that is, a 
 pagan altar (Thorpe's North. Mythology). Whence, 
 consider Thor-horg (tor-horc) ; query, Thor-altar, 
 Thor's altar ? But the resemblance is likely to be 
 purely accidental, and it is not probable that there 
 is any reference in the name of Trohork to the 
 table-rock. 
 
 VITRIFIED FORT. This is Douncraig or Lyde Doun, 
 which see. See also a Paper on this Fort by Wm.
 
 96 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 Keddie, Esq., in Transactions of the Glasgow Arch- 
 aeolog. Soc., pt. iii. No. xiv., A.D. 1863. Mr Keddie 
 deposited two pieces of the vitrified wall of this fort 
 in the Andersonian Museum, Glasgow, and these 
 have been examined by the writer. 
 
 WELL ; the " catholicon " well mentioned by Martin, 
 who says : " This island (greater Cumbrae) has a 
 chappel and a well which the natives esteem a cath- 
 olicon for all diseases." Martin's Western Islands, 
 cited Eaton Reid's Hist, of Bute, p. 271. Of this 
 " well " I have never otherwise heard, but I think it 
 must be Bidder Well in the den or ravine of Allt 
 Goute. 
 
 WEY CUMRA: the same as Little Cumbrae, but usually 
 pronounced Wee Cumra. Perhaps named from S. 
 Wey or Vey (Beye.) 
 
 WEY'S-KEY-HOUSE ; perhaps St Wey's cave-house or 
 grotto-house, from Teut. koie, Scotch que, qua, key, a 
 cave, a den, a cell, a grot. The ruins of this grotto 
 or cave-cell may be seen near Stead Haum, and 
 may possibly be those of St Wey's hut or cabin. 
 The name is spelt Whiskey House on Ord. Survey 
 map, but it is agreed on all hands that this small 
 ruined structure had never anything to do with 
 whisky, either in the making or smuggling of it. 
 
 WINNY EDGE FIELD; the "edge" referred to being the 
 ridge of Sheeghan Hills, and the name interesting 
 from the fact that the word edge, in this sense, is a 
 favourite of the east-country folks. 
 
 WODROW'S (John, ? Jonete) GRAVE. It is on the edge 
 of a lofty cliff near a dale on the west side of the
 
 CUMBRAE LOCAL NAMES. 97 
 
 Bennits, Wey Cumbrae. She was the daughter of 
 a brother of Wodrow, the historian of The Kirk, 
 and died in her I4th year, 1774. At her own 
 " desire," her remains were interred on the summit 
 of the romantic cliff referred to, and where probably 
 she had often, during her brief life, sate on summer 
 afternoons admiring the majesty of the Arran Fells, 
 the blue ocean surging around the skerries at her 
 feet but far below and the magnificent sunsets 
 which are still so often to be seen from the same 
 spot. Her Christian or baptismal name, as sculp- 
 tured on her tombstone, was "John."
 
 IBfbtstott 
 
 ARRAN STUDIES, 
 
 OR 
 
 AN ALPHABET OF ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE DANES IN ARRAN. 
 
 As in the case of the Cumbrae Studies, I shall here 
 prefix a few preliminary observations. 
 
 Several works on Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, have 
 already appeared, and some of these possess consider- 
 able merit. The names of those authors who have 
 written on the Island will be found in the list of 
 authorities and references near the end of this little 
 treatise. My object, in the following notes and studies, 
 is to give the result of a careful investigation of the 
 language of the men of Arran the descendants of the 
 heroic Brandanes who fought at Falkirk and at the 
 battle of The Standard. By a diligent comparison of 
 their tongue with that of the men of Kintyre and of 
 the Butemen generally, I have endeavoured to trace 
 its history, and to apply the principles gained towards 
 the elucidation of those numerous local names which 
 cling to the shores and lands of Arran. Clearly, the
 
 THE DANES IN ARRAN. 99 
 
 language of Arranmen two thousand years ago was a 
 Celtic one, and as clearly does it appear that a Norse 
 or Danish tongue was introduced into the island, 
 somewhere about eight centuries ago. The evidence 
 in favour of these statements will appear as we proceed 
 with the exposition ; but here it may be stated that 
 several, probably many, of the men of Arran can still 
 point out the sons of the stranger, and may even to- 
 day be heard saying (as they have been) with refer- 
 ence to some neighbour and native like themselves,, 
 "that is a Dane." The men of Arran speak very 
 intelligently on this point. They notice, particularly, 
 two markedly distinct races of men in the island ; the 
 representatives of the one tall, strong, blue-eyed, and 
 fair; while those of the other are more lightly built, 
 but wiry, agile, and keen, with dark hair and a swarthy 
 complexion. Here, also, as in the Isle of Man, the 
 men of Scandinavian type have had their homes and 
 settlements, with few exceptions, on the fairest and 
 richest lands; while their surnames Cumin, Cook, 
 Nicol, Stein, Inging (in Mackinnon*), Kar, Bruce, 
 Brown, and others are as good and pure Danish or 
 Norwegian patronymics as any which can be found. 
 Of course, some of these names may be Swedish, or, 
 possibly, even Frisian ; but at this stage it is not pos- 
 sible to enquire minutely into the matter. Here, how- 
 ever, it may be observed that the term " Dane " shall 
 occasionally be used in these pages, for brevity's sake, 
 to denote a Northman generally, for it is well known 
 
 * Mackinnon i.e., Mac Inging, and Inging signifies the son of Ingi. 
 In Moray we find the Ingsons or, as pronounced, Inksons.
 
 100 THE DANES IN ARRAN. 
 
 that many people and authors and historians do so, 
 although these Northmen were of various nations. In 
 like manner the correlative " Danish " shall be under- 
 stood to have a similar reference ; and if the name of 
 Scania be occasionally employed instead of the Latin- 
 ised form Scandinavia, it is simply because it is a 
 shorter and handier term.* 
 
 Long before the Danes of the ninth century ap- 
 peared on our coasts, the western seas were swept by 
 great numbers of pagan buccaneers, called Fomorians. 
 The name is simply an adaptation of the Celtic fomhar, 
 a champion, warrior, sea-rover, buccaneer; and ample 
 authority can be adduced to show that these sea- 
 rovers were as truly Northmen as their successors of 
 the Age of the Vikings.-f- Some of them might be 
 Saxon, Jutish, or Frisian pirates, but the name of 
 Northmen or Eastmen is often used to include them 
 all. A better denomination is, however, found for 
 them in the name of Fomorian, when we understand 
 it to mean those pirates and sea-rovers who infested 
 the coasts of Britain during the period of the Roman 
 occupancy, and who, for the most part, were men of 
 Teutonic birth. The author of the "Ancient Tract," 
 mentioned by Fergusson, identifies these Fomorians 
 with the Danish vikings; and we know that Carausius, 
 in the third century, was admiral of a fleet of galleys, 
 
 * In some of the fishing villages on the north-west coast of Scotland, 
 the name of Skinner is very common, and it is also found on the east 
 coast. By the laws of Scottish speech, it is easily seen that this surname 
 must be Skanungr i.e., a man of Scania. See Rask, 152. 
 
 tSee Hill Burton, Hist. i. 41, 46, 181 ; Simpson, Arch. Essays, 
 \. 181.
 
 THE DANES IN ARRAN. IOI 
 
 whose business it was to guard the shores of Gaul 
 against the assaults of these northern buccaneers. 
 The British coast had, likewise, its warden or " Count 
 of the Saxon shore;" but, in spite of all opposition, 
 the warlike seamen made their way into the land. 
 Twice they reached the gates of London : once they 
 attempted to sack the city; at another time they were 
 actually within its walls and preparing to depart with 
 their heaps of booty, when Theodosius and his legions 
 fell upon them. Some centuries before these events, 
 they wrested a portion of Ireland from the old Hiberni, 
 but were, in their turn, overthrown by the Danans on 
 the bloody field of Moyturey, or Plain of wailing. A 
 party of them built a great stronghold on Tory island, 
 off the coast of Donegal, and Dr Joyce tells us how 
 Balor " of the great blows " was their chief, and how 
 his wife Cethlen fought at Moyturey and inflicted a 
 fatal wound on the Dagda, or king of the Danans.* 
 Numbers of them seem to have built camps or fenced 
 towns on the British coast, for Toliapis is clearly a 
 Norse compound, and signifying warriors' town ; Tris- 
 anton, the same, and meaning the mighty heroes' 
 town ; Iduman river, the river of the mariners or sea- 
 rovers. These names are taken from the map of 
 Ptolemy, the Greek geographer, ' who wrote his treat- 
 
 * Dagda, a lord, a father, and probably the same as the Scotch word 
 daddy. The old races called kings, lords, and priests 'father,' and 
 sometimes 'the old man,' just as sailors, to this day, often call their 
 captain the old man. The Danans, or Tuath de Danann, were pro- 
 bably a Danish race. They gained the victory over the Firbolgs and 
 Fomorians at the two battles of Moyturey said to have been fought 
 during the age of Julius Caesar.
 
 IO2 THE DANES IN ARRAN. 
 
 ise in the beginning of the second century.' Joyce.* 
 The name of Humber is also a name of Teutonic 
 origin, for Thorpe tells us that the old Norse word 
 Jinnir means sea, ocean, and in old times people called 
 a lake-like firth a ' sea. 1 Off the coast of Jersey there 
 is an island called Humfrey, that is, sea-island. Clear 
 or ' clor,' in Cape Clear, is a Norse name, and meaning 
 a rocky ridge of a keel-like shape a fitting name for 
 the headland, as I know it to be from personal obser- 
 vation. The sea or ocean which lies off Cape Clear, 
 and stretches into St George's Channel, is the Vergi- 
 onius Oceanus of Ptolemy (palat. reading), and this 
 appellation is taken from cuan na bhfomharaichean, 
 the sea of the Fomorians. 
 
 In these details we have indications of the energy 
 and prowess of the early Danes, and of those nations 
 which were nearest to them in blood and speech. 
 They seem to have distinguished themselves as rulers 
 of the wave, and to have pushed westward into Britain, 
 with the view of obtaining either plunder or perman- 
 ent settlements. At first the islands on the coast 
 would be seized and fortified, so that from these, as 
 from so many points of vantage, they might be able, 
 as opportunity offered, to make descents upon the 
 mainland, and, if so minded, establish themselves 
 firmly in the country. That they did so is evident, 
 
 * Ur Joyce adds : "It is well known that Ptolemy's work is only 
 a corrected copy of another written by Marinus of Tyre, who lived a 
 short time before him, and the latter is believed to have drawn his 
 materials from an ancient Tyrian Atlas. The names preserved by 
 Ptolemy are therefore, so far as they are authentic, as old at least as the 
 first century, and with great probability much older."
 
 THE DANES IN ARRAN. IO3 
 
 for the tribal or national name of Paris! is purely 
 Norse (with Latin termination), and Ptolemy's map 
 shows us these people on the shores of the Humber.* 
 In like manner we find the Trinobantes of Julius 
 Caesar on the shores of the river Thames, and thus 
 credited with a name which is clearly based upon the 
 Norse dregjanna bae or the heroes' habitation. Further 
 to the north we find Loxa or Salmon-river, and other 
 local appellations of Teutonic origin, so that if these 
 names are genuine, and have really passed through 
 Ptolemy's hands, they lend their measure of support 
 to the view which has just been stated. 
 
 But from other sources we have testimony to the 
 same effect " There is every reason," says Dr Skene 
 (Pref. Cps. 89), " to believe that tribes of the great 
 confederate nation of the Saxons had effected settle- 
 ments on the east coast of Britain long before that 
 period (A.D.449). The author of the Historia Britomtm, 
 certainly writing at a period equally early (with Bede), 
 dates the first arrival of the Saxons in the 347th year 
 after the Passion of Christ." It need not, therefore, 
 surprise us to find Fergusson saying that Elatha was 
 the great chief of the Fomorian pirates who then-f- 
 swarmed through the German Ocean and ruled over 
 the Shetland Isles and the Hebrides. His words at 
 once recal to mind the famous verse of Claudian, and, 
 
 * If any support to this representation were needed, it is readily found 
 in the fact that Petuaria is placed alongside of the Parisi, and that the 
 former name can with confidence be referred to the Norse bygdir i.e., 
 settlements, colonies, inhabited districts. Purvis or Parris Hill, near 
 Innerleithen, should mean ' mighty warriors' hill. ' 
 
 t The calculation makes the time 50 B.C.
 
 IO4 THE DANES IN ARRAN. 
 
 with the facts already stated before us, we can see at a 
 glance that the poet may have had better warrant 
 than a poet's fancy for his 
 
 " maduerunt Saxone fuso 
 Orcades" 
 
 the Orcades were soaked with Saxon gore. At the 
 same time, it may be observed that, as Theodosius did 
 not, so far as we are informed, carry his victorious 
 arms into the Orkneys, the poet's words may be best 
 interpreted by regarding them as the echo of a report 
 which described these islands as the haunt of Saxon 
 and other Fomorian pirates. That such a report ex- 
 isted in Claudian's time cannot now be affirmed ; but, 
 judging from what we do know about these early sea- 
 rovers, it is the most likely thing in the world. And 
 upon the same grounds is built the conviction that the 
 report would have a solid basis of fact on which to 
 rest. Can it be imagined that men of such daring 
 valour, and possessed of such a thirst for the excite- 
 ments of travel and the wealth which it brought to 
 them can we imagine that such men would leave 
 unvisited any shore that was within a day or a 
 week's sail of Tory Island or Cape Clear ? And if the 
 Western Isles and the Orcades bore the marks of their 
 prowess and of their presence as settlers of a more or 
 less permanent character, shall it be thought that 
 Arran and the other Clyde-firth islands were stran- 
 gers to their exploits ? To this point I have brought 
 these observations, and with the view of introducing 
 this very question. Its pertinent character will be 
 seen in the fact that the neighbouring island of Cum- 
 brae still preserves the remains of a Fomorian's grave.
 
 THE DANES IN ARRAN. 10$ 
 
 A few years ago it was accidentally struck by the 
 plough, and thereby its presence once more made 
 known to the islanders. Not for any great length of 
 time, however, could the knowledge of its existence 
 have been absent from the minds of men; for the 
 names which cling to the spot and cluster thickly 
 around it are all too clear and significant in their 
 statements to have either escaped the notice or baffled 
 the intelligence of the Cumbrae Brandanes. But 
 whatever the sum of their knowledge regarding this 
 interesting spot may have been, it had all passed 
 away, with the sole exception of the names them- 
 selves. These, thanks to the old barons of Balacowan 
 and their 'kindly tenants,' were carefully preserved, 
 and two of them were caught just in time by the 
 writer to save them from utter extinction. If Sir 
 Walter Scott was just in time, as indeed he was, to 
 save many of the grand old Border ballads from the 
 fate of several of their predecessors, their very popu- 
 larity of to-day, and their value as links in sustaining 
 the continuity of our history, ought, surely, to decide 
 every patriot to use diligence in a similar direction, so 
 as to preserve the fast-fading memorials of our fore- 
 fathers' wisdom and lore.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FOMORIAN BUCCANEERS^ 
 
 To return to the Fomorian's grave. It will be found 
 on the beautiful strand of White Bay, near Portrye 
 and the north end of the island. Here the old buc- 
 caneer found a resting-place. His rank appears to be 
 attested by the quaint or highly-finished character of 
 the interment. If the practice of ' suttee ' belonged 
 to his age, or any such feeling as prompted slaves to 
 immolate themselves in honour of their master's obse- 
 quies, the composition of the barrow would show a 
 remarkable correspondence. Enough, however, is now 
 known of such interments to make it certain that 
 Nouyorrach was the grave of a warrior-chief* If the 
 people in olden times erred not in giving the name 
 (and that they erred cannot be presumed), the name 
 itself is clear enough to make us feel assured that he 
 was one of the old Fomorian sea-captains, who ruled 
 the western seas, and who may also have founded 
 settlements on the havens of the Clyde-Firth. It is 
 possible that he may even have been in time to catch 
 from the lips of some enterprising Christian the mes- 
 sage of peace and goodwill toward men, for Origen 
 and Tertullian say enough to let us see how eagerly 
 
 * Nouyorrach Gaelic an uaigh fhomhoraich, the grave of the pirate, 
 buccaneer, warrior, or Fomorian. A fragment of the article adheres, 
 as in 'nickname,' equivalent to an eke name.
 
 FOMORIAN BUCCANEERS. IO/ 
 
 the persecuted adherents of the Cross made for the 
 British shores, with the hope of finding there a retreat 
 and refuge from persecution, and an opportunity of 
 telling the glad tidings to the distant dwellers in The 
 Isles. The ancient mode of burial in slab-kists is no 
 argument against the knowledge of Christianity, for it 
 has become known that the custom survived the re- 
 ception of the true faith, and, indeed, was just as likely 
 to so survive among the old conservative races as were 
 those heathen freets which still mix themselves up so 
 largely with our modern Christianity. 
 
 The Island of Bute contains a very remarkable 
 monument of the Fomorians. It stands in the Vale of 
 Aitterach ait-teamhrach, the site of the Palace and 
 gives name to the farm of Creislagh-vourachy, or the 
 Girdle-stones of the Fomorians.* The Girdle-stones, 
 as a name, admirably correspond with the " Girdle- 
 stanes " of Wat Carraik in upper Eskdale, Langholm ; 
 but in more respects than in the name does the re- 
 semblance hold good. Both of them are notable ex- 
 amples of the great stone-circles which our predeces- 
 sors were accustomed to raise to the memory of fallen 
 chiefs and heroes, and have nothing whatever to do 
 with heathen religious rites or the "habitations of 
 horrid cruelty." Both of them, too, have been used 
 
 * Creislagh-vourachy Gaelic crioslach-na-bhfomhoraiche, the buccan- 
 eers' girdle-stones or belt-of-pillar-stones. A few years ago I discov- 
 ered the site of the Palace of Aitterach or Aitrick (Blain's MS). It is 
 marked "Fort" on the Ord. Sur. sheet, and is about 200 yards to the 
 south of the homestead of Upper Etterick. The famous Tara in Meath 
 is Teamhair, gen. teamhrach, a residence, palace, royal seat: see 
 Joyce, 283.
 
 IO8 FOMORIAN BUCCANEERS. 
 
 by those who are lovers of gain more than lovers of 
 truth, in the vain attempt to corrupt the pure tradi- 
 tions of the yeomen and peasantry, and to lead them 
 to believe that these stone-circles are not what our 
 fathers said they were the sleeping-places of the 
 mighty dead but merely the surroundings of pagan 
 altars, on which the blood of human victims freely 
 flowed, and around which the ghastly rites of a dia- 
 bolical superstition were practised. The picture is a 
 false one, and the facts that determine it are as numer- 
 ous as they are certain. But man's love of the mar- 
 vellous leads him many a dance. There are people 
 who will dwell nowhere but in Wonder-Land, and 
 were it found in the pure study of leaf or flower, star 
 or stone, the residence and the admiration alike would 
 be a heavenly sustenance to their souls. But, in too 
 many cases, the foul orgies of heathen darkness delight 
 them more, and where these are wanting, a gadding 
 fancy speedily fills the void. Sensational details are 
 introduced, and the coarse colouring of the showman's 
 canvas lends distinctness to every feature. Fiction 
 thus takes the place of fact, and over all is thrown the 
 wild light of some unearthly torch or blazing fagot. 
 The 'exhibition is now complete, and the 'madding 
 crowd' are blandly invited to step inside. Bewildered 
 and intoxicated with the exterior display, they lend 
 their countenance for a time to the artful drama that 
 has been prepared for them ; but soon its unreality 
 and untruthfulness become manifest, and with quick- 
 ened pace they withdraw, wondering how men can be 
 such deceivers or so greatly self-deceived.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "WHERE HEROES SLEEP." 
 
 BETWEEN two and three miles from the south end of 
 Bute there are two sets of large pillar-stones, the 
 names of which have been ascertained as well as their 
 significations. In both instances they are thus dis- 
 covered to have . been places of sepulture, the one 
 being the grave of a Caledonian lord, and the other 
 the resting-place of foreign heroes.* 
 
 Near the mansion of Monteviot Park, on the Teviot, 
 there is a large barrow or grave-mound, called Dauva- 
 lassaly an appellation which readily slides into the 
 form of Davy Leslie, and, as equivalent to the latter, has 
 been fortunately preserved in the following rhyme: 
 
 " Forty paces frae the Stawbrik meyre, 
 Sits Davy Leslie in his golden chair." 
 
 On comparing the slightly different versions of this 
 rhyme, I have considered it highly probable that one 
 of its older forms was: 
 
 " Forty paces frae the Stor-breik, 
 Sits Davy Leslie in his gowden hauberk." 
 
 The Storbreik mentioned here is a pure Danish com- 
 pound, and signifies the big fen or marshy place. But 
 the name of Davy Leslie or dauvalassly has a Celtic 
 origin ; and, strange as it may appear, I can say with 
 
 * For further particulars regarding these names and places, see Lar- 
 ichanaoidhean in the Bute Studies.
 
 IIO "WHERE HEROES SLEEP." 
 
 entire confidence that it is dumha-fhail-Ghaidhealaich, 
 the grave-mound of the Caledonian lord. Not far 
 from it is Seillery Knowe, the pillar-stone cairn 
 seiller being the plural of the old Dano-Scots word 
 seile or suite, a pillar-stone. And it is only a few 
 years since the circle of pillar-stones called the Hair 
 [haur] -Stanes was removed. It stood in a field about 
 150 yards north-east of the Home farm of Monteviot, 
 and had its name from the Norse haugr, a grave- 
 mound or cairn. Speaking of Seillery Knowe re- 
 minds me of Salisbury Crags and Salisbury Plain. 
 Now ' salis ' is only another way of writing seilis or 
 suilis, and as bury signifies a burying-place, Salisbury 
 is clearly the pillar-stone burying-place or cemetery. 
 By another series of observations, ' salis ' is found to 
 have been applied to columnar or pillar-like crags ; 
 hence Salisbury Crags, or the crags of the pillar-like 
 precipices along the line of which there are still 
 several out-standing pikes or spink-rocks. Even the 
 Gaels use the word sail in the sense of joist, beam, 
 prop, any pillar-like prop ; and ' bury' is only a form 
 of bierg, or bierge, that is, rocks, crags, precipices. 
 
 Since the great memorial of the Fomorians in Bute 
 has led us into Teviotdale, we may find it profitable 
 to listen for a few minutes longer to the voice that 
 comes to us from these ancient mounds. So far as we 
 have gone with the Monteviot monuments, we find 
 that their names tell us only of 'seiller' or pillar- 
 stones, and of cairns which cover, as with a kindly 
 robe, the relics of the mighty dead. Not a word have 
 they uttered about idols, or temples, or heathen wor- 
 ship. On such themes they are silent, and the silence
 
 "WHERE HEROES SLEEP." Ill 
 
 is significant. For their tongues are the tongues of 
 the Ancients, and when we listen to their words, we 
 listen to the testimony of the Ancients. If, then, they 
 tell us nothing about white-robed priests and sacri- 
 ficial fires, but only of funeral pomps, and of 
 
 "A Reaper whose name is Death," 
 
 shall we not deem their testimony true? "But," it 
 may be said, " their words are dark, and who may give 
 the interpretation thereof?" The answer is ready, and 
 it is this An interpreter need not be wanting. Man 
 has only to work in the field of Language, as he has 
 worked in other fields; and, if he does so faithfully 
 and in accordance with the principles of a pure scien- 
 tific investigation, he need not despair of success. 
 Nay, rather, he may hope, and hope, too, for results 
 which shall repay all his labours. If Science has in- 
 terpreted the voice of the rocks, and expounded the 
 legends stamped upon the " Medals of Creation," she 
 can do the same for the voice of the cairns and for the 
 speech which syllables their names. And, what is 
 more, she will. The first-fruits of her inspiration have 
 already appeared, and give promise of the coming har- 
 vest. But Scotland's share of these first-fruits is so 
 very small as to be scarcely tangible. Let us hope in 
 these Studies to enlarge the measure, and even to ad- 
 vance to the ingathering of many goodly sheaves. 
 
 Since it has not been possible for me, in this little 
 work, to do more than touch on a few of the principles 
 of interpretation as applied to language in Scotland, 
 it may here be stated, that illustrations of many others 
 will appear as we proceed. It will not, however, be
 
 112 "WHERE HEROES SLEEP." 
 
 possible, in many cases, to interrupt the narrative with 
 the view of proving the validity of any particular prin- 
 ciple which may be founded upon ; and therefore I 
 can only hope that the contents of the chapter on 
 Principles, may be such as to constitute a sufficient 
 guarantee for the soundness of any philological prin- 
 ciple upon which I may be found acting. If, for ex- 
 ample, I should be found saying that Bauna-knowe is 
 the same as Dounabauna, my statement would be 
 justified upon the principle of demi-version, or trans- 
 lation in part. That this is a sound principle, I can 
 amply prove, and prove so fully from Scottish records 
 and the popular tongue, that probably a book as big 
 as this one would be required to hold the evidence 
 under my command. Now, Bauna-knowe would very 
 likely be written by many, Bonny-knowe ; but I have 
 reason or ground for saying that this name was for- 
 merly Dounabauna, and that its original was really 
 what we now write dumha-na-bhfianna, i.e., the burial- 
 heap of the champions or warriors. As to the appli- 
 cation of this or that particular principle, or of several 
 principles, to a given case, it may here be only briefly 
 remarked, that one cannot spend a series of years in 
 the constant study of our old Scottish and Celtic 
 tongues without learning to know, as by a kind of 
 instinct, on what principles he must proceed to the 
 interpretation of any subject lying within the field. 
 And the whole process is as rapidly gone through as 
 the handling of any foreign language usually is by 
 one who has studied it for years. In Bauna-, or 
 Bauny-knowe, we have an example of 'translation in 
 part' the first term in the original having been trans-
 
 "WHERE HEROES SLEEP." 1 13 
 
 lated into knoll or knowe, and the last kept much as 
 it was, but ordered to the front, so as to qualify or 
 characterise its associate. The poor 'article,' in the 
 midst of these changes, was left to shift for itself, or 
 thrust out of the way altogether; but its presence was 
 not got rid of before it had left its mark on the vo- 
 cable which it had defined so long. Nay, it may be 
 said to have left more than its mark, for it actually 
 changed, not the whole character of the 'f vafianna, 
 but so much of its nature as to bring it into identity 
 with its cousin b. 
 
 Having said so much about Bauny-knowe, let us 
 take another look at it before leaving the beautiful 
 vale in which it is situated. It is in the park of Mon- 
 teviot, but on the opposite side of the river from that 
 on which the cairn of Seillery-knowe stands. The 
 first part of the name may be written Bana, but it is 
 pronounced bauna or bonny, and sometimes benny, 
 by the dalesmen. These variations, however, in no way 
 affect the identification of the name, but rather serve 
 to establish it more firmly. We have seen that it sig- 
 nifies the burial-mound of the warriors or champions, 
 but it may also be translated, the burial-mound of the 
 chiefs. I should think that the latter is the most 
 likely version, for, when I visited the spot a few 
 months ago, I was able to compare the mound with 
 the barrows in the vicinity, as well as with hundreds 
 of others throughout the country. The main point, 
 however, is not how to render fianna into English, but 
 to bear in mind that the old name of this mound tells 
 us for what purpose the mound itself was raised. If it 
 stood alone, the communication might not be worth
 
 114 "WHERE HEROES SLEEP." 
 
 much, but when it finds itself in company with hun- 
 dreds, or rather thousands of associates of the same 
 class, and with the same name, its testimony must be 
 received with respect. And this respect will grow into 
 conviction that the tale is well-founded, when we find, 
 on inspection, that every one of such mounds contains 
 the ashes of departed heroes, or supplies the evidence 
 of the rifling and spoliation that has made the relics 
 undistinguishable. Even the absence of the relics will 
 not greatly affect our final judgment, when it is noticed 
 that the empty kists of the rifled mounds or barrows 
 are, in every essential respect, the very same as those 
 which are found charged with their changed but origi- 
 nal contents, and, by consequence, built for the same 
 purpose. If to these considerations we add the fact 
 that the name could scarcely have been given to the 
 knoll, with full intelligence of its' meaning, during any 
 one of the last five centuries, and was therefore be- 
 stowed upon it at a period so remote as to preclude 
 the likelihood of error, we have before us an array of 
 testimony, such as might make any one as soon think 
 of doubting his ability to identify a mole-hill, as hesi- 
 tate to believe that the name of Benny-knowe was in- 
 telligently given and truthfully descriptive of its 
 object. 
 
 The mound itself was searched a few years ago by 
 Mr John S. Phene".* He was then penetrated with 
 the idea that it was the old " site of a hill-altar," and 
 the scene of 'serpent worship;' but in it, nevertheless, 
 he found several "pows" or crania "of remarkable 
 
 * See Tht Scotsman of August 3, 1871.
 
 THE YEATS AND PICTS. IIS 
 
 strength," and other kindred relics. These traces of 
 ancient sepulture may, perhaps, to some people, con- 
 stitute a better argument for establishing the true 
 nature of the mound than the philological 'one; simply 
 because the former is more familiar to them, and 
 therefore better understood. But the argument from 
 language and the name of the knoll is as good as any 
 other, and its force will be increasingly felt as we 
 pass into the maze of obscurities which has baffled so 
 many, and lay our hand upon the clue which guides 
 us to the radiant goal. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE YEA TS AND PICTS. 
 
 IN days long gone by the Yeats dwelt in the dales of 
 Teviotside, and many of their descendants must be 
 there still. Here they built their houses and fenced 
 their strong towns ; here they kept their flocks, went 
 a-hunting in the wolds, and anon made war against 
 their foes. At times the Roman eagle swept proudly 
 through the vale, but never could he fold his wing and 
 take rest for any length of time. Once and again he 
 built his eyrie on the Caledonian cliffs, and made as if 
 he would lord it over their ancient owners, but the 
 war-bird of Alba hotly disputed his pretensions, and
 
 Il6 THE YEATS AND PICTS. 
 
 forced him to seek quarters on the sunny side of the 
 Cheviot. 
 
 I am not aware that any writer has hitherto noticed 
 the name of Yeat, or that, in the plural form, it is the 
 exact Scottish equivalent and representative of the 
 Gadeni of Roman authors. Like many ancient deno- 
 minations, it occurs in a variety of forms, such as Yeat, 
 Yewe, Gewict, Guich, Wait, Wite, Weat, Wat ; but all 
 of these, as the philologist will see, are bound together 
 by the closest ties of dialectical kinship. Nearest to 
 them are the other forms of the same name, to wit, 
 Cait, Cade, Caiy, Cuy, Couke, Cuiket, Kitty, Kat, etc. 
 Zet, in Zetland, is only a clerical form of Guit or 
 Gewict, for in the Scots tongue there is no letter " z " 
 except as the mere equivalent of y or g. The other 
 varieties of this name which I have noticed are 
 Guirt, Guist, Gouse, House, Causey, Kes, Keska, etc* 
 
 As a rule, it will be found convenient to speak of 
 the Yeats by this form of the name, and as they 
 appear to have occupied the Island of Arran as well 
 as a large portion of Britain, it will serve our purpose 
 to glance at a few more particulars concerning this 
 ancient race. A great and powerful nation these 
 Yeats must have been. All through the south of 
 Scotland the traces of their former inhabitation may 
 be found. In Ptolemy they are the Selgovae siol 
 nan Guicheach the seed or race of the Yeats, and in 
 the pages of the same writer they are also called 
 
 *The introduction of the letter r before the guttural is far from un- 
 frequent, and has arisen from the difficulty which foreigners experienced 
 in pronouncing the latter, or in detecting its true character when pro- 
 nounced by the Celts.
 
 THE YEATS AND PICTS. 1 1/ 
 
 Gadeni. Under the former denomination they are 
 placed in the south of Scotland, and under the latter 
 in the parts about Stirling and the Clyde. It is in- 
 structive to observe the same people appearing in the 
 second century under these two slightly varied forms 
 of their name, and also to call to mind the fact that 
 the Meatae or Peahts were dwelling in the country of 
 the Gadeni a couple of centuries later. This need not, 
 however, mean that the Peahts or Picts had displaced 
 the Yeats, but only that Yeat and Peaht are two dia- 
 lectical forms of the same national name, just as the 
 names of Meatae and Peahts or Peaghts are. When 
 we come to treat specially of the Peahts, we shall see 
 how Tir nam Beachaeh, the land of the Beahts or 
 Peahts, becomes Tir-na-mBeachach, i.e., Tir na Meach- 
 ach, the land of the Meachtae or Meatae. In the 
 latter case the peculiar form arises from what is called 
 the eclipsing power of the ' article,' but no change 
 thereby takes place in the meaning of the term so 
 eclipsed. We shall also see how one great section of 
 the Celtic race in Britain preferred the sound of the 
 letter g as the initial sound in their race-name (Guich- 
 each), while another great section of the same or 
 closely-allied people preferred the sound of b as the 
 initial letter of their name (Beachach). 
 
 The Yeats appear to have early received the bless- 
 ing of Christian truth. While they showed a bold 
 front to the Roman legions, they welcomed the mes- 
 sengers of the heavenly King. To the heralds of 
 "glad tidings" they gave houses and lands or the 
 opportunity of acquiring them ; and when the clerics, 
 as we may call these early pioneers of the bannered
 
 IlS THE YEATS AND PICTS. 
 
 hosts of the Lord, had mastered the language of the 
 Yeats, and delivered their message, many of the latter 
 became obedient to the Faith. Now it was that, for 
 the first time within the bounds of present Scotland, 
 many a house of Christian prayer arose, and the 
 glades of the mighty forest were gladdened by the 
 sound of holy psalms. The hardy Yeat laid aside his 
 spear, and listened to the teachings df those men whose 
 weapons of warfare were not carnal, but mighty withal 
 to the pulling down of strongholds. The high places 
 of heathenism were purged and consecrated to a purer 
 worship; the diviners and magicians felt their influ- 
 ence on the wane, and were sometimes the foremost 
 to renounce it altogether. When the aged veterans of 
 the Cross had fulfilled their task, native teachers and 
 ministers stepped into their places, and carried on the 
 work which they had begun. Thus, in many a corner 
 of the land, the lamp of Christian truth was tended, 
 and its precious light handed down from father to son, 
 and from teacher to pupil. Few, indeed, are the 
 names of the early British missionaries and Christians 
 which the tooth of Time has spared, but not unhon- 
 oured by Heaven was the faith not unhonoured the 
 labours of those whose very names have passed into 
 oblivion. The strife of ages may have blotted out 
 their remembrances from among men, but their record 
 is on high ! The good work they accomplished was 
 probably much greater than the common estimates of 
 it bear out ; but whatever the amount of it, it was 
 carried on continuously, neither martyrdom nor per- 
 secution availing to interrupt it. And to this conti- 
 nuity in the line of Christian teachers do we trace the
 
 THE YEATS AND PICTS. 119 
 
 instruction which the youthful Ninian received. His 
 reputed country was the land of the Yeats, for the 
 Cumberland of to-day, as I shall show, is written over 
 with their name ; and one can scarcely learn that his 
 father was a prince, without thinking of Penrith, z>., 
 baile an airigh, the Prince's Town.* If Penrith was 
 the birthplace of S. Ninian, he could probably have 
 told us all about the giant's grave in the churchyard 
 that venerable monument of antiquity, which so 
 greatly interested Sir Walter Scott, and which may 
 reasonably be held to be the grave-monument of one 
 of the ancient Yeat lords.- He could also probably 
 have told us of Lang Meagg and her daughters at 
 Little Salkeld; but since we have now nothing but 
 the name and the associated monuments to help us, 
 we must do our best to understand their meaning. 
 Nor need the task be a long one, for the very name of 
 Lang Meagg proclaims aloud that its stone-girt en- 
 closure was the burying-place of the Meatae or 
 Peahts.f 
 
 * The Ruler's castle or fortress is an equally good version airigh, 
 airich, airith, giving Balnairith, Panarith, Penrith. The Castle of 
 Penrith was built of materials mainly procured from the ruins of 
 Maburg i.e., the burg of the Meatae or Picts. The term burg denotes 
 a residence of the living, and frequently also a cemetery of the dead. 
 From what Mr Fergusson, pp. 127, 128, says, it is probable that Maburg 
 (Camden, p. 330), or Mayborough, was the Peahts or Picts' barrow 
 (burying place). Compare Maes-Howe, Orkney i.e., Maesche-howe, 
 or the sepulchre of the Meatae or Peahts. So Masbury, near Wells, 
 Soirjerset. 
 
 f Camp Meagg is two miles east of Cockpen, and its name signifies 
 the Camp of the Meatae. Whether the name has been rightly or 
 wrongly given, is a question which will come up afterwards, and need
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE PRIMITIVE HOUSES OF PR A YER. 
 
 THE advantages which Ninian's birth gave him appear 
 to have been well improved. By foreign travel he en- 
 riched his mind with stores of valuable information, 
 and by study in the best available seats of learning he 
 qualified himself to expound the Sacred Oracles in 
 the knowledge of which he had been reared. Return- 
 ing to his native land, he devoted himself to the evan- 
 gelization of his compatriots ; for whether he laboured 
 in the Cumberland or the Galloway of to-day, he was 
 in both regions equally at home among the Yeats. 
 We shall see, as we proceed, that it is so ; but mean- 
 while I may observe, that Galloway appears to have 
 early received great numbers of Scottish and other 
 
 not be discussed here. Our chief business, in the first place, is to read 
 the place-names, and to garner the results which a scientific philology 
 yields. Cockpen must be another name of Camp Meagg, or of some 
 old town near it, for it is Cuigh-baein i.e., the Yeats' Town! cf. Firri- 
 point, Glenrosa, Arran i.e., firdha-baan, the warriors' town, as Femy- 
 hurst is warriors' shaw (a wood) ; Rispain, Respond, both of which 
 signify the mighty heroes' dwelling-place or the Town of the Rosses. 
 Gowkshill, a hamlet near Camp Meagg, must refer to the " Camp" or 
 fenced town, and signifies the hill of the Gewicts or Yeats. Mayfield is 
 also near, and, like Maburg, must be referred to the Meatae these, 
 probably, in time of war making common cause with the Yeats. 
 "Lang," in Lang or Long Meagg, should be a form of lann, an in- 
 closure, or of liagan, a pillar-stone, which gives us the word logan 
 (luggan, liggan), often applied to rocking-stones. Camden says the 
 Lang Meagg circle contained seventy-seven pillar-stones, but according 
 to Harriet Martineau, sixty-seven is now the ' prescribed ' number.
 
 THE PRIMITIVE HOUSES OF PRAYER. 121 
 
 Teutonic settlers from abroad, who, coming as Gaill 
 or strangers, and making alliances with the Yeats, 
 resolved themselves into a nation called Gallweyts, or 
 foreignised Yeats. Scarcely could Ninian have left 
 the region south of the Solway (sail [saul], a sea-inlet 
 or firth, and wagh, Norse vagr, a deep bay), unless 
 that country had been so fairly provided with religious 
 teachers as to give him a warrant for exerting his 
 evangelising efforts upon the men of Galloway, and 
 those who then dwelt in the central parts of Scotland. 
 However that may be, it is remarkable that the map 
 of Cumberland and Westmoreland does not shew a 
 trace of St Ninian's name, whereas the map of Scot- 
 land is spangled with crosses which mark the churches 
 ascribed to his memory. If we begin at Furness Ab- 
 bey, and scan the map of the Cumbrian land to the 
 "Madan" Way at Kershop-head, we shall see what 
 kind of names the old churches bear, and assuredly 
 the review will greatly help us in our study of the 
 Scottish landmarks.* 
 
 About five miles from Furness Abbey there is a 
 place called Conishead Priory, the name being kovin 
 the cell, the oratory, and Juad, a common term in 
 local names for a slight eminence; so Coniston i.e., 
 church or chapel town ; so Cowanhead near Kendal ; 
 so Cowegarth, now Calgarth i.e., chapel-hall ; so, pro- 
 
 * Here I shall endeavour to present the results in a concise form. 
 Whatever is left unexplained will be amply illustrated in the sections 
 which follow. Presently it shall appear how true it is that truth is 
 stranger than fiction, and how great is the perversity of tongues and 
 pens in altering names. The alterations, however, are easily detected 
 by the expert in the Celtic and Scottish languages. 
 
 H
 
 122 THE PRIMITIVE HOUSES OF PRAYER. 
 
 bably, Kendal, for the old form is Candal i.e., caun- 
 dal: Norse kofi, def. kofin, pronounced kovin, and 
 afterwards kowin, cown, caun ; kofi becomes kowe, 
 cowe, and cow: cf. the Cowe-gates in Edinburgh, 
 Arbroath, and other towns. Harriet Martineau tells 
 us of " the place now called the Crier of Claife," and 
 says, " If he (the traveller) asks who or what the Crier 
 was that is precisely what nobody can tell, though 
 everybody would be glad to know: but we know all 
 how and about it, except just what it really was." 
 Guide to the English Lakes, p. 31. The secret is out: 
 " Claife " simply and literally means the house of 
 prayer, and " Crier " is a shrine, a reliquary. The 
 former is the Gaelic ceall-ghuidhe, and the latter is the 
 Welsh crair, a relic ; also, a shorter form of creirfa, a 
 shrine, a reliquary. Crair or Crear is pronounced 
 cryre in many parts, and is found in a good many 
 local names in the south and west of Scotland. 
 Through the influence of the article, it takes some- 
 times the form of Grear. Claife is the same as Cal- 
 chow (now Kelso), Glagow or Glasgow, Kilsyth or 
 Kiluesyth, and the greatly worn-down form of Kelloe. 
 Claife must be older here than Crier, but the Crier of 
 Claife signifies the shrine of the Claife or house of 
 prayer. The shrine or reliquary, in this case, may 
 have originally contained the books, parchments, or 
 other reliques of the cleric who built the Claife. The 
 name is instructive, as pointing to a Gaelic-speaking 
 people on the banks of Windermere, and it has only 
 to be added that Crier of Claife is in the vicinity of 
 the Ferry Nab, west side of Windermere. 
 
 Cunsey-beck is not far off, and is clearly a ' colled '
 
 THE PRIMITIVE HOUSES OF PRAYER. 123 
 
 or syncopated form of Covins-ea i.e., chapel brook 
 beck, a brook, being afterwards added. I should have 
 stated that Camden's map gives Claffe or (?) Classe for 
 Claife, but neither of these interfere with the version 
 submitted. 
 
 Although the Gaels may have been here at times, 
 the Lake Country shows many memorials of the Yeats. 
 Clappersgate, at the head of Windermere, is written 
 Claperyate in Camden, and signifies the bulwark or 
 fenced town of the Yeat lord the terms employed 
 being cladJi, air, and Guicheach : cf. Clava i.e., cladha, 
 ramparts, mounds, burying-places. The appearance 
 of the ancient stronghold of Claperyate is described 
 by Camden, p. 323. Some people have set it down 
 as a Roman camp, but it is not so much my business 
 to enter into that question as to study accuracy in the 
 interpretation of the nomenclature. Could the place 
 not have been a town of the Yeats or Gaels, and after- 
 wards a standing camp of the Romans ? The marvel- 
 lous constructions and munitions of Claperyate must 
 have excited the wonder of the dominant Danes when, 
 settling down in the lovely vale of the Rothay, they 
 called the ruined city eatna-boel i.e., giant-warriors' 
 town the name becoming ean-bol, then eambol and 
 the Amble in Ambleside. Robbers seem to have 
 vexed the settlers with their constant forays, for Scan- 
 dale in the vicinity signifies the robbers' dale. The 
 great conflict between the dalesmen and those whom 
 they subdued in this locality is probably commemo- 
 rated in the name of Orrest near Elleray, for orrust 
 is a Norse word denoting battle, conflict. The havoc 
 was certainly frightful, for many an oratory must have
 
 124 BEDESMEN, ORATORIES, 
 
 graced the chosen sites of Elleray and Calgarth, yet 
 only the name of the latter and that of Ibbots (Abbots) 
 Holme appear to remain as their memorials. Chapel 
 Island is indeed named as being near Curwens Island 
 curwen, cathair na bhfeinne, the champions' strong- 
 hold. Gummers How is near the south end of Win- 
 dermere, and is a Norse appellation meaning warriors' 
 hill. Winster is champions' town, and is also Norse. 
 The whole of the Lake Country teems with Danish OP 
 Norse names, and the fact should be early noticed,, 
 because it tells us of one of the great influences which 
 have modified so many of the older appellations. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BEDESMEN, ORATORIES, AND GIANTS' MONUMENTS. 
 
 A MORNING'S walk of about a couple of hours brings 
 the traveller from Ambleside to Patterdale. The 
 glens at the southern end of Ullswater have evidently 
 been favourite seats of the old clergy and bedesmen. 
 The word 'patter' signifies a bedesman, one who prays, 
 and is the same as the Saxon bidder. In local names 
 it is variously written ' butter,' ' potter,' ' patter/ etc. 
 Hence Potter-fell in the neighbourhood of Cowan- 
 head, and meaning bedesman's hill the hill of the 
 old churchman, or cleric, who discharged the djaties of
 
 AND GIANTS' MONUMENTS. 125 
 
 his sacred office at the 'covin 1 or chapel. Hence, also, 
 Buttermere, where the smallest church in England is 
 said to have stood the clergyman's lake ; Patterdale, 
 that is, clerics' dale ; Butterswick, bedesmen's abode ; 
 Butterburn, the bedesmen's burn. A shorter form 
 beady is used ; hence Paddaburn, bedesmen's burn, 
 north of Gilsland, and the head stream of Irthing 
 Water i.e., praying-men's river. Here is an example 
 of the use of beady, or bedie, in a fragment of an old 
 rhyme : 
 
 'Tween Crowles-rode and Bedie's lair, 
 There lies a bowie fu' o' gowd. 
 
 Bedie's lair is the cleric's grave, and Crowles-rode 
 (rode, a camp) is the name of an ancient fort or fenced 
 town both sites being in Fyvie, Aberdeenshire. 
 
 Glenkwen (Camden), near Ara Force (fors,fos,fis, 
 a waterfall, as in Phys-gil), is glen-cowan, gleann a' 
 ckomhain, the glen of the oratory or little sanctuary. 
 The beauty of this little glen or dell is something 
 wonderful. "Tales are told of artists," says Harriet 
 Martineau, "who, turning into Glencoin to find ma- 
 terials for a sketch, have not come out again for three 
 months, finding themselves overwhelmed with tempt- 
 ing subjects for the pencil. The singularly primitive 
 character of the popular mind in those secluded cor- 
 ners is almost as great an incitement to study as the 
 variety and richness of the foregrounds and the colour- 
 ing." But other tales than these delighted the dales- 
 men of old, and their lingering echoes send a strain of 
 sweetness through the brattle of Ara Force Norse ar 
 fors, river's cascade. For here the knight built a cell,
 
 126 BEDESMEN, ORATORIES, 
 
 and became a hermit, for the sake of the lady whose 
 troth kept perpetual freshness with the evergreen 
 under which their mutual love had been pledged. 
 The story, as given by Wordsworth, is a pretty one, 
 but like many others it has been woven in the loom of 
 a thousand fancies, where every coloured thread links 
 itself to the snow-white fabric of historic truth, which 
 margins and begins it all. Not difficult is it to run 
 the eye down the web and read the characters which 
 grace the head of the scroll not difficult to run down 
 the game and secure the ' brush ' of underlying scien- 
 tific truth. " Lyulph's Tower" is only the quaintly 
 written form of a previous Ulfa, Eova, Yeiva, and 
 these are merely varieties of eimh, a sanctuary, a holy 
 house.* Accordingly, the tale adds its testimony to 
 that of the other witnesses who have spoken of the 
 primitive Christians of Patterdale, and its evidence is 
 all the better for the 'glamour' of romance, which 
 hindered the rehearsers from seeing it. Uffa is in the 
 vale of Duddon, and signifies the sanctuary, the church, 
 the holy house ; though, of late, the name has come to 
 be written Ulpha.-f- Gallgaels first shaped the word 
 out of da ve (the holy house) pronounced deve, dave, 
 
 * The initial / in " L'Ulf," or Lyulph, is the Norman le (the) of the 
 middle-age scriveners: hence le ufe i.e., lufe, lit If ha, the eive, the ve, 
 the temple or holy place ; hence, also, the surname of Love a very 
 common one at Monkland and other ancient kirk-sites. 
 
 t Of course, it is not my business to intermeddle with the spelling of 
 names, but to search out the facts and principles which determine their 
 meaning. For ages men have been writing their names and those of 
 their lands in many different or diverse ways, and very likely they will 
 continue the practice. But it should be observed that diversity of spell- 
 ing does not always mean diversity of pronunciation, nor, indeed, any
 
 AND GIANTS' MONUMENTS. 127 
 
 or dauvy and afterwards rejecting the definite article, 
 evolved eimh [eiv], ave, auvy, euvy, ufa, and Ulfa. 
 Hence, Davis-duib in Cumbrae, or the pool of the 
 oratory, and Loch-Teavi in Arran, near both of which 
 places there was a lodge of devotion, or cell of prayer. 
 These Gallgaels would come into the old Cumbrian 
 land from the Isles, Dublin, and all sorts of Western 
 places, whether in Scotland, Ireland, or the Isle of 
 Man. Their speech was a strange medley of Gaelic 
 and Danish, and as such though greatly modified 
 it still rules strongly all over the West, from More- 
 cambe Bay to Cape Wrath.* 
 
 We have seen that the tower of Ufe, Ulf, or Lyulph 
 signifies the church-tower, and the conclusion is con- 
 firmed by the meaning of Gowbarrow Park the park 
 wherein stands our famous tower, now rebuilt. Gow- 
 barrow denotes church-fort, or church-tower, from kofi 
 under the influence of the article, and burk, a town, 
 city; fort, castle; court, palace, house (Bosworth). 
 
 kind of diversity beyond what manifests itself to the eye. Thus, Bore- 
 dale is Borrowdale, but I cannot doubt that the name has been pro- 
 nounced in the same way for centuries by the yeomen who have dwelt 
 there. A change in the orthography sometimes indicates a new sense 
 or signification ; thus, 'yeoman' is yeoth-man, or youth-man, originally, 
 but when a youth was rewarded with a grant of land for his valour, he 
 became a yeoman. 
 
 * I strongly suspect that the Irish daimh, a house, a church, is the 
 Norse or Danish da ve. Compounded with liag, a stone, it is daimh- 
 liag, a stone house or church (Joyce, 537). Daimh also means a 
 learned man, from the phrase Daive-man i.e., the kirk -man, the 
 churchman or minister. Sometimes it is pronounced Tarn and Tammy; 
 hence Tammis-hill, Cumbrae, the clerics' hill. Compare Tammas the 
 Rhymer, or Thomas Rymour, with Reamour [rymour], a fenced town 
 Gaelic rathmuir.
 
 128 BEDESMEN, ORATORIES, 
 
 Matterdale can have nothing to do with Ave Marys, 
 as related by Martineau, but must have the same 
 meaning as Mitterdale near Wast Water. Lobbs, or 
 the grave-cairns, is in Matterdale, and shows that 
 " Matter " is Meaht-haur, that is, the burial-place of 
 the Meatae or Picts. Here also is Threlkeld, or the 
 mighty-heroes' sepulchre, marked by a belt of about 
 fifty rude pillar-stones, or ' salies,' which engirdle the 
 graves. The country people say "that a treasure is 
 buried under the largest stone." Martineau, p. 96. 
 Now the Gaelic uladh signifies a cairn over the dead, 
 a barrow; also, a treasure; hence the twist given to 
 the old tradition, which, however, can be unravelled 
 with the greatest ease. Threlkeld was called an 
 uladh or burying-place, but as the Yeats were accus- 
 tomed to deposit much treasure in the narrow houses 
 of the dead, the frequent searchings in such places for 
 the precious hoards by later generations appear to have 
 led the riflers to use the term more in the sense of 
 treasure than in that of cairn-grave. The story of this 
 Threlkeld or Giants' cemetery (thrills, giant-heroes, 
 cladh, graveyard), as given by Harriet Martineau, pre- 
 sents a thrilling illustration of " the changes effected 
 by oral tradition," as the ball of mingled truth and 
 fable rolls on from age to age. But the expert in lan- 
 guage may hope to ' red ' the tangled skein. Already 
 the treasure under the great stone has given us an 
 nladh or cemetery, and not a pagan temple. As a 
 curiosity, I shall give another piece of information, 
 and, of course, extracted from the legend of the 
 Threlkeld Stones : " And the oracle demanded a 
 sacrifice to appease the divine wrath. The lot fell on
 
 AND GIANTS' MONUMENTS. 129 
 
 a young girl, etc." Martineau, 95. Now, for ' Lot on 
 a young girl,' read 'Lot on a young lass' i.e., (?) Laut- 
 anadeagJidaidhealaich, Gaelic leachda na daghda Gaid- 
 healaich, the grave monuments of the Celtic lords ! 
 This is very remarkable, but it is not a whit more so 
 than many such which have passed through my hands, 
 and passed, too, out of the rank of curiosities into the 
 region of established fact. It is, therefore, not impos- 
 sible that, in the event of my revisiting Keswick and 
 Threlkeld, new facts may be collected, and among 
 these something which may help to change the 
 present curiosity into a real scientific treasure. 
 
 But further testimony awaits us as to the true char- 
 acter of the Threlkeld stones. The hill beside them 
 is called Lat-rig, that is, the cemetery-hill ; and in 
 their eastern vicinity is Loth-waite, or the cemetery- 
 croft, but possibly meaning rather the Yeats' cemetery- 
 monument. Turning now to Mitterdale, we find there 
 a remarkable cluster of standing stones. The spot is 
 about two miles west of Hardknot Castle, that is, 
 Jirathnyeot, or the Yeats' fortress. The brook of Hard- 
 knot is Cockley Beck, and this latter is Cuighe-ley, or 
 the Yeats' fortress. These facts, along with those 
 already given, make it clear enough that Mitterdale 
 or Myterdale (Camden) is Meacht-aur-dale, the dale 
 of the burying place of the Meatae. 
 
 On Stoneside, about ten miles south of Wasdale or 
 holy-house dale, there is a circle of standing stones 
 which, according to Wordsworth, the country people 
 call Sunken Church. The principles show at once 
 that this is Suighen-kirche i.e., coirthe nan saoidhean, 
 the warriors' pillar-stones these having been set up
 
 130 BEDESMEN, ORATORIES, 
 
 to give distinction to the graves of the honoured dead. 
 It is something to reach a bit of firm ground, after 
 wading through the tangled " wisps " of fable, which 
 have been so industriously woven around these and 
 similar subjects. Even the poet Wordsworth, in his 
 River Duddon Sonnets, suffered himself to fall into 
 the popular mistake which assigns Hardknot to the 
 Romans : 
 
 " Slept amid that camp on Hardknot's height, 
 Whose Guardians bend the knee to Jove and Mars." 
 
 Nor was he more fortunate in his allusion to Sunken 
 Church, referring it, as he does, to the idolatrous de- 
 vices of a pagan priesthood. 
 
 Having disposed of Matterdale, let us return to the 
 pleasant shores of Ulswater. The latter appellation is 
 evidently taken from the Ulf-kirk near Ara-force ; 
 hence Ulf-water, or Ulswater, the holy-kirk lake. 
 Dockwray, in the neighbourhood, means the tower or 
 fenced abode of the bedesman or clergyman and- 
 adhbh-fhirghuidhe and must refer to L'Ulf's Tower. 
 Dockraes, at Largs, has the same meaning, and this 
 statement is confirmed by its neighbour, Aplenira, 
 which must signify the bedesman's chapel or oratory 
 the forms being afilaniro, a-whilanirow, cichill an 
 fhirgJmidJie. At this old chapel of the Largs bedes- 
 man or clergyman is Rylies, i.e., the cemetery 
 reilig where also, in later times, solid stone sarco- 
 phagi of the ecclesiastical type were dug up. The 
 name of Kelsoland (from Kelso i.e., house of prayer, 
 church) was applied to the land of Rylies and that of 
 many adjacent fields, parts of which are also called 
 Kirkland and Chapeltown.
 
 AND GIANTS' MONUMENTS. 131 
 
 With Aplenira compare Aplencors at Coludi (house 
 of prayer) or Coldingham, that is, the cors or cross of 
 the house of prayer or church ; also Applecross, a hard- 
 ened form of Apelhirouse (h changed into c\ and simply 
 meaning the house of the man of prayer;* Affleck 
 or Achinleck, the bedesman's chapel ; and the Apel- 
 Ringie herb, that is, the herb of St Ninian's church 
 it being also called Saithrin-wuid (" Suthern-wood "), 
 or Saint Rin's wood, i.e., S. Ninian's wood (herb). 
 These will show us that Appleby is the Church-town, 
 that the two Cumbrian Applethwaites are either the 
 kirk-crofts, or (rather so) the house of prayer z>., the 
 oratory or church ; that Elleray is ahilliruy dchill 
 fJiirghuidhe the clergyman's house, that is, the church. 
 
 In Patterdale or Churchmen's Vale is Glenkroden, 
 alias Glenridding, that is, the glen of the bedesmen ; 
 a minor dale called Grisedale, possibly also connected 
 with the bedesmen, but very certainly not with the 
 wild boar, as Harriet Martineau affirms. Let us see 
 if Grisedal wo'nt yield to the wave of the philological 
 rod. It can certainly, so far as the written form goes, 
 be greischill, a sanctuary, and Grisedale Chapel is in a 
 vale at Souther Fell, or the Churchmen's hill. Very 
 astonishing is it to find that souther means bedesman, 
 churchman, hermit ; but found it is, as will be shown 
 in the sequel. There is yet a third Grizedale (sic), 
 about two or three miles west of Windermere and the 
 Crier o' Claife. Satterthwaite Kirk is here, and may 
 well be Sauther-thwaite, that is, the churchmen's por- 
 
 * Apurcrossan is just the same, the first r having got into the place of 
 / a common experience.
 
 132 BEDESMEN, ORATORIES, ETC. 
 
 tion of land. A fourth Grisedale appears at Newland 
 or naomk-land, the sacred church, a little way west of 
 Derwentwater. The vale of Grisedale Chapel is also 
 called Mungrisdale, which is probably munkers' dale 
 or monks' dale. But while grise and guisy are terms de- 
 noting a gryce or pig, it is possible enough that 'guise' 
 is a fragment of ceall-ghuidhe, house of prayer, as in 
 Kilcaise. Grise, however, may be gris-ve, a sanctuary- 
 church, as in gridha-stad, a girth-stead or sanctuary; 
 for near the Grisedale of Ullswater there is St Sun- 
 day's crag, possibly Sand-wey crag, or holy-house 
 crag. To increase the difficulty, there is the Gaelic 
 greis, a hero, a champion ; greas, a guest, protection ; 
 yet this last meaning, ' protection,' seems to point to 
 the sanctuary of a church. Grasmere will, of course, 
 enter this field of discussion, and also such names as 
 Grasmuir and Gersmilside ; but since it is impossible 
 for me at present to determine the true meaning of 
 Grisedale, and since guessing of any kind must be ex- 
 cluded from these pages, the wisest course is to leave 
 the question undecided, and to keep on the outlook 
 for anything that may serve to settle it.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GETTING BEHIND THE SCENES. 
 
 " BEAUTIFUL principles," some may say, " when a 
 name like Grisdale beggars them so!" Brief, how- 
 ever, is the triumph of mystery. For another night it 
 reigned not an hour longer. Having slept over the 
 question, the morning found me in possession of the 
 prize. Grisedale is really the Bedesmen's dale the 
 vale of the qucestionarii, or those who sought by prayer 
 and asceticism to win the crown of sanctity. How 
 this appears might be made a long story of, but here 
 it must suffice to say that guir is an abbreviation of 
 guidheachair or gweddiwr, a supplicant, petitioner, 
 bedesman. The term was borrowed from the Celts, 
 and came to be pronounced somewhat like ' gear,' just 
 as the Danish population of Buchan say peer for puir. 
 The plural form is gearis; hence Gearismere, the 
 bedesmen's lake, but gradually shortened into Geres- 
 mere and Gresmere, as seen in Camden. Most people 
 now write it Grasmere, but Wordsworth gives Gras- 
 mire a form which better indicates the 'barricane,' 
 or old local speech, of the dalesmen. Mungrisdale 
 shows the prefix of monk, and so used in order to 
 throw some light into the growing obscurity of the 
 name Grisdal. Creanggour, in Cumbrae, is the hospice 
 of the bedesmen, and Clachnakeelyechuir, in Arran, is 
 the stone of the bedesman's cell or oratory. The vast 
 inductions which have wrested these long-hidden
 
 134 GETTING BEHIND THE SCENES. 
 
 secrets from the old appellations cannot detain us at 
 this stage, but they shall appear as the work advances. 
 A brief account of the site in Arran just mentioned 
 may, however, be here inserted. Around the Stone of 
 the bedesman's cell quite a romance has been woven. 
 The first threads were spun out of a ' wee pickle tow ' 
 of true history, but most of the others have evidently 
 been drawn from several popular tales, and from in- 
 correct versions or translations of the names of the 
 place. One of its old names must have been that 
 jaw-riving one preserved by the accomplished Timothy 
 Pont, viz., Huntingdoggesatdcar i.e., (clach) an tseann 
 tigJie ghuidlieacJiair, the stone of the bedesman's old 
 house. The bedesman, in this instance, may have 
 been the superior or chief minister of the ancient kirk 
 of Naraghan (naom/i-d/iion, a sanctuary, a haly-kirk) 
 in glen-Callodale, for we know that clergymen of the 
 highest learning and position used to build retreats or 
 hermitages for themselves in wildernesses, wherein to 
 exercise themselves in prayer and fasting. The dis- 
 cipline which these men subjected themselves to was 
 stern and severe, but the chastening had a wholesome 
 effect upon their religious life. Nor can it be said to 
 have been self-imposed, for they felt that their Master's 
 example of entering the mountain solitudes for prayer 
 carried in it a command to all his followers. Abuse 
 of the duty or, rather, privilege, may have been made, 
 as when the active life of the clergy in teaching the 
 people was confined to a fraction of their time, and all 
 the rest of it spent in anchoretish devotions. But, as 
 a practice alternating with the out-of-door work in the 
 vineyard, the private communing of the spirit with its
 
 GETTING BEHIND THE SCENES. 135 
 
 Maker in the caves or distant cells was in every re- 
 spect a sound and salutary one; and, if the noble 
 spirits of our early church found the exercise so bene- 
 ficial as a corrective of pride and malice and wicked- 
 ness, surely the same pious exercise must recommend 
 itself to those zealots of to-day, who, at any moment, 
 are ready to barter away the last shreds of their honour 
 and meekness and truthfulness for one passing breath 
 of unintelligent and unhallowed applause. 
 
 Let us endeavour to form a worthy conception of 
 the ancient anchoret of Arran. His fame must have 
 been great, else why should the Brandanes of Arran 
 have kept on telling his story from age to age. His 
 hermitage was built at the foot of the magnificent 
 mountain called Grianan Athol (Penn. ii. 168), and by 
 the side of a ' great granite boulder ' at no great dis- 
 tance from Lochandaivy loch an daimJie, the lake of 
 the learned man. The very name of this lake almost 
 startles one by the vividness of its teaching, and it 
 lends its tribute of confirmation to the statements al- 
 ready advanced, It stands out, like the Boulder of 
 the Cell, an enduring monument to the memory of 
 the ancient recluse ; and while it speaks to his fame, 
 it also tells of his learning. Well, as I have already 
 said, a romantic tale has been woven around this 
 famous Stone the Stone of the bedesman's old 
 house but it is easy work to draw aside the veil and 
 discover the source whence the fictitious portions of 
 the fabric were derived. The clack cheall ghuidhe (the 
 stone of the cell of prayer) becomes, under bad or in- 
 different pronunciation, the stone of the caileag's git, 
 that is, the stone of the maiden's bairn ; and, accord-
 
 136 GETTING BEHIND THE SCENES. 
 
 ingly, a woman of the name of Kerr or Cuir (bedes- 
 man) is said to have built a lodge for herself and her 
 child against the great stone. In this lodging she 
 dwelt with her changeling boy, and when at any time 
 she required to leave the wilderness in order to pro- 
 cure provisions, she previously gave the little fellow a 
 junket of beef to suck during her absence. Lest, 
 however, that piece of meat should get into the boy's 
 throat and choke him, she took the precaution of 
 attaching the dainty by a cord to his big toe. Now, 
 it is quite clear to me that the piece of flesh (feoil), 
 great toe (ordag), and one or two other expressions, 
 have been, like maiden's bairn or quean's git, elabor- 
 ated out of the various Gaelic denominations of this 
 bedesman's cell. To give the details of the process 
 would be an easy task, but the illustration given 
 above may be held to satisfy most readers, without 
 introducing more specimens of such uncouth com- 
 pounds. As a closing remark I may observe that the 
 Carr of the tale is not a person of the name of Kerr, 
 but the Cuir or bedesman, and that the term is the 
 same as Guir, from which we have Grisdale.* 
 
 Since the historic language of Arran closely cor- 
 
 * The popular tale which has just been discussed was recited to me 
 by a native of Arran, but as only one or two episodes in it have been 
 given, it may be stated that the whole story will be found in the Rev. 
 David Landsborough's Early History of Arran, p. 23. For the 
 changeling, notice how readily the Fomorians in Arran might confound 
 kielhirongh [keelhirof], the bedesman's cell, with their own Teutish or 
 Germanic kiel-kropf, a changeling; the letter c, or k, being strongly 
 akin to h, and frequently interchanged with it ; e.g. heart, cor, cordis. 
 Clach-feoil-ordag must be clach-cheall-fhirghuidhe, the stone of the bedes- 
 man's cell.
 
 GETTING BEHIND THE SCENES. 137 
 
 responds with that of the old Cumbrian territory, we 
 may briefly glance at a few more of the old church 
 sites, and then proceed to give a summary of the in- 
 vestigation. Space, however, for the various readings 
 of names cannot be afforded ; but these have been 
 carefully considered, and, where any hesitation about 
 the true interpretation is entertained, the one preferred 
 will come first. Better, surely, to do so than to pass 
 them by altogether, for the suggestions made may be 
 useful to other workers in the same field. 
 
 Lanercost, al. Lanvercost i.e., the house of the men 
 of prayer, or of the bedesmen ; Lamplugh, the house 
 of prayer, with Ian, a house, court, church, prefixed ; 
 Arkleby, church-town aireagal, an oratory or small 
 church, al. airictil, Lat. oraculum : so, by metathesis, 
 Arlecdon, or airicul-cek, kirk knpll, plus don, the 
 church fort, or Whin-rah, both having the same mean- 
 ing ; so Arkilston, Ercildoun, the church town ; Kill- 
 ath, house of prayer; Tebay, the oratory teve; Hepe 
 or Shap Abbey, the house of prayer ceall being dis- 
 placed by abbey ; Old Hutton, or Keil-huitan, the 
 oratory ; Beetha, bedesmen's river ; Coulton, the ora- 
 tory ; Gleaston probably the same ; Kirkby Stephen, 
 i.e., kielsteven, house of prayer ; Kirkbyireleth, the 
 oratory town ; Soutergate, bedesmen's gate ; Kendal, 
 kirk-dale ; Bampton, bedesmen's town so Bamboro' 
 or Babbenburgh, bedesmen's castle ; Yarlside, kirk 
 side, from airicul becoming earil: so Cabel Urial in 
 Arran ; Rampside, Rom-be side, the side or district of 
 the Christians' town, at Furness Abbey rom, a Chris- 
 tian, in the Viking tongue ; Algerian rummi, a Chris- 
 tian : romling equiv. to rom i.e., a Rome-man, and 
 
 i
 
 138 GETTING BEHIND THE SCENES. 
 
 equivalent to Christian : so Ramps-holm (Derwent- 
 water), the islet of the clerics or Christians' dwelling ; 
 Romling or Rumlingburn, the brook or camp of the 
 Christians; Ramsey (Whithorn), clerics' isle; Stavely, 
 holy-kirk field ; Martindale is, in Camden, Marken- 
 dale, the dale of the open field, but probably marchuin 
 i.e., mot/tar a' chomhain, the ruined chapel plus dale; 
 Gilerux, the bedesman or cleric's house; Blenerhasset, 
 the bedesmen's town ; Bewaldeth, the town or tower 
 of the godly man, perhaps chief of the clergy baile 
 a' tsaoith\ Holm-cultra, the clerics' building holm 
 equiv. to hauv or adhblie : near it, Sowterfeld or 
 Southerfield, the clerics' land or hill, also Babba-cotes, 
 bedesmen's lodges or cloisters ; Kellswick, church 
 town : Islekirk, aisle-kirk or chapel-kirk ; Pap-castle, 
 the strong house of the kirk-fathers or clergymen, and 
 equivalent to the Gaelic Graysuithen, which is a little 
 to the south near Eaglesfield or church-field ; Bride- 
 kirk, literally the house or church of the clerics, and 
 originally the same as Cillabhruic, the old name of 
 Rothesay Kirk O. S. A. i. 301 ; so KiJbride, that is, 
 the place-of-worship of the Christians, not of any one 
 person called Bride or saint Bride ; Cristenbury, the 
 Christians' fort or fenced town ; Carlatton, the fort of 
 the church, at Abbeyfield ; Calthwait, the oratory, and 
 at Thomas or Tammis-close, the sages' court, the 
 learned-clerics' court or lodge ; Petteril-burn, the 
 bedesmen's hill-fort brook, and, probably, because the 
 Christians occupied old Penrith or Plumpton, baile 
 aoigtiean, the foreign-heroes' town, after these stran- 
 gers or Romans left it ; Annet-walls, the church-walls, 
 at Aldston, six miles north of Cross-fell ; Bewcastle,
 
 GETTING BEHIND THE SCENES. 139 
 
 prelate's castle, the stronghold of the ba [baw] or chief 
 of the clergy ; Preston-fells, or hills of the clergymen's 
 town ; Wythop-chapel, the chapel of the bishop or 
 father-overseer the old Scots father signifying a 
 clergyman ; Culgaith, house of prayer, and not far 
 from Isanparles, or the cairn-hillocks of the godlike 
 heroes ; Wetheral or Wether-row, the clergymen's 
 fortified dwelling ; Weddicar-hall, or clerics' hall ; 
 Kinniside, the oratory cill na guidhe, in Ennerdale 
 or giant-warriors' dale ; Copeland, the church (kofi) 
 land ; Wittyham, the church hamlet ; Ravenglas, the 
 fort of the church, the fenced town of the house-of- 
 prayer, and also called Munc-caster, or monks' fenced 
 town ; Ullock, the prelate's grave or the shrine of the 
 chief cleric, and on Marron or bedesmen's river, near 
 Mukar-kin, or the clergyman's sepulchre ; Blinbothel, 
 i.e., buina-bothel or house of prayers so blin-man for 
 buine-man, a man of prayer, and so " Blyndwell " or 
 " Tybyrnoquhyg," tobar na guid/ie, the well of the 
 prayer ; Snittlegarth, or holy-tomb court, san uladh 
 becoming snulla, and by Danes pronounced sniddle 
 and snittle like hattle for hella, a flake of stone, hence 
 a hattle-bottom is a rocky bottom in the sea : these 
 ullas, or the sacred graves (of the old the dear old 
 clergy) were often resorted to for prayer by their chil- 
 dren in the faith not necessarily idolatrous prayer, 
 but such a prayer as I have seen offered by an orphan 
 boy while kneeling on his mother's grave ; Uldale, 
 tomb dale, at San-Ulla-garth, or holy-grave court, 
 near Ireby on the Alwen or clear-water ; Rotington 
 or Vroutan-toun, the bedesmen's town, at St Bees : so 
 the burns called Routan, from the habit of resorting
 
 140 THE CHURCH OF GOD'S SERVANTS. 
 
 to such for private devotion ; Lindale, or kirk-dale, for 
 landal; St Michael's Chapel, from Wigil or holy-house 
 knoll, equiv. to vey-holl, and hence Kiel-veekil, that is, 
 kirk-chapelknowe, but not Michael's kirk : so Sen- 
 bigel or San-Vigil, in Ewes-dale, has been erroneously 
 rendered Mikkel in Mikkeldale as early as the fifteenth 
 century, at. Sta-bigil, i.e., Santa Vigil vigil being pro- 
 bably a diminutive form of ve, vey, vig, a holy house, 
 a chapel. Compare Clah-Veechal at Sannox, Arran. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF GOD'S SERVANTS. 
 
 THE great majority of these ancient names of church 
 buildings and Christian institutions are of Celtic origin. 
 The simple and natural way in which the compounds 
 have been formed constitutes strong evidence of the 
 accuracy of the interpretations. An ordinary house, 
 when occupied by the Missionary fresh from the East, 
 became in due time a church, and so, by degrees, 
 words like Ian, taigh, ceall, all meaning a house, ac- 
 quired the signification of church, chapel, oratory. 
 But in the first period of British Christianity, the 
 church was called and literally so the house of 
 prayer, or the house of the man of prayer. When the
 
 THE CHURCH OF GOD'S SERVANTS. 14! 
 
 clergy dwelt together in colleges and other large es- 
 tablishments, they called these the quarters or hospices 
 (inns) of the bedesmen. Sometimes the name of the 
 founder of a church was suffixed or added to the Ian 
 or taigh, but I am not aware that the practice of 'dedi- 
 cating' churches to 'saints' came into use, in Scotland, 
 prior to the eleventh or twelfth century. See Miller's 
 Arbroath Abbey. It does not, however, lie within my 
 province to discuss the merits or demerits of ecclesias- 
 tical dedications, and, accordingly, I go on to observe 
 that, in the course of time, Latin and Greek terms 
 were introduced by the Celtic clergy, and applied to 
 churches. Of these eaglais, a church, is well known ; 
 others are baisleac, a basilica, a palace-kirk, and hence 
 Paisley ; airicul, oracle, church, chapel ; teampul, a 
 temple or church ; kirk, from the Greek, as in kirk- 
 house, that is, Lord's House, the House of the Lord ; 
 domhnach, from Dominions, of or belonging to the 
 Lord, as in dies Dominica, the Lord's Day Sunday. 
 Hence we come to perceive that kirk is a syncopated 
 or contracted form of kirk-house, or Lord's House, and 
 so with its cognate, church. 
 
 Another thing has been strongly brought out by 
 the above investigation, and that is, the multitude of 
 old, or rather, very ancient Christian sites in the old 
 Cumbrian territory. Through the changes and strife 
 of twelve or fourteen centuries, many of these old or 
 original churches must have maintained their influ- 
 ence, and commanded respect from Celt and Saxon, 
 Anglian and Dane. At times the hand of violence 
 was raised against them, and many a venerable fabric 
 ruthlessly overthrown at times the pious bedesmen
 
 142 THE CHURCH OF GOD'S SERVANTS. 
 
 and their flocks, who fled to the churches (sometimes 
 fortified) as to sanctuaries, were slaughtered in the 
 first fury of the heathen invaders ; but, doubtless, they 
 had often many years of unbroken peace. It is certain 
 that many of the old clergy were far more learned than 
 is commonly known, and if the tenth century witnessed 
 a measure of decay and inaction penetrating into their 
 ranks, it cannot be yet held as proven to have been 
 greater or more general than the ecclesiastical back- 
 sliding which has, unhappily, more than once occurred 
 since. As for their piety, it is known to have been 
 fervid and sincere. To this day they are known as 
 Culdees or Men of God a title sufficiently suggestive 
 of their Christian fidelity and good character. But 
 originally this title or denomination does not appear 
 to have been applied to the clergy exclusively, and 
 great interest must therefore attach to it as a common 
 designation of the early Christians generally. Prob- 
 ably the name was drawn from the words of the 
 Apostle " All scripture is given by inspiration of 
 God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
 correction, for instruction in righteousness ; that the 
 man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto 
 all good works." And right interesting is it to ob- 
 serve that the Gaelic version (in this passage) of these 
 words, 'man of God/ is oglach DhJ, that is, God's 
 gillie or servant, for both giolla and oglach signify a 
 youth, a lad, a servant. The circumstance points 
 strongly in the direction of an older, though perhaps 
 unwritten version of the same passage, namely, gille 
 DM, and makes it highly probable that the old Celtic 
 preachers so rendered the words, whenever chosen for
 
 THE CHURCH OF GOD'S SERVANTS. 143 
 
 a text, or quoted in a sermon. Indeed, there must be 
 more in this matter than is apparent at first sight, for 
 the original Greek does not, so far as I am aware, con- 
 vey the idea of a youth or servant, but only of a man 
 (anthropos). Now, as the king's man, like the minis- 
 ter's man, is a servant, and since young men constitute 
 the greater number of the servants who are in office, 
 so it followed that a gille, or youth, came to mean a 
 servant, and also a ' man,' in the sense of servant. In 
 this way we get God's man, or God's servant, for 'man 
 of God ;' and I confess that never till now did I gather 
 so clear and pointed an idea from the words in our 
 English Version. Thanks, then, to the Gaelic Version 
 for its suggestiveness, and thanks also to the privilege 
 of studying languages and idioms. 
 
 Turgot might say that, in his day, the worship or 
 church service of the Culdees was a series of barbarous 
 rites ; but, as he does not condescend to particulars, 
 his statement does not amount to much. It only re- 
 minds one of the hard words which some modern 
 Christians have been heard applying to the church 
 services of their brethren of another 'denomination.' 
 But, as the wise and the pious may be found in many 
 churches, so it fell out that the Culdee Church, or 
 Church of God's servants, had much to be thankful 
 for ; and, whatever were her deficiencies, they will 
 bulk less in our prejudiced eye if we shall only go 
 and spend one hour in the perusal of those beautiful, 
 earnest hymns and Psalm-worded liturgies, which she 
 has handed down to our day.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE ALPHABET OF ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 ABHAL, pronounced Ahval, also written Athol, and 
 the name, or part of the name, of a very lofty Fell 
 or mountain to the west of Sannox ; also called 
 Grianan Athol, and Caisteal Abhail or Castle Ahval. 
 The first form is probably the same as Eval or Aval 
 (a mountain in Uist) and the Norse ha ficell, high 
 Fells ; Athol hatt fiall, lofty fell, high mountain- 
 peak. Hafuil is pronounced Haval, and the initial 
 h disappears when the Gaels place grianan [greenan] 
 i.e., hill-top, before Hafuil i.e., high Fells. Hence 
 Greenan Ahval is the Greenan or summit-peak of 
 the high fells. Compare grianan aibJieil i.e., vast 
 hill-head, huge peak or hill-top the last term being 
 also written adkbhal ; see Grianan Abhail. 
 
 ABHAINN BHEAG, tiny river ; Abhan mhor, big stream 
 from Pennant. 
 
 ACHACHARRE, or achachar. Pont ; ach d c/iarraidk, 
 the field of the seile or pillar-stone : near Dugary. 
 Headrick notices a very large obelisk here, and his 
 map shows auchacairn, the field of the cairn, in the 
 vicinity. Hereabouts also is the field of Glagh- 
 vainn, or the field of the warriors' grave-mound 
 achadh chlaidh na bkfeinne. 
 
 ACHACHARN, near Skorroe or the buccaneers' hold 
 a fort on the Aird alias Kingscorro, al. kingscross- 
 point i.e., kinn-scorroe's point. Pont gives acha-
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 145 
 
 charn, the field of the cairn ; alii auchencairn, id. ; 
 hereabouts an ancient copper caldron was found. 
 McAr. 90. We shall see ere long what fables have 
 been concocted in this quarter. 
 
 ACHACHORRIE, the dell-field or field of the cony, ap- 
 parently ; and now clad with wood near the springs 
 of Alltanowaran or the giants' brook, Corrygill. 
 
 ACHADH-A-BHEIRGHE, the champion's field, and may 
 be Anglicised Achaveyra or Aghaveyra. The cham- 
 pion, in this instance, must have been a beorn or 
 warrior, who won his sword-land here, and then be- 
 came a baron or ' beorn.' The field is a good one, 
 and is on Kelso's farm, right bank of Alltanowaran 
 water, Corrygil ; compare bearg, a champion, with 
 the Norse bragar. 
 
 ACHADH-A-CHOMHLAINN, the hero's field, and may be 
 Anglicised achahaulin, or achachaulin. This field 
 is beside the one last mentioned. 
 
 ACHAGALLAN, see Achakaldan. 
 
 ACHAGLAIGHVOLLA may be Anglicised Gleytvolla 
 Park, but Scottice it is rather Gleyghvollg Park, or 
 achadh chlaidh B/iolgh, the field of the Firbolgs' 
 burying place, and referring probably to the tumulus 
 close by. Beside this tumulus or cairn-mound there 
 is a cottage called Dunan, and the barrow still con- 
 tains the ancient grave-kists. See Index for the 
 Firbolgs in Islay and Arran ; and compare siol Erin 
 nam Bolg, the seed or race of Erin of the Firbolgs : 
 Oss. Temora, bk. 7, 1. 384: at line 278, Learthon, a 
 Firbolg chief, is mentioned; see also Joyce, i. 370, for 
 Beola, "who was probably an old Firbolg chieftain," 
 and whose cairn or barrow is called Toombeola.
 
 146 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 ACHAIG, the field, or pasturage ; al. Achab. 
 
 ACHAKALDAN, the field of the barrows or cairn- 
 mounds (cladhan), or a corruption of uagh nan 
 Gaillian, the burying place of the Gallians, a Fir- 
 bolg tribe; al. achegallan, year 1452, the field of 
 the gallan or standing stone ; al. auchagallon ; here 
 is Carnbeyan or the heroes' cairn earn na bhfeinne. 
 
 ACHALEFFAN, the field of the house of prayer 
 achadh chillgJiuidhean. 
 
 ACHANEOW, proncd. achanyou ; achadh an ioth, the 
 field or land of the corn, the corn-land ; al. Ahew, 
 and Auchenhew: it is at Lhun, the land or lann, a 
 church, if not litnd, a wood, a grove, a copse. 
 
 ACHANHILEEBERTSH, the field of the Mass Kirk 
 achadh na cille iobairt. This name, as well as many 
 others in this catalogue, is new to Arran literature. 
 Martin appears to have heard this place called Ta 
 Mass-kirk, and to have supposed it to be Seumas- 
 kirk, or Eaclus an tSeumais, James's kirk ; for he 
 tells us that " St James' Church is at the north end 
 (of Arran)." But, in giving us this version or trans- 
 lation, he made a complete mistake. In order to 
 set the matter right, I shall call the ancient cloister- 
 kirk (if such it was) at Narachan, the Mass-kirk, or 
 Keileebertsh (cill-iobairt) this latter name being 
 contained in the compound which is the subject of 
 this article. It is obvious that the Mass-kirk was 
 the scene of Bruce's fabled interview with his sister, 
 Isobel, as represented in the ' Lord of The Isles ; ' 
 for no other church in this quarter has been heard 
 of, till the Duchess Anne built a chapel at Loch- 
 ranza in the year 1700. Yet Me Arthur, p. 172, has
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 147 
 
 confounded the ruins of this modern chapel with 
 those of Keileebertsh, and indentifies the former 
 with "the legendary convent of Saint Bride." I 
 cannot exactly say where the Duchess Anne's 
 chapel stood, but I know it was not built on the 
 ruins of the Mass-kirk. It may have occupied a 
 site some five or eight hundred yards lower down 
 the vale, for Headrick's map shows a " Meeting 
 House " on the right bank of the river about oppo- 
 site to the Hotel. Neagles-Teite an eaglais-daigJi- 
 nichte or the existing 'established church' at Loch- 
 ranza, does not, so far as I am aware, stand on the 
 site of Duchess Anne's chapel. 
 
 The last reliques of Keileebertsh were cleared away 
 only a few years ago, but a little fountain remains 
 to mark the spot. This ancient church stood on 
 the right bank of Callodale Water opposite Ballearra 
 the house on the chine and about 140 yards 
 above its armot or confluence with Easnabeira 
 Water. It is sometimes called Eaclus Papanaich, 
 that is, the church of the Papists ; but its oldest 
 name is Narachan or Nayraghan, that is, naomk- 
 dhion, the sanctuary, the sacred spot. 
 
 I cannot doubt that the original sanctuary or church 
 may have been raised on this site before ever Cal- 
 umkeile landed in lona. The islands early attracted 
 the attention of the evangelists of yore, and who- 
 ever, throughout the ages, may have had the fortune 
 to settle down to pastoral work in so sweet a spot, 
 they could not fail to have their minds and religious 
 feelings sensibly affected by the constant presence of 
 the majestic mountains which engirdle it.
 
 148 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 ACHAREOCH, or Auchinreach, i.e., achinvruigh, the 
 field of the bedesmen or clerics achadh na bhfear- 
 gimidhe. 
 
 ACHAVEYRA, the champion's field : v. supra. 
 
 ACHAVOULIN, the field of the mill. 
 
 A'CHIR, that is, the crest, as of a cock, and giving 
 name to the high indented ridge which runs along 
 the western side of Glenrosa. 
 
 A'CHRUACH, the stack-like hill; at Ploverfield *>., 
 the hill of the giant's castle or champions' stronghold. 
 
 ./ERSA, Norse aurrid/ta-a, trout-water, trout-river ; lit. 
 trouts' river, salmon-trouts' river ; al. lorsa Water ; 
 Water of Versa. Pont. It is usually pronounced 
 much like eersa by natives of Arran, and accordingly 
 Eersa may be used as a handier form. It is highly 
 probable that the vale was formerly called Eersadale, 
 as we still find Callodale and similar compounds 
 among the local names of the island. Our word 
 trout seems to be formed from itrrith, a trout, with 
 te, the, prefixed ; thus, t'urrith, tuirt, trout. 
 
 AHVAL, see Abhal. 
 
 AlRAVERGA, the champion's shealing airidh a' 
 bJieirge, nom. s. bearg, a champion, and, by many 
 analogies, probably equivalent to beorn, a warrior, a 
 baron ; hence Barone-hill, the warriors' hill, in Bute. 
 Perhaps eyri, a shingly beach, and berga, cliffs *>., 
 the shingle beach of, or at, the cliffs. 
 
 AlRD, a point, headland, and one of the names of 
 Skorroe point, or Kingscross point: see this last name. 
 
 ALCRAPPAGH, the crag of the abbot's seat aillcatliair 
 apaidh\ a track from Lamlash to Clachan passes 
 near it.
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 149 
 
 ALLTACHLYVE, the brook of the house of prayer, the 
 brook of the oratory or little church allt chill- 
 gJmidhe. The brook or burn is also called Swir- 
 burn, that is, the bedesman's burn, the brook of the 
 man of prayer, and is beside Corrie schoolhouse. 
 These are very remarkable results, and they amply 
 show what searching observations and pure induc- 
 tions must lead to. This interesting spot is only a 
 very short distance north of Corrie Inn ; and the 
 brook of the Oratory flows through a very sweet 
 and picturesque dell. It occurs to me that I have 
 identified the site of this ancient oratory. Like 
 'souther,' 'suir' or 'swir' is developed out Q{ guidhe- 
 achair. See Grisdale in the Index, and compare 
 Craigachloy, in Bute, meaning the crag of the 
 house of prayer referring to Kilblain. 
 
 ALLT A' CHOMHARBA, the coarb's beck, the vicar's 
 burn; proncd. alltachorva, and sometimes called 
 Corby-burn. It flows past Kilbride Manse, only a 
 few yards to the east of it, and down through Gor- 
 tein-jaucky z>., kirkland. 
 
 ALLTANOWARAN, the champions' burn or river-dale 
 allt na bhfuamhairean : the chief burn or brook in 
 the vale of Corrygil. Since gil signifies a burn in a 
 glen, an allt, and carry means a strong man, a 
 champion, we get Corrygil, that is, champions' 
 ghyll or river-vale. 
 
 ALLTBORRACHAN, the stream of the cairns or grave- 
 mounds borradh, equiv. to brugh\ S. beorh, a bar- 
 row; at Burican mill, Scorrodale; and near its junc- 
 tion with the main stream there were several great 
 cairns.
 
 150 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 ALLT-CHALLIN, or Alltchallyuin, the brook of the 
 tiny oratory ; at the gamekeeper's house, Callodale ; 
 or the second brook above Nayraghan. 
 
 ALLTEIDRICH, the preceptor's brook, allt-fhidriche 
 the dell-stream of the meditator. It reminds one 
 of the Bishop's Walk, and was probably a favourite 
 resort of the head cleric of Keileebertsh ; for it is 
 the nearest brook to Nayraghan, and flows into 
 Callodale water from the north. The pretty nooks 
 of this little dell or glen are quite familiar to me, 
 and as my studies have taught me to recognise the 
 interest which men usually take in their neighbours 
 I prefer the above version to allt-eitrich, or the 
 Gurly-burn, pretty though it be. To show how keen 
 the interpreter's instinct or penetration must be, I 
 have only to notice eithreich, wilderness, and eitJireag^ 
 cloud-berry, as being very like the latter part of our 
 name. 
 
 ALLTGOLACH, the forked burn. 
 
 ALLT NAN STUAIGH, the brook of the pillar-stones ; 
 and which are at the circle of An-ros, well up in the 
 vale of Kilmory. An-ros signifies the cairn, and is 
 an undoubted instance of a Danish word received 
 into the Gaelic tongue. Some of the Arran people 
 corruptly pronounce this name alltanstuik, but this 
 is not half so bad as the form of it given in the Ord- 
 nance Survey sheet. 
 
 ALLT NA PAIRCE, in Ord. sur., but properly allt na 
 parcha, that is alltnaborragha, the stream of the 
 cairn-graves, like Alltborrachan above. It is also 
 called alltoulyagree ; but see next article. 
 
 ALLTOULY AGREE, or more correctly Allt-ula-gorey,
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 151 
 
 *>., allt ulaidh na gcoraidh, the brook of the heroes' 
 sepulchre or cairn ; referring to the ruined mauso- 
 leum of Margreuldacan near the water of Sledaroe, 
 or camp of the slayers (Wikings.) Observe how 
 these long names are clipped short or syncopated, 
 and the article thrown out, but leaving its trail be- 
 hind a mark by which its detection is inevitable. 
 The Scots carry, a hero, is a loan word from the 
 Gaelic coraidh, al. curaidh, a hero, champion, war- 
 rior, doughty fellow. 
 
 ALLT ST MUIREIG, a name restored from Headrick's 
 Alsmourac, and meaning St Mary's Brook, the 
 form for Mary being a diminutive, like ladikin from 
 lady, and implying affection, endearment. This 
 brook flows past Smuraig in Straghealo, or Kirk- 
 dale. 
 
 ALMOLACH, aill, a lofty crag, and Mo Luagh, a 
 famous cleric in the west of Scotland long ago. 
 Compare ball Muluy, Moling's stone globe, a famous 
 green stone about the size of a goose egg, and much 
 prized by the Brandanes of old for its healing vir- 
 tues. So says Martin. The form of the word, 
 ' Moling,' which Martin here uses, reminds me of 
 the Norse name of Holy Isle, viz., Melansey. Al- 
 molach is one of the names of Holy Isle, and the 
 Norse Melagsey is another. Luagh, or, with the 
 honorary prefix, Maluagh, Moluagh, must be the 
 right form, and ' lass ' in Molass a corruption. The 
 forms Melan and Moling are explained by the habit 
 of hardening a g by sounding an n before it. It 
 does not appear that Almolach has anything to do 
 with losa, 'the blessed name JESUS.' The subject
 
 152 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 of the article, Alcrapagh, may refer to this old cleric 
 or abbot, Maluagh ; but the necessary brevity of these 
 notes forbids enlargement here. 
 
 ANGOORACH, the fenny or marshy piece of ground, 
 an curach, and on the north side of Doonan-corrigil, 
 dumha nan coraidh gaill, the tumulus or grave- 
 mound of the foreign warriors. 
 
 AN Ros, the cairn ; Scots rats pronounced raus and 
 ros ; Dan. rces, as in Dunbalrais, near Thirlmere, 
 that is, the lords' cairn or barrow, with rats suffixed, 
 dumha na bhfail, dunevail, dunebal, and dunmail. 
 An-ros is also Carnbeyn or warriors' cairn, and not 
 Carn-ban, as in the Ord. Sur. The hill here is 
 Tuhvein, i.e., dumh na bhfeinn, the heroes' barrow, 
 but corruptly Tighvein in the Ord. sur. 
 
 ANTEYNA, proncd. an-teynna, the steep declivity or 
 slope, the stey brae Gael, an t-aoineadh, and is ap- 
 plied to a conical hill about two miles west of North 
 Sannox, as also to the slope of a steep hillside at 
 the very head of Glenshearag or glen of the fairies. 
 The compound is readily mispronounced Antony, as 
 in Antony's Chapel-ruins, on the summit of a steep- 
 sided height, not far from Holyrood. 
 
 AORINN, or Aoirin z>., the cairn. The greater por- 
 tion of this cairn has been removed, but lately I saw 
 the kistvaens or slab-kists in which the fallen heroes 
 had been placed. This name was given to me by a 
 very intelligent and elderly native of Arran, and the 
 above is the Gaelic orthography for the manner in 
 which he pronounced the name. He could not tell 
 me its meaning, but I am now able to say that it is 
 the Norse Jiaugrinn (the cairn), softened or worn
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 153 
 
 down a little in its connection with achadk, for 
 Achadh-aorinn is the name of the field in which the 
 relics of this cairn are still to be seen at a spot 
 about two hundred yards right north of Sannox 
 churchyard. It is not, of course, the fine mound or 
 barrow which stands entire in the angle formed by 
 the shore road and the road which leads up to the 
 churchyard. McAr., p. 75, mistakes the character 
 of this place ; see Clah-veeghal. 
 
 AoRINN in Arrindale, Catagil. This is the famous 
 cairn to which some writers have referred the name 
 of the Island of Arran. Pont writes it Arren, Head- 
 rick Arin. The Ord. Sur. map gives the fancy 
 spelling "Arfhionn," but the name has the very 
 same origin as the Aorinn of the previous article, 
 and simply means The Cairn, the cairn over the 
 dead. The general question as to this cairn will be 
 discussed in another part of the volume, for which 
 see Index. 
 
 ARD-BHEANN Ardvein, the high or lofty hill; cp. 
 ard, a height, hill. 
 
 ARRAN CASTLE. Headrick ; the same as Brodick 
 Castle. 
 
 ARRANDALE, Catacol, or the cairn-dale. At p. 48, 
 McArthur mentions "the farm of Arranton," but 
 does not say where it is, though it has yielded 
 sundry relics of the dead, in the shape of an urn 
 and stone jar. 
 
 ARRANVOR, the big croft earrann, and beside Cromla. 
 
 ARRIN-CAIRN proposed as a convenient name for the 
 Aorinn of Catacol. 
 
 ARTHIR'S SEAT, or Suy-erthur an old name of a 
 
 K
 
 154 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 nook shaped like a chair, on the side of Coire na 
 h-uidhe, close to Grianan Athol. The name signi- 
 fies the seat of the bedesman, as in Arthur's foun- 
 tain or bedesman's well. Compare siubhal airthir 
 ort, an imprecation, and signifying the departure, or 
 death, of ' Airthir ' to thee ! Could this imprecation 
 or curse have its origin in the wars between the early 
 Christians and the heathen ? This subject may be 
 discussed in the sequel ; but here it may be noticed 
 that Airthir is said to have broken " Bolee's " grave- 
 stone in Clachan churchyard, and that he afterwards 
 had his legs broken on the moor for it. After such 
 mistakes or misdeeds, according to old popular tales, 
 no one who makes or commits them ever thrives. 
 
 ARYWHONYNE pronounced awrywhonnin, and signi- 
 fying the grave-mound field ; Nor. haugr, a cairn, 
 and vangr, a field ; Sc. wang and wong : at Glen- 
 cloy, which see, as well as Strahwhillen. 
 
 ASTADALE clearly the old name of Glen Ashdale 
 (which see), and signifying the dale of the mighty 
 heroes' town or stronghold. Asta is asa stadh, and 
 may also be rendered giants' town, the town of the 
 god-like heroes. See chapter on Heroes for details. 
 In this same dale or valley are the remains of an 
 ancient church, to which the name of Airicul or 
 Aireagal was given, and I have identified it with 
 the Cabel-Urial mentioned by Martin. Urial is 
 "aireagal, an oratory, a church ; and this term gives 
 name to many churches, such as that of Ercildoun, 
 now Earlston. Dr Bryce writes Glen Eaisdale, but 
 the dale is not named from the eas, or waterfall, in 
 it. The physical features of the land have never
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES 1 55 
 
 been able to compete with man's history in giving 
 names to places. 
 
 AYRIN the gravelly beach, the shingly strand ; Nor. 
 eyri, def. eyrin. The name is also written Nayrin 
 by prefixing the Gaelic definite article. The place 
 is at Whitefarland and Row na heren (Pont). Ayrin- 
 beag is beside a remarkable shingle-strand near to 
 Lochransa Castle, and may have the same origin. 
 Europie in Lewis is shingle-beach town or village, 
 and our word eyri occurs with very great frequency 
 all round the British shores. 
 
 BAKOPS-WELL baek-hop, brook head ; hence brook- 
 
 head well, the well of the mother-syke. 
 BAILEACHAN i.e., village : Munro. 
 BAILE NAN SEOID DAG, the town of the Danish 
 
 heroes : see Sheaddaug. 
 BAINCARAIGHAN, the warriors' town baile nan coraid- 
 
 hean. The people in the West have a strong habit 
 
 of pronouncing o as a. 
 BAINLESSARIGH : see Playstar. 
 BALLYGOWN, a corrupted form of Ballachown, i.e., baile 
 
 a' chomhain, the town of the church or sanctuary. 
 BALLEARRA bail'-earraidh, chine house, or the house 
 
 on the chine of the hill : chine is equiv. to lower 
 
 part e.g., of the backbone ; cf. " the chine of Snow- 
 don:" Borrow, Wild Wales, ii. 129. 
 BALLYMEANACH a thin, drawling pronunciation of 
 
 ballymanach, that is, monks' town. Columkeile 
 
 hamlet is here. 
 BALLYNAW, holy-men's town, as Hellan Leneow is 
 
 Isle of saints : Pennant, ii. 188.
 
 156 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 BALMICHEL. Headrick ; see chap, on Churches. 
 
 BALNACOOL, or Balnacoule baile na congbhaile, the 
 town of the church establishment, the town of the 
 ecclesiastical establishment ; at Pein and Clauchan; 
 see Joyce 25 for congbhail, and notice the strength 
 of the Culdees, or God's Men, here. What a fearful 
 waste the Viking hosts made in the charming vale 
 of Sheskan ! The " John's cell " mentioned by 
 Macbride must be seann-chill, the old church or 
 oratory: v. N.S.A., v. Kilmorie. 
 
 BAWKIN'S CAVE, the goblin's cave ; it is opposite the 
 Rocking-stone. 
 
 BAWNEEN, the little meadow or green. 
 
 BEENGAN, beinnean, a little hill, pinnacle. 
 
 BEINN-GAIL, the mountain of vapour : Shaw. 
 
 BEININHURUCH, the hill of the sheep : Head. 
 
 BENGAILL beinn-aill, the rock peak ; lit. the peak of 
 the towering rock. 
 
 BENKLEEVIN ; see Kleevin. 
 
 BENINUARAN, from Headrick, 146, and signifying the 
 champions' fortress : it is apparently in the Vanner- 
 loch quarter, and has a great circular bulwark of 
 uncemented stones. 
 
 BENLEVEN, or Benilewen, the hill of the oratory. 
 
 BENNOOSH beinn uamhais, the peak of horror: so, 
 probably, Ben-nevis, Ben-wyvis, and Benuaish in the 
 North. 
 
 BEN-VOIRRIN pronounced vuirrin ; not, however, as 
 Gaels understand this spelling, but as Scotsmen do, 
 and of which an instance is found in the Eng. word 
 built ; beinn-bhoirne, the hill of stony or rocky lands 
 or grounds. Notice beann na beairn, the hill of the
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 157 
 
 breach or of the gap, for beam is a fem. noun ; cp. 
 beann a! bhearain, the young man's hill. Morroin- 
 hill, Braemar, is the hill of the rocks, boirne ; as I 
 know well the character of its summit from having 
 visited the spot. ' Dr Landsborough gives Beinn 
 Mhorroin i.e., the hill of the rocks. To prevent 
 mistake, let it be added that this Beinn Mhorroin is 
 our Arran name. ' Benvarreh ' is the handiest form 
 for daily use, but it should not be divided into two 
 sections. Compare cnoc na mboirne, the hill of the 
 rocks : Joyce, 405, and notice that there is a Cnoc- 
 moirrin in the south of Cantyre. 
 
 BENVREAC, the flecked mountain. 
 
 BLACK CAVE ; also called the Monsters' cave uaimh 
 nam beist ; at Struey Rocks. 
 
 BLACK DOG FALL probably named so from the 
 otters which frequented it. 
 
 BLAIRMORE for the cairns here, see Penn., ii. 212. 
 
 BLARNAGABAR blar na gcabar, the field of the sticks 
 (for firewood) ; near Lochransa. 
 
 BOAT STAITH, the, staitk, a landing-place; Sax. staedh 
 and staeth. 
 
 BOCK-HILL bock, a hill-top, as in Buc o' the Cab- 
 raghe, equiv. to hoc of tJie gebirge, the crowning sum- 
 mit of the mountains ; our Arran name is badly 
 written ' Boguille ' in the Ord. Sur., but it serves to 
 show the Gaelic influence on Norse and Scots words : 
 it is in the Scorrodale quarter. 
 
 BOLLEE compare bilith, image, figure ; and notice 
 that this name is given by the Sheaddaug, or Pein 
 folks, to the sculptured figure of a cleric in Clauchan 
 kirkyard. Billee or Bollee does not seem to be a
 
 158 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 man's name, but billee, an image, a figure. When 
 we say that a boy is quite his father's' bild, we use 
 this term bilith, and mean that the lad is the very 
 ' image ' of his father. 
 
 BORRACHAN, a little swelling, eminence, law, hill. 
 
 BAWNANGEARC the hens' hut, bothan na gcearc ; at 
 Lochransa. 
 
 BRAIZAY CASTIL. Dean Monro. In the Scots tongue 
 "Braizay" is pronounced Braighay, and may be 
 written Breaghay for the same sound. The " z " is 
 really "g," and is sometimes sounded as a "g" or as 
 " gh." The older natives of Arran still pronounce 
 Brodick as Brayag and Braigha. Now brayag is 
 the same as bearg, a champion, a warrior, and 
 Braigay Castil is clearly a version of rath nam 
 bearga, the warriors' fort or fenced town. Instead 
 of rath, bnigh might be used ; thus, brugh nam 
 beargaidh signifies the champions' fort or strong- 
 hold. Further illustration will be given in the 
 sequel of the Arran Studies. 
 
 BRAWNE-KEIN bragna koin, the warriors' grave- 
 mound or burying-place. This name is derived 
 from Headrick's book, but he thought that kein was 
 ceann, head. A number of pillar-stones marked the 
 spot, which is not far west of Corachrevy : see par- 
 ticularly Lag-a-gaille-eohen. 
 
 BRODICK see Braizay Castil. 
 
 BROWN HlLLS: Headrick, p. 129 bragna hofudh, 
 warriors' headland : the name being closely associ- 
 ated with Brawne-kein. 
 
 BRUSES CASTLE vrisa borg, the mighty warrior's 
 burg or stronghold ; scarcely from brughas, a fort :
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 159 
 
 see Ploverfield. This fort is a mile to the south- 
 west of Kilmichael, and does not really appear to 
 have its name from king Robert Bruce. 
 
 BRUGES CAVES vrisa keier, mighty heroes' caves ; 
 kern, the cave, has been corrupted into king, and 
 hence Headrick's " King's Cove," and Beckett's 
 " King's Caves." The story of the spider is, by 
 some, connected with these caves, and by others 
 with a " cot " near Aird or Kingscorro. But the 
 meaning is entirely misunderstood, as I shall pro- 
 bably show in another chapter. It should be stated 
 that vrisi becomes brisi, brise, bryce, bruise, etc. In 
 Shetland, kirns means the caves, and this is the 
 ' definite ' with a double plural. Kynance Caves, in 
 Cornwall, simply means 'the caves,' with the English 
 ' caves ' added. The old word keie or koi signifies 
 either a cave or a grave, and the same connection is 
 observed in other languages. 
 
 The rise and growth of mythical tales constitute a 
 striking illustration of man's love of the marvellous, 
 and distaste of matters of fact. 
 
 CABEL URIAL i.e., the chapel of Urial [ur-yal] but 
 urial is a contracted form of airicul, an oratory, a 
 church. Its cemetery and ruins may be found in 
 Astadale or Glen-ashdale; and, though Martin does 
 not say where it stood, I have been able to identify 
 it with the ancient Kiskadale Church. 
 
 CAGA the bay or creek (geodha) at the oyce or mouth 
 of north Sannox water : see Kaga. 
 
 CAISTEAL ABHAIL : see Abhal. 
 
 CALLODALE the dale of the oratory ceallgJiuidhe^.
 
 l6o ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 which becomes callyow, and calleo ; with glen pre- 
 fixed we get Glenchalladel (Pont). 
 
 CARXABAIXX, the warriors' cairn earn na bhfeinm: 
 in Arran there are four or five cairns which bear 
 this name, but usually miswritten Carn Ban, though 
 the natives pronounce their names in a way very 
 different from ban. 
 
 CARXABEYAN, the cairn of the heroes: at Achakaldan ; 
 there is another not far from Pein. 
 
 CARNACUIGHEX is pronounced ' carnacuifen,' and sig- 
 nifies the cairn of the strangers earn nan coimh- 
 eacJian. The site of this remarkable cairn is about 
 half a mile north of Kilbride old church. 
 
 CATACOL, but pronounced Cuithagal, and, therefore, 
 very likely to mean the Gewicts or Yeats' grave- 
 mound. The hamlet is quite near the site of the 
 famous tumulus. But Glencatagal may possibly be 
 gleann catlia gaill, the glen of the battle of the 
 foreigners. The name is written Catagil, Cathay- 
 dill, Cattidell, etc. 
 
 CATT-STAXE i.e., the pointed stone, gadd, Sc. kad, 
 kat, a goad, a spike ; also a hill-peak, as in Goat- 
 fells i.e., spike-fells, pike-fells or sharp-pointed 
 hills. The Catt-stane is a huge pointed boulder, a 
 little to the north of Corrie, and on west side of the 
 road. 
 
 CEAXXALEEKY, the ness or point of the flag-like rock: 
 at Kaga, that is, Keoga, a creek, north Sannox 
 shore. 
 
 CEUM-NA-CAILLICH the witch's stride, the stride of 
 the demon-giantess. The witch here referred to 
 appears to have been one of the Weirds or Norns
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. l6l 
 
 for the fuller form of Ceum na caillich Urne is still 
 in occasional use among the natives of Arran, and I 
 once heard the name so given. Now, Urne must be 
 Urin, Norse Urdhin, the Weird, the Norn one of 
 the three weird sisters. The meaning of the longer 
 form is The stride of the hag or witch called the Urd 
 or Weird. Urne, as a term, has the definite article 
 added to it, but that, as many facts in these pages 
 show, makes no difficulty. In several local names 
 we find Urd or Urdh, as in Irriewell, the Weird's 
 spring, in Udny parish. Headrick tells us why the 
 Arran name was given, but the whole story is a relic 
 of heathen darkness, and may be left in meet ob- 
 scurity. Arthur's curse maybe "urdhar-far," that is, 
 perdition, ill-fate. The "stride" is from the tower- 
 ing eastern pinnacle called the Hound's Tooth 
 across a tremendous gulf to the next pike on the 
 west, so that one foot was planted on the Hound's 
 Tooth, and the other on the beetling crag which 
 forms the forehead of the Sleeping Giant. The 
 sharp edge or ridge at the bottom of the gulf bears 
 the old name of Druimeich, or the Nag's Back. 
 The Gaelic name of the Witch's Stride may be 
 Anglicised Caymnacalyie. 
 
 ClOCH NA H-INGHIN the Maiden's Breast ; Pont 
 writes it Kiach na hinnoin, Grierson Kioch-na-hain, 
 Ord. Sur. Cioch na h-Oighe, but all the forms have 
 the very same meaning. It is a very fine peak, and 
 is well seen from Sannox shore. The great pointed 
 stone called the Cock of Arran, may have its name 
 from this word dock, a pap, a peak, and akin to gadd y 
 a goad, a spike, as well as to the Swiss zug; a moun-
 
 1 62 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 tain peak. Our name is best Anglicised Keenahein : 
 cf. Maol na Giche, in lona, the hill-brow of the peak 
 or pap. 
 
 CiR-MHOR, the great comb, or crest, or crested ridge, 
 and is not very correctly applied to one peak. The 
 most intelligent arrd best informed natives of Arran 
 apply this name to the whole ridge from the Archer's 
 Pass to the towering 'horn' at the head of Glenrosa. 
 Curr, cir or hill-crest, is near the high Cheviot. 
 The Norse eigg, Gael, nig, is often applied to lofty 
 cones and peaks, as in the island of Eigg. When 
 the peak " Cir-mhor" of the maps is viewed from 
 the south, it presents the appearance or shape of a 
 trident, or three-pronged pike. Headrick notices 
 this also, and it may be sometimes convenient to 
 refer to it as Trident Peak. Its Gaelic name is An- 
 glicised Keervohr. 
 
 CLACHAIG, the champion's barrow or grave-mound, 
 cladh-oig and neither this tumulus nor those in its 
 vicinity have anything to do with "Ossian" except 
 as a corruption of aoig/iean, heroes. This is quite cer- 
 tain, as will be amply shown in a following section. 
 
 CLACHAN, meaning a small stone-house, and often 
 applied as a name to the ancient oratories or small 
 churches. "Clochans or monks' houses" were found 
 in St Kilda. Simpson, citing Martin per Petrie, i. 
 136. In Cork and Kerry, clochan is used to denote 
 an ancient stone-house of a bee-hive shape. Joyce, 
 p. 352, cf. 398. I have seen one of these tiny ora- 
 tories in the wilds of the Mull of Kintyre. There 
 is another clachan in the moor of Benleven at 
 Callodale.
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 163 
 
 CLACHAREN, i.e., a little stony place ; and here there 
 is a very stony croft or field at Lochrenasay : cf. 
 Cloghereen, Joyce, 402. 
 
 CLACHILAN A.D. 1433. Probably the name of one of 
 the great cairns in the vicinity of Kilbride Chapel : 
 cladJi-Gaillian, Firbolgs' burial-cairn. 
 
 CLACH-NA-CILLE-CHUIAR, i.e., the stone of the bedes- 
 man's cell or oratory : see above. 
 
 CLACHNADUN ? clach-n-adun, the castle of the he- 
 roes, clock nan aoidhean, but perhaps the cairn of 
 the heroes. Headrick, 353. 
 
 CLAGHVEINN, the heroes' cairn or burial-place. 
 
 CLAHAN-RIGHUIRT and Cladhan-righ-Ghuirt, the sep- 
 ulchres of the kings of the Gewicts, the burial-places 
 of the Yeat Kings cladJian righ GidcJieack. The 
 Ord. Sur. sheet badly writes the name Glenrickard, 
 but the natives do not pronounce it so. The place 
 is a quarter of a mile south-east of Kilmichael. 
 
 CLAH-VEEGHAL, the grave-mound of the foreign lords 
 cladh na bhfiadh gaill ; and the mound may be 
 seen in the angle of the two roads close by the shore 
 of south Sannox bay. It is carefully preserved by 
 the residents in the locality, and may be the tomb 
 of their Norse forefathers. 
 
 CLANACHAN, beautiful meadow cluain chaoin ; from 
 Inquis. Spec, or Retours, 18. 
 
 CLAPPEN-HILL, warriors' fort, or heroes' burial-place 
 cladh aoigJiean : see McArthur, 69. 
 
 CLEEVIN, the keel-shaped hill keol bfieinn, Nor. kjoll, 
 a frequent term in local nomenclature ; but cf. 
 cliabh bheinn, breast-hill ; this hatchet-like Edge is 
 on the west side of Glenrosa.
 
 164 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 CLEYNACK />., a slope ; al. Cloined, Clunaig, Gael. 
 claonadh, claonad; cf. claon, a slope (Joyce). 
 
 CNOC A' CHAPUILL prob. a corrup. of kop-hill, or 
 head-hill, the summit ridge. 
 
 CNOCAN A' CHRANNCHUIR, the mount of the bedes- 
 men's hospice c. clieitJireanna (nan) guidlieacliair. 
 It is near Kilpatrick i.e., Keilbeartigh or the bedes- 
 men's church, and here also is Cornabeithe i.e., 
 coire an abaidh, the abbot's dell ; also Torrandaive 
 or the learned-man's hill. 
 
 CNOCANA NAN SITHEAN, the hills of the fairy-mounts. 
 
 CNOCAN-BEAROGH, the bedesmen's hill the one at 
 Balnacoule. 
 
 CNOCAN H-AOIDHE, the hero's knoll an old name of 
 the tumulus at Clauchog ; cf. sron-h-aoidJiean, the 
 warriors' ness, and the Gaelic form of Strontian 
 [stronteean] : name received from Rev. James 
 Curdie, Gigha. 
 
 CNOCAN-TUBHA, knoll of the cairn or barrow Gael. 
 dnmJia, tinnJia : about one mile from Pein. 
 
 CNOC-BREAC, speckled knoll or hill; Cnoc-buidhe, yel- 
 low or saffron-coloured hill ; Cnoc-donn, dusky hill. 
 
 CNOCLECARLEW or Drimlecarlew (from Headrick), 
 the hill or hill-rig of the Firbolgs' burying-place 
 drttim ulaidh fJiirbJwlg, giving drimulaghirwil ; cf. 
 Knocacharbeil in the vicinity. The Ord. Sur. gives 
 an entirely wrong form, Cnoc na Comhairle. Lagh- 
 tareel is the grave of the Firbolgs who fought at 
 Moyturey, and Letrewell, near Helensburgh, must 
 also mean the Firbolgs' grave or monument. Our 
 name cannot signify Council Hill, for it refers to 
 the " Giants' Graves " near Largymor.
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 165 
 
 CNOC NA CEILLE, above Glaister and near a pillar- 
 stone, is probably cnoc nan gaille, the hill of the 
 standing stones. 
 
 CNOC NA CoiLLE or Knockankelly, the knoll or hill 
 of the (hazel) holt or copse ; cf. "the hazel copses 
 of Knockingelly:" Dr Landsbro'. 
 
 CNOC NAN AOIDHEAN, the hill of the heroes. This is 
 an old name of a hill with a cairn or barrow on it 
 near Dippen, and its other name is Giants' Hill. In 
 the popular tales (not legends), heroes and warriors 
 are called giants. 
 
 COIRE-BHRADAIN, the salmon's pot a pool in Glen- 
 rosa Water. 
 
 COIRE NA H-UIDHE, the corry of the Pass ; and is the 
 way across the edge or ridge between Keervor and 
 Ahval. 
 
 COLUMKEILE-HAMLET may have been " Lhun "-Chal- 
 uimchille, or Columba's chapel. 
 
 CORACHREVY or Korichreui (Pont) i.e., cathair (nan) 
 curaidke, the stronghold of the warriors ; it is pro- 
 bably the same fort which the stranger Danes called 
 Sledaroe, or the fort of the pernicious ones (slayers). 
 Crae-castle in Bute has the same meaning; Pitcruvie 
 is warriors' dwelling; Auchencruive, -heroes' field. 
 On the shore is Hadak-port i.e., p. nan at hatch, 
 the champions or giants' creek ; cf. Cas. Creavy, 
 Galloway. 
 
 CORDAN named from a cairn or barrow which was 
 here, uladh nan coraidhean, the grave-mound of the 
 heroes ; cf. cor an tsuinn, the knoll of the hero. 
 
 CORLOCH, the hero's dell ; or warriors' grave-cairns, 
 for on the shore there seem to be remains of cairns.
 
 1 66 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 CORRYHYNE, the dell of the river coire na h-aibhne. 
 
 CORRIE probably land of Corrie, that is, land of 
 heroes, for " Feinn " signifies land of heroes or war- 
 riors being only part of the name. Fife should be 
 either the land of lords or land of Picts ; crioch nan 
 curaidh, the region or locality of the heroes or 
 champions : al. Corry, Currie. 
 
 CORRIE AN LACHAN, the caldron or lakelet of the 
 wild ducks or drakes coire nan lachan : cf. Loch 
 Goyne, the lake of the barnacle geese Gaelic 
 cadlian. 
 
 CORRYNAGOOSHAG, the corry of the long grass, used 
 for making maidens' hats. 
 
 CORRY-GHYLL, hero-glen, or glen of champions ; see 
 Alltanowaran ; cf. coire gail, dell of slaughter ; coire 
 ghoille, vale of war or battle, or of prowess ; coire- 
 g/iaoil, vale of love i.e., a place beloved, the dear 
 dell ; Norse gil, a ghyll, a glen ; cf. Welsh crigyll, a 
 ravine, a creek. Perhaps the full name is dumha 
 nan coraidk gaill, the grave-mound of the stranger 
 heroes or 'frem' warriors ; for this combines Dunan 
 with Corrygill, and such divorcements do occur. 
 The great grave-mound is at Dunan here : cf. 
 Corriviarlich, thieves' glen (meirleach) : Gordon's 
 Poems, 57. 
 
 CRANNSHEANTA, the old hospice ceithreann seanda ; 
 al. Cranshant, id. This was a famous old place in 
 Glenrosa, and must have been an ancient clerical 
 establishment. I shall probably speak of it in the 
 sequel ; but compare the Danish kroen, the Inn, and 
 note that in the later age travellers were put up 
 here.
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. l6/ 
 
 CRAVY-CAIBEA L from caibeal-nan-craibhthigh, the 
 chapel of the devout ones (see Joyce, 90), or the 
 church of the devout worshippers. The ruins of it 
 are in the vale of Sledaroe. It could not possibly 
 have its name from a tree, as some one has sug- 
 gested : see Cravies-heol, Cumbrae List, where the 
 word clearly refers to the devout pilgrims on their 
 way to Santa Vey. 
 
 CRAW-HILLS the marshy, fenny hills ; koere, fens, 
 mosses, morasses, and, when drained, carses. 
 
 CREAG A' MHAIDA (vyda), the dog's crag ; at Renesa, 
 or Lochrenesa. 
 
 CREAG NAN CURAIDH, the champions' crag; it has on 
 it the remains of an old bulwark, fort, or ward, and 
 is above Clachareen, Reynasa. 
 
 CREAG NA GCATHAG, the jack-daws' crag. 
 
 CREAG NA H-IOLAIRE, the eagle's crag. 
 
 CREAG NA SRONE, the crag of the cape or headland, 
 north end of Arran. 
 
 CREANGOWAR, the hospice or Inn of the bedesmen or 
 churchmen : at Kilpatrick. 
 
 CROGAN, a peak, at Lagantuin ; Welsh crwg. 
 
 CROLLUY, the knoll of the oratory cor chillgJiuidhe ; 
 a mile north of Clachan. It is another name of 
 Traighiluith, torr chill ghuidJie, the mount of the 
 house of prayer. 
 
 CROMLA or Crimla, the freebooters' camp or dwelling, 
 the brigands' lodge kerne-bcel, krenbel, kremble, 
 and krimble. This place is at Currie ; its name is 
 not uncommon. 
 
 CUITHE or Kwee, Norse -kui, a fold for cattle, sheep, 
 etc., and is in the north of the island. Compare
 
 1 68 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 Catagil al. Cuithagil, and which may simply be 
 the cattle-fold glen. 
 
 CULLSTHUIDHEAN i.e,, cill-ghuidhean, the house of 
 prayer, the oratory or church, and clearly an old 
 name for Kilbride Chapel or some one near to it. 
 The name occurs at Gortanjauka, Lamlash. 
 
 DAIRE NAN AOIGH, the heroes' copsewood or thicket, 
 the wood of the foreign warriors probably kernes 
 or freebooters of the later age : al. Deere na nach 
 (Pont), Durrinaneoch ; it is not far from Crolluy. 
 
 DAUG-BRAAN, or Daug-brahin, the Danes' burying- 
 place (beorhin), or the Danes' barrow: the name is 
 found in the popular tales about the Torrmor bar- 
 rows. Martin says, " and to the single stone Bran, 
 Finmacoul's hunting-dog was usually tied ;" see 
 Finmacoul's cave and circle. 
 
 DIPPEN, Dipput, or Dupenny, the heroes' fort and 
 adhbha aoidJiean ; for the last form take -na-bhfeinne. 
 The remains of the fort exist. 
 
 DIRLIN the upper part of a sea-beach, Gael, duirlin 
 (Joyce ii. 371). There is a famous story of the 
 ' singed ' man who fought on Lamlash doirlin, and 
 of which the meaning is now pretty obvious. 
 
 DIRNABOL, heroes' town dregianna bol\ but see 
 Earranamboule. 
 
 DOUGARY, in Gaelic speech Anduighairigh i.e., the 
 ruler's mansion an t-adhbh airigJi, the commander's 
 skali or dwelling. 
 
 DRIMADOWN, the ' rig ' of the ward or bulwark. 
 
 DRIMAYEINAIR, the ' rig ' or hill of the chieftain's fort,
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 169 
 
 or of the superior (of the church) druirn dhuin air. 
 It is near Kilpatrick, the bedesmen's church. 
 
 DRIMEICH The nags or naig's back, a sharp cleaver- 
 like edge between the pikes of Caymnacalyie. 
 
 DRIMLABARRA, or Drum chly barra (Pont), the ridge 
 of the bedesmen's church, druim cJiille na bJifearg- 
 hnidhe. 
 
 DRUIM CRUNEY, the Picts' ridge. This name says 
 the Picts had something to do with the fort of 
 Drimadoon. 
 
 DUMHA NAN CALM GAILL, the grave-mound of the 
 foreign champions : in Glentuie. 
 
 DUMHA NAN SAOIDH-CHURAIDHEAN, the grave- 
 mound of the heroic warriors. This is clearly the 
 full and proper form of Macbride's Suidhe choir 
 Fhionn. 
 
 DUMHA NAN SAOIDHEAN, the heroes' cairn ; at Cata- 
 col, and taken from the tale of Sweden-kein, or the 
 heroes' grave : see Beckett, 75. 
 
 DuNDUG OR DUNDUBH, the warriors' fort dund- 
 aoigh. 
 
 DUN FlANN, the giant-warriors' brough or fort. This 
 is the right form, but the name is written by authors 
 in eight or ten different ways. The High. Soc. 
 Diet, renders it " the fort of the Fingalians," but if 
 the last word means anything it means warriors. 
 The local pronunciation is Dunfinn and Dunfewn, 
 but the meaning is all the same and quite certain. 
 Some would make out that the fort or bulwark is 
 Finmacoul's fort, but it was not the strength of one 
 but of many. The fort was vitrified. 
 
 DuNCAIN-TAIT, the castle of the nobleman, hero-chief, 
 
 L
 
 I/O ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 preceptor or man of letters daingean an t-saoidh : 
 cf. Tait's Cross, the abbot's or sage's cross ; Teits 
 Well, the learned cleric's well. 
 
 EACLUS (nam) Papanaich, the kirk of the Papists : 
 see Achanhilcebertsh. 
 
 EARRANN-BEAG, the small share, or portion, or field ; 
 al. Urinbeg : see Ayrin. 
 
 EARRANAMBOULE, the share, or field, or allotment of 
 the boolies or out -lying dairies, earrann nam 
 buaile ; but also called Tirnaboul, from an t-earrann 
 etc. ; the place is at the foot of the most northern 
 glen in the island. 
 
 EASBIE, mighty heroes' fort or fenced town, and is 
 about a mile north-east of the homestead of Glen- 
 luie or glen of the Pass ; norse asa bae, old Scots 
 ease-by. Some have called the neighbouring glen 
 " bishop's glen," from the resemblance of our name 
 to ' easpy,' ' easbuig,' a bishop. 
 
 EASACHRANNAIGH, the waterfall of the heroes' strong- 
 hold eas cathair nan aoigli^ and near the Cyclopean 
 remains of an ancient bulwark or ' city,' planted on 
 a crag in Astadale, q.v. Compare Portchrannaigh 
 at Carradale pier, or the port of the warriors' citadel, 
 of which the ruins are in the near vicinity. 
 
 EAS-CUMIIANN, the narrow waterfall, i.e., the slender 
 thread of a waterfall ; Headrick renders it " narrow 
 fall," p. 118; it is "the cascade of Esscumhan on 
 Leven Water : " N.S.A., v. 42. 
 
 EAS-MOR, " great fall." Head. 1 14 ; great waterfall. 
 
 EASNABEIRA, the cascade of the grisly goblin eas na 
 beira in a very deep rocky gorge below Torrnidna-
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 17 1 
 
 neun, and hemmed in by walls of sheer cliff and 
 precipice. The glen appears to be Macbride's 
 Glenfas, or gleann fos, glen of the waterfall, 
 showing here, as elsewhere, a borrowed Norse term : 
 see the fifth vol. of the New Stat. Acct, and cf. 
 Physgil, i.e., waterfall ghyll or glen. 
 EMOCHYR (Pont dr. 1600), The Point of, rudha nan 
 naoimh-uidhear, the Point of the holy pilgrims. 
 
 FARCHAN, properly Fairegan, heights, eminences. 
 
 FEORLIN, al. Furling, i.e., fir-leyn, fure-leyn, the 
 warriors' grave-mound or cairn, Norse firdJia ligin. 
 Pennant speaks of the "stupendous cairn" which 
 he saw here, but it is now wholly removed. Com- 
 pare ferlanna hangr equiv. to the later ' ferlane 
 howe/ that is, travellers or rovers' cairn. 
 
 FlNMACOUL's CAVE, in the shore-cliff west of Pein 
 and Clachan, and where this old warrior-chief 
 " lodged during the time of his residence in this 
 isle." Martin. 
 
 FlNMACOUL's CIRCLE (of pillar-stones), " the natives 
 say that the circle was made by the giant Fin-mac - 
 Coul." Martin. 
 
 FIRRYPEIN, the warriors' town or dwelling-place, 
 firdha baein [firry beyn]. This name is clearly 
 contained in the following passage : " The Gaelic 
 name of this glen (Glenrosa) is said to mean the 
 Ferry-point Glen." Dr Bryce, Arran, p. 166 ; 
 compare Rispain, and Respond, both meaning the 
 warriors' dwelling, and observe that d is often added 
 to the end of a word or name. Gaelic influence on.
 
 172 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 this Norse name explains the vowels and all the 
 rest : see above, p. 1 20. 
 
 GATEFIELD, spike-fells, or spike mountain-peaks, 
 Norse gadd-ficell ; the older way of writing Goat- 
 fell, and quite as correct as the latter. Pont writes 
 Keadefel, but it is the very same as Gatefield. The 
 variety shows the Gaelic influence in the pro- 
 nunciation. There are several peaks in Arran 
 called by this name, but, as the whole subject is too 
 extensive to be inserted here, it will be explained 
 in the sequel. 
 
 GEELKAMBEDGILL, see Sailchamedgil. 
 
 GARGADALE or GURGADALE, warriors' dale, lag na 
 gcuraidlie (guraghe), and above Glen Ramskel. 
 
 GIANTS' GRAVES see Cnoclecarlew, and Torrna- 
 Baoileag. 
 
 GLAHAN-RIGHUIRT, see Clahan-righuirt. 
 
 GLAISTER, al. Glastre, the glebe-land, Wei. clasdir. 
 
 GLANSNABEIRA, the glen of the cascade of the grisly 
 goblin. 
 
 GLAN-HANNAG, -hennoc, perh. glen of the Council- 
 knoll Thing-hang ; the Gaelic form of Glensannox. 
 
 GLEANN-NAN-GIOLLA, the glen of the young fellows. 
 
 GLEN-ASHDALE or Glenasda's dale; see Astadale, and 
 compare Eaton Reid, 65, McArthur, 149. 
 
 GLENBLADELL (Pont), the glen of the hero-chief's 
 Hall, with dell, a dale, added ; and marked beside 
 Glenshant. 
 
 GLENCLOY, the glen of the church gleann chillghuidhe, 
 glen of the house of prayer. Maclow or MakClowy, 
 the surname of the family of Kilmichael, must be
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 1/3 
 
 magh cheall ghuidhe, the field or land of the church, 
 kirk-land, and their device three fish heads 
 clearly points to the old bedesmen, as may be shown 
 hereafter. 
 
 GLENCOREDALE, the glen of the champions' dale; it is 
 upper Scorodale. 
 
 GLENEARSA, glen of Trout- Water. 
 
 GLENLUIE, the glen of the way or pass, gleann VuidJie. 
 
 GLENORMIDALE, glen of Waterfall Dale, Norse vermi, 
 Dan. varme, a waterfall ; under Gaelic influence the 
 v initial coalesces with the vowel ; cf. Wirmidale, at 
 Tingwall. 
 
 GLEN RAMSKEL (Pont), the glen of the Christians' 
 mansion, building or establishment at Glenrie or 
 Leananree ; cf. glen-Rom isdale in Skye. 
 
 GLENROSA giant-warriors' dale Norse risa dal ; in 
 the Gaelic speech of Arran our name is sounded 
 glanruasadk, but it is very doubtful whether there is 
 a final dk sounded. Probably the name was formerly 
 Rosadale, as many of the names in this list will il- 
 lustrate. See risi in the chapter on Heroes, and 
 consider Rais-dale i.e., Cairn-dale, for there were 
 cairns or 'howes,' and tall standing stones here. 
 Several of the latter remain : see also Macbhrol- 
 chin's stone. 
 
 GLENSANNOCK : Pont writes Glensennock, the glen 
 of the valiant warriors gleann nan suinn aige ; see 
 Clah-veeghal. 
 
 GLENSHANT : see Crannsheanta. 
 
 GLEN SHEAR AG, the Fairies' Dell gleann nan siabhrag, 
 the glen of the fairies. Headrick writes Glensherag: 
 the form in the Ord. Sur. sheet is very incorrect.
 
 174 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 GLENTUIE or more fully Glentua-calmgaill, the glen 
 of the foreign champions' grave-mound gleann 
 dumJia [tumha] calm gaill. The cairn is near the 
 String road from Brodick to Glenluie. 
 
 GOATFELL, also Goatfells, as several peaks bear this 
 name. Pont writes Keadefel, others Gatefield : 
 O.S.A. xi. 391 et seq. The name signifies spike- 
 fells, spike mountain-peaks, goad-fells or peaks 
 shaped like a goad, Norse gadd. We might say 
 Pike-fells ; cf. Langdale Pikes ; Geddenscleugh or 
 glen of the pointed hills, above Carlanrig : see 
 Gatefield, supra. Macculloch writes our Gatefield 
 or Keadefel as " Kid Vol ; " gaoid in Gaoidbheinn 
 is the Norse word gadd, a goad, a spike, and not 
 what Armstrong's dictionary would suggest. 
 
 GORTANJAUKA lands of religion, lands given for 
 pious uses, kirk-lands, goirtein diadhaidhe, godly 
 patches or glebes, i.e., clods, gleba, a clod, a glebe. 
 The place is in front of Kilbride manse. 
 
 GRIANAN ABHAIL [greenan-aval], the tremendous 
 peak, the huge hill-top grianan adJibhal ; but as 
 " adhbhal " is not a well-established term, I prefer 
 grianan na bhfiel, the mountain-peak of the Fiel 
 Range, or Range of Mountains. Fiel signifies 
 Fells, mountains, and is a Norse term. This 
 mountain rises high above the vale of Ransa, and 
 forms the chest of the " Sleeping Giant " with the 
 knuckles of his clasped hands rising prominently 
 above his breast. But these and the other colossal 
 features of the giant can only be well seen from the 
 Cumbraes: see Abhal.
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 1/5 
 
 HELLAN LENEOW [le-naiv]. Fordun, ii. 10, cited by 
 Pennant who renders this name " Isle of saints." 
 Tour, ii. 188. Accordingly it is eilean le naoimh, 
 saints' isle alias Holy Isle. 
 
 HUNTINGDOGGESATDCAR (sic). Pont. The word 
 clack is understood, hence clack an tseann tiglie 
 gJiuidheacJiair, the Stone of the old house or oratory 
 of the Bedesman. For further details, see p. 1 34. 
 
 IMOCHAR POINT ; see Emochyr. 
 
 IRON ISLAND (Headrick, 133), but properly Eyrin 
 
 Isle, that is, the eyrin or the gravel-bank, which 
 
 becomes an island at the ebb. 
 
 KANIL (Pont), ceann ail/, the head of the precipice ; 
 but since Pont saw it the gigantic cliff has wholly 
 come away, and lies a wreck of rocks upon the 
 beach called the Fallen Rocks. 
 
 KEILEEBERTSH ; see Achanhileebertsh. 
 
 KID VOL, one of the Goatfell peaks. 
 
 KlLDALES, />., Kil-dale or Kirk-dale, from the ancient 
 church in Astadale. 
 
 KlLDONAN, Adamnan's church cilld AdkamJmain^ 
 ' d ' being often added to till. But the name may 
 rather be cladh DomJman, the burying-place of the 
 Downans, a Firbolg race, also called Firdownans. 
 There is a stone circle here. 
 
 KILLEMICHEL. Reg. Mag. Sig., A.D. 1472 ; also called 
 Kirk-Michel : Pennant. I suspect that " michel " 
 is a form of Maclow, for which see Glencloy. 
 
 KlNGSCORRO (Headrick), i.e., Scorroe, the buccaneers'
 
 176 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 camp or fort, with " king," that is, ceann, a point, 
 cape, headland, prefixed, Norse skadha riodh, old 
 Scots scaw-roe, foes' camp, robbers' fort or bul- 
 wark of the buccaneers. See Aird, Scoradale and 
 Scorroe Point. 
 
 KISKADALE is, in the Arran Gaelic speech, pro- 
 nounced keastJichil, and is very likely to have been 
 formed from /tf^-dhuischille, sanctuary vale re- 
 ferring like Kildales to the ancient Airicul Church 
 in Glenashdale. 
 
 KLEEVIN, the keel or keel-shaped hill-rig, keol-bJieinn^ 
 keel-hill ; nor. kjcellr. 
 
 KNOCKANKELLY : see Cnoc-na-coille. 
 
 LAG-A-GAILLE-EOHEN, the vale of the pillar-stones of 
 the heroes lag nan gaille aoidhean. The place is 
 on the upper side of the road which crosses the 
 glen-stream about half a mile to the west of 
 Corachrevy. This is one of the three or four 
 "Ossian's" graves which have been discovered in 
 Arran, but the name " ossian," in these instances, is 
 only a corruption of aoidJiean, heroes, warriors. The 
 pillar-stones marked an old barrow, but they have 
 been carried off and used as gate or " yett " posts. 
 The Dano-Scotic name of this barrow is clearly 
 Brawne-kein, q.v. 
 
 LAGAN IOMAIRE EORNA, the vale of the barley-rig. 
 
 LAG AN T-SEASGAINN, Fen-Dale or the vale of the 
 fenny-ground : usually called Vale of Sheaskan. 
 
 LAG AN T-SUINN [Laggantuin], the Hero-chief's vale, 
 and is about a half-mile north-west of Kanil.
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 177 
 
 LAGAVELLIE or Lekaneilzie (Pont), the cairn or grave- 
 mound of the lords leachd na bhfaile. 
 
 LAGAVEY, al. Lagaveya, al. Leykavehy, Birch-glen. 
 
 LAIRAGH-BEYAN, the grave of the champions lairig 
 na bhfeinn, the barrow of the heroes. This spot 
 gives name to the land from Stronaigh Pillar-stone 
 to the vicinity of Currie the blacksmith's house. 
 
 LAMLACH or Holy Yle. Pont : see Almolach, Hellan 
 Leneow, and notice that luamh signifies an abbot, a 
 pilot. Hence eilean ma luaimh, the island of my 
 (lord) abbot or prior : cf. derteacJi Maeliosa, the ora- 
 tory of Maeliosa, who was Coarb Columcille in Iona v 
 and died in the year 1086. 
 
 Lamlach or Lamlash is possibly a contraction of Ian 
 ma Lagh, the church or oratory of Lagh or Luagh ; 
 but see Lorn-street, and p. 181. 
 
 LEACHD A' MHILIDH, the hero's grave, a name applied 
 to the "cairns" on the right bank of Sleddary Water, 
 but evidently recent. 
 
 LEANREE, the bedesman's house, the oratory of the 
 man of prayer lan-fhir-gJiuidhe. Pont places it in 
 the near neighbourhood of Cravy-Caibeal. Glanree, 
 Glenree, and Leananree are only varieties of Leanree. 
 
 LEVEN-CORRACH, the steep town of the warriors, Nor. 
 lydha baein, later ley-bhein, with corrach, steep, after- 
 wards added. Here we have " Leven Water " as a 
 complete name for the stream in the immediate 
 neighbourhood, and it is important to notice this. 
 Pont writes this name Leffan-corkrach, somewhat 
 suggestive of coigrich, strangers : cf. liathmhuine, grey 
 thicket or copse.
 
 1/8 ARRAN LOCAL NAM MS. 
 
 LHUN [lun]. Pont ; Ian or l/ian, a church, chapel, as 
 in Lhanbryde. Lhun is placed at Ballymainaich or 
 Monks' town. 
 
 LOCHERIMBURN, the brook, with "burn" added 
 Norse Icekrin, the brook ; becomes in before b as 
 usual ; at Corrie. 
 
 LOCH FEARGUS, a corruption of Laght-feargaw, from 
 firdha Jiaug, warriors' cairn, with . lag/it, a grave 
 monument, prefixed ; and placed near a standing 
 stone, foot of Machry-burn, by Black's map. Com- 
 pare Lochshot, leacJid seoid, heroes' barrow. 
 
 LOCH-KNOC-A-CHARBEIT. Pennant says it is full of 
 large eels. Pont writes it Loch-knockacharbit ; 
 hence clearly cnoc a' gharbhaite, the hill of the rocky 
 rugged region. 
 
 LOCH NA LEIRG, lake of the hill-side, or of the " rain- 
 goose " (learg). 
 
 LOCH RANSA. Pont ; Lochrenasay. Monro. See 
 Principles, p. 18. 
 
 LOM-STREET, that is, beach-street Norse lorn, beach. 
 At Whiting Bay. Hence, probably, Lamlash, the 
 shore castle, the beach fortress (lom-lis or lam-lios^, 
 referring to the ruined one at Whitehouse. 
 
 MAC BHROLCHIN'S STONE. Pennant, ii. 179. Mac- 
 bhrolchin equal to magh-bhor-ail-aighen, the field 
 of the sepulchre of the lord of the heroes magh 
 blirngh flmil aoigliean; brugli is also written borradh, 
 a burying-place. The aoigliean or heroes were origin- 
 ally stranger-heroes, but in course of time the idea 
 of ' stranger ' was dropped, and that of ' hero ' alone 
 retained. It is easy to see how this happens. At
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 1/9 
 
 this grave or sepulchre there was a great pillar-stone 
 twelve feet in length, and its site was evidently at 
 no great distance from the present church of Brodick : 
 cf. E. R. 19. 
 
 M ADALOUNA, but pronounced more like 'mightalouna,' 
 the wild-dog lair laghin, lawin, the lair. 
 
 MARGAVLAIR, the field of the battle, the Battle-Field 
 margd bhlair on the south side of Glenramskal, 
 Margreoch. 
 
 MARGNAHEGLISH, the field of the church, kirk-land. 
 
 MARGREOCH or Margreeagh, the ruin of the mansion 
 or Institution of the bedesmen or churchmen 
 mothar adJibha fJdrghuidhe at High Baincaraighan. 
 
 MARGREULDACAN. Pont. This interesting name has 
 received my best attention for years, and the results 
 of careful study have been brought to bear upon it. 
 I now consider that this name signifies the ruin of 
 the sepulchre of the lords mothar nladk daghdhan; 
 the place is marked "Cairns" on the Ord. Sur. sheet, 
 right bank of Sledro-water, about a mile above the 
 laracJi or ruin of Cravy Caibeal alias Leanry [lan- 
 nirey]. The name is locally unknown, but I have 
 identified it as one of the names of the ancient 
 mausoleum at the place just described. The whole 
 structure is colossal, and should be visited to be un- 
 derstood. It has been greatly torn up and rifled by 
 the treasure-seekers, but six great stone-slabs of the 
 extended " kistvaen " remain in situ, besides several 
 tall monumental stones. One of its more recent 
 names is Leaghaveelaigh, or the champion's grave, 
 but really meaning the grave of the champions. 
 When I visited the place I was told that " some
 
 l8o ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 people would call it Oscar's grave." These are the 
 parties who think they can find traces of the so- 
 called poet Ossian in Arran, but the whole concep- 
 tion is a mistake. Compare Headrick, p. 147. 
 
 MARGRIERS. Pont. Headrick's map has Margionish, 
 an evident misprint of Margiorish. Try marg a 
 gkreis, the champion's field ; motJiar itagh ghreis, 
 the ruin of the champion's grave ; or marg fhir 
 ghuidhe, the churchman's field. The place is at or 
 near Lhun, in the Kildonan quarter, or at Acha- 
 neow al. Auchenhew. The whole region there- 
 abouts is very beautiful and picturesque, and retains 
 many indications of its ancient ecclesiastical char- 
 acter. The term greis is evidently the Gaelic form 
 of rist, a mighty hero, a Ross, a Russel. The word 
 mire, a lord, might be considered in connection with 
 Margreers as it is given in the New Statistical Ac- 
 count. So also may marg cJirair tliaise, the field of 
 the shrine of relics. This last version of Margiorish, 
 or Margriers, appears to be the right one at last. 
 
 MARKLAND ; mark, a wood, a boundary, a field. 
 
 MAYISH Welsh maes,-a. plain, an open field. 
 
 MEERYFEIS, the lake waterfall, or moor- water cascade. 
 
 MELSTANE POINT, the shingle-stone beach, N. mel. 
 Compare Malaford, on the Nith, the gravelly-ford. 
 
 MONICHOILLYIE (Pont), the hill-moor of the cell of 
 prayer alii Monaquhele. 
 
 NARACHAN, the sanctuary, the holy house naomh- 
 dhion ; cf. Narachan at Ministers' Hill, Killean. 
 
 NEAGLES-TEITE, the Established Church an eaglais 
 daighnichte.
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. l8l 
 
 PANRISOK or Pennerevach, the bedesmen's hall, the 
 town of the clergymen baile na blifearghuidJie ; al. 
 Penreoche and Pemrioc. 
 
 PEIN, the village baein ; at Sheaddaug. 
 
 PiPERS-CAVE, the bedesmen's cave peapar, papar ; at 
 Dippen ; cf. McArthur, 86. 
 
 PLADA or Flada, the flat \s\zflad-a. 
 
 PLAYSTAR from baile prefixed to Laystar or Leystar, 
 that is, warriors' peel-tower, castle, or strong house, 
 Norse lydha stadhr. This is the " Lamlash Castle " 
 mentioned by McArthur, p. 157, and of which the 
 foundation stones are still traceable " near the 
 Whitehouse." It appears to point to a Norse or 
 Danish conquest of the vale of Lamlash i.e., lorn- 
 las, or Shore Fort. The word lios, a fort, a " dun," 
 becomes Us, proncd. leish, and gradually getting to 
 be pronounced 'leash,' 'lash;' cf. Laswade, the 
 Yeats' fort or fenced town. Penlestar, another form 
 of our name, is explained by the use of an, the ar- 
 ticle, after baile. Glenalastar must be Glen o' Lay- 
 star, the glen of the warriors' tower. In modern 
 Gaelic speech, the Arranmen call the place Bain- 
 lessarigh, that is, the town or village of the Prince's 
 Fort baile na leas airigh ; see Joyce for " leas " as 
 used here. Pont writes Benlashragh, and it is evi- 
 dent that the place has two names, neither of which 
 is a corruption of the other : cf. Duncantait. 
 
 PLOVERFIELD, the hill or fell (field) of the champion's 
 stronghold bailfhomhair, clearly referring to Bruses- 
 castle, which see. 
 
 PORT-GALLAN, port of the pillar-stones ; adjacent are
 
 1 82 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 two barrows or gravemounds with settlers or standing 
 stones. 
 
 PORT na Feannaiche, the port of the Danish cham- 
 pions port nani feinn Dag ; but the creek is also 
 called Hadak or Hatach port, the port of the 
 champions (athacJi). The place is at Corachrevy 
 shore. 
 
 PUNTER-BURN, the bedesman's burn bidder, a sup- 
 plicant ; it is at Corrie, and is also called Locherim- 
 burn. 
 
 
 
 RAHVUR, fort, fortress, stronghold torr an raith- 
 
 mliuir, the hill of the citadel ; at Sannox. 
 RAWNGARRE, the .champions' fort rath na gcuraidlie, 
 
 and clearly an old name of Scauroe. 
 RlSAKElN, the champions' cave. 
 ROSADALE or Ruisadale, the mighty warrriors' dale. 
 
 and probably of old used for Glenrosa, i.e., Glen- 
 
 rousa. 
 
 SAILCHAMEDGIL, or Geelkambedgill, that is, Keel- 
 rig-edge-hill ! Keol or keal, Norse kjccllr ; cf. 
 Kleevin, supra. Headrick misses the meaning 
 entirely, but space fails me, else I would give all 
 the explanations, authorities, and learning on the 
 subject. The " Gille Chamigil " of Black's Map, is 
 a fairly correct form, and shows how beinn prefixed, 
 changes Keel or Keal into Gille [gheel~\. Sail may- 
 be slee or sliabh, or otherwise explained ; cf. Gillian- 
 brigs, the keel-rig-crags, in Cumberland. 
 
 SAINT'S CAVE, The ; in Holy Isle : Head. 83. 
 
 SANNOX : this term or name will require more space
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 183 
 
 than can be afforded by the nature of this List ; 
 but note sonnacJi, a mound or rampart, and see 
 Clahveeghal. 
 
 SCAUROE or Scorroe, the buccaneers' fort or strong- 
 hold ; these fellows > are the coraidlie, or champions, 
 of Rawngarre, q.v.'; see Kingscorro for the terms 
 used, and note that this is a name about the mean- 
 ing of which there can be no doubt. Scorroe Point 
 is the same as the so-written " Kingscross Point." 
 
 SCORODALE, buccaneers' dale, champions' dale, the 
 dale of the mighty heroes. See previous article, 
 Baincaraighan, and Glencoredale. 
 
 SCREADAN, the rock slip, i.e., a slip of rocks, which 
 have come away from the face of a hill, Norse 
 skridliin. 
 
 SouiLER, peat-mosses, Norse sivilir, swailer, and 
 showing how w becomes g under Gaelic influence. 
 
 SHEADDAUG, the town of the Danish heroes baile 
 nan seoid Dag. This is a discovery ; and, seriously 
 speaking, it is so. See Daugbraan, and Portna- 
 feannaigh. Pont writes the name Shedack, and 
 Pennant, Sheddag. Few, if any, can understand the 
 amount of time and thought and research it has cost 
 me for years, in order to clear or ' redd ' up these 
 Arran subjects, as well as many others throughout 
 Scotland. 
 
 SHEASKAN ; see Lagantseasgainn ; the name is also 
 written Ceskan. 
 
 SKAUFTIGHYLL, head -hill glen skaf tne gil. 
 
 SKASBIDEL (Pont), wood-town dale. 
 
 SLEDAROE, the fort or camp of the champions or 
 slayers slid-verja riodhr, later form, slidweroe ;
 
 1 84 ARRAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 Pont writes Sledroi. The fort is evidently the one 
 at Corachrevy the Gaelic equivalent of the Norse 
 Sledaroe. 
 
 SLEENAGARRAHAN, the moor of the pillar-stones 
 sliabli na gcarraigJiean ; at Torrmor. 
 
 SLOCHD a' mhada rhuaidh, the den of the red dog, i.e., 
 fox ; at Corrygil. 
 
 SPRING-BANK, the fort-bank bruigJiean or bnr/iin, 
 with s prefixed. 
 
 SRONAHABAR, the nose or snout of the giant or " lang 
 lank fellow" sron an fhamhair. 
 
 STRAGHEALA, the vale of the house of prayer sratk 
 clieall ghuidhe ; al. Stragaele. 
 
 STRAWHILLEN, the vale of the church or house of 
 prayer; al. Straith-oughlian, the vale of the Firbolgs' 
 graves. 
 
 STRONAACH, the giant-hero's pillar-stone, stor an 
 athaich. 
 
 SuiDHE Choir Fhionn : see Suighairean. 
 
 SuiGHAIREAN, a preferable form of " Suidhe Choir 
 Fhionn," since Macbride quite mistook the meaning 
 of the latter, and, by consequence, of the former also. 
 Our name is a Dano-Gaelic compound signifying 
 champions' pillar-stones, warriors' standing-stones 
 snidh-cJiairtJiean ; cf. N.S.A., v., and see Sleenagar- 
 rahan. 
 
 SUIDHE FAEROCH The basis of this name seems to 
 be berg, a crag, a rock ; cf. berg-as, crag-ridge, moun- 
 tain ridge, with Suidhe Fheargas (Hamilton), another 
 form of the name, coming from sui pherc as perc 
 being an old form of berg, crag, fell. But the name 
 may be simply Gael, faireag, a gland, kernel, hump,
 
 ARRAN LOCAL NAfttES. 185 
 
 hillock, and used in the sense of 'peak,' like beinnean; 
 and suy, in Suy Faeroch (Font's spelling of this 
 name), may yet appear to be only a Gaelic form of 
 suit, a pillar, a pointed crag or ' stack.' 
 SWIR-BURN, see Alltachlyve. 
 
 TAIGH NA BEIST, the grisly monster's dwelling, in 
 Alltoulyagree, and probably referring to a feminine 
 water-kelpie (baog/i) : kelpie from kell, a fountain, 
 and (say) Gaelic be, a woman. 
 
 TlRGUY, or Tonreghue (Pont) : the forms of this word 
 are numerous, and so much the better, for they 
 clearly show that their original form is taigh an 
 fhirghuidhe, the bedesman's house, the clergyman's 
 house ; alii Tandergay. 
 
 TIRWHILLAN, the land of the church. 
 
 TOBAR Chaluimchille, St Columba's Well ; there is 
 one at Tirguy and another near Lhun. 
 
 TOBAR chleachda mhuintir, the Well of the country- 
 folks' usages or customary practices a name which 
 tells us how the people resorted to this fountain for 
 healing benefits, real or imaginary. This ' well ' is 
 at Margreoch. 
 
 TOBAR-laraghtefal, the well of the ruined church 
 tobar laraich cheall; at Tirwhillan. 
 
 TORR an t-seann chaisteil, the knoll of the old 'brough' 
 or castle. 
 
 TORR na Baoileag. Ord. Sur. the hill of the Bolgs 
 or Firbolgs, and probably having its name from 
 its association with Cnoclecarlew and the Giants' 
 Graves. This hill is on the western side of Astadale, 
 
 TORR nan uain Ord. Sur. most likely to be the hill 
 
 of the graves uaig/iean. 
 M
 
 1 86 ARkAN LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 TORRVEYLUIN, the knoll of the oratory torr chill- 
 ghuidhean ; at Glenramskal. 
 
 TORR nid nan eun, the hill of the birds' nests. 
 
 TORRYLEAN, or rather Torryleean, the knoll of the 
 heroes' sepulchre torr iiladh aoid/tean ; near Lag 
 Inn. 
 
 TOUREDDER, the Knight's Tower tur rideir ; at 
 Knichtslands ; perhaps Kildonan. 
 
 TYNQUHARRE, the bedesman's house ; perhaps at 
 Emochyr, where it is said there is a reilig or grave- 
 yard; see McArthur, 155. 
 
 UARUA, or Uaruigh, the bedesman's cave ; at Punter- 
 burn, or bedesman's burn, Corrie. 
 
 UASGHNOGH. Headrick. The river of the hero- 
 strangers uisge nan aoighe ; another name for the 
 Blackwater, unless the name be a corrupt form of 
 uaigh nan aoiglie, the sepulchre of the heroes. 
 
 VANNER-loch-hill Headrick, p. 181 the pasturage 
 loch-hill Nor. vangr, field, pasture. 
 
 WHITEHOUSE compare welt, the temple, the church, 
 
 the sanctuary ; see Playstar. 
 WHITING BAY, the fishery bay, the bay of fishing, 
 
 Norse veidhi, def. veidhin, fishing, fishery. 
 WlNDMILL-hill, the pasture hill, the pasturage hill 
 
 wong muil; Scots wong, wang, wangle, a field of 
 
 pasture. 
 
 YLE OF ARREN, The. Rev. Timothy Pont.
 
 litbiSton 
 
 ARRAN STUDIES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE BAROA'S SWORD-LAND. 
 
 Do Adam rut un Eva span 
 Wer was do ain edel man 
 Dem Got S cliche eren gan. 
 
 " When Adam delved and Eve span, 
 Who was then a gentleman 
 In whom from God such honour ran ?"* 
 
 SINCE the foregoing Alphabetical Arrangement has 
 somewhat unceremoniously withdrawn many of the 
 Arran local names from their " local habitations," we 
 may now dismiss them to their proper seats, and take 
 as early an opportunity as possible of visiting them at 
 the stations which they have so long adorned. 
 
 The Island of Arran appears to have its name from 
 the old champions, lords, and barons. To understand 
 this properly, let it be observed that "baron" originally 
 signified a warrior, a mighty hero, and, by conse- 
 quence, one who earned his sword-land or " barony " 
 by his prowess. In the Song of the Fight of Brunan- 
 
 * Taken from a MS. copy of the " Biblia Pauperum ;" a Biblical rarity 
 of the fiftee th century.
 
 1 88 THE BARON'S SWORD-LAND. 
 
 burh we find Beorn blanden feax, the warrior with 
 grey hair (Freeman), and hence it is easy to see that 
 Fairfax, as a name, denotes fair hair; and so with 
 Halifax, Jialy or holy hair. Isaac Taylor tells us that 
 Halifax in Yorkshire derived its name from the " holy 
 tress" of the Virgin's hair which so many pilgrims 
 came to see. But it is not at all likely that the 
 Virgin here referred to is the " Blessed Virgin," for 
 " Virgin " was a not uncommon appellation of those 
 devoted lady missionaries who did so much for the 
 extension of the Christian faith throughout the land 
 in early times. 
 
 One of the old names of Arran is Hersey(Hak.Sag.iii. 
 227), that is, Barons' Isle, Hero-chiefs' Isle, Norse 
 Jiersa ey. The meaning is much the same though we 
 should think it hers ey, Army's Isle, Host's Island, for 
 the word her Scots har was constantly applied to 
 the hosts of Danish and Fomorian champions. An- 
 other form of the old name of Arran is " Herey," that is, 
 Host Island, War-men Island; and "definitely" it 
 becomes Hareyn, or Haren [harren], that is, tlie Army 
 Island. When the Gaelic word innis, island, is pre- 
 fixed to the last form we get Insh Arren, or Arran 
 Isle ; for in such circumstances, both in Gaelic and 
 Scots, the letter h disappears. This is the rule, though 
 there are exceptions. But when the Gaels said Inis 
 nan airean they said Island of the hero-chiefs, Island 
 of the doughty warriors, that is, the exact equivalent 
 of Hersey or Herey. Compare Figatach in the Cum- 
 brae " Alphabet," and observe that the ancient Danish 
 lords and barons (warriors) of Arran may have qften 
 told that world-old Northern Tale, how that Jarl
 
 THE BARON'S SWORD-LAND. 189 
 
 [yarl] married Erna, the daughter of Hersir (baron), 
 and that the youngest of their sons was the " young " 
 Konr or King. Thorpe. 
 
 Speaking of these champion hosts reminds me of 
 the host of instances which might easily be here intro- 
 duced in illustration of the above exegesis. But as 
 we have probably had enough of such dry details, it 
 will be sufficient to notice Harlaw, host-hill, Harris or 
 Harragh, host-island (pg y isle), Harrington, the war- 
 riors' town, Cairnarran, the chieftains' cairn, or the 
 cairn of the hero-chiefs, Herropsyke (Ewesdale), the 
 army-hill brook, and beside the great camp or fort- 
 ress of Bruirashaugh, the burg of the Yeat lord. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GREA T SIGHTS. 
 
 IT was my privilege to revisit Arran in the spring 
 of 1873. Nearly ten whole years had passed since a 
 young friend and myself stood together on the highest 
 peak of The Goatfells in the "greyking" of an autumn 
 morn.* A wreathing trail of mist shut us in at the 
 time, and balked all our hopes of beholding the 
 impressive spectacle, which more favourable weather 
 
 * Compare " Ere greyking of the misty morn :" Professor Veitch, The 
 Tweed, p. 139, 1. 6. Dr Veitch says that the Scots term "greyking" is 
 more specific than dawn, for " it indicates the appearance and fading of the 
 dim grey or half-lit misty sky at the approach of the rising sun."
 
 19 GREAT SIGHTS. 
 
 would have unfolded to our gaze. But I had been 
 there before, and my friend drew what satisfaction he 
 could from the fact of his having gained the summit 
 of the mountain for the first time. We had just time 
 to descend and catch the morning boat on her passage 
 up the firth. As we steamed away from the Corrie 
 shore, we had an opportunity of scanning the gradually 
 fading features of the Sleeping Giant, and the tower- 
 ing pikes of granite which seemed to form a bristling 
 fence around his cold Olympic bed. During' years of 
 work the memories of former visits to Arran, often 
 enabled me in thought to traverse over again the 
 scenes which had delighted me there in earlier days. 
 By-and-by a strong desire to revisit the Island took 
 possession of me, and the feeling was at length grati- 
 fied in a series of visits. With no ordinary delight I 
 renewed my explorations, and in the course of two 
 years succeeded in adding largely to my knowledge of 
 the historic treasures of Arran. Its natural history 
 had previously much engaged my attention, but now 
 hammer and vasculum were laid aside, and rocks and 
 plants while not unheeded were looked at more as 
 man's natural defences or the j_dornments of his 
 dwelling-place. In short, my researches of late years 
 have been chiefly directed to subjects pertaining to 
 Man's history, and specially to the history of the races 
 who now occupy Scotland. By a strict adherence to 
 the laws and idioms of language I have sought to 
 reach scientifically whatever gains might be forth- 
 coming. And in Arran the results gained appear to 
 have such special interest and freshness as to justify 
 any attempt to make them known. As results that
 
 GREAT SIGHTS. 19 1 
 
 lie all around the life of Man, they will serve to illus- 
 trate his history both there and elsewhere. Whatever 
 helps to extricate the Past from darkness and to 
 bring it into the light, must be welcome. For thereby 
 the field of view is widened and its varied features 
 better understood. As from an eminence the eye 
 commands a wider range of vision, and takes in a 
 fuller view of the landscape, so does our ascent into 
 the Past discover a beauty and an order which till 
 then were unperceived. In the lower grounds we see 
 only what is immediately around us, and as we pass 
 from point to point we notice many things which only 
 close inspection can put us in possession of, but if we 
 wish to form a just conception of the whole scheme 
 which the several parts of the landscape combine to 
 make up, we must mount some neighbouring height 
 and from its clearer atmosphere survey the blended 
 beauties of the scene. The result will be a decided 
 gain in point of intelligence and wisdom to the calm 
 observer, and no less will be the pleasure of it. 
 
 Similar to this is the method by which Man's life 
 or history may.be studied to advantage. The things 
 which lie about our paths and homes ; the events 
 which are taking place in our own immediate neigh- 
 bourhood, these naturally claim our first attention, 
 and in point of fact always do. From them, as from a 
 centre, we pass by degrees further and further along 
 the radiating lines of life, -and from time to time, if we 
 are wise, we shall turn aside to some eminent stand- 
 point from whence to survey the united aspect of the 
 details which had previously become familiar to us. 
 It will be strange if such an exercise should not yield
 
 192 GREAT SIGHTS. 
 
 both pleasure and profit. For the very effort to 
 mount will quicken the intelligence and give strength 
 to every faculty. It will stimulate the spirit to an 
 intenser life, and brace the mind to a clearer and more 
 refined action. And when the Mount of vision is 
 gained there will be no lack of objects to interest the 
 beholder or furnish subjects of thought. He will see 
 the whole land through which he has traversed lying 
 before him, and its several parts, standing out like 
 characters distinct from each other, will not now 
 appear isolated as before, but will link themselves 
 together and form combinations which, like so many 
 intelligible words, will bear to him bright messages of 
 truth and joy. New to him will truths thus gained 
 be, and to the freshness and interest of novelty will be 
 added the charm of a most eminent utility. They 
 will supply the capital on which he has to work, and 
 armed with his newly-found resources he enters the 
 arena of life with a more confident step and a more 
 energetic purpose. 
 
 To see well the Island of Arran as a whole, and 
 especially its noble cluster of granite mountains, we 
 must not keep too far off nor yet approach too near. 
 Two of the best stations for obtaining the finest views, 
 are Kilblain in the south of Bute, and Kennara-brugh 
 in the south-west of the Greater Cumbrae. From a 
 nook near the foot of the latter Arthur Perigal, R.S.A., 
 transferred with masterly hand and true delineation to 
 his canvas the sublime features of the giant hills of 
 Arran. From the same spot may be seen the foaming 
 streak of White Water, as it plunges over the shoulder 
 of the southern Goatfell, and gleams in the morning
 
 GREAT SIGHTS. 1 93 
 
 sunshine like a cataract of sparkling diamonds. Over it 
 tower aloft " in calm and graceful majesty" the sky- 
 piercing pikes of the two great Goatfells (spike-fells), 
 flanked by deep, dark -bosomed corries, which only a 
 bright morning sun can penetrate. But if one wishes to 
 see the most striking and least commonly-witnessed 
 effects of the morning light upon the Arran Fells, he 
 must get up before sun-rise on a fine summer's morn, and 
 be ready to witness the first radiance of the lord of Day, 
 as he flings his fire upon the peaks. Long before the 
 lower hills have caught the light, the tips of the granite 
 mountains will be seen glowing in the sunshine like 
 the gilded horns of he-goats, and be almost heard 
 antheming their hymn of praise. A few minutes more, 
 and the giant band of towering pyramids, will stand 
 revealed in all their grandeur and august proportions. 
 You might fancy their resemblance to an assemblage 
 of mighty heroes gathered round their chief and 
 holding council with him on high affairs of state. 
 With a marked individuality of character they stand, 
 every one " the hero of a hundred fights," but no one 
 of them exactly like any of his fellows. All of them, 
 however, bear upon their breasts the scars which tell 
 of long ages of battling with the tempests, and as we 
 lift our eyes to their " brent " and furrowed foreheads 
 and behold the crown of eminent dignity which every 
 one of the august companions wears, there steals the 
 while over us a feeling of unbounded admiration, and 
 so long as we remain in their presence, nothing can 
 break the spell which they exercise over us. 
 
 At other times, when a storm has just blown over, 
 the dying wind may be seen toying with the tangled
 
 194 GREAT SIGHTS. 
 
 lint-white locks of mist which hangabout the Fell-heads, 
 and anon be caught twirling the gauze-like fabric into 
 every changing feature of unimaginable grotesqueness ; 
 and when the sere and yellow leaf comes with clear 
 skies in October nothing is more bewitchingly beauti- 
 ful than the full-orbed Star of E'en as she looks out at 
 her casement in the western sky right over the Arran 
 Fells, shedding her radiance over the still empurpled 
 peaks of the sunset hour, and directing her glance far 
 down into the gloomy depths of gorges and glens. 
 Pure, indeed, have been the emotions which scenes 
 like these have kindled, great and noble the thoughts 
 they have awakened. I pause not here to review the 
 lessons which such a dower of beauty and such superb 
 monuments of Almighty power and wisdom are 
 designed to teach us, nor to enlarge upon the Divine 
 Creator's purpose in thus unfolding to Man the great 
 volume of His handiwork. But, surely, here as else- 
 where he who runs may read ; and if we fail to read 
 the lesson, the fault must be ours, not His. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ARRAN VISITED: ORIGINAL VIEWS OBTAINED. 
 
 IN order to make a visit to the Island of Arran, we may 
 go on board the Campbelton Steamer at Greenock, and 
 pass over to Lochranza.* As our good ship cleaves a 
 
 * The Island may also be reached by Steamer from Glasgow, and, by the 
 same kind of conveyance, from Wemyss Bay and Ardrossan.
 
 ARRAN VISITED. 195 
 
 path for herself through the tiny billows of the Clyde 
 Firth, we may call to mind the fact that Agricola, 
 after he had got pretty well settled down in southern 
 Caledonia, crossed the Clota or Clyde estuary and 
 gave battle to the nations who dwelt on its shores. 
 Captain White, in his book on Kintyre, doubts whether 
 it was the Clyde that was then crossed, but the best 
 commentators on the " Life of Agricola " are against 
 him, and in favour of the view just stated. It is very 
 certain that, long before the time of Agricola, the 
 barks of many nations had swept over the blue waters 
 of the Clyde Firth. Britons in their coracles, Scots in 
 their curachs, Romans in their galleys, Saxons in their 
 keels, Norsemen in their dragon-ships, all have been 
 here. So also have Fomorians and Firbolgs, Meatae 
 and Attacots, Cruhne or Picts ; and probably also men 
 of Tyrian or Phenician race. But we cannot linger 
 over questions like these, for the mountains of Arran 
 are already in sight, and every stroke of the paddle- 
 wheels lifts them higher and higher above the horizon. 
 By the time we have reached mid-channel between 
 Bute and the Cumbraes the Alpine panorama becomes 
 intensely interesting. There are the Goatfells to the 
 south, presided over by the patriarch of the group, 
 and himself looking every inch a king of Fells. 
 Further to the right is the beautiful cone of Keenahein 
 or the Hinny's Pap, and right away over its shoulder 
 is the beak-like pinnacle of Bennoosh. The next peak 
 to the right is Sronahabar or The Giant's Nose part 
 of the great A'Chir [ahkeer] or Crested Ridge and 
 sometimes called Brougham's Nose. From our station 
 on the poop this polyglot nose will be seen towering
 
 196 ARRAN VISITED: 
 
 high above the Col or ridge, which comes between the 
 head waters of Glens Rosa and Sannox. Next in 
 order, turning the eye towards the right, is the tower- 
 ing Jiorn of Keervohr, and showing, even from our 
 present point of view, somewhat of the trident-like 
 appearance which the view from the four granite 
 boulders on the Lamlash road betrays. Right be- 
 neath Keervohr lies avast under-world of shadow, filling 
 almost throughout the great hulk-like trough of Glen 
 Sannox, and reaching far up into the dark recesses of 
 Cornawhee. The next to hand, on the right, are the 
 four sharp and lofty pikes of Caym-na-calyie or The 
 Witch's Stride, and which are feigned in common 
 story to be the facial features of the Giant asleep. 
 Following up this fancy the popular eye has traced 
 the outline of the giant's breast in the next great ele- 
 vation to the right, and while some place a buckler 
 with bosses on the breast of the giant, for his protec- 
 tion in sleep and long siesta, others feign that his 
 massive hands are clasped in prayer, and that these, 
 resting on his well expanded chest, form the huge 
 knuckle-like projections which culminate in the peak 
 of Greenan Ahval. 
 
 The nearest or outermost pike of the Witch's 
 Stride* is sometimes called the The Hound's Tooth, 
 r.nd a veritable tooth or tusk it is, so far at least as 
 the shape or form is concerned. " White as a hound's 
 tooth " is a common saying, and, if the tale be true, 
 our Hound's Tooth of grey granite will often show as 
 white as any. The eigg or peak of Suy Faeroch, as 
 
 * Not " leap" or " step," as Headrick's book, " View of Arran," sh'ows.
 
 ORIGINAL VIEWS OBTAINED. 197 
 
 Pont wrote the name, is the only one remaining to be 
 noticed here. It will be seen in front of the Hound's 
 Tooth or the pikes of Caymnacalyie, and with these 
 it is connected by the lofty ridge, which forms the 
 northern wall of Glen Sannox. Some of the elderly 
 Corrie men call this peak Suhergho, and it is now cer- 
 tain that the name has been formed on a Norse 
 foundation (berg-hoy or crag-peak). Suhergas, the 
 third form of the name, is similarly explained, because 
 as denotes a top, head, ridge, edge ; and the changes 
 of some of the letters, are all explained by Celtic 
 idiom and aspiration. It would be easy for me to 
 give the whole details, but as we have probably had 
 enough of dry philological analysis, I shall content 
 myself with saying that the name of this peak signifies 
 high berg or high crag the suffix of hoy or of as being 
 mere reduplication. 
 
 Since we are now nearing the coast of Arran, it 
 may be as well to notice here the points of chief 
 interest between Sannox and Lochranza. These may 
 all be pretty well seen from the deck of the steamer, 
 and it will save many a rough scramble if we make 
 the best of them from our present station. Away 
 over the waters, to the south, may be seen in the dis- 
 tance a prettily wooded eminence, which thrusts its 
 head slightly forward into the sea. That is Ceann-na- 
 lice [kinnaleeky], or the head of the rock of slabstone, 
 the point of the slabstone. Here is the Blue Rock 
 which has often been noticed ; and a short distance 
 north of it is Caga, or the creek at the oyce or water- 
 mouth of north Sannox. Next comes a very beauti- 
 ful carpet of green-sward at Ruantrah, or the point of
 
 198 ARRAN VISITED. 
 
 the meadow or lawn, rudha an t-sratJi, al. Rugshrath, 
 a form which illustrates well the peculiar Gaelic 
 idiom of the Arranmen. Hereabouts is a famous 
 echo, which is fabled to have replied in Gaelic when 
 addressed in English. Scarcely a mile from the sea 
 is Rahvur, the citadel, the fortress a great dilapidated 
 brough or burh of the early ages, and set upon a hill. 
 The Fallen Rocks come next, being only the wreck 
 of a lofty crag called Kanil in Font's time ceann aill 
 or cliff-head. Further on, towards the right and north- 
 west, is Lagantuin, or the hero-chief's vale, and on its 
 western side is Crogan, or the peak. A long shingly 
 strand or beach comes next, and which bears the name 
 of Melstane, or shingle-stone beach, from the Norse 
 word met or mcel, pebbles, as in the Scots term mel- 
 grave, a gravel-pit. Here also is Melstane Point, and 
 it is certain that the name has nothing to do with 
 mill-stones. Next comes Lagan, or the little vale, and 
 beyond it is the deserted home-stead of Kwee or the 
 cattle-fold, norse kui, gael. cuithe. On the shore below 
 Kwee there is a little green plat overlooked by ruins 
 gaunt and grey those of the salt-pans beside a 
 little staith or landing-place, which must have been 
 called Kwee-port. About five hundred yards to the 
 west of this port is the homestead of the Cock of 
 Arran, and so named from the well-known landmark 
 on the shore three-fourths of a mile to the north-west, 
 Macalpine, the tacksman of this sheep farm, gave me 
 the name of Lagan iomaire eorna, the little vale of the 
 barley rig, as the appellation of a portion of his ground. 
 From the homestead just mentioned to the Picture 
 Cave, the distance is about nine hundred yards, and
 
 ORIGINAL VIEWS OBTAINED. 199 
 
 may be traversed in eight or ten minutes. Now have 
 we come to a place of genuine interest. It would 
 make a splendid subject for an Arabian Nights' Tale. 
 But even if the ability for this were forthcoming, it 
 would not be possible to make room for it here. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PICTURE CAVE, ETC. 
 
 THE Picture Cave has been sadly neglected by the 
 describers of Arran, and I cannot refer to a single 
 work in which it is mentioned. Consequently, when 
 I managed to warp myself through the strait and 
 narrow aperture, which alone gives entrance to the 
 inner crypt of this remarkable grotto, I felt as if some- 
 thing of the nature of a discovery had been made. 
 Not a streak of light from the sun ever enters the 
 cave, and the darkness within is as thick as the silence 
 is profound. Sweet enough, however, is the atmos- 
 phere of the cavern, and by the help of a rush-light I 
 explored it fully. Cones of stalactite, like icicles of 
 spar, depend from the vault overhead, but not so 
 numerously as in some caves. Its walls of red sand- 
 stone close solidly round it on every side, leaving 
 only a narrow orifice at the bottom of a shaft 
 by which admission can be gained ; and even this 
 cannot be effected without difficulty and a solemn 
 feeling of imminent peril. For the entrance is formed
 
 200 THE PICTURE CAVE, ETC. 
 
 by masses of rock, which have slipped down from 
 above, and got jammed in the crevice below ; but one 
 can scarcely satisfy himself that a single piece of rock 
 shall not be disturbed by a touch, as the adventurer 
 scrambles through the aperture, and, coming down 
 upon him like a portcullis, fix him as in a trap for 
 ever. Nevertheless I went in, but only after carefully 
 testing the solidity of the jaws and mouth-piece of the 
 cavern. Scrambling up the narrow shaft, light in 
 hand, my first feeling as I glanced into the dark 
 recesses of the cavern made even more pitchy black 
 by the flicker of rush-light which filled the middle 
 space was one of indescribable awe. " Here at last," 
 said I, " is a cell for a hermit ; " and I searched the 
 walls of the crypt for crosses or sculpture of any kind, 
 but found none. " How then," it may be asked, " do 
 you call it the Picture Cave"? Simply because the 
 grand outer gallery or corridor of the cave is carved 
 all over with men-of-war in full sail, others with sails 
 furled and yards squared, while here and there, 
 among the great three-deckers of the days of Cook 
 and Nelson, cutters and brigs are cruising about in all 
 the glory of canvas and bunting. Pretty mosses and 
 tiny seedlings of the Hart's Tongue Fern, besides 
 lichens and golden chrysosplene, adorn the massive 
 walls of this romantic gallery ; while all along over 
 the eaves, as it were, of this charming Arcade, hang a 
 great profusion of Holly fern (Lastrea recurva), purple- 
 cymed grasses, St John's Wort, and other flowers.* 
 Could the eident carvers of these quaintly chiselled 
 
 * All these were seen by me when I visited the Cave during my Christmas 
 holidays of 1873. The beauty of the winter foliage of the evergreen Holly-
 
 THE PICTURE CAVE, ETC. 2OI 
 
 men-of-war return to the cave, they would see what a 
 graceful drapery the hand of Nature has hung around 
 their pictures ; but since the dates incised upon the 
 stone beside the ships, and the initials of their carvers, 
 range from 1779 to 1791, there is not much chance of 
 any of them being ever able to do so. Little doubt 
 can be entertained that these figures and other carv- 
 ings were executed by the miners who long ago 
 quarried the cliff which is about two hundred and fifty 
 yards to the north-west of the cave, and that while 
 dwelling on this lonely shore they thus endeavoured 
 to while away many of their leisure hours.* 
 
 Ere I quitted the cave, and, as I may say, the heart 
 of the mountain, I estimated the dimensions of the 
 cavern at forty feet by forty, while the height of the 
 vault appeared to be about twenty feet. I observed 
 a dark passage running away into the hill from the 
 inmost side of the cave, but it was much too strait to 
 admit of further exploration. Making my exit in 
 safety from this grim abode of perpetual night, I 
 could not help thinking, as I rested on a shelf of the 
 corridor, of the old Saga story of Kali and his com- 
 panions in the cave of Dolls-hellir, or the Goblin's 
 Cave. " It was said that money was hidden there. 
 The merchants went into the cave, and found it very 
 difficult to penetrate into it. They came to a sheet of 
 water stretching across the cave, and no one dared to 
 
 Fern was such as one could never become weary of admiring, and to-day 
 the fragrance of some fronds of it which I gathered at the time, is as purely 
 sweet and refreshing as it ever was. 
 
 * The length of the corridor or gallery which runs up to the cave's mouth, 
 is about fourteen 5'ards, and the width is about eight or nine feet. 
 
 N
 
 202 THE PICTURE CAVE, ETC. 
 
 cross it except Kali and one of Solmund's domestics 
 called Havard. They swam across the lake having a 
 rope between them. Kali also carried firewood and 
 fire-making gear between his shoulders. They came 
 to the opposite shore, which was rugged and stony ; 
 the smell also was there very bad, so that they could 
 hardly make a light. Kali said they should not go 
 any farther, and piled up stones as a monument. 
 Then Kali sang a song : 
 
 Here I raise a mighty stone-pile, 
 
 In remembrance of our daring, 
 
 In this Doll's cave, dark and gloomy, 
 
 Where we sought the goblin's treasure. 
 
 Yet I know not how the captain 
 
 Of the ocean's gliding snow-skates 
 
 May recross the dismal water : 
 
 Long and dreary is the journey." 
 
 Ork. Sag., p. 77. 
 
 A descendant of the former tenants of Kwee calls 
 the Picture Cave by the simple Gaelic appellation of 
 An-Uamh [an-oov], or The Cave.* In front of it 
 there is a small creek or port on the shore, beside a 
 dyke of large stones, and a " keppagh " or small tilled 
 plot. From this creek to the famous stone called the 
 Cock of Arran, the distance is about five or six 
 hundred yards. Ramsay says : " The Cock of Arran 
 is a large stone on the beach, forming a well-known 
 landmark to seamen. Formerly when seen in some 
 positions from the sea, it presented the appearance of 
 
 " Other Gaelic words for cave, are dearc, gurna, lusca; Scoto-Danish 
 helier, Norse hellir, Sc. koy and kei or key. Hence kein, the cave, as in 
 Keins-caves, corruptly Kings-caves, and signifying Caves-caves by redupli- 
 cation.
 
 THE PICTURE CAVE, ETC. 2O3 
 
 a cock in the act of crowing. Some idle or malicious 
 persons have since broken off the head, which now 
 lies on the ground beside the decapitated body." 
 Instead of " head," it appears to me that Mr Ramsay 
 should have said " beak." Lately I carefully examined 
 the stone and found that its upper portion still pre- 
 sents the appearance of a great beak or spike, but it 
 is possible enough that just a little bit may have been 
 broken off the very tip. The point of the beak or 
 spike is about eighteen feet above the ground, and the 
 whole mass of the pointed block, as viewed from the 
 west, greatly resembles a blacksmith's anvil, tilted up 
 in such a way as to give its upper surface the slope of 
 an ordinary roof. It occurs to me that its name is 
 not a version of coileack, a cock, but rather a form of 
 dock, a peak, anything prominent like a gland or the 
 nave of a wheel. 
 
 Next comes the Screadan or rock-slip, a vast debacle 
 of huge fragments of rock lying at the foot of a tall 
 cliff. Headrick informs us that a great portion of this 
 cliff gave way about the year 1720, and came down 
 with a thundering crash. 
 
 Dirnabol, or Earranamboule, is at the foot of a deep 
 little glen or ghill, and gives name to a couple of 
 cottages at the burn-foot. The steamer is now 
 rounding the North Cape of Arran, and in three 
 minutes, or less time, will be in the " chops " of Loch- 
 ranza, or Loch of the Sea-Champions.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 LOCHRANZA. 
 
 A stout and well-manned yawl conveys passengers 
 from the steamer to the stayth or landing-place on 
 the shore of Lochranza. Here Pennant landed in the 
 summer of the year 1772, and was hospitably enter- 
 tained by Mr Lindsay, the minister, from whom he 
 appears to have learned several of the local names in 
 this quarter of the island. The first view of Loch- 
 ranza and its girdle of mountains is most impressive. 
 It is a place by itself, and scarcely anything like it 
 can be found elsewhere. My first glimpse of it was 
 caught early on a bright September morning as I 
 turned the point of Ballynaw. Before me lay the 
 calm waters of the loch, dotted over with herring 
 " busses " f newly arrived from the fishing-ground ; 
 their brown barked sails loosely clewed up, and their 
 crews busily occupied in shaking the silver-coated 
 booty from the nets. Conspicuous over the masts of 
 the fishing-smacks which lay at anchor around it, 
 stood the old, grey, battlemented tower ; its image 
 mysteriously reflected in the clear mirror of the lake, 
 and surrounded with the companion images of the 
 vessels which floated on the waters. Round the 
 margin of the sea-inlet little groups of white painted 
 
 * Buss is a west-coast term for a boat or little " smack," and is evidently 
 a corruption of the ga. bait, boats.
 
 LOCHRANZA. 2O5 
 
 cottages looked quite gay in the morning light, and 
 high over all rose the crescent Alpine ridge of Greenan 
 Ahval, its great under-lying corrie sunk deep in shade, 
 but its scallop-shell bars all plainly visible. The 
 picture was one that never could be forgotten, and in 
 my memory it lay like a thing to dream of. 
 
 Mr Ramsay's* description of the place is so very 
 beautiful that I may be pardoned for introducing it : 
 " There is perhaps no scene in Arran," says Professor 
 Ramsay, " which so much impresses the beholder with 
 the feeling of solitary beauty as the first glimpse of 
 Loch Ranza. The traveller may perhaps be some- 
 what fatigued with this protracted journey, as on a 
 still summer evening he rounds the Newton Point 
 (Ballynaw). But tired and hungry though he be, and 
 with the very smoke of the little inn curling before 
 his eyes, let him pause for a moment at the entrance 
 of the loch, and seating himself on a granitic boulder, 
 quietly contemplate the placid scene before him. 
 Trees there are few to boast of, and what is pleasanter, 
 there are still fewer strangers, for to the traveller in 
 such a scene, all strangers seem out of place but him- 
 self. The sinking sun shines bright on the gleaming 
 peaks of Caistael Abhael [ah-val] and Ceum Na 
 Cailleach, where the shadows of the ragged scars and 
 deep hollows of the winter torrents, mingling with the 
 lights brightly reflected from the projecting rocks, forrri 
 a hazy radiance, which more obscures than illuminates 
 the shady recesses of the rugged Corries. The tide is at 
 
 * Professor Ramsay, Director-General of The Geological Survey, ' ' Geo- 
 logy of Arran," p. 36.
 
 206 LOCHRANZA. 
 
 its full, and the lazy sails of many a lagging fishing- 
 boat, the image of the ruined tower and of the green 
 hills around, lie calmly reflected in the unruffled 
 waters : 
 
 ' The lake return'd in chasten'd gleam 
 
 The purple cloud, the golden beam ; 
 
 Reflected in the crystal pool, 
 
 Headland and bank lay fair and cool, 
 
 The weather-tinted rock and tower, 
 
 Each drooping tree, each fairy flower ; 
 
 So true, so soft, the mirror gave, 
 
 As if there lay beneath the wave, 
 
 Secure from trouble, toil, and care, 
 
 A world than earthly world more fair.' 
 
 " But it is in a cold February evening that the 
 pleasant solitude of the place will be most esteemed. 
 There, seated at a blazing peat-fire, as the geologist ex- 
 tends his notes, or arranges his specimens, after his day's 
 work, he will hear the piercing wind whistling down 
 Glen Chalmadael, and the narrow pass of Glen Eisna- 
 bearradh, then dying away as it reaches the wider 
 expanse of the loch, to be again renewed by a louder 
 and a shriller blast. And as he loiters to the door to 
 speculate on the probabilities of the morrow's weather, 
 he may chance to see the burning heath, like the 
 beacons of old, blazing on the hills around, and faintly 
 gleaming on the far distant headlands of Argyleshire." 
 
 Full fifteen years passed ere I revisited Lochranza, 
 and this second visit was made in winter time. Lovely 
 sunshine greeted my first step to shore, and though 
 deep snow garmented the mountains, it could scarce 
 lay a flake that would rest in the vale of Lochranza. 
 The fine weather continued through all the days of
 
 LOCHRANZA. 2O/ 
 
 my stay except the last, for on the evening of that 
 day, after exploring the Picture Cave and the coast as 
 far as the Fallen Rocks, I caught the full fury of a 
 tempest of wind and rain from the south-west directly 
 I turned the elbow of Ruantrah (the point of The 
 Green), on my way to the hospitable house of North 
 Sannox. Here I rested nearly an hour, and, as by 
 that time the tempest had well-nigh blown over, I set 
 out for Lochranza by the inland road. It was a 
 grand sight to see the great squadrons of cloud, now 
 relieved of their watery burden as of so much impedi- 
 menta> hurrying away over the summits of the lofty 
 mountains, and showing now and then the edge of 
 the silver lining which they had borrowed from the 
 moon. Presently the fair Empress of the Night made 
 an appearance herself, though only for a second or 
 two ; but by-and-bye, as the wind parted the cloud- 
 rack, she took many a glimpse of the wild tumult 
 which filled the glens of An Teyna, and brightened 
 up with her rays the foaming rage of their torrents. 
 
 With snow on the Fells and a bright sun overhead, 
 it was not possible for me to see by day much of the 
 " gloomy grandeur," which Lord Teignmouth observed 
 in the Winter aspect of Lochranza. When a casual 
 snow-shower fell at noonday, the high temperature of 
 the vale and sea-loch speedily sublimated much of it 
 in the form of vapour, and soon this vapour could be 
 seen curling up the hill-sides in beautiful wreaths of 
 gossamer-mist, till it became lost in the sheen and 
 glancing brightness of the snow which lay on the 
 forehead of Tornidaneun. But when the short-houred 
 day was taking his leave, a grey twilight stole into
 
 2O8 LOCHRANZA. 
 
 the vale causing it to appear like a vast amphitheatre, 
 of which the surface of the plain and lake was the 
 floor, the terraced sides of the lower hills the benches, 
 tier above tier, and the craggy cliffs along the oval of 
 the sky-line the upper rim of the solid and stately 
 wall which compassed it about ; while overhead a 
 vaulted roof of purest azure, and gemmed with twink- 
 ling stars of gold, seemed of itself to settle down upon 
 the coping, at once completing the building and add- 
 ing immensely to its magnificence. 
 
 We may now go out once more and visit the Places 
 of Lochranza. From these we shall pass over to 
 Brodick by way of Sannox, visiting as we proceed a 
 goodly number of the old Arran Stations of her Local 
 Names. From Brodick we shall make our way to 
 Whiting Bay doing the same thing, and thence to 
 Lag, and so on round the west coast of the island till 
 we reach Lochranza again. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LOCHRANZA PLACES, 
 
 THE TAB AIL, N EAGLES, KEILEEBERTSH, NARAHAN, 
 THE HOSPICE, THE RAINNIES. 
 
 The Stayth or landing-place at Lochranza may 
 be taken as the starting point of our Tour. It has 
 already become familiar to us. Near the Stayth is a 
 rivulet which does not appear to have a name. It
 
 THE TABAIL. 2OQ 
 
 might be called Stayth-burn. Crossing it, the first 
 houses on the right bear the name of Earranbeag, or 
 Urinbeg. If the latter be the proper form of the name, 
 it is very likely to be founded upon the eyrin, or the 
 shingly beach, adjacent. On the left stands The 
 Castle upon a tongue or spit of land, and it is said 
 that " a hoard " or treasure lies buried below the table 
 in the hall. Stories of hidden treasure are rife 
 throughout the West, and indeed, throughout the whole 
 land. They remind us of the Doll's cave and its re- 
 ported treasure, as mentioned above. " But," it has 
 been asked, " where is the table ? " It is evidently 
 contained in Tabail, that is, baron's castle, lord's 
 castle, an t-adhbti fhail. So that old tradition of the 
 table in the Castle-hall of Lochranza appears to have 
 preserved for us an old Gaelic name of this same 
 tower or castle. It is all the more likely from the fact 
 that Stirling Castle is also a Table or Tabail, and it is 
 " round," apparently because it was the castle of the 
 lord of the Cruithne or Picts, the name of the nation 
 being confounded with cruinn, round. As for the 
 Arthurs of Dumbarton and Stirling Castles, they are 
 to be referred to ardthriath, a chief lord, a chief ruler. 
 Pass the Free Church and come to Clacharen, or 
 the little stony field, on the right. On the hill above 
 are the ruins of an old brugh or fort, the name of 
 which may be anglicised Craignagairy, according to 
 local pronunciation, and meaning the champions' crag. 
 Next comes the Hotel, then Neagles, or the Church ; 
 then a path leading up through Marknaheagles (the 
 kirk-land) to Crocanloch, or knoll of the loch, on the 
 right. In the neighbourhood of the last are, Craig-
 
 210 KEILEEBERTSH. 
 
 avyeta or wild dog's crag, Bawnagearc or the hens' 
 hut, Slochtyduh* or the dark chasm, rift or gorge, 
 and down which a torrent comes trampling on with 
 rapid step ; Blairnagabar, the field of the sticks, be- 
 yond the brow of the hill which forms a crescent- 
 shaped coom here ; and the mill-houses at Lochavoulin 
 or the Mill-pond. Passing on to the bridge which 
 carries the road over Glansnabeira Water, notice the 
 armot or meeting of the Water just mentioned with 
 that of Callodale; for about one hundred and forty 
 yards above this Water-meet will be found the site of 
 the ancient church of Keileebertsh. Close by the 
 confluence of the waters, but on the farther side of 
 Callodale or Calmadale Water, there is a pretty steep 
 bank clad with broom, and at the upper end of this 
 bank a thorn hedge runs about due north from the 
 riverside towards the foot of Creag Ghlas, but keeping 
 a little to the east of Malcolm Ker's house. Now, in 
 the corner or angle formed by the lower part of this 
 hedge and Callodale Water (but on the east side of the 
 hedge), stood Keileebertsh or the Mass Kirk. The 
 site may be well seen, if the traveller will pass on from 
 the bridge up the ascending road towards Balleara 
 [ballarry], as far as a point or part of the road at 
 which he will have the gap or gorge of Easnabeira 
 opened up full to the view. At this point of the road 
 he will find himself close to a gravel pit (Melgrave) in 
 a knoll, and now looking over to the hedge near Ker's 
 house, and tracing this hedge with his eye downwards 
 to the Callodale Water, he will unfailingly deter- 
 
 * If any one wishes to anglicise a word like this, he has only to follow the 
 analogy of daughter, slaughter, etc. , and say Slottydoo.
 
 NARAHAN. 211 
 
 mine the site of Keileebertsh. The site is specially 
 identified with a slight green swell in the field, between 
 the river's brink and a small bank or terrace about 
 forty yards to the north of the river. At the foot of 
 this terrace, and about a stone's cast from the eastern 
 side of the thorn hedge, is the Well or fountain, and 
 on the site of the church there is a small boulder or 
 earth-fast stone. The last of its foundation stones are 
 known to have been removed by a certain party; and 
 the churchyard, or God's Acre, extended as far as the 
 hedge, for when Mrs Ker's father dug a trench for the 
 first planting of this hedge, he found a kistvaen with 
 bones in rt, but whether this was a solid stone coffin 
 of the pure ecclesiastical type or not, I could not find 
 means of determining. The older name of Keilee- 
 bertsh seems to have been Naraghan, anglicised 
 Narahan, that is, the Sanctuary, the sacred house ; 
 and Naraghan is still the name of the hamlet adjacent 
 to the site of the ancient church. Another old name 
 of the place perhaps the oldest of all must have 
 been that which is found in Callodale, or the dale of 
 the house of prayer. See passim above, and Achan-' 
 hileebertsh in the alphabetical list. The name of 
 Callodale has, since Font's time, nearly three centuries 
 ago, been corrupted into Calmadale, or else the latter 
 is formed from Coum-by, i.e., kirk-town. Since Bally - 
 naw was either here or in the near vicinity in Font's 
 time, it can scarcely mean New Town : it rather 
 signifies holy men's town, and, according to many 
 facts and analogies, must have come to be applied to 
 the whole of the eastern side of Lochranza" vale, from 
 the Mass Kirk to Dirnabol.
 
 212 EASNABEIRA. 
 
 According to my informant there was " great war " 
 and much carnage was wrought at Keileebertsh, a 
 statement which may be regarded as a piece of true 
 history, for the whole locality is eloquent with 
 memorials of the Vikings [veek-ings]. Now all is 
 peace in the dale, and even the green site of this 
 ancient church occupies a, spot well-removed from the 
 little busy world of the summer Loch-side. There is 
 an air of retirement about the locality, for much of the 
 outer world is shut out from view, and well would the 
 place suit the meditative habits of the old clergy. The 
 deep-voiced roar of Easnabeira sometimes breaks in 
 upon the stillness, and blends its bass with the sweet 
 warblings of the song-birds in the grove. As for the 
 mountains which shut it in, There is the mighty 
 ridge of Ahval or Greenan Ahval as you look through 
 the deep gap of Easnabeira or ' the cascade of the 
 grisly goblin.' To the left, in front, is the lofty crag 
 of Torr-nid-nan-eun, or the hill of birds' nests, for 
 eagles and shakes or hawks used to build in the clefts 
 of the rock, and here at its foot is the homestead of 
 Ballearra, or the house on the chine (of the hill). 
 Away to the right again, or south-west, is the rounded 
 summit of Maelvohr, as they call it here, though one 
 would have expected Maelmohr. But the gender of 
 some Gaelic nouns is not very well fixed, and I could 
 give a dozen of them about which doctors disagree. 
 
 Some people say there was a nunnery here, but I 
 cannot believe it. Neither books nor men, so far as 
 known to me, can be found in possession of any evi- 
 dence by which to support the averment. There may 
 have been a school for girls here in ancient times, and
 
 THE HOSPICE. 213 
 
 there is the certainty, drawn from many analogies, so 
 far as that goes, that there was here an ecclesiastical 
 Inn or Hospice, over which the chief clergyman pre- 
 sided, and into which he received catechumens, tra- 
 velling clerics, and such studious youths as were 
 desirous of being trained for service in the Church. 
 It is no good evidence of Keileebertsh's having been a 
 Cloister Yard, to say that the people sometimes call 
 it An Eaclus Papanaich, for the studies we have made 
 prove that this is a recently-invented and applied 
 name. But if the holy Maids, the " Brides of Jesus," 
 were really here, they must have been happy as birds 
 in such a lovely vale. How flowers, and songs, and 
 burn-side walks, alternating with the serious business 
 of their lives, would variously engage their attention. 
 How readily they can be imagined vespers said and 
 holy hymn sung looking out from their Cloister 
 Girth into the clear night, to admire again the mighty 
 procession of Pleiades and Orion and the kindred host 
 of heavenly brilliants, and after a long delighted gaze, 
 withdrawing their eyes only to find them immediately 
 met by the awful depth of darkness which fills the 
 gorge of the Cataract, and clings like a coffin's pall to 
 the skirts of Tornidanain. Would not such impressive 
 contrasts solemnize their minds, and carry their 
 thoughts upwards to the God who made the heavens, 
 and reared those giant hills which guarded their 
 home ? 
 
 Before bidding adieu to Loch Ranza for the present, 
 let it be noticed that language like Truth is its own 
 interpreter. Since I wrote so much of the "Principles" 
 as are given in this work, I have come to find in Arran
 
 214 THE RAINNIES. 
 
 itself full evidence that the Rainnies, who give name 
 to Lochranza or Lochrenasay, were in the later age 
 regarded not so much as robbers or pirates, as brave 
 men, warriors, champions. The history of the change 
 in the meaning of the term, and the philosophy of it, 
 might easily be given, but bits of the evidence will occur 
 as we proceed, and parallels to the fact are sufficiently 
 common to make explanation of it unnecessary in this 
 place. Accordingly, when I find Renisdal (pro- 
 nounced rainisdal) given as an old name of the vale 
 of Lochranza, I translate it Warriors' Dale, and so 
 with Raenaseit another old name of the same vale 
 that is, warriors' dwelling-place, champions' seat or 
 place of settlement. 
 
 Quite near to the hamlet of Narahan is the brook 
 of Allteidrich, or the brook of the Preceptor. It 
 comes from the north and falls into Callodale Water. 
 For notes on this brook and its neighbour Allt-challin, 
 see the alphabetical list of Arran names, supra. Pass 
 up Glen Callodale ; peat mosses ; fine view in fine 
 weather of Ahval and the pikes at the Witch's 
 Stride, on the right; the pretty picturesque vale of 
 north Sannox comes in sight ; the steep slope of An- 
 teyna, right ; fine view of the Hound's Tooth through 
 the gap between Anteyna and the ridge of Suy 
 Faeroch ; fifty minutes walk from Narahan to the 
 bridge thrown over north Sannox Water ; here is a 
 fine double fall or cascade ; in five or seven minutes 
 more come opposite the lairaichean or ruins of north 
 Sannox hamlet, and also of the ruined fort of Rahvur 
 on the hill, both left ; traverse another mile and reach 
 the farm-house of Sannox.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SANNOX SCENES AND SITES. 
 
 HERE the traveller should pause, and looking towards 
 the lofty pinnacled Bens, contemplate at leisure a 
 spectacle which is held by the best and most ex- 
 perienced judges to be one of the three grandest and 
 finest in all Scotland. The last time I was here, this 
 magnificent sight was enjoyed to perfection ; for the 
 day was one of the brightest and most beautiful, 
 though in the month of November. Standing on the 
 road by the farmhouse, I looked up to the mountain 
 peaks, which here group themselves together in the 
 most sublimely picturesque manner. There, in the 
 centre, rose the towering majestic spire of Keervohr, or 
 Kid Vol,as Macculloch calls it ;* to its.left Keenahein or 
 the Hinny's Pap ; and to its right the Hound's Tooth 
 and the other bristling pikes of Drimeich (the Nag's 
 back) at Caymnacalyie, or the Witch's Stride. Farther 
 to the right, and at a greater distance from my station, 
 loomed the mighty pile of Ahval, or Greenan Ahval 
 his brows lightly wrapped in a fleece of snow- white mist ; 
 and still farther to the right, but almost at hand, the 
 jaggy peak of Suy Faeroch completed the picture/!* 
 
 * I venture to assert this, for the evidence before me is amply sufficient to 
 determine the point. The " Kid Voe " of the ordinary editions of Maccul- 
 loch's Western Islands, ii. 314, must be a misprint. Kead Vol, following 
 Pont so far, would be a preferable spelling. 
 
 t This striking piece of scenery is well described by the Rev. David 
 Landsborough in his excellent little book, Arran, and How to See It, p. 30.
 
 2l6 SANNOX SCENES AND SITES. 
 
 Deep and darkly below slept the shadow in the great 
 chasm of Glensannock, but bright day lighted up the 
 romantic strath beside the farmhouse, and danced 
 joyously on the gleaming wavelets of the bay. Not a 
 sound stirred the air but that of waterfalls and rushing 
 river, the crowing of the cock in the barnyard, and the 
 happy "chucking" of his mates. A few sail-rigged 
 yawls lay at anchor off the oyce or mouth of the river, 
 and away over the firth many a vessel spread her 
 white wings, like birds upon the. deep. The whole 
 combined to form a scene rarely beheld, and presented 
 a picture which should not easily fade from the 
 memory. 
 
 Turning the eye towards the Sannox shore, the 
 traveller will observe the pretty copse-clad eminence 
 of Kinnaleeky ; and it may be remembered that at 
 this point we began our survey of the north-east coast 
 of the island. Viewed from the north about Ruantrah, 
 this eminence exhibits itself in the form of a little head- 
 land of great beauty, and has reminded me very much 
 of its likeness to Eggarnes, or the Ness of the ridge, in 
 Wigton Bay. Passing now onwards from our tem- 
 porary station on the road near Sannox House, and 
 proceeding towards the river which flows through the 
 glen, we may notice, in the field on the right, a pretty 
 tall seile or pillar stone, but still not so tall as the one 
 which stands in the Manse garden to the left. These 
 stones may be justly held to mark the graves of 
 ancient heroes (sonn, a hero, a warrior), for the names 
 of hundreds of such monuments distinctly state that 
 the monuments themselves were set up for that pur- 
 pose. Over in Bute there, and at a spot almost visible
 
 SANNOX SCENES AND SITES. 2 1/ 
 
 from our present position, there stands in a wood a 
 portion of an ancient monument in the form of three 
 great rude pillar-stones, and its name tells us that it 
 is The ruin of the Sepulchre of the Celtic lord. 
 
 Presently we reach the rustic stock-bridge and cross 
 Sannox Water, then pass along the river-holm or 
 meadow to the green lane which conducts to the old 
 cemetery of Clah Veeghal. Here a church is said to 
 have stood, and the statement need not be doubted. 
 But not a relic of the little oratory exists, unless one 
 may be found in the remarkable piece of sculpture 
 which has been fixed in the wall beside the churchyard 
 gate. As we pass up the green lane, or Kirk-lane, 
 notice on the left a little streamlet close by the road- 
 side, and which, for the sake of easy reference, may 
 be called Kirk-burn. Close by the margin of this 
 streamlet, and about the distance of a stone's cast from 
 the shore road, there is a green knoll or mound of 
 large size, clad with a few hazel bushes and a fine old 
 hawthorn of five stems, which unite at the surface of 
 the ground. A high degree of interest attaches to 
 this mound, and it is well known that the residents in 
 the locality have such a veneration for it that on no 
 account will they suffer it to be touched or removed. 
 It is clearly an artificial mound, for several breaches 
 made in its side by the rabbit-burrows disclose the 
 fact that stones are mixed with the earth of the 
 mound, at the depth of about a foot beneath the sur- 
 face. As to size, it is seventy yards or thereby in 
 circumference at the base, and about thirty yards 
 from rim to rim as one walks over its summit from 
 the floor of earth on which it rests. In vain have I 
 
 o
 
 21 8 SANNOX SCENES AND SITES. 
 
 demanded the name of the mound ; yet a name it 
 must have had. Can it be really the true Clah- 
 Veeghal of this locality, although this name is 
 sometimes applied by the men of Arran to the 
 churchyard a little higher up the lane ? Or can it be 
 the cairn which Pennant calls Mac-farlane's Carn, 
 and which he places, though very indefinitely, some- 
 where in the Sannox quarter ? Or, again, can this 
 mound or tumulus have anything to do with the 
 name of Sennock or Sannock, in Sanaig Keilveichal, 
 another form of the name of the old churchyard 
 here ? These are questions which might be answered, 
 but the answers would give small satisfaction unless 
 the whole of the facts which I collected on the spot 
 were detailed and discussed at length. To do so 
 would far outrun the limits of this little work, and 
 therefore I shall only make here a few observations 
 regarding this interesting mound, reserving for some 
 future occasion, if possible, the full determination of 
 its name. 
 
 Now if Clah-Veeghal be, indeed, the name of this 
 mound, it is an appellation which readily yields the 
 meaning of The grave-mound of the foreign lords. 
 If it be Macfarlanes-Cairn, then I should say that this 
 appellation denotes the cairn of the field of the 
 sea-rovers or Fomorian champions. And if the 
 name of Glensannock have anything to do with 
 the mound, then from this name we draw the 
 meaning of The Glen, or the burying-place [cladli], 
 of the valiant heroes. The situation of the mound 
 on the low-lying holm below the adjacent terrace in 
 the field suggests the idea that the tumulus must
 
 AORINN. 219 
 
 have been placed there at a comparatively recent date, 
 and may not be older than the period of the great de- 
 scent of the Northmen upon our coasts. For one can 
 scarcely scan minutely the features of the locality, 
 without observing that time was when the river must 
 have swept over the low ground on which the mound 
 rests. My own opinion of its character, after several 
 careful studies of it, is that it is a true barrow or grave- 
 mound, but whether it contains the ashes of Scandina- 
 vian champions or those of some ancient Arran 
 worthies, it is, in the absence of a reliable name for it, 
 impossible to determine.* 
 
 In the field on the right-hand side of the green or 
 kirk lane, and at a distance of one hundred yards from 
 the mound or barrow just described, may be found the 
 remains of a vast Cairn called Aorinn [aerin], or The 
 Cairn. This name is pure Norse the vowel of the 
 first syllable being slightly changed by the Gaelic in- 
 fluence. The cairn itself stood near the edge of a 
 brow or terrace which slopes down to the river-holm. 
 
 We may now step up to the gate of the church 
 cemetery of Sanaig Kilveichal, or Clah Veeghal. It 
 will be observed on the left, enclosed by a modern 
 wall, and embowered in dark green shrubbery. Here 
 sleep the forefathers of the hamlet it, too, all re- 
 moved, save the aged ash-trees and a more calm, 
 secluded spot than this sacred reilig or churchyard 
 
 * The adjacent terrace, it may be mentioned, contained till lately the 
 remains of a strong ancient wall, but it could not have been a sea-wall, 
 and was rather, in all probability, built by the early ecclesiastics and 
 Christians of the place, in order to fence their tilled land and keep it 
 from being overblown with dry shore-sand.
 
 220 SANAIG KILVEICHAL, 
 
 could not easily be found. No one dares to call the 
 place Kilmichael, but some of the books on Arran say 
 that within the sacred precinct there once stood a 
 church dedicated to St Michael. Upon what author- 
 ity this is stated I cannot divine, and none is given. 
 If the men of Arran are appealed to on the question, 
 they deny that there is any " Kilmichael " in Arran, 
 except the one in Glencloy. Such a denial was first 
 made to me by one of the parish clergymen, who has 
 been long in the island, and he ought to know very 
 well about the matter. His statement rather inter- 
 ested me, and it has been found since that the Corrie 
 people say the same thing. After directing much 
 attention to the question, I have come to the conclu- 
 sion that if there be, or have been, one church in Arran 
 dedicated to Saint Michael, there must have been, at 
 the least, three ; for Pont places a Kilmichel at Balna- 
 coule, and Martin calls Machrie Water Kirk-michel 
 river. But, while " Michel " may be regarded as a 
 tolerable representation of the old name of all these 
 churches or oratories, it is not possible to see that it 
 means or represents the name of a "saint." It is 
 rather, in my opinion, to be regarded as a form of 
 magJt chill ghnidlie i.e. y the field of the house of 
 prayer, the church-land. This has been stated above 
 under Killemichel and Glencloy ; which see. If 
 "Michel" could have a Norse or Dano-Scottish origin, 
 muk-kil, monk-cell, might be suggested. So also 
 might vigil y holy-house knoll, and with this may be 
 compared Senbigil in Mikkil-dale of Ewesdale, where 
 there was a dearmch, ' duris,' or oratory. But, per- 
 haps, better than any of these is beag chill, or tiny
 
 OR CLAH VEEGHAL. 221 
 
 church, with kil afterwards prefixed. Wigol, or battle- 
 hill, can scarcely be applicable here, though mak-hil^ 
 or champions-knoll, might be descriptive enough of 
 the Clagh-veeghal mound. 
 
 With regard to the church which stood in the ceme- 
 tery of South Sannox, another suggestion may be 
 made. Senoc was a laborious and famed evangelist 
 of the sixth century. He appears to have planted 
 several churches in Argyll, one at Luss, and another 
 at Callander. " Finally he suffered martyrdom for the 
 truth at Bandry, where a cairn and large stone, on 
 which is carved the effigy of an ecclesiastic, were 
 erected to his memory." Kal. Sc. Now, there is a 
 Bandry or Baudrie near Luss, and this is a name 
 which (in the despite of possible misprints or clerical 
 errors) may be safely interpreted as the Chief's resi- 
 dence baile an treith, and probably referring to Ross- 
 dhu. Had it not been for the presence of this name 
 at Luss, one might have thought of Bandry as the fair 
 strand at Sannox, and the effigy in the wall of the 
 cemetery there as the sculptured bust of Senoc. But, 
 nevertheless, it may be observed that the name of 
 Clah-veeghal-Sennock has its straightest English in 
 The cemetery of the tiny church of Senoc. After 
 this more need not be added. It is clear that, in re- 
 gard to the now obsolete church of South Sannox, we 
 must wait for more information, although where it is 
 to come from is not clear at all. At the same time, 
 the suggestions which have been made may serve, in 
 some measure, to aid the researches of others.* 
 
 * Saint Senoc is also called Kessog, and some of the knowing ones 
 about Callander say that he is the patron saint of Scotland, that he was
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BEACH-FOUNTAIN; THE SCOTS ; WAR-CRY OF THE 
 MEN OF HA WICK EXPLAINED. 
 
 WE may now retrace our steps to the shore road, 
 from the foot of Kirk-lane, pass on southwards for a 
 few yards till we come to what may be called Beach- 
 fountain. This is a fine spring of sweet water on the 
 left or eastern side of the lode or way lode- being an 
 old term for a road or path. How thankful the tra- 
 veller often is for a draught of genuine cold water ! 
 And here he will find it genuine to the core. The 
 spring is just such an one as that which Ban Macin- 
 tyre has sung in the following lines : 
 
 " The wild wine of Nature, 
 Honey-like in its taste, 
 The genial, fair, thin element 
 Filtering through the sands, 
 Which is sweeter than cinnamon, 
 
 And is well known to us hunters. 
 O, that eternal, healing draught, 
 Which comes from under the earth, 
 Which contains abundance of God 
 And costs no money ! " 
 
 a priest and warrior, and that he was slain in the year 451, although he 
 was only born about the year 488. 
 
 On the left hand side of the gate of South Sannox cemetery there is a 
 block of red sandstone, about two feet in length and nearly two spans in 
 width, built into the wall. This stone was found about the churchyard. 
 Upon the upper part of the face of the stone, and rather to one side of it 
 (as if the rest of the stone had been imbedded in the substance of a wall), 
 there has been chiselled a boldly and well carved image of the head and 
 face of a man. The countenance is a very striking and noble one the 
 features and general style decidedly leaning to the Celtic type and the 
 cheeks are deeply sunken or hollow, as if intended by the ancient sculp- 
 tor to represent the emaciated appearance of a recluse, or of a cleric 
 strongly addicted to asceticism. This sculptured stone appears to have 
 formed a corbel in the old church.
 
 BEACH-FOUNTAIN. 223 
 
 So did George Borrow render the Gaelic verse of 
 the Celtic bard. Wild Wales, ii. 112. While we sit 
 by the fountain and take rest for a few minutes, we 
 may survey at leisure the clear, green-tinted water 
 of the river as it mingles with the brine only a few 
 paces from our feet. Scarcely have we let go the last 
 thoughts that struck us, as we turned away from the 
 quiet churchyard. That one generation comes and 
 ere long gives place to another is one of the common- 
 places of observation ; but it is not every one who 
 learns at once from it the lesson of forsaking the false 
 and pursuing the true ; of dying to the wrong and 
 living to the right. There are many kinds of death 
 in the world, but the noblest of them all is the death 
 of ignorance, evil, unbelief, wrong-doing. If a man 
 can die to these and go forward into the life of a wis- 
 dom that is from above ; into the life of a devotion to 
 duty and the God who prescribes it ; into the life that 
 recognises the image and reverences the sacredness of 
 truth ; into the life of a self-sacrifice which is guided 
 by the light of faith, hope, and charity, he shall, in 
 that case, have no lack of happiness, or of ability to 
 fill with honour the sphere of work in which he moves ; 
 he shall have every opportunity of doing what good 
 he can in the world, and shall have no occasion to 
 throw dust in the eyes of his fellows, in order to make 
 them believe either in his integrity or the purity of his 
 motives. 
 
 But here comes the news-boy from the early steamer, 
 and though we care not while in the presence of so 
 much beauty and picturesqueness for the latest tele- 
 grams or the general news of the world, still we may
 
 224 THE SCOTS. 
 
 do a little trade with the loon, and help him to make 
 an honest penny. Accordingly we put ourselves in 
 possession of several of the morning papers, and speed- 
 ily one of our party, as he glanced over the columns 
 of The Scotsman, lighted upon an able review of the 
 latest volume of Dr Freeman's History of the Norman 
 Conquest of England. Here, thought he, here must 
 be something to remind one of the old settlers in 
 Arran, as well as in other parts of Scotland. And so 
 indeed it proved. In one of the passages cited by the 
 critic from Dr Freeman's work, the learned historian 
 makes reference to "the true Scots," and does so in 
 such a way as to suggest the idea that he considers 
 the true Scots to be a different race from the Teutonic 
 races of the south and east of Scotland. Now such a 
 conclusion would be only true in part, for to my mind 
 the Scots were originally a Teutonic race, of which 
 a large section came into Scotland with tongue un- 
 changed, whereas another section came into it with 
 a strong dash of acquired Celtic blood in their veins, 
 and a hybrid dialect of mingled Gaelic and Danish on 
 their tongues. The term scot signifies a man, a hero, a 
 warrior ; and it is just as easy to perceive that Danish 
 Scots could make alliances with the Gael, and so learn 
 the Gaelic tongue eighteen centuries ago, as it is to 
 know that thousands of Northmen made such alliances 
 in the ninth and tenth centuries, and left behind them 
 a posterity which to this day, on the coasts of Argyll 
 and The Isles, speaks a mixed Danish and Celtic 
 tongue. But does the acquisition of a measure or 
 smattering of Gaelic make a Dane a Gael ? Does the 
 acquisition of a measure of English make a Scotsman
 
 THE SCOTS. 225 
 
 -an Englishman ? If it does not, then in so far as the 
 old Scots acquired only a measure of Gaelic or Irish 
 Gaelic, they did not thereby become Gaels. In some 
 cases the descendants of Scottish and Celtic alliances 
 may have acquired the Gaelic tongue in such measure 
 and in such purity as to entitle them to the appellation 
 of Gaels, but they nevertheless continued to be cousins 
 of those Scots in Scotland, who had learned but little 
 of Gaelic, or even none at all. And when the Scottish 
 kingdom was set up by the Scots, Scoto-Gaels, and 
 Scoto-Peahts, the Scotsmen in Scotland were so strong 
 in numbers, and continued to be so, as at once to dwarf 
 into comparative insignificance, and absorb immedi- 
 ately into their ranks the handfuls of Englishmen who 
 came into their country in the days of Eadgar and 
 David. Dr Freeman speaks of what he calls " English 
 Lothian," but the territory he refers to may with more 
 propriety be denominated Danish or Norse Lothian. 
 At the same time it is Scottish Lothian, because the 
 names of Dane, of Northman, and of Englishman are, 
 in Scotland, all swallowed up, or thrown into the back- 
 ground, by the name of Scot. More than this cannot 
 be introduced here, but the question will be presented 
 at greater length, and with full illustration, elsewhere. 
 In accordance with the view which regards the Scots 
 as originally a Teutonic race, we may also speak of 
 them as flemings, but, of course, only so in the sense 
 of mere strangers, as the custom of the people is, and 
 without reference to any special country from which 
 they may have come. Now, into the island of Arran 
 many such flemings came, and the descendants of 
 some of these strangers are the Macmillans of the
 
 226 HAWICK MOTE. 
 
 Island the word fieming being actually contained in- 
 the name of Macmillan. That the Macmillans and 
 other fieming settlers in Arran were Scots or heroes 
 Norse skatar, skotar, heroes may well be believed, 
 and though their posterity came to use a mixed dia- 
 lect of Danish and Gaelic, they were not in that re- 
 spect far removed from the Scots of Ayrshire in the 
 days of George Buchanan. Only a few generations 
 back, a certain kind of Gaelic was spoken in the glens 
 of Ayrshire ; and in the larger villages a great deal of 
 Gaelic, besides a considerable sprinkling of Kymric 
 terms, was infused into the Lowland Scotch. Can we 
 then, with these facts before us, call the men of Kyle 
 and Carrick Scots, and deny the name to the men of 
 Arran ? 
 
 Ere we leave our station by the fountain let us take 
 another glance at the charming vale of South Sannox. 
 Possibly enough it may have sometimes been called 
 Crisdale, for in Scotland as well as in Cumberland we 
 have places which bear the name of Crisdal or bedes- 
 men's vale. One of these is in the Lammermuir above 
 Cranshaws, and gives the name of Crystal Well to a 
 certain fountain near Friardykes. Even in Arran to 
 this day, as we saw above when treating of Grisedale, 
 the word cuir is in use to signify a bedesman. There 
 is the Sannox mound which has interested us so much. 
 Does it not remind one of the Hawick Mote and of 
 the story of the worthy who, when asked by a visitor 
 whether the Mote was a natural or artificial mound, 
 replied, " O, sir, it's neither naitural nor artificial : it's 
 just the Hawick Mote " ? Probably that same worthy
 
 THE HAWICK SLOGAN. 22/ 
 
 could have given as characteristic a version of the 
 famous words 
 
 Teary bus teary oaden, 
 
 but as he does not appear to have done so, we must 
 see if we cannot give account of them. These words 
 were long the war-whoop or gathering war-cry (slogan) 
 of the men of Hawick, and, according to TJie Scotsman 
 and other authorities, have never been explained. Dr 
 Jamieson, the learned author of the Scottish Diction- 
 ary, tried his hand on them, but his non-acquaintance 
 with Gaelic introduced an element of incompetence 
 which, for such a task, he would have been the first to 
 acknowledge. The words of the Hawick slogan have 
 therefore remained unexplained, but they need not so 
 remain any longer. They are simply the first line of 
 an old Gaelic war-song, and may be freely rendered 
 The Captain's on his legs with all his mighty men. 
 More literally the line or verse may be translated 
 The captain (or lord) has arisen, and arisen have the 
 heroes. The lines which followed would probably go 
 on to say Now may we all make ready for the fray, 
 or words to that effect. Written out in modern Gaelic, 
 Teary bus teary oaden is DJieirich abas dJteirich aoidJi- 
 ean, arisen has the chief, and arisen have his heroes. 
 Compare "Do lub e na neamha, he bowed the hea- 
 vens " (Smith) ; also the Gaelic version of Luke xxiv., 
 34, and 
 
 Bho' n a dh eirich a ghrian, 
 
 'S gu'n do chuir i fo a sgiath na neoil : 
 
 Because the sun has arisen, 
 
 And because she has put the clouds below her wing.* 
 
 * J. F. Campbell's Letter to The Scotsman of Nov. 13, 1875.
 
 228 CALWEYDALE. 
 
 It is most interesting as well as instructive to find such 
 a fragment of pure old Gaelic in the heart of Teviot- 
 dale. It may with confidence be left to the future of 
 Scottish philology to determine whether the above is 
 a true version of the Hawick slogan or not. 
 
 Must we now turn our backs upon the vale of "Sen- 
 nock" or Sannox without our having reached any kind 
 of satisfactory intelligence in regard to its name, or 
 that of the old church of Kilveeghal ? " Not if I can 
 help it," says the writer ; but since we have all done 
 already a pretty fair day's work, we may as well spend 
 the afternoon according to our individual fancies 
 agreeing, however, before we part for the day, to meet 
 here again to-morrow morning. If by that time Kil- 
 veighal or Calveeghal does not yield up its secret, I 
 give it up for a good while, at least. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CALWEYDALE CANDIDA CAS A ; SANNOCK; THE 
 GOOD PASTOR. 
 
 CAME the morning robed in light, and hung her banner 
 out above the gateways of the day. Her earliest beam 
 smote the trident-peak of Keadd Vol. Presently 
 there came another and at once, like a fairy clothed 
 with light, went a-searching through the crevice on
 
 CALWEYDALE. 229 
 
 the forehead of the Fell. Then another and another 
 in quick succession came, and without a moment's de- 
 lay, began peering into the clefts and crannies which 
 scar the shoulder of the mountain. Soon a great 
 troop of these Light-elves was busy at work, explor- 
 ing every nook and corrie, lesser spike and pinnacle ; 
 while every one of them was happier than another at 
 having found a pretty thing to brighten up, and make 
 once more visible to mortals. If any of the latter 
 class of beings had been early astir, they would have 
 seen not only the arrival of the bright little fellows, 
 and the many little gems of light-and-pencil sketches 
 which they first dashed off on face of sky and fell ; 
 but they would also have witnessed the splendid 
 scenic effect which, in the next instance, their fine 
 artistic touches harmoniously created. 
 
 With the morning came other messengers of light. 
 Bright spirits of the Intelligence they came, every one 
 after his ministry in the collegiate faculty of Mind, 
 and filling all Thought-Land with scenes of busy life. 
 First to come was the gentle herald, who gently opens 
 the door of consciousness, and lets in upon the soul 
 the light of a new day. Nearly at the same instant 
 came the grateful spirit with a suggestion of devotion 
 in his wings, and when his ministry was fulfilled there 
 immediately appeared a little Mercury, saying "Calwee, 
 Calwee/' in a way that attracted my attention. The 
 word was not unfamiliar to me, and I had noticed it 
 months before as having possibly some relationship to 
 Kilveeghal. So said I to my little interviewer, "Calwee 
 I know, and Kilvee I know, but what sort of a word 
 comes in for the ending of Keilveeghal ?" Quick as
 
 230 CALVEEGHAL. 
 
 thought came the answer "dal !" It seemed to fall on 
 my ear like the clear note of a bell in the calm morning 
 air, and to have had its birth-place in a clear sparkle 
 of the purest light, which gleamed against the deep 
 blue sky. At once all my difficulties with Kilveeghal 
 vanished, and " Kirk-Dale," as its true meaning, rose to 
 my lips. More literally interpreted, Kilveeghal [keel- 
 veehal] signifies House-of-prayer Dale. 
 
 Here, as elsewhere, truth is its own evidence. From 
 every quarter of the land comes a cloud of witnesses, 
 testifying to the soundness of the conclusion. Coludi 
 claims the Calwee or Keilvey of Sannox as a sister 
 house of prayer. So do Glasgow, Collace, Kelso, and 
 hundreds of the same stock, whose names being in- 
 terpreted signify house of prayer. Surely the early 
 Christians must have had much and intimate acquaint- 
 ance with the words and truths of Holy Writ, else how 
 did it happen that their favourite designation for a 
 place of Christian worship was drawn from the very 
 words of the Great Teacher Himself, " It is written, 
 My house shall be called the house of prayer ; but ye 
 have made it a den of thieves ?" 
 
 It seems scarcely necessary, after the numerous 
 illustrations given above, to delineate the process by 
 which Calweydal becomes Calveeghal ; but, for the 
 sake of those who are less familiar with the Gaelic 
 idiom, it may be stated that the d in dal, a dale, has 
 been aspirated, and then pronounced like gh. The 
 Callodale of Naraghan has escaped the altering force 
 of aspiration, probably because of the strong Danish 
 influence there ; yet it has the very same meaning as 
 Calweydale or Keilveeghal. The Kelsoes of Arran
 
 CANDIDA CASA. 231 
 
 dwelt for generations in Callodale, and must have had 
 their surname from the old house-of-prayer there. 
 Kildavee in the south of Kintyre is^the very same as 
 Calwey (house of prayer), and has nothing to do with 
 " Dewi " this latter being Captain White's suggestion. 
 The other two Keilveeghals or Keilmichaels in Arran 
 are the exact equivalents of Calweydale in respect of 
 mere nomenclature. The three fisJi-Jieads which form 
 the device of the Kilmichael family, have been derived 
 from a misunderstanding of the old Celtic name of the 
 bedesmen or churchmen of Glencloy. This fact is one 
 of the strong witnesses to the truth of what has just 
 been stated. But what is even more extraordinary, it 
 can be shown that the famous Kate Kennedy of St 
 Andrews simply signifies House-of-prayer. Conse- 
 quently Kate Kennedy's Day has nothing to do with 
 the celebration of the festival of a personage of that 
 name. Still more startling is the fact that Candida 
 Casa need have no sort of connection with the Latin 
 tongue, because simply a debased form of the Gaelic 
 equivalent of Weitern or Whithorn, that is, The church 
 of the headland, Cape-kirk, or the Cape of the house 
 of prayer. Lukopibia evidently means Abbot's Kirk 
 the initial cill having been dropped and though 
 found in Ptolemy may justly be suspected of having 
 been inserted by a much later hand. To illustrate 
 and verify such statements by the facts and principles 
 of philology, will require a great deal more space than 
 can be found within the limits of this little book, but 
 it is hoped that an opportunity of doing this in a 
 future and more technical treatise, will occur. 
 
 The dedication of churches to saints does not appear
 
 232 SANNOCK. 
 
 to have been much practised by the churchmen of the 
 Culdee age. Some very pertinent facts on this point 
 are given in Miller's "Arbroath and its Abbey," where 
 it is stated that among twenty-five churches belonging 
 to the Abbey of Arbroath in the time of King William, 
 only one was designated by the name of a saint, viz., 
 Maryton or Old Montrose. This is important to notice 
 in connection with the name of Sennock (Pont) or 
 Sannock in Arran, and the conclusion I have to come 
 to is, that this Sennoc is the old Scotch suinn-haug 
 [seinnauk], that is, heroes' grave-mound. The former 
 term is found in Scenes Law, as well as in many other 
 local names, and it is certain that sann, suinn, or seinn, 
 is a loan word from the Gaelic sonn, gen. suinn. 
 According to the custom of the people in the west of 
 Scotland, sonn is pronounced sann ; but the borrowers 
 of words from other languages are as much in the 
 habit of using the oblique cases of nouns as any other 
 hence suinn pronounced seinn, a hero. Sannock- 
 mound or Sennauk-knowe, speedily becomes Sannock 's 
 Mound, and in the same way arise Sannock's glen, 
 Sannock's Ossary, or graveyard, etc. 
 
 As Croshileagie in Cantyre signifies the cross of the 
 oratory or house of prayer, and Aberlady or Aber- 
 lessic means the ' armot ' or confluence of the church 
 or oratory, may we not, after these and other analogies, 
 call the mouth or 'oyce' of the south Sannox river 
 Aberleagie ? This last form is the equivalent of Aber- 
 lady, and signifies the aber of the church or house-of- 
 prayer.* 
 
 * Captain Oliver says : " The Burghs with their double mural shells 
 and spiral staircases are known to have been fortresses in the Shetland
 
 THE NIX. 233 
 
 Balsillie occurs as a local name, and it signifies the 
 town of the church or house of prayer baile chill 
 ghuidhe. It is highly probable that the ancient village 
 of South Sannox would, in the far-off days, be often 
 so designated. Balysaly is in the Isle of Man, and 
 signifies church-town. It is not far from Rushin- 
 castle, i.e., the castle of the mighty heroes. 
 
 Since we are still lingering by the side of Beach- 
 fountain, and are about to pass away from it and 
 Calweydale for good, let it be observed that springs of 
 this kind are sometimes called after nik or nix, a 
 demon well-known to the old Scots, and not yet quite 
 forgotten. Near Langholm there are two springs or 
 fountains, both of which bear the name of Dinxies or 
 Danksie's Well, that is, the water-sprite's well or 
 spring. Here we have the old Scots article da, de, 
 prefixed to nik, and when Dink's-well had become 
 quite an established appellation, a diminutive form 
 was given to it just as it stood : hence Danksie's Well 
 or the little demon's fountain.* Such names originated 
 in the heathen age, and it is remarkable how they sur- 
 vive in spite of all the teaching and enlightenment 
 bestowed upon the people. Demons' wells, so far as 
 known to me, do not occur in Arran, but not a few 
 other places in the island have their names from the 
 goblin brood. 
 
 Islands, and in the same category may be placed the Boens and Cillgah, 
 or Gol-cagh, of Ireland." Now boen is a contraction of boen-hoiise 
 (prayer-house) as kirk is a contraction of kirk -house (Lord's house), and 
 Cillgay or Golcagh signifies House-of-prayer. Sometimes such ancient 
 churches were built on strong places, or fenced about with munitions. 
 
 * The Nix, plural nixen, is a spirit or demon of the water, according 
 
 P
 
 234 THE GOOD PASTOR. 
 
 Having got so far upon firm ground with regard to 
 the ancient church of Calweydale, it is clear that we 
 must not say that this church was dedicated to St 
 Michael. But of those noble features which have been 
 traced on the sculptured stone by the churchyard gate 
 no history has hitherto been forthcoming. Were they 
 carved by some loving hand in memory of one who 
 ministered the word of life to his little flock within the 
 walls of the old house of prayer ? Were they meant 
 to represent the effigy or likeness of a Culdee or ser- 
 vant of God ? And if so, did his people call him 
 prester or presbyter, priest or papa, bishop or coarb ? 
 These are questions which cannot be answered, but 
 it is highly probable that the sculptured head com- 
 memorates one of the ancient worthies of the now 
 obliterated church. We can think of him as a pastor 
 such as an Apostle has described, studying to show 
 himself approved unto God, a workman that needeth 
 not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth ; 
 letting no false or corrupt communication pass his lips, 
 but that which is good to the use of edifying that it 
 may minister grace unto the hearers. Or we can 
 think of him as the peer of the worthy ' persoun' (par- 
 son) whose portrait is sketched by Chaucer : 
 
 A good man was ther of religioun, 
 
 And was a pore Persoun of a toun, 
 
 But riche he was of holy thought and werk : 
 
 He also was a lerned man, a clerk 
 
 to heathen 'freet' (knowledge, science.) These sprites were said to be 
 very wise, and to raise or sink the waters of springs and ponds. They 
 were also said to be fond of music and the dance, and, if honoured, to 
 hcixl rain in case of need or drought (Thorpe.)
 
 THE GOOD PASTOR. 235 
 
 That Cristes gospel truly wolde preche, 
 His parischens devoutly wolde he teche ; 
 Benigne he was, and wondur diligent, 
 And in adversite ful pacient. 
 
 He was a schepperde and no mercenarie, 
 And though he holy were and vertuous, 
 He was to senful man nought despitous, 
 Ne of his speche daungerous ne digne, 
 But in his teching discret and benigne ; 
 To drawe folk to heven by fairnesse, 
 By good ensample, was his busynesse. 
 But it were eny persone obstinat, 
 What so he were of high or low estat, 
 Him wolde he snybbe scharply for the nones. 
 A bettre preist I trowe there nowher is ; 
 He wayted after no pomp ne reverence, 
 Ne maked him a spiced conscience, 
 But Cristes lore and his apostles twelve 
 He taught, and ferst he folwed it himselve. 
 
 We may sketch him, in the words of Goldsmith, as 
 
 More bent to raise the wretched than to rise. 
 Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, 
 And even his failings leaned to virtue's side. 
 But in his duty prompt at every call 
 He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all ; 
 And as a bird each fond endearment tries 
 To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies, 
 He tryed each art, reproved each dull delay, 
 Allured to brighter worlds and led the way. 
 O si sic' omnes ! 
 
 Fortunately for the Church of our fathers, pastors 
 of this stamp were not uncommon, and fortunately for 
 the Church of to-day men who "follow after righteous- 
 ness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness," are 
 found in no inconsiderable numbers throughout the
 
 236 CHURCHMEN. 
 
 land. With the love of God in their hearts, and the 
 spirit of devotion to their work, they labour with 
 untiring vigilance for the deliverance of themselves 
 and their fellow-men from ignorance and error, sin and 
 guilt. Having put their hand to the plough they look 
 not back, but go on with the sowing and the hoeing in 
 the spiritual husbandry, making the wilderness of 
 many a desolated heart to rejoice and blossom as the 
 rose. Such men are their country's hope, their church's 
 pride. But, unhappily, at times a traitor arises, 
 
 Like some false friend who holds our fall in trust, 
 Oils our decline and hands us to the dust ! 
 
 Like an angel of light he appears in the councils of 
 noon-day, but under cloud of night he sneaks abroad 
 and sows tares among the wheat. No real 'true-man ' 
 or 'man of faith'* is he, and since he loves darkness 
 rather than light, and permits the " deceivableness of 
 unrighteousness " to work in his heart, it soon follows 
 that these habits acting in concert, the one from within, 
 the other from without, like sympathetic chemical 
 agents, so impart such a colour of naughtiness to the 
 outward complexion of the life as to render further 
 concealment of the true character impossible. In this 
 way, as in many others, God makes the wrath of man 
 to praise him; makes his servants strong to drive from 
 his temple those who would make it a den of thieves ; 
 
 * True-man, signifying 'man of faith,' and hence 'a Christian,' appears 
 to have been given as a name by the old Scots of Lothian to the chief 
 cleric or air of Abercorn (Trumuin) in the seventh century. Mr Green, 
 p. 33, makes statements about this cleric or 'man of God' which cannot 
 be accepted as historical, and in the same passage gives quite a wrong 
 version of "the Whithern" in Galloway.
 
 CHURCHMEN. 237 
 
 insists that he will have truth upon the tongue as well 
 as truth in the inward parts truth in doctrine as well 
 as in the dealings of daily life and, as the living 
 spring or moving force of all, requires us to accept the 
 spirit of Jesus as the spirit of prophecy, so that the 
 crooked, carnal policy of the world may yield to the 
 action of the pure and powerful principles taught by 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Ill fares the land that should find within its bounds 
 any number of churchmen, however inconsiderable the 
 number, whose general character does not rise to the 
 level of that of many country gentlemen. For faith, 
 good faith, honour, honesty, sincerity, truthfulness, 
 generosity, charity, good works and the spirit of 
 prayer, there are gentlemen of the laity and gentle- 
 men of high degree who are peers of the highest; and 
 since it is one thing to know the truth and another to 
 give it effect in our daily conversation as the religion 
 of common life, we may all learn to profit by the 
 poet's sketch of one who seemed to him scarce other 
 than his own ideal knight, and whose name shall long 
 be held in loving remembrance by our nation : 
 
 "He seems to me 
 
 Scarce other than my own ideal knight, 
 ' Who reverenced his conscience as his king ; 
 Whose glory was, redressing human wrong ; 
 Who spake no slander, no, nor listen'd to it ; 
 Who loved one only and who clave to her ' 
 Her over all whose realms to their last isle, 
 Commingled with the gloom of imminent war, 
 The shadow of His loss drew like eclipse, 
 Darkening the world. We have lost him : he is gone: 
 We know him now: all narrow jealousies
 
 238 FARCHAN. 
 
 Are silent ; and we see him as he moved, 
 How modest, kindly, all-accomplish'd, wise, 
 With what sublime repression of himself, 
 And in what limits, and how tenderly; 
 Not swaying to this faction or to that ; 
 Not making his high place the lawless perch 
 Of wing'd ambitions, nor a vantage-ground 
 For pleasure ; but thro' all his tract of years 
 Wearing the white flower of a blameless life, 
 Before a thousand peering littlenesses, 
 In that fierce light which beats upon a throne, 
 And blackens every blot." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SHORT SKETCHES OF OTHER NOTABLE PLACES, 
 WITH MANY NEW FINDINGS. 
 
 FROM Calweydale to Carrie. A truce to lengthy de- 
 scription ! Notice the pikes or gaddar at Drimeich, 
 and pass southwards a few yards to the cottages of 
 Farchan Mor. One would have expected Mora here, 
 and then the meaning would be great heights or 
 hillocks, referring to the adjacent crags. Great 
 boulder, the Rocking stone, in front ; beside it Ba\v- 
 kin's cave or goblin's cave, a hellir or rock-cave, re- 
 minding one of the Veitellir or ' the temple-cave' in 
 Kintyre beside Fiddlers-rock, />., the crag of the
 
 CORRIE. 239 
 
 temple or chapel cave ' fiddler ' being a form of veit- 
 ellir i.e. t veit-hellir, one of the numerous Keirnes, or 
 ' the Caves ' there, but having nothing to do with saint 
 Ciaran. Observe how this brings to nought all Captain 
 White's laborious speculations about Kieran, as well as 
 those of Dr Smith. 
 
 Crescent of copse-clad braes, right ; Katt-burn, that 
 is, Katt-stane burn, and about thirty yards south of 
 this tiny rivulet is the huge Katt-stane, on the right, a 
 peaked, piked, or pear-shaped stone, and named from 
 the Norse gadd, a spike, like the lofty fells above it. 
 Peak of Keenahein, right ; Achab, abbot's field or 
 land, right, referring to the abbot or minister of Cal- 
 weydale ; reach Red-ness or Dearg-cheann, with a 
 cave in the red cliff at the southern end of the crescent 
 braes ; advance about twenty yards and cross Achab 
 streamlet ; one hundred and fifty yards more brings 
 the traveller to Sughar-lock Rock, or rock of the 
 bedesman's brook (the next to the south), with a cave, 
 at the three boulders, and needlessly called the 
 Englishman's stone, since Suighar-lock Rock is much 
 older ; great granite boulder with tree near it, left ; 
 schoolhouse, right ; reach here Alltachlyve, that i?, 
 the brook of the oratory, chapel, or house of prayer, 
 otherwise called Swir-burn or bedesman's brook, and 
 the same as Suighar-lock, that is, bedesman's ' lake ' 
 or brook Norse Icekr, a brook ; hence Lugar, Lucker, 
 etc. Reach Corrie-port, Corrie Hotel, Cromla or 
 Krimbly, that is, freebooters' lodge, warriors' station, 
 right ; Arranvor, that is, big share, big croft or paffil, 
 right ; cross Luikrimburn or Locherimburn, that is, 
 ' the brook,' with burn added the n of Icekrin becom-
 
 240 KEADFEL. 
 
 ing m before ' burn,' as usual : but this brook is also 
 called Punter-burn, that is, bedesman's burn, from 
 bidder, a bedesman ; compare the Lake (laek), a rivu- 
 let at Wallace Hall, Closeburn, and Lochrin-burn, 
 Edinburgh. On the right bank of Luikrimburn was 
 Uarua or the bedesman's cave, but lately destroyed by 
 the quarriers or winners of stone ; here also is a cas- 
 cade or fuis ; quay or pier, left ; Screeb (cliff of the 
 cave) quarry, right, and showing how v becomes b, as 
 well as the Scoto-Norse influence. Corrie farm, right; 
 cross White Water or Corrie-burn, probably the Slaiyne 
 of Pont ; cyclopean boulder, right ; cross the Water of 
 Mahn, monadh, a hill-moor, or maen, a stone ; great 
 boulder, right. 
 
 The highest Keadfel, Goatfel, or Gatefield, right, 
 with the other Keadd Vols, or spike-fells, in its vicin- 
 ity ; Beinn-gail, mountain of vapour (Shaw), probably 
 referring to ' mist,' an alias of Goatfel or Ahval, but 
 not signifying 'the mountain of the wind,' as Sir 
 Walter Scott renders it (' Ben-Ghoil ') in the following 
 verses : 
 
 The sun, ere yet he sunk behind 
 Ben-Ghoil, 'the mountain of the wind,' 
 Gave his grim peaks a greeting kind, 
 And bade Lochranza smile. 
 
 Lord of the Isles, Canto 4, stanza 13. 
 
 From Corrie-burn the Kead-Vols may be scaled, 
 and the view obtained from the top of any one of the 
 peaks, but especially from the highest or southern 
 Goatfel, is not to be surpassed in the British Isles. 
 Shortly after my first ascent of the highest Goatfel, 
 I had the privilege of mounting some of the loftiest
 
 BRODICK. 241 
 
 summits of the Indian Ghauts, and grand beyond ex- 
 pression as were the views enjoyed from the latter, 
 they were not, in point of extent or impressiveness, 
 one whit superior to those obtained from the former. 
 Speaking of India reminds me of the famous moun- 
 tain " Tri-Kouta, with its trident-like top," as seen 
 from the banks of the Jummoo ; and Celtic scholars 
 will probably see the Gaelic dock, a peak or pap, in 
 the Indian kouta, or peaks.* Pass on by Markland, 
 or wood-land, to Braizay or 
 
 Brodick Castle. The name of Brodick or Braighay 
 must signify either the warriors' fort, as given in the 
 Alphabet of Arran names, or it may possibly mean 
 the chieftain's stronghold brugh aidh. In this quar- 
 ter are Crannsheanta, the old hospice, Glen Bladell, 
 probably the glen of the hero-chief's hall, Glenrosa, 
 mighty heroes' dale, or the dale of the warriors' grave- 
 monuments, Firrypein, the warriors' residence, Glen- 
 shearag, the fairies' dell, Mac Bhrolchin's Stone, the 
 field of the pillar-stone of the lord of the fiery heroes, 
 Lairigh-beyan, the champions' barrow or place of 
 sepulture, Stronaach or Stronaigh, the giant-hero's 
 pillar-stone. The last three of these local names refer 
 to stone monuments set up in memory of the mighty 
 dead. One of these monuments still stands at the dis- 
 tance of only a few yards from Brodick Schoolhouse 
 and the Duke's statue. This rude pillar-stone, bear- 
 ing the name of Stronaach, is about eleven feet in 
 
 * It is stated in Chambers's Encyclopaedia that ' Goatfell ' is an English 
 corruption for 'Goath-Bhein.' That this is quite a mistake has been 
 amply shown in these pages.
 
 242 GLENROSA. 
 
 height, about five in width, and over two feet in thick- 
 ness. The Brolchin Stone was lying on the ground 
 when Pennant saw it, and he says that it was twelve 
 feet long, two broad, and one thick. All that the 
 natives could tell him about it was that it was placed 
 over a giant, that is, according to popular usage, a 
 mighty man of valour. 
 
 It is difficult to be certain about Glen Bladell, be- 
 cause Font's map is my only authority for it, and the 
 name seems to have utterly faded from the memory of 
 the inhabitants of Arran. Its position suggests the 
 meaning of Cairn-dale (uladh), with reference to the 
 stone monuments, or seilis, which still stand in the 
 plain between Glenrosa farm-house and the sea. But 
 its apparent identity with Glenrosa homestead makes 
 one think of bol, a house, a homestead, and of several 
 other words which need not be specified here. Glen- 
 rosa is pronounced Glanruasadh (risa-haug) in the 
 Gaelic speech of Arran, but the homestead of this 
 name is placed by Pont at Mayish, and his map shows 
 Glenbladell on the site of the modern Glenrosa farm- 
 house. These facts suggest raise , a cairn, as in the 
 Arran example of An Ros, or the cairn the Bute 
 Tomenrais, or the mound of the cairn and the Cum- 
 brian Dunbalrase, or the grave-mound of the lords 
 (du'navail phis rais). Raisdal or Rosdal is certainly 
 either cairn-dale or warriors' dale. Rosland, in Bute, 
 contains many kist-burials which may have been for- 
 merly covered with cairns or ' raises.' Rispain, near 
 Whithorn, signifies the giant-heroes' residence or camp, 
 and so also does the Rispond of Durness, Loch-eribol. 
 But Rispain camp is also called Rosses' Brae, that is,
 
 GLENROSA. 243 
 
 mighty warriors' 'fort;' and Risenuke, or the giant- 
 heroes' hill-fort, is at the Mull of Galloway. These 
 heroes were clearly Danish sea-rovers or Fomorians> 
 for the sound of Jura is called An Linne Rosach, or 
 the sea of the champion rovers. The Ross is An- 
 Rias, that is, the mighty hero, and as such he is the 
 head of the clan Ross, or tribe of Danish champions. 
 The Deile o' Aldrissan is evidently the castle of the 
 lord of the Rosses or Scandinavian heroes, but few 
 people know that this is the original of Ardrossan. 
 Perhaps the Rev. Isaac Taylor will thank me for the 
 information. Portcrosch, opposite the Cumbraes, sig- 
 nifies the port of the castle of the Ross, or hero-chief ; 
 and it is known that he was here in the tenth century. 
 Roseneatn, like Rosnat of St Ninian, must be the 
 mighty heroes' peninsula risanna eitJi and Rose- 
 hearty the quarter of the mighty champions. 
 
 For the sake of illustrating the name of Glenrosa, a 
 few more of these compounds may be given. They 
 will serve to show the great variety of ways in which 
 people write and pronounce the same word, for risi, a 
 mighty hero, becomes russe, rouse, ross, reis, ryce, &c. 
 Resort signifies the sea-champions' firth, and when the 
 Gaels adopt the name they say Loch-resort. So with 
 Resapol, the Norse name of a mountain, and meaning 
 giant's dwelling ; but the Gaels introduce it with beinn, 
 giving us Benrisapol in Sunart. Riesdal or warriors' 
 dale is in Kintyre, and by the same law becomes 
 Glenreasdal. Rispaine, the name of a vitrified fort on 
 the coast of Kerry, Argyll, and signifying the residence 
 of mighty heroes, has cathair, a fortress, prefixed, and 
 so becomes Cairispaine a form which gives us Cris-
 
 244 RISAR. 
 
 piana Bay, and which, if care be not taken, is likely 
 enough to become St Crispin's Bay. Risag, or cham- 
 pions' bay, evolves Locharisaig, and appears to be the 
 same as Lochanougal, the loch of the foreign warriors. 
 Risingham, in Redesdale, means the mighty heroes' 
 town, and its old Celtic name of Habitancum has the 
 same signification. Rosebery, near Temple on South 
 Esk, is mighty warriors' burg, like Risbury in Wales ; 
 Rosslare means heroes' camp ; Rosehill is warriors' 
 hill-fort ; Rosewal, in Livingston, is heroes' camp ; 
 Rosewell, near Lasswade (Yeats' fort), is warriors' 
 stronghold ; Roslin, the mighty hero's hall ; Rossend- 
 castle, the castle of the mighty men, and Rusley, near 
 Biel, the war-men's camp. In the neighbourhood of 
 the last is Presminnen, or the mighty champions' 
 monuments ; and close by is Fatlippes or Faitleaps, 
 meaning the Yeats' beds or graves. Russafelt is giant- 
 heroes' hill, Ruswarpe, hero-men's town, Wressle, hero's 
 hall, and Ressalrig, the ridge of Hero-hall. 
 
 The risar are our Rosses, Frasers, and Russells ; 
 and in very ancient times they were described as a 
 handsome and long-lived race. The word ' brem ' or 
 * prim ' is sometimes prefixed to russe or rosse, and 
 hence the surname of Primrose, that is, the fierce hero, 
 the hero of fiery valour. It is very clear that this pre- 
 fix is the term which gives us the name of the broom, 
 or bruim shrub, that is, the shrub of the flame or fiery- 
 hued flowers ; and the word ' brimstone ' will occur to 
 everyone as the fire-stone. The connection betwixt 
 the title of Rosebery and the surname of Primrose is 
 obvious. The Tuscans or Etruscans appear to have 
 been a Germanic race of risar. Their country is
 
 GLENCLOY. 245 
 
 Rasena-land, or the land of the mighty heroes ; and 
 they are said to have called themselves Tursenes a 
 term clearly formed by the coalescence of the definite 
 article, ta, with their name. Under Celtic influence, 
 the term risi becomes greis, as in Greistonlees and the 
 Grisons. Other forms may be seen in Porsena-lar, the 
 mighty heroes' lord equivalent to Lar or Lars Por- 
 sena; Persephone, that is, mighty hero's daughter, and 
 who was also called Despcena, or god's daughter. 
 
 The pillar stones on the plain, or meadow, between 
 Glenrosa homestead and the sea-shore, were evidently 
 called the Russagh pillars, or Russa-seiles, and as such 
 gave name to the glen of Rosa, that is, the glen of the 
 mighty warriors' grave-monuments. Marked traces of 
 stone-kist burial are known to have been seen beside 
 these pillar stones, and there can be little doubt that 
 the interments are of the age of the Fomorians. Mr 
 Landsborough tells us (p. 29, " Early History of 
 Arran,") that there is a plot of ground near the Rosa 
 standing stones which is called " Monadh-na-ceann, 
 the moss of beheading." One could have wished that 
 the reverend gentleman had given the people's pro- 
 nunciation of the name, for if they say Minneny Gaun, 
 or anything like it, the name may really have reference 
 to the ancient stone monuments of the locality. 
 
 Glencloy, the glen of the house of prayer, is near 
 the Mayish stone, or Picts' stone. Compare Maeshow, 
 or the Picts' grave-mound, Maesydog Castle, or Picts' 
 castle (now Mugdock), Mustard, or Picts' town, Mussel- 
 burgh, or Picts' fenced town, with 'burgh' suffixed, 
 and Musden, or Peahts' sepulchre. At Glencloy is the 
 plain called Arywhonyne, or the cairn-field ; and here
 
 246 SKASBIDEL. 
 
 Pennant saw five barrows which appear to have sug- 
 gested the name of Straith-oughlian, or the vale of the 
 Firbolgs' graves. Pont places a Glen Rosy in this 
 quarter, also Tyrwhillen, or the land of the house of 
 prayer, and Skasbidel, or the dell of the homestead in 
 the wood. This dell must be Lagavey, at the Douglas 
 Hotel. In the vicinity are Carnabainn, the warriors' 
 cairn, Clahan-righuirt, the sepulchre of the Yeat kings, 
 Bruses-castle, the warrior's fort, because evidently 
 equivalent to Plover (the champion's hold) in Plover- 
 field (field, a fell, a hill), Ormidale, waterfall-dale, 
 Corry-ghyll, heroes' glen, Alltanowaran, the brook of 
 the champions or the brook of the grave-mound of the 
 champions, Achaglaighvolla, the field of the Firbolgs' 
 burying-place, Achadh a' chomhlain, the hero's field, 
 Achadh a' bheirghe, the champion's field, Dun-fiann, 
 the warriors' stronghold, Carnacuighen, the cairn of 
 the strangers, Blairmore, great battle-field, Margna- 
 heglish, the church land (at the old kirk of Kilbride), 
 A lit a' chomharba, the coarb's beck, or the vicar's 
 brook, Cullsthuidhean, the house of prayer, Gortan- 
 jauka, kirk-lands, and Holy Island a name which 
 explains itself. One of the old names of this island is 
 Melagsey, that is, Molag's isle, or the isle of Lughach 
 ' mo' being the honorary prefix. A distinguished 
 cleric of this name died in Lismore about four years 
 before Columkille's decease, and Dr Joyce mentions a 
 St Molaga who preached the gospel to the North 
 Britons in the seventh century. The name is found 
 in the designations of several churches, such as Kilda- 
 loig, or the church of St Lughach (in Kintyre), and 
 Kilmaluach in Skye, Raasa, &c. It is also found in
 
 LAMLASH. 247 
 
 the name of a famous stone, upon which the men of 
 Arran, in old times, were wont to swear " decisive 
 oaths." This stone was about the size of a " goose 
 egg," and was called Baul-Muluy or the "stone globe" 
 of St Muluy. Martin tells us that Muluy was a 
 " saint," and it is evident that his name is the same as 
 Moluach of Almolach or Holy Isle. The name of 
 Almolach is clearly a fragment of Innis-cheall-Molach, 
 that is, the island of Molach's church, just as the name 
 of Altivaig Isle is a broken form of Innis-cheall- 
 ghuidhe, the island of the chapel or house of prayer. 
 The principle of the interpretation lies in the fact, that 
 frequently when the head of a compound name is 
 driven from its place, it carries away with it a portion 
 of the shoulders, so to speak. Dean Monro calls Al- 
 mo-lach " the yle of Molass," and here we see the 
 beginning of the corruption which represents our Holy 
 Island as the residence of a " St Molios." There is 
 an historical Molaise of Dev-inish, and there is Maeliosa, 
 the learned lector or professor of Both-Chonais ; but, 
 so far as evidence is concerned, our Holy Island knew 
 them not. We have, therefore, no alternative but to 
 fall back on Mu-Luy or Mo-Luoc, and if he dwelt in 
 the cave that is pointed out to visitors, we may so far 
 anglicise as to call it the Cave of St Lewy or St Luik. 
 Other names of the island are Ellan-le-neuve, or 
 isle of saints, and Melansey, or the island of the ruined 
 church. 
 
 Lamlash. This name signifies the bald bulwark, 
 ruined fort, dilapidated castle ; and the foundations of 
 the old strength are still traceable near the White- 
 house. In the vicinity is Bainlesarigh, the town or
 
 248 LAMLASH. 
 
 homestead of the governor's fort, otherwise called 
 Pleystar, or the village of the chieftain's fort. The 
 original Us or strong dwelling, may have been the 
 residence of some ancient Celtic chief who, with his 
 clan or people, found a happy home in the peaceful 
 vale. But in an evil day came the ships of the 
 stranger, and a host of armed warriors seeking tribute 
 or territory. If the golden rings and bracelets of the 
 women did not purchase peace, their husbands and 
 brothers must buckle to the fight. Perhaps some 
 friendly alliance was suggested, or at least some por- 
 tion of territory ceded to the strangers. But what- 
 ever the issue, there seems to have been strife. Blair- 
 more and its cairn of the strangers point in this di- 
 rection. So does the strange old story of the singed 
 man who fought on the Lamlash 'dirlin.' The Walter 
 Fionn of the tale must be the ' fair-haired leader ' of 
 the foreign host valdr, a lord, a leader ; -the Duncan 
 Tait must be the Celtic chief, called, as in Scotland, 
 after the name of his property, for Duncan-tait signifies 
 'the nobleman's fortress.' The scene of the combat 
 between the chieftains, as the tale represents, was the 
 dirlin or green-sward at the head of the beach ; and 
 since one Macnish is said to have hatched the strife, it 
 would appear to have broken out during the celebra- 
 tion of some fair or festival. For the word ' Macnish ' 
 may well mean ' the field of the fair or festival,' as is 
 shown by Fauld Makneansh in the Cumbrae list. 
 Again, the ' singed man ' is surely the offspring of a 
 mistaken version of saoidh in the name of daingean an 
 t-saoith (Duncan 'tait), for the Gaelic doitJite signifies 
 'singed.' Here, then, have we a very probable example
 
 WHITEHOUSE. 249 
 
 of an old tale twisted out of its original shape by the 
 mere force of competing tongues, and the partial decay 
 of both, i.e., the Gaelic and Danish.* 
 
 It can scarcely be expected that the interpretation 
 of the legend which has just been given, should all at 
 once command the confidence of those who are little 
 accustomed to the kind of research which now occu- 
 pies our attention. But its force will be felt when we 
 come to see how many of the old tales can be thrown 
 into their true shape, and made the vehicles of con- 
 veying to us many a fragment of otherwise lost history. 
 Sometimes an old tale becomes embodied in a device, 
 such as that of the three fish-heads on the shield of 
 the Kilmichael family in Arran, and in this device may 
 be read a portion of the history of the primitive church- 
 men of Glencloy. So with the tree and robin on the 
 arms of the city of Glasgow : these symbols tell us of 
 an institution or establishment of clergymen, and the 
 tree and the robin are simply representations of a 
 mistaken version of the old Celtic name of the Glas- 
 gow Hospice. These and other instances of the same 
 kind will be more fully explained elsewhere, and we 
 may now return to the site of old Lamlash. 
 
 It has been already stated that a remnant of Lam- 
 lash Castle may be seen near Whitehouse, and it is 
 not unlikely that this latter name is a version of 
 Taighbain, supposed to mean 'white house,' but which, 
 as the numerous Carnabainns show, ought rather to 
 have been translated 'warriors' house.' Possibly these 
 
 * The tale is told by McArthur at p. 165 of his Antiquities of Arran, 
 but he does not speak of the singed man. 
 
 Q
 
 250 SCAUROE. 
 
 warriors were Norsemen, and if so, the name of Pley- 
 star may be formed upon Leystar, that is, the warriors' 
 residence or peel-tower baile being afterwards pre- 
 fixed. The other version of this name, as given above, 
 regards it as a Gaelic compound. Near the head of 
 Glenalaster or, perhaps, glen o' Leystar, is the rock 
 called Alcrappagh, or the crag of the abbot's seat. 
 Glenarrie, Cordan and Lagavellie, are in the Lamlash 
 quarter : more inland we find Squiler, signifying peat- 
 mosses, Urie-loch, meaning shingle-beach lake, and 
 Tuhvein, the barrow or cairn of the warriors. 
 
 Scauroe is situated on the point or headland which 
 the Gaels call Aird, and also Ceann Scauroe, or the 
 headland of the robbers' hold. Headrick wrote the 
 longer form of the name " Kingscorro," that is, Kinn- 
 scorro, and upon this as a basis was formed the name 
 of Kinn-scorro's Point. By a total misapprehension 
 of this appellation, the name has come to be written 
 Kingscross Point, and a vague idea has grown up that 
 'cross' is a ferry or passage, and that some ' king' had 
 accordingly been ferried across the firth from Scauroe- 
 point. But the name is really Ceann-Scauroe, and 
 has nothing in the world to do with either ' king' or 
 ' cross.' The Bruce may have been in Arran, but it 
 does not appear that either he himself or his name is 
 in any way connected with Scauroe, or Kings-cove, or 
 Torranree, or Bruses-castle. And it may be added, 
 that none of the writers on Arran have anything but 
 conjectures to offer when they speak of the Bruce's 
 place of embarkation. 
 
 The ruins of Scauroe, or Robbers' Hold, may still 
 be seen on the headland, and though it may be diffi-
 
 WHITING BAY. 251 
 
 cult to say who were its original builders, it is very 
 probable that the sea-rovers occupied it more or less. 
 In the song of the Fight of Maldon the Danish leader 
 is called a robber, a churl, and also a wiking. If 
 Rawngarrey be really Scorroe, it follows that the fort 
 was occupied by the 'strong men,' who might be 
 roving buccaneers to-day and the yeomen occupants 
 of Arran dales to-morrow. 
 
 Whiting Bay. This name signifies the fishing bay, 
 and has no connection with a ting, or meeting. Kis- 
 kadale, the holy-kirk dale, Cabel Urial, the church of 
 the oratory, Kildales, church-dales, Astadale, the dale 
 of the mighty warriors' stronghold, and the same as 
 Glenasdasdale ; but notice llan aosda, the ancient 
 church, and that this compound is very apt to be pro- 
 nounced Glan-aisda, like Glanrie for Lananree. We 
 find llan or lann, a church, used at Monkstown of 
 Margirish ; and as for the church or chapel called 
 Urial, its name may also be written Aryal, Airgal, 
 Arcal, and Kirk-Urral. Airgile, or the oratory, gives 
 name to a suburb of the city of St Andrews, and the 
 same word is found in the well-known Ercildoun of 
 Thomas the Rhymer. 
 
 Loumstreet is in the vicinity of Kirk-Urral or Cabel- 
 urial, and seems to point to the loum, or pilot, who 
 dwelt in the dale. But the pilot must have been the 
 religious pilot, or spiritual guide, for luam and luamhar 
 (louvar) signify a pilot, an abbot, a prior. The shorter 
 form of these two terms must be a contraction of the 
 longer one, and, though used by the Gaels, they are 
 evidently the Norse lodh madhr, a way-man, a man 
 who shows the way. How many of the Brandanes
 
 252 KIRK-URRAL. 
 
 this good old spiritual guide may have led into the 
 way of life ! Perhaps it was St Muluy of the cave 
 who built Chapel Urral in Glenashdale, and preached 
 to the Cruhney or Pictish folk the way of salvation. 
 However that may be, one cannot walk about Arcal 
 and survey the ruined fane, around which the ' rude 
 forefathers of the hamlet sleep,' without a kindly hope 
 that many burdened souls found peace within the now 
 \vasted sanctuary, and blessed their Maker for the 
 hallowed joy. 
 
 Long may the piety and the pure charity 
 
 Of pastor and people who dwelt here of yore, 
 
 Be flowers of the fairest, yet none of the rarest, 
 
 Which garland the homes near Kirk-Urral so hoar. 
 
 Fair is the scenery round this old sanctuary, 
 Whose girth-stead encloses so much precious dust ; 
 
 But dumb are the choristers ; hushed are the orators, 
 Whose eloquence filled up the ranks of the just. 
 
 Soft be the foot-fall that presses each narrow knoll 
 Enshrining the seed-corn that dies but to live, 
 
 And soft be the requiem breathed over all of them, 
 Whose ashes are here, but whose souls are above. 
 
 It is quite clear that Glenashdale is a corrupted 
 form of Glenasda-dale, and 'glenasda' may well be 
 lan-aosda, meaning ' ancient church.' If Astadale be 
 the original form, it should be asa-sta, mighty heroes' 
 town, with ' dale ' added, and referring to the great 
 stronghold of Easachrannaigh, that is, the waterfall of 
 the heroes' stronghold. This last-mentioned name 
 contains the name of Cahr-nan-aegh, which is the 
 exact Gaelic equivalent of the old Scots Lydal, and 
 both of these simply mean heroes' hold. The great
 
 DIPPEN. 253 
 
 stronghold of Lydal is on a hill near Canobie-lee, and 
 its name is variously written Liddal, Lytil, &c. 
 
 Pass up the slope of Drimlecarlew, or the eminence 
 of the Firbolgs' burying-place. Here are huge struc- 
 tures of extraordinary interest, and often called ' the 
 giants' graves,' but very much torn up and wasted by 
 the treasure-seekers. The name is associated with 
 Cnoclecarlew and Torr-na-Baoileag, the latter mean- 
 ing the hill or grave-mound of the Firbolgs. On the 
 right is the high, rugged region of Garvait, giving us 
 the name of Knocacharbait, or the hill .of the rugged 
 district. Near Dippen or Dupenny />., Daubeinne, 
 the warriors' fort, is the hill called Cnoc-nan-aoidhean 
 or the Giants' Hill, that is, the fiery warriors' hill, and 
 remarkable for having escaped the imputation of being 
 Ossian's Grave, although its name contains the very 
 same word which, when badly pronounced, certain 
 sciolists have imagined to be 'Ossian.' There is a 
 fine fort called Daubeinny about an hour's walk from 
 Lauder, and not far off are the Addiston rings or war- 
 riors' camp. The Piper's cave is at Dippen, and the 
 name shows that the cave was frequented by the 
 hermit bedesmen. 
 
 Pass on to Touredder or the knight's tower, at Kil- 
 donan or the sepulchre of the Downans (Firbolgs) ; 
 then to Drimlabarra or the ridge of the bedesmen's 
 church ; Lhun, the church, near Ballymeanach or 
 monks' town, and Margirish, which, after all, must 
 really mean the bedesman's field ; Achaneow [achan- 
 you], the field of the corn, Leven-water, the stream of 
 the war-men's town, Shannochie, the old grave-mound 
 but Pont has Channochy, the headland of the graves,
 
 254 KILMORY. 
 
 because probably the same as Torr-nan-uain ; also Kil- 
 bride, which is here most likely to be cladh nam Brit, 
 that is, the burial-place of the Brits or Britons. 
 
 Kilmory. This name is also written Kylemure 
 [keilmuiry], and signifies Mary-kirk. There is noth- 
 ing to give countenance to the suggestion that it is 
 Kilmaree. To the north is Stragheala, the vale of the 
 house of prayer, Allt St Muireig, St Mary's brook, 
 Achareoch, the bedesman's land, Carnbeyn, the war- 
 riors' cairn also called An Ros, i.e., an rais, the cairn 
 Allt-nan-stuaigh, the brook of the pillar-stones (of 
 Anros) Achaleffan, Cleynack and Lag Torrylean, 
 the knoll or mound of the sepulchre of the heroes, 
 Clachaig, the champion's barrow or grave-mound. To 
 the west of Clachaig or Clauchog there are two places 
 of sepulture, whose names contain the word aoidJiean, 
 but it has been found that, while some of the natives 
 of Arran pronounce the names of these two places 
 correctly, others are so slovenly in their speech as to 
 say aoisthean for aoidJiean. The latter, however, is 
 proved to be the correct form, and Dr Hately Waddell 
 may as well fix upon the " Clach Ossian " of Glenal- 
 mond for the tomb of Ossian as upon Clachaig. Clach 
 Ossian simply means heroes' stone ; and, since there 
 are several grave-mounds at Clachaig, it is easy to see 
 how that collectively they could be called cladha nan 
 aoidJiean z>., the barrows of the heroes, and that the 
 corruption of the latter part of the name could be the 
 only authority for the statement of Macbride, viz., 
 " Ossian is said to have died here." 
 
 Baincaraighan signifies the warriors' town, and is the 
 Gaelic equivalent of Scorroe, champions' camp, in
 
 SCORODALE. 255 
 
 Scorodale or the vale of the champions' settlement. 
 These fellows were surely Scandinavian wikings or 
 sea-rovers, for the skadhar were usually such. In this 
 quarter we find Cravy Caioeal, the church of the 
 devout worshippers, Leanry, or the bedesman's house, 
 Torrveyluin, Margavlair, and Glen Ramskel. Above 
 Burican we have Kopp-hill or head-hill, Bock-hill or 
 peak-hill, Alltborrachan or the brook of the grave- 
 mounds, and Alltoulyagree or the brook of the sepul- 
 chre of the heroes. On the right bank of Scorodale 
 water is the place called Margreuldacan, that is, the 
 ruin of the sepulchre of the lords or of the fiery war- 
 riors (aoighean), because also called Leaghaveelaigh, 
 that is, the grave of the champions. Taigh-na-beist, 
 the house of the dragon or grisly goblin, is in the glen 
 of Alltoulyagree, and south of it is Sledaroe, or the 
 fort of the champions or slayers, being equivalent to 
 the Gaelic Corachrevy, z>., the fort of the champions. 
 On the sea-shore is Portnafeandaich, the port of the 
 Danish warriors, but also called Hadak or Hattak 
 port, that is, champions' haven ; and near it is the sub- 
 marine bank of Eyrin, or the gravelly bank. About a 
 mile west of Corachrevy, and on the upper side of the 
 road, is Brawne-kein, or the champions' grave -bed ; 
 but in Gaelic the place is called Lagagailleohen, that 
 is, the vale of the pillar-stones of the heroes. By a 
 mispronunciation of the latter name, an Ossian's grave 
 was evolved here also. The pillar-stones which marked 
 the interments have been removed and used for gate- 
 posts. Near Corachrevy is Clappen Hill, a name 
 which signifies the warriors' fort or burial-place. 
 Headrick tells us of the Brown Hills, that is, warriors'
 
 256 KILPATRICK. 
 
 hills, and it is clear that the name is intimately asso- 
 ciated with Bravvne-kein. 
 
 Kilpatrick. Near this place may be seen Cnocan a' 
 chrannchuir, the hill of 'the bedesmen's hospice, Dri- 
 mayeinar, the ridge of the fort of the chieftain or 
 abbot, Coirnabaith, the abbot's dell, and Torrandaive, 
 or the hill of the learned man (a cleric, probably.) 
 The word daimh, a learned man, is evidently the same 
 as the slang word 'dab,' an accomplished fellow, as "a 
 dab at cards," or the like. Pass on to Achavoulin, the 
 field of the mill, Furling or Feorlin, the warriors' cairn, 
 Uasghnogh, the river of the heroes, and which, as used 
 by Headrick, seems to be a name of the Black Water; 
 but possibly it is a corruption of tiaigh nan aotglie, 
 that is, the sepulchre of the heroes, with reference to 
 the great cairn of Feorlin, or to the 'kistvaen' between 
 Drimadoon homestead and the sea. Regarding this 
 kistvaen, or stone tomb, the usual errors have cropped 
 up. Its old Gaelic name is Leachd-nan-aoidhean, that 
 is, the grave-monument of the heroes, but since the 
 meaning of the last part of the name had become lost 
 to the people of Arran, none of them could make any- 
 thing better out of it than "the grave of Fingal's 
 daughter," or " Ossian's grave," or (combining the two 
 errors) "the grave of Ossian's daughter!" The reader 
 will notice that, in this instance also, the word ' aoid- 
 hean ' or ' aoighean ' must have sometimes been mis- 
 pronounced ' aoisthean ' or ' oisein,' and that such has 
 really been the case I am able, from personal inter- 
 course with the men of Arran, to state distinctly. It 
 is scarcely fair to the people of Arran to represent 
 them as detailers of traditions regarding a great stone
 
 DRIMADOON. 257 
 
 mausoleum, on the mere ground of an occasional mis- 
 pronunciation of its name or inability to interpret it. 
 There is a manifest difference between the interpreta- 
 tion of a local name and the traditional remembrance 
 of the name itself. Accordingly, we cannot say that 
 the men of Arran have a tradition to the effect that a 
 certain spot is the grave of Fingal's daughter, or of 
 Ossian's daughter, or of Ossian himself; for they 
 frankly acknowledge that these conflicting notions are 
 only the result of attempts at interpretation. The 
 grave-monument at Drimadoon may be called a kist- 
 vaen (chest of stone), and of this a Gaelic version has 
 lately appeared in the form of Ciste-cloiche.* To 
 describe it as a ' cromlech ' is to use a term which is 
 very objectionable, on account of the utterly false 
 theory which the term was invented to support. But, 
 since the correct name of the monument has been 
 found, and may be anglicised Laghtaneyan or Lat- 
 tanoon (the monumental heap of the fiery warriors), 
 it is unnecessary to apply any other designation to it. 
 Lattanoon reminds one of Dunoon, or the castle of 
 the fiery heroes. 
 
 Martin speaks of " a circle of Big-stones a little to 
 the south of Drum-Cruey, the area of which is about 
 twelve paces. There is a broad thin stone in the 
 middle of this circle, supported by three lesser stones." 
 There is no difficulty in identifying this circle with 
 Lattanoon. Two or three standing stones still mark 
 the spot, and the great slab of whinstone which forms 
 
 * A very good name for a kistvaen is found in the old Scotch ' hettle- 
 kist,' that is, stone-slab chest ; and 'nettle' is the Norse hella.
 
 258 TORR-MOR. 
 
 the cover of the grave-kist, still rests upon the edges 
 of three of the slabs which form the sides of the stone 
 chest. The remnants of a cairn which must have 
 covered the grave-kist may still be seen, and also a 
 stone which looks like the covering slab of a smaller 
 kist. Nothing is known, however, of the cairn -breakers 
 who pierced the barrow and extracted from its interior 
 whatever treasure they could lay hands on ; but if the 
 ghosts of the departed heroes did not scare the 
 plunderers in their dreams, it was surely not from 
 want of provocation. 
 
 The name of Drimadoon may be explained to mean 
 ' the ridge of the bulwark ' or fortification. It is also 
 called Druim Cruney, or Picts' ridge ; and, strange to 
 say, it has still another name, viz., Cahrnabeyan, that 
 is, the 'caher' or camp of the champions. Sheaskan 
 Vale is the vale of the fenny ground, Ballygown, the 
 town of the church, Sheaddaug, the town of the 
 Danish heroes, Clachan, the oratory or small church, 
 St John's cell or seann-chill, the old church, Crolluy or 
 Traighliath, the knoll of the house of prayer, Daire- 
 nan-aoigh, the champions' thicket. For these and other 
 well-known names in this quarter, see 'The Alphabet.' 
 
 Torrmor. The western or shore face of this hill 
 presents a cliff which is pierced with numerous caves. 
 These are reported to have been the dwelling-places 
 of giants or champions, and the tradition is confirmed 
 by the structures which may still be seen in and about 
 the caves. Some people have supposed that the word 
 ' king' is found in the name of the grandest of these 
 caves, but the word is more likely to be either kinn, 
 the face of a hill, or keinn, that is, the cave. Now,
 
 KINGS-CAVES. 259 
 
 Bruses' Keinn signifies the cave of the champions, and 
 as the famous spider is said to have performed here in 
 the presence of The Bruce as well as in a " hut " or 
 den at Scorroe Point, we may look for an explanation 
 of the tale in the word ' wabster,' that is, a spider, also 
 a cave-dwelling. The interior of the ruined fort of 
 Scorroe would be called a den or kei (Gaelic, uam/t], 
 and as the fort was a dwelling or ' bister,' the people 
 would readily say 'ua-bister' or Wabster, z>., den- 
 house. Another appellative of the spider is atter-cob, 
 a compound which would be readily confused with 
 Eatter-cove, or giants' cave. But an 'ether' is a snake 
 or serpent, and it is remarkable that the figure of a 
 large snake or serpent is carved on the north wall of 
 the chief cave at Torrmor. The term keirnes signifies 
 'the caves,' and this is evidently the word used in 
 Keirens-caves on the opposite coast of Kintyre. The 
 singular definite keinn, meaning ' the cave,' is so pro- 
 nounced as to give rise to 'keing;' and in the south 
 of England this same word is written 'kent' in the 
 name of the famous Kent's Cavern (near Torquay), 
 that is, ' the cave's cavern.' 
 
 The caves of Torrmor have probably been also 
 occupied at times by hermits or religious recluses. 
 Although they are not, like so many caves, called 
 Pypars' Caves i.e., bedesmen's caves, .the work which 
 has been wrought on them seems to point more to the 
 patient art of recluses than to roving pirates or cham- 
 pions. The great or chief cave shows a nicely hewn 
 stone chair near its mouth, and the figure of an ecclesi- 
 astic is traced with a sharp tool upon the ship-stern 
 pillar at its inner end. His left hand is represented
 
 260 "HORSE SHOE." 
 
 holding an open book over his head, and his right 
 hand appears to sustain something like a casket. A 
 claymore, apparently, is represented near this figure, 
 and in the vicinity of the stone chair may be seen the 
 serpent or snake already referred to. If another idea 
 regarding the serpent may be given, it is found in 
 ' suir-peint,' that is, the bedesman's dwelling, and the 
 likeness of this to ' serpent ' is sufficiently obvious. 
 The " horse shoe " mentioned by Martin was evidently 
 supposed to mean ' giant's shoe,' and hence the gigan- 
 tic foot-print which has been carved on the ship-stern 
 pillar. No horse-shoe can now be found " engraven " 
 on the south side of the cave, and since hirse, a giant, 
 is readily confounded with ' horse,' it would be easy to 
 show that Martin must have written from jumbled ac- 
 counts, and not from his having personally seen a 
 horse-shoe engraven on the rock. But the true mean- 
 ing of " horse shoe," in this instance, will be found 
 neither in 'giant's shoe,' nor yet in the shoe of a horse. 
 The cave must have been called ' horshu-cave,' and, in 
 the language of the men of Arran and Cantyre, this is 
 the same as ' hirshu-cave,' that is, bedesman's cave 
 uanili-fhirghuidlie* The partial translation of the old 
 name of the cave, and the letter-change of ' gh ' into 
 ' sh,' are quite in keeping with the ascertained habits 
 and speech of the Islesmen. A further confirmation 
 of the conclusion just stated is drawn from the ' wab- 
 ster,' that is, uamh a' ghuidheachair, the bedesman's 
 cave. And whatever may become of the spider of 
 
 * The luck of picking up a horse-shoe was probably at first the luck of 
 finding a powerful bedesman one powerful enough, by prevailing 
 prayer, to win absolution for a man.
 
 BRUGES' CAVES. 261 
 
 Scorroe, his fate is not necessarily wrapped up in that 
 of the spider of Bruse-cave. It is enough for the 
 present to be able to pull off the mask, and to see in 
 these caves the rock-dwellings of anchorets and war- 
 riors. We may still, however, speak of them as Bruces' 
 Caves, that is, champions' caves ; but we can scarcely 
 say Bruce's Cave in the sense of ' the cave of king 
 Robert the Bruce.' The king's name is simply the 
 appellative brus, bris, or bryce, a mighty hero, invested 
 by usage with the dignity of a proper name. It fol- 
 lows therefore that, if king Robert the Bruce ever 
 dwelt for a season in one of these caves, the fact must 
 be made good by special historical evidence ; for one 
 of the names of the caves can be satisfactorily ex- 
 plained by a common term which is in very frequent 
 use. And since nothing but tradition connects these 
 caves with The Bruce, it is a tradition which is fully 
 accounted for and justified without reference to the 
 king at all. 
 
 The older natives of Arran often call the Bruces' 
 Caves simply ' Na h-uamhaichean,' that is, ' the caves,' 
 and one of them states that he never heard the word 
 rtgk, a king, used in combination with this name. 
 Another elderly native says that he knows nothing of 
 a hill called Torr-righ or Torr-righ-beag. It is very 
 clear, then, that these are recently invented names, 
 and founded upon the very questionable conclusion 
 which associates a king with the caves. The " Kings 
 Hill " of Ramsay's map of Arran is really Torr-mor, 
 or big hill ; and if Torranree be an old name for it, its 
 meaning is ' the hill of the heather.' 
 
 The Wasatar or Wabstar Cave (bedesman's cave)
 
 262 SERPENTS. 
 
 receives ample illustration from such names as Satiris 
 Muli, the bedesmen's Cape now called Mull of Kin- 
 tyre Basatar, the residence of the bedesmen, and not 
 far from the Mull just mentioned ; Twaesistar, the 
 bedesman's house, at Linton on the Borders ; Soutar- 
 point, the bedesmen's point, at Monkwearmouth ; 
 Soutra-kirk, the church of the bedesman or cleric ; 
 Sausserland, the bedesmen's land, Paisley ; Hunting- 
 doggesatdcar and Sugarlock in Arran ; Siccar-cave, 
 the bedesman's cave, near Kirk-Helen, Auldcambus ; 
 Soceres- meadow, near Carlisle ; Seggarsdean, the 
 bedesman's vale, near Haddington and Monkrig ; 
 Sauchar-bay, the bedesmen's bay, Elie-ness ; and the 
 Souters of Selkirk, i.e., the bedesmen or Christian gen- 
 tlemen of Selkirk (hall-kirk). In the last instance the 
 appellation seems to have been first applied to the 
 numerous ecclesiastics of the town, and afterwards to 
 the whole of its inhabitants. 
 
 With reference to the figure of a serpent traced on 
 the wall of the cave, as noticed above, it may be stated 
 that there are many popular tales about serpents. 
 One of these serpents is large enough to clasp a hill 
 which is still crowned with the remnants of a rampart 
 or fortification ; another destroys a whole fleet of ships ; 
 a third mounts guard over an orchard ; and a fourth is 
 slain by a furious chieftain. The last instance is com- 
 memorated in the following lines : 
 
 " The wode laird of Laristone 
 Slew the worm of Worme's Glen, 
 And wan all Linton parochine." 
 
 It is generally known that our grandfathers called an 
 adder or snake a 'worm,' as in the proper name
 
 LEGENDS. 263 
 
 Guthorm, that is, battle-snake.* But it is highly 
 probable that the 'worms' are sometimes a mistaken 
 version of 'ethers,' or giants, and sometimes of 'Roms,' 
 or Christians. Many of the old Celtic names of 
 churches and oratories would, when corruptly pro- 
 nounced, suggest the idea of a serpent. To show 
 how this is so would demand more space than can 
 be afforded here ; but it may be briefly stated that 
 the results of a careful study of this subject point 
 to the frequent substitution of serpent for bedesman. 
 If the name of Ramsway signifies ' cleric's temple,' as 
 surely it does, it is easy to see how readily it may be 
 corrupted into ' vramsay,' or worm's kirk. Accordingly, 
 the " worm of Worme's Glen " may simply mean the 
 * cleric of Rom-kirk,' just as Ramskel signifies Rome- 
 folks' dwelling, that is, Christians' dwelling. Ram- 
 ports is at St Abb's Head, and signifies the Rome- 
 folks' or Christians' fortress. It contains the Willock, 
 or House-of-prayer, from whence comes the name of 
 Willock-nest, or 'the cape (nes-it) of the Oratory.' 
 Twaesistar's knoll becomes changed into the knoll of 
 the two sisters, and a legend is soon invented to ex- 
 plain the latter; but the story is entirely founded upon 
 a false translation. In Glennevis there is a Pypar's 
 cave, or bedesman's cave, but a popular tale represents 
 a piper as penetrating the cave, and playing the tune, 
 <( O that I had three hands " this name of the tune, 
 however, being really the Gaelic name of the cave, and 
 signifying the bedesman's cave. Another form of the 
 
 * The surname Blue must be an erroneous version of Guthorm, through 
 confusion with gorm, blue.
 
 264 SLEE-NA-GARRAHAN. 
 
 name is Uaigh-t-Hoirle, the cave of the oratory, but 
 the writer of the old account of Kilmalie erroneously 
 rendered it " Samuel's Cave." O. S. A., viii. 407. 
 
 We may now leave the caves of bedesmen and buc- 
 caneers. Few places in Arran will more delight the 
 traveller or repay a visit. As Grierson said of the 
 caves at Barlocco, they are " temples not made with 
 hands." And like some of the tiny hill temples in 
 India, they are beautifully decked with moss and fern. 
 An air of solitude invests the place and disposes the 
 mind to reflection. On this account the caves would 
 be dear to the old bedesmen. The privacy which they 
 afforded would not be often disturbed, unless by the 
 occasional cooing of the rock-doves in the galleries. 
 Scarcely would the plashing wave, as it rolled up to 
 the threshold of the caves, affect the serenity of these 
 calm retreats. The sound of many waters without 
 would be a fit accompaniment to the voice of praise 
 and prayer within. Refreshed in spirit and braced in 
 every faculty, the temporary hermit would return to 
 his flock (for he was often a beneficed clergyman), 
 lead them into pastures new, and nourish them with 
 the words of faith and sound doctrine.* 
 
 Slee-na-garrahan. This name denotes 'the moor of 
 
 * It should be noticed that the locality of Veitellir, or ' the temple 
 cave,' may be seen on the farther side of the Sound, and a little to the 
 south of Kildalloig. Webstar may be 'we-bister,' that is, tern pie - 
 dwelling, holy-house place. Compare Vossac, or 'religious house,' at 
 Temple, Mid-Lothian, and clearly the name of the old church there. 
 The name of Vaesac is inscribed beneath the belfry. Beside it are the 
 letters M. I. H. M., and apparently meaning 'the humble likeness of 
 the hospice of the monks ' modicum instar hospitii monachorum.
 
 STONE CIRCLES. 265 
 
 the pillar-stones,' and applies to a tract of waste land 
 in the vicinity of Machrie Water. The place is famous 
 for the magnificence of the old stone monuments 
 which have been raised in honour of the mighty dead, 
 and for the intense interest they awaken in every be- 
 holder. No mean men could their builders have been ; 
 and though the hands which reared them have long 
 been dust, their remembrances attest a noble race. 
 What gifts of strength and skill do these tall pillar- 
 stones imply! What lively emotions of filial piety 
 leading to a due consignment of the dead ! And when 
 the heap was raised over kist and urn, the tears which 
 fell around the tomb seemed to crystallize into great, 
 grey, granite boulders, where they still remain an 
 evidence alike of human feelings in the far-off past, and 
 of intellects that could devise structures so stable. 
 
 One of the stone circles is still marked by three rude 
 unchiselled columns of great height and most imposing 
 character. The tallest of the group stands eighteen 
 feet above the ground, and being of red free-stone, its 
 surface has become beautifully chased as with a grav- 
 ing tool by the weather. A similar ornament of raised 
 work belongs to its nearest neighbours, and one of the 
 three is curiously ribbed like the brown sea-sand. A 
 prostrate slab of red sandstone shows where another 
 column stood, and near it lies a perforated slab of 
 granite, which some enterprising miller seems to have 
 thought of converting into a millstone. One of the 
 adjacent circles shows a pillar of great height, and 
 several others of not greatly inferior dimensions ; while 
 among the remaining monuments on the heath, the 
 traveller will notice the double circle near a peasant's 
 
 R
 
 266 PANEL'S STONE. 
 
 house, and to the west of the latter a rifled chamber, 
 formed of such massive slabs as may well indicate a 
 prince's tomb. 
 
 Several names are found in connection with the 
 cairns and stone circles of this locality. One of these 
 is Cnocan-a-tuva, that is, the hillock of the burial-heap, 
 and may refer to the place of the stone coffin which, 
 as Martin tells us, had its contents washed away by 
 the Kirkmichael river. A second is the Panel's Stone, 
 and notwithstanding what has been said about this 
 name, it is interesting to know that panail signifies 
 ' the lord's grave ' beabh an fhail. A third name is 
 the one which is applied to the double circle, but it is 
 a name which was entirely misunderstood by the late 
 Rev. A. Macbride, who first mentions it. The reverend 
 gentleman fell into a similar error about the name 
 Glentuie, writing it Glen-in-tshuidhe instead of Glen- 
 in-tumha. Applying the presumed correction to 
 Macbride's name of the double circle we get Tumha- 
 coraidhean (tuacorain), that is, the burial-mound of 
 heroes, instead of his Suidhe-choir-Fhionn. The mis- 
 take was a pardonable one, for the word tum/ia, a 
 burial heap, is obsolete in Arran and Cantyre, although 
 in these parts it is still found in the names of a number 
 of cairns and ancient places of sepulture. If another 
 possible cause of mistake may be suggested, it will be 
 seen by the Gaelic scholar in the ' article ' as used in 
 the name of the glen just mentioned, and particularly 
 so if brought into comparison with the other error of 
 " Suidhe Challumchille " instead of the correct form 
 Tuachallimchill, ' the grave-mound of the foreign war- 
 rior' (calm-gall). In the ordinary speech of the people
 
 TUCORIN. 267 
 
 cnocan, a knoll, or cairthean, pillar stones, would often, 
 according to many well-known examples of the man- 
 ner, be used before Tumha-coraidhean, so that it does 
 not surprise one to find a busy clergyman falling in 
 with the popular notion and representing the name as 
 containing 'suidhe' instead of the more correct, but to 
 him obsolete word, ' tumha.' 
 
 For the sake of convenience let us anglicise the 
 name of this double circle, and call it Tucorin. Its 
 adoption compromises no theory and disturbs no con- 
 clusion. Let us understand that these are the condi- 
 tions upon which this abbreviated, anglicised form is 
 used, and no harm to truth will come out of it. Now, 
 it may be said that Tucorin might mean the burial- 
 mound of the pillar-stones ; but, to be brief, common 
 sense and experience show that ' the burial-mound of 
 the heroes ' is the only version or translation which 
 can be entertained. This conclusion is only slightly 
 different from the one given in the alphabetical list, 
 but not essentially so. There is, however, another 
 view to be considered, and it is one which is associated 
 with Suighairean as an anglicised form of the name of 
 the circle. If this be the true form of the name, it 
 may be observed that compounds are sometimes 
 formed by a sort of process, which may be called 
 broken Gaelic, as in Sunken Church, or the pillar 
 stones of the warriors ; Sunhoney, or heroes' graves. 
 According to this idiom, and it is far from unfrequent, 
 Suighairean may well mean ' champion pillar-stones,' 
 or the pillar stones of the heroes. Another name for 
 the Tucorin circle is suggested by what Martin and 
 others say about Finmacoul's dog, Bran. "Dog Bran"
 
 268 BRAN-KK1N. 
 
 is strangely like Daug-braan, that is, Danes' barrow or 
 burying place. And if the legend about the dog could 
 be supposed to have been derived from one of the old 
 names of Tucorin, it is easy to see that such a name 
 can be found in Bran-kein, or the warriors' grave- 
 mound (bragna-koin). Here the term kein or koin 
 exactly corresponds to coin, ' of a dog,' and it will be 
 remembered that there is a Brawne-kein near Cora- 
 chrevy. But Brain-daug may well be brugh nan Dag, 
 or the Danes' burying place, for Brainarekin, in Kin- 
 tyre, signifies the sepulchre of the captain of the heroes, 
 and the spot is marked by a huge monumental stone. 
 \Yith these compare Kilbrannan Sound, that is, the 
 Sound of the warriors or sea-rovers the name being 
 completely Norse, with the Gaelic prefix of caol, a 
 sound. 
 
 It only remains to be stated that recent excavations 
 in these stone circles entirely confirm the conclusions 
 which have been gained by philological research both 
 here and elsewhere. " Dr Bryce," says the Reverend 
 Mr Landsborough (Arran, p. 46), " by digging at the 
 centres of the circles discovered cists containing urns, 
 skulls and other human remains, flint arrow-heads, and 
 a bronze pin in a cist among the remains of a young 
 female, thus proving these memorials to be sepulchral. 
 This conclusion, however, does not disprove the tradi- 
 tional belief that they were also associated with Druid- 
 ical worship." Well, if it does not, the reason is 
 obvious. Druids might pray in cemeteries if they 
 chose, just as Christians may. Churches are built for 
 Christian worship, but that does not disprove the fact 
 that they have been used as places of sepulture.
 
 HEROES' CAIRNS. 269 
 
 Turning now to what is called "traditional belief," and 
 to the implied tradition upon which a certain belief is 
 founded, it may be remarked that our knowledge of 
 the Druids is very limited, and that any additions 
 which can be made to it by a well founded tradition 
 will be welcome. It would be important to know if 
 the Arran tradition can tell us whether the primary 
 purpose of the stone circles on Sleenagarrahan was 
 worship or interment. But if the tradition which 
 associates them with Druidical worship be all that can 
 be obtained, its value must not be overlooked. It will 
 be an important addition to our knowledge, provided 
 always that the tradition is genuine, and not a thing 
 of yesterday. These qualities, however, it is not likely 
 to possess, and the reasons for thinking so are not far 
 to seek. What we have already seen about Ossian 
 and others in Arran tells us to be on our guard. 
 " According to tradition," the daughter of Ossian was 
 buried at Lattanoon, but we have learned to under- 
 stand what that means. Our grandfathers often spoke 
 of Peaghts* and warriors in connection with cairns, 
 camps, and standing stones, but I have yet to learn 
 that tradition taught them to speak of Druids. They 
 
 * The following fragment may serve to illustrate this : 
 
 " By the cairn and Peaght Stane 
 Grisly Dreadin sate alane ; 
 Billy wi' a segge sae stout 
 Cries, ' I'll turn grisly Dreadin out :' 
 Dreadin leuch and stalked awa', 
 Syne vanished in a babinqua." 
 
 The word 'Dreadin' should mean 'the chief,' or 'the lord.' It is 
 clear that 'segge' is saga, for some copies of the lines have 'cainnt,' a 
 speech, a saying, in its stead.
 
 2/0 NEW DOCTRINES. 
 
 were innocent of tales about " Druids sacrificing their 
 bleeding victims " on altar stones, till the followers of 
 Jones and Stukely began to disseminate their doc- 
 trines among the peasantry and others. And it is 
 only too likely that Martin himself was the originator 
 of the report to which he refers, when he says " The 
 ancient inhabitants (of Arran) are reported to have 
 burned their sacrifices on the broad stone in time of 
 heathenism." Not that Martin felt himself without 
 warrant for his statement, but that he broached the 
 idea to the people and drew, or thought he drew, their 
 assent to it. The country people do not choose to be 
 esteemed ignorant, and when a few well-dressed gentle- 
 men come forward and descant eloquently on the 
 beauties of Druidism, it is not to be wondered at if 
 some are beguiled. The local names which supported 
 and expressed the older traditions being by this time 
 unintelligible to the people, and the traditions them- 
 selves becoming fainter or less coherent through the 
 greater occupation of men's minds with books and 
 newspapers, it naturally follows that a specious presen- 
 tation of new doctrines should have a good chance of 
 success. As a matter of fact, the success has been so 
 complete in some quarters, that one cannot now visit 
 lona, or Arran, or Holywood without finding Druid- 
 ism in full swing served up daily as the "standing 
 dish for tourists."* 
 
 Martin shows us that in his time the men of Arran 
 
 * Dr Reeves makes short work of the silly tales vended in lona about 
 "the never-failing Druids," and without hesitation he characterises them 
 as fiction, imperfect fiction, nonsense. See " Vita Columbae," p. 436.
 
 OLD DOCTRINES. 2/1 
 
 regarded the standing stones " as monuments upon 
 the graves of persons of note who were killed in battle." 
 He also shows that in the minds of the men of Arran 
 these monuments were associated with the wars of 
 Finn mac Coole and his mighty heroes. Some of 
 these Hibernian heroes were the "persons of note" 
 who were killed, and others were heroes of the race of 
 "the ancient natives" of Arran. The old Brandanes 
 had great store of tales about the ancient Irish Fenians 
 or champions, and especially about the prowess of 
 their renowned leader, Finn mac Coole. Several of 
 these tales were told to me by a venerable native of 
 Kintyre, and his recorded narratives show that he was 
 thoroughly free from the taint of that modern he.resy, 
 which substitutes Fingal for Finn mac Coole.* The 
 same purity in the traditions has been maintained by 
 some of the men of Arran, but not a few of them have 
 yielded to the vitiating influence of the heresy which 
 has just been referred to. And it may be remarked 
 that the general decadence of this species of folk-lore 
 is particularly manifest in the absurd inventions which 
 are occasionally palmed off as traditions. I was told, 
 for example, that Finn and Ossian had made the 
 Picture Cave their dwelling-place, but one or two in- 
 terrogations sufficed to discover the true character of 
 the communication. It then appeared that these 
 worthies were supposed to have been everywhere, and 
 that no mistake could be made by assigning to them 
 an abode wherever fancy dictated.-f* 
 
 * See Stewart's Gaelic Grammar, 2nd ed., p. 197, et seq. 
 t See pp. 80, 107, el seq., and 128.
 
 272 CAIRN-TREASURE. 
 
 There was another class of tales which gave a 
 popular interest to the cairns and other sepulchral 
 monuments. These were the tales about the hidden 
 treasures which they were believed to contain, and 
 which, in actual fact, have not unfrequently been dis- 
 covered. Taken along with the stories which repre- 
 sented the cairns as the resting-places of the mighty 
 dead, these tales evidently constituted the staple of 
 our fore-fathers' conversation regarding them.* To 
 modern times it has been left to instil new ideas into 
 the minds of the people regarding the ancient grave- 
 mounds and stone circles. As an able expression of 
 this well-established fact, and also as an illustration of 
 the popular belief in cairn-treasure, take the following 
 passage from Mr Jevvitt's admirable work: "In many 
 cases, however, they (the grave-mounds) have doubtless 
 been removed in the hope of finding treasure beneath ; 
 it being a common belief that immense stores of gold 
 in one instance the popular belief was that a ' coach 
 of gold ' was buried beneath were there for digging 
 for. Where the mounds have been removed and the 
 colossal megalithic structures allowed to remain, they 
 have an imposing and solemn appearance, and seem 
 almost to excuse the play of imagination indulged in 
 by our early antiquaries in naming them Cromlechs, 
 and in giving to them a false interest by making them 
 out to be ' Druids' altars ' altars on which the Druids 
 made their sacrifices. These same authorities have, 
 
 * Arran and Cantyre offer several examples of cairns where hidden 
 treasure is said to have been found. In one of the stone-kists of a very 
 large tumulus in the latter territory I discovered what appears to be a 
 stone axe-head. For "a bowie fu' o' gowd," see p. 125.
 
 MACHRIE. 273 
 
 indeed, gone so far in their inventions as to affirm, 
 that when the capstone was lower on one side than 
 another, as must necessarily frequently be the case, it 
 was so constructed that the blood of the victims might 
 run off in that direction, and be caught by the priests ; 
 that some of the naturally formed hollows in the stones 
 were scooped out by hand to receive the heart and 
 hold its blood for the highest purposes ; and that when 
 the cromlech was a double one, the larger was used 
 for the sacrifice, and the smaller for the Arch-Druid 
 himself whilst sacrificing. 
 
 " Researches which have been made in recent times 
 show the absurdity of all this, and prove beyond doubt 
 that the cromlechs are neither more nor less than 
 sepulchral chambers denuded of their mounds. In 
 several instances they have been found intact, and, 
 these mounds being excavated, have been brought to 
 light in a perfect state. These instances have occurred 
 in Cornwall, in Derbyshire, and in other districts of 
 England, as well as in the Channel Islands and else- 
 where. One instance is that of the Lanyon cromlech 
 in Cornwall." * 
 
 Leaving Slee-na-garrahan and its monuments the 
 traveller may take the shore road to Dougary, and 
 visit by the way several cairns and standing stones. 
 One of the latter, between Machrie farmhouse and 
 the sea-shore, is the Forgislagh of page 30, and signi- 
 fies the warriors' place of sepulture. Strictly speaking, 
 it is quite possible that this name may simply mean 
 
 * Llewellynn Jewitt, Grave-mounds and their Contents, p. 50. The 
 " coach " of gold is evidently the cog of gold.
 
 2/4 GLENLUIK. 
 
 the howe or tomb of the champion (Treik). Loch- 
 feargus is another form of this name, and it is explained 
 in the alphabetical list. At Achagallan there is a 
 cairn called Carnabeyan or Carnavainn, that is, the 
 cairn of the heroes ; but in some books the name is 
 erroneously interpreted " the white cairn." Glacvainn 
 or Claghveinn signifies the grave-mound of the heroes, 
 and is the name of a cairn in this quarter. One of 
 these barrows is fenced with a ring of standing stones, 
 and attempts have been made to associate it with 
 Druidical rites ; but we have seen enough in these 
 studies to show the vanity of such notions. Cnocan- 
 cualladh may be the mount of the burying-places 
 (Eirse cladha\ but as there is a chapel-site a little to 
 the north of it, the name may rather signify the mount 
 of the oratory. Near the homestead of Auchencar, or 
 Achachar, there is a very large pillar-stone, as the 
 name implies, and not far off is Dougary, or the man- 
 sion of the ruler the hall of the chieftain or thane. 
 
 Inland from Machrie a plain, a field is Glaister,* 
 or the glebe-land, and about a mile from it is Mony- 
 quil or Monichoillyie, that is, the hill-moor of the cell 
 of prayer (see p. 134), but possibly signifying the 
 moorland of the pillar-stone monadh a ghaille. In 
 the vicinity is Glenluie, the glen of the way or pass (to 
 Brodick), and merging into Glen-tuie-calm-gaill, the 
 glen of the cairn of the foreign champions. Near the 
 
 * Derenenach is about a mile to the south of Glaister, and may sig- 
 nify the copse-wood of the heifers or fawns ; but it may also bear the 
 interpretation which is given at p. 258 : compare Fereneze, i.e., the forest 
 of the heifers. 
 
 Traighliath is another mile further south.
 
 EASBIE. 2/5 
 
 cairn just mentioned may be seen Anteyna, or the 
 steep declivity, and to the west of the latter a Fort 
 which seems to have been called Easbie, that is, the 
 habitation or fenced-town of the mighty heroes. This 
 fort is situated on the brink of a glen which is variously 
 called Gleann Easbuig, Bishop's Glen, and Glen an 
 Thagirt ; but it is almost absolutely certain that these 
 appellations are merely inaccurate versions of ' gleann 
 Easbie.' Headrick mentions the name of Beninuaran 
 (p. 146), and while it is interesting to notice that this 
 Gaelic compound has the very same meaning as the 
 Norse Easbie, it is no less remarkable to find .the 
 former name associated with a camp or fort. Head- 
 rick describes this fort or stronghold as an " immense 
 circular mound (bulwark) of loose stones," and says 
 that it " may have been an encampment, or fort, of 
 the Norwegians, when they possessed the island." The 
 situation of Beninuaran appears to agree entirely with 
 that of Easbie, and taken along with the other argu- 
 ments indicated leaves little room for hesitation as to 
 the side towards which the weight of evidence leans.* 
 On the high ground between Easbie and Eersa 
 Water there is a tarn called Loch Tinna or the hill- 
 
 * There is an- Easbie near the Water of Ae. Compare Asapol, 
 mighty heroes' dwelling ; Aisharel, mighty warrior's tomb-stone ; Ays- 
 haug, the god-.like hero's cairn ; Ashinduish, the cairn of the doughty 
 champions ; Osnaburgh, the camp of the mighty warriors ; Hoselaw, 
 the hill-fort of the heroes ; and Osborne, the stronghold of the god-like 
 heroes. Oswald means ruler of heroes, just as Donald is ruler of Danes. 
 Chisholm should denote the mighty hero-chief's town. Astioremon L> 
 said to have been one of the forefathers of the Urquharts, and it is 
 interesting to see that his name signifies the man of the mighty warriors' 
 town.
 
 276 VANNER-LOCH. 
 
 head lake tind, a peak, a hill-top. It is sometimes 
 called Loch-nuis, that is, lochan-ais, or the lochlet of 
 the hill.* A third name for this little lake is found in 
 Vannerloch-hill, that is, the hill of the loch of the pas- 
 ture lands vangar, pastures, grassy fields. Here and 
 there among the uplands of the Garrawalt these grassy 
 spots may be found, and the name applied to them is 
 only one of the many Scandinavian appellations with 
 which the district abounds. Beyond the water of 
 Eersa is the prominent ridge of Geelkambedgill, pro- 
 nounced 'gheel-kammijil,' and signifying the keel-rig- 
 edge-hill. Thanks are due to Black's map for pre- 
 serving this name in the form of " Gille Chamigil," 
 because otherwise it would have been very difficult to 
 determine the true character of the first term in the 
 compound. But this having now been done, it is an 
 easy matter to explain the .other forms of the name. 
 Of these, one is Sail Chalmadale, and another is Sail 
 Hamdel. The old Danish term kioll, a keel-shaped 
 ridge, is the first word in the compound, and is 
 changed into 'geel' and 'sail' by sundry Gaelic influ- 
 ences which can be more fitly described in a philo- 
 logical treatise. But it may be stated here that ' sail 
 is an attempted reduction of ' hail,' in accordance with 
 the Gaelic idiom, to its nominative form, and that 
 ' hail ' or ' huil ' has been gathered or evolved from 
 
 * Compare the mountain called Canasp, that is, as-hof, or ridge-head, 
 with ceann prefixed. This Norse, term, as, is also contained in Wren- 
 ose or Wrynose [rinn-ace], Yash-ben, Aisgoval, and possibly in Benuish, 
 Arran. Professor Blackie has tried his hand on Canasp, but in this de- 
 partment he does not show the same success as in his renderings of 
 Gaelic poetry.
 
 DOUGARY. 277 
 
 druim chuil (kioll), or the like.* The Cuillin, in Skye, 
 is kioll-in, that is, the keel-shaped ridge or range; and 
 Culter-fell has its name from the same Norse appella- 
 tive kjollr. The term is often used in our local 
 names, but the instances are too numerous to intro- 
 duce here. It only remains to be said that the second 
 term in our highly compound name is kamb, a 'kame,' 
 a rig or ridge, and that it is followed by edge and hill. 
 Sherral-burn flows southwards from Loch-tanna, and, 
 as a form of Sheraw, may be held to mean clear-water, 
 or crag-water. Skauftighyll, or the head-hill glen, is 
 more to the south-west, and appears to have its name 
 from the lofty hill-head of Benvarren. Allt na h-Air- 
 idhe the brook of the shealing or green dell is in 
 the neighbourhood, and falls into Eersa-water near 
 Dougary. 
 
 Dougary, Nayrin, and Catacol. Dougary appears to 
 have been formerly the residence of a chief or lord. 
 The fuller form of the name, as used by natives of 
 Arran, is Anduighairigh, that is, the residence of the 
 ruler or prince. His town may have been at first a 
 fortified camp or ' rath,' and possibly at a later age a 
 ' brough ' or peel-tower of uncemented stones. The 
 charming situation of Dougary at the foot of the Vale 
 of Eersa, and close by a river teeming with fish,*!* 
 could not fail to attract the attention of the earliest 
 settlers, and to point it out in after times as the proper 
 heritage of the baron or captain of the host. In the 
 
 * Pladda is an instance of false reduction the Norse name of the islet 
 being Flada,'or the flat-isle. 
 
 t Earsay loch abounds with trout of different sizes, and fine salmon, 
 which are caught by cruives and draught lines. O. S. A., ix. 166.
 
 278 EERSA WATER. 
 
 Lothians there is a place called Daachgaury, and in 
 Cuningham there is a Tougry, both being the equiva- 
 lents in meaning of the name now under considera- 
 tion. Eersa is a Norse compound signifying 'trout- 
 water/ and was formerly pronounced 'yeersa,' although 
 the proper spelling was Uirsa. This shows how thor- 
 oughly the Scandinavian influence made itself felt in 
 Arran, and how complete is the resemblance between 
 the language of Buchan as still spoken and that which 
 was used by the men of Arran three centuries ago. 
 Glen lorsa gives name to the fine glen of Eersa-water, 
 and has been supposed to mean " the retired glen," 
 but it is quite certain that this is a mistake: see ^Ersa, 
 p. 148. 
 
 Passing northwards along the coast, the traveller 
 comes, to Emochyr or Imochar Point a somewhat 
 bold headland with a small creek for boats. From 
 this point there was formerly a ferry by yawl or boat 
 to the Abbey of Saddel in Kintyre, and this fact is 
 probably commemorated in the name of Imochar- 
 point, that is, the point or headland of the holy pil- 
 grims roinn nan naoimh-uidliear. We have here an 
 instance of "translation in part," and, as frequently 
 happens in such cases, a fragment of the latter half 
 has been torn away in the disruption of the name. It 
 will be observed that, in this case, the fragment so 
 carried off is the letter ' n." I have been told that 
 there is an old grave-yard here, and it is interesting to 
 notice that there is a hill in the vicinity which bears 
 the name of Roileag, that is, "a church, a burying- 
 ground," according to Armstrong. Tynquharry signi- 
 fies the house of the man of prayer, and certain reasons
 
 NAYRIN. 279 
 
 can be advanced for pointing to Imochar as the pro- 
 bable site of this little oratory. A closer examination 
 of the locality might lead to good results, and it should 
 be borne in mind that eim or eimk signifies an oratory, 
 a sanctuary or holy house ; hence eim a' gfiuidtiir 
 [eim-a-chuir], the cell or chapel of the bedesman. As 
 instances of Scottish local names containing the word 
 'eiv' (eimk), take Morphie i.e., the ruin of the ora- 
 tory; Aymar-glen, at Old Kirkconnel, and meaning 
 chapel-brook glen ; Inchmahome or, as locally pro- 
 nounced, Inshnahaim, and signifying the islet of the 
 church or oratory ; Evie, a parish joined to Rendal. 
 Compare Kittil-nakit, that is, the holy-house of prayer 
 at Coldstream. Such a compound as Weife-nakit, 
 or the house of prayer eimh na guidJie may have 
 constituted the germ of the tradition about Lady 
 Godiva ; and here it is somewhat startling to observe 
 that godiva itself signifies priest-house, or priest's 
 temple. Coventry also simply means ' the church 
 town.' There must be something in these indications, 
 especially when it can be asserted that my portfolio 
 contains a score of instances of a similar kind, and all 
 of them quite as good as those just given. It has also 
 to be remembered that many of the early founders of 
 churches in England introduced the Gaelic or Eirse 
 tongue, and gave Celtic names to a goodly number of 
 their sacred edifices. It would be an easy matter to 
 cite the instances which prove this, but it must be left 
 to another occasion. 
 
 Ayrin or Nayrin signifies the gravel-beach, and 
 applies to the beach of gravel or shingle at Whitefar- 
 land Point. This point is also called Row-na-heren,
 
 280 TIRGUY. 
 
 or the point of the Ayrin, and it is to this association 
 with the Gaelic that it owes the initial ' n ' in Nayrin. 
 This latter form of the name is also used to designate 
 the homestead which stands a little to the north of the 
 farmhouse of Whitefarland, and ought to be better 
 known than it seems to be.* Benvoirrin, or the moun- 
 tain of the rocks, towers aloft on the right, "and shows 
 on the summit two cyclopean walls of granite blocks 
 meeting at right angles" (Nelson's Hand-Book.} It 
 is perfectly evident that the hill has its name from 
 these granite blocks, and not from the breach or 
 gash in its forehead, but it would take a good deal of 
 writing to show how it is so. Let it suffice to notice 
 one or two points. Beinn-mhorroin is one form of the 
 name, and if this be a corruption of beinn na beirn, the 
 hill of the gap, what shall be said of beinn d bhearain, 
 the hill of the young man ? The word barran, mean- 
 ing the crest or ridge of a hill or mountain, will also 
 have to be considered, and so will ban-righinn, a 'bar- 
 rein,' a queen. None of these, however, can compete 
 with boireann, a large rock ; a stony, rocky district. 
 For the rest, see page 156. 
 
 Panrisok or Pennerevach is reached shortly after 
 crossing the brook of Alltgolach, and signifies the 
 bedesmen's hall, or town of the clergymen. Pont 
 writes it Penreoch, and in its neighbourhood are the 
 two places called Tobar Chaluimchille, or the Well of 
 St Columba, and Tirguy,^ or the house of the bedes- 
 
 * Rhunahourine is a point of land in the west of Kintyre, opposite 
 Gigha, and has the same meaning as Row-na-heren [rue na h-eyrin.] 
 
 tThis name is written Tonreghue by Pont, and in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury it appears in the form of Tonregethy. The mariners' chart has
 
 KELPIES. 28l 
 
 man. On the right, and at no great distance from 
 the coast, there is a small mountain tarn which is thus 
 described : " This little sheet of water is by far the 
 most picturesque of all the lochs of Arran, and is 
 situated deep in a hollow, called Corrie an Lachan. 
 The place is perfectly lonely ; not a tree is near ; and 
 except the brown heath on its margin, and a few 
 stunted rushes by the brook, the surrounding hills are 
 almost bare of vegetation. The water is dark and 
 deep, and the stormy blasts of the mountain never 
 reach its still and unruffled surface. From its edge, 
 on all sides but that towards the sea, rise the naked 
 hills, whose sides are either formed of massive granite 
 blocks, which, though surely yielding to decay, yet 
 offer a stronger resistance to the destroying influences 
 of time than the softer portions of the mountain, where 
 the decomposing rock . may almost be seen slowly 
 crumbling away." * Headrick tells us that " the 
 people here believe that a water-bull, of great ferocity, 
 resides in this lake ;" but it is not at all likely that 
 anyone now entertains this belief. Stories about 
 water kelpies and other aquatic monsters were far 
 from uncommon in old times, and a considerable 
 number of places owe their names to this circum- 
 stance. It may be so with Corrie an Lachan. Let 
 us see if loich, a trull or goblin, will do. This word is 
 probably a Gaelic form ofjlaugh, a giantess, a troll, an 
 ogre ; and by adding to it the diminutive termination 
 
 Tandergay, and some recent maps have Thundergay, but all the forms 
 have the same meaning, viz., the house of the bedesman or clergyman. 
 
 * Professor Ramsay's " Geology of the Island of Arran," p. 49. 
 S
 
 282 AIRIVERGA. 
 
 we get coire na loichin, or the goblin's pot. Some 
 mistake about the gender may have crept into the 
 tradition, or Headrick's " water-bull " may be a mis- 
 print of water-trull. In any case the result is capable 
 of receiving stronger support than either of the other 
 two versions, viz., the corrie of the ducks, or the corrie 
 of the little loch. Knock-mani-scular, or the hill of 
 the moor of peat-mosses, is shown by the mariners' 
 chart to be in this quarter, and it reminds us of the 
 Scuiler or mosses near Urie-loch. Meall-biorach is on 
 the southern verge of Corrie-an-lachan, and seems to 
 mean the sharp-pointed hill ; but unless this character 
 belongs to it (which is very doubtful), it is not unlikely 
 that the name was originally based upon the Norse 
 word biarg, a crag, rock, . cliff, hill. This remark 
 applies also to the 'breac' in Beinn-bhreac, and ap- 
 pears to be countenanced by the presence of biergas, a 
 ridge, a cliff, in Suidhe-feargas. Compare the Buc of 
 the Cabrach, that is, the peak of the mountain range 
 gebirge, o. h. g. ki-perki, 
 
 Airiverga is a picturesque locality on the sea-shore, 
 and the natural beauty of the place is not a little en- 
 hanced by the presence of a church. The name is 
 evidently a compound of eyri, a low gravelly shore or 
 point, and brekka, a cliffy eminence, a bank. The 
 former term qualifies the latter, and the meaning is 
 equivalent to shingle-point cliff, or the cliff beside the 
 gravelly point. Eyri-vergan is another form of the 
 same name, and it designates the same locality. The 
 fact shows that berg, a rock, a cliff, does not apply 
 here, because it is a neuter noun and could not, even 
 under Gaelic influence, become 'vergan.' It will, of
 
 ARRIN CAIRN. 283 
 
 course, be observed that the slightly altered form of 
 the name is due to the influence just referred to.* 
 Further, it may be remarked that the castle of Loch- 
 ranza is built upon an ' eyri.' 
 
 Craw is cro, with the same meaning as Kwee, p. 167, 
 but the hills adjacent may, or may not, have a different 
 association. The bay of Catacol is now in full view, 
 and a short walk will bring the traveller to the site of 
 the famous cairn. Timothy Pont is likely to have 
 seen this cairn when he travelled through the island 
 nearly three centuries ago, for his map points it out 
 by the name of Arren. Martin seems to refer to it 
 when he speaks of " the place of the giant Fin-mac- 
 Coul's slaughter," but he gives no further description 
 of the cairn. Towards the close of the last century 
 one of the ministers of Arran says just enough to let 
 us see that this cairn, called Arrin, had lent its name 
 to a field on which, as alleged, a battle had been fought. 
 The combatants, according to tradition, were Finn on 
 the one hand, and Manus, son of the king of Sweden, 
 on the other. Now, it need not be doubted that there 
 is some truth in this story, but in order to understand 
 it we have to remember that ' Finn' often signifies the 
 champions, and ' Sweden,' the warriors, and ' king,' the 
 grave-mound or cairn.-f- Arrin also signifies 'the 
 cairn' (haugrinn), and it is certain that the name was 
 
 * This explanation supersedes the one given at p. 148, and it may 
 here be stated that brekkan is in the definite form. 
 
 t The Arrin cairn has been swept away, the materials having been 
 used in the construction of a road. Fingal appears to be regarded by 
 some authors as a theoretical equivalent of Finn, but does not the former 
 simply mean 'foreign champions?' See Aorinn, p. 153.
 
 284 CATACOL. 
 
 given by the Norse settlers in the island of Arran. It 
 has only to be added that some authors write Sweden 
 for Swedeland in connection with this subject, and 
 that Glencatagil easily bears the signification of The 
 glen of the battle of the foreigners. 
 
 For the sake of illustration let it be noted that 
 ' sweden-king ' signifies the warriors' cairn, and that 
 mac in the language of Arran denotes a field as well 
 as a son. It is therefore clear that Mac-sweden-king 
 means the field of the heroes' cairn, and not the son 
 of the king of Sweden. Of course, it would be non- 
 sense to say " the son of the heroes' cairn." In Mac- 
 farlans-cairn we have an example of mac in the sense 
 of field it being a hardened form of magJi and 
 several other instances of it occur in these pages. 
 When Sir Walter Scott introduces Macfarlane's Cross 
 into one of his poetical episodes,* it is evident that he 
 has preserved another form of the name of Macfarlan'-s- 
 cairn, that is, the field of Forlin Cairn. Now, this 
 Forlin has the same meaning as the Feorlin of page 
 171, and the " cross " is just kors or keirs, that is, the 
 grave-beds, the cairns. Hence Farlane's Cors signifies 
 either the sea-rovers' cairns, or the cairns of Forlin 
 
 * " He cross'd his brow beside the stone 
 Where Druids erst heard victims groan, 
 And at the cairns upon the wild, 
 O'er many a heathen hero piled, 
 He breathed a timid prayer for those 
 Who died ere Shiloh's sun arose. 
 Beside Macfarlane's Cross he staid, 
 There told his hours within the shade, 
 And at the stream his thirst allay'd." 
 
 LORD OF THE ISLES, c. v., s. 6.
 
 MEIGLE. 285 
 
 (whatever that may mean), and should be sought for 
 at Sannox. Swinscoe, or champions' barrow, presents 
 a very close parallel to ' sweden-king ' see Jewitt, p. 
 22. As examples of the use of 'kein' or 'king,' let me 
 offer the following: Cathkin, the Yeats' barrow; Cat- 
 cune, the same; Greskin, the mighty hero's grave-bed; 
 Enterken, the giant-warriors' cairn (two places so 
 called) ; King-shaw's Grave, the cairn hill-top, with 
 grave added ; King-loth's Grave, the barrow-stone's 
 grave "loth" being lag/it, a grave or monument; 
 King - stone, the barrow-stone ; Kings - knowe, the 
 howe- knoll ; and Wanders -kwen, the hero -chief's 
 sepulchre at Meigle, but has nothing in the world to 
 do with queen Guinevere. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of Arrin-cairn there were 
 other sepulchral memorials, and since the word minnie 
 or minde denotes a cairn, a grave-monument, it is easy 
 to see that Minnies-mac is the field of the memorial- 
 stones or barrows, and not of Manus. Minnesh is in 
 the island of Gigha, and signifies Cairn-point ; Mind- 
 ick means the hill of monuments, and is at Slipper- 
 field i.e., the field or hill of the seil-beor, or pillar- 
 stone tomb ;* Menzion is at Dounail, or the lord's 
 grave, and his sepulchre is still marked by three great 
 rude pillar-stones on Tweedside ; and Monichoillyie 
 is probably best explained by 'memorial pillar-stones' 
 minde-gaille. 
 
 Before we leave the site of the cairn which has so 
 much engaged our attention, let us notice a few other 
 
 * Here is lapis Catti, or the Yeats' Stone. See Jewitt, page 54, for 
 Minning-low.
 
 286 AYTON. 
 
 places whose names naturally claim affinity with it. 
 The Horn or Haurn is one of these, and it need 
 scarcely be said that this local name simply means 
 ' the cairn.' Its contents have been exposed, and 
 sundry relics of the old champions brought to light. 
 Whether these warriors were of the race of the Risar 
 who gave their name to the lands of Reston (and it is 
 on these lands that the Horn will be found), or were 
 of an older Celtic race, is a question which it is not 
 necessary at present to decide. The remains of this 
 barrow are in the parish of Ayton, Berwickshire, and 
 they are not far from the site of the old fort of Pren- 
 derguest, that is, the fort of the Yeat chief. Millbank, 
 in the same parish, has supplied beautiful specimens 
 of cinerary urns of high antiquity. They were found 
 in the kistvaens of an ancient cemetery, which is situ- 
 ated on a sunny slope overlooking a romantic part of 
 the glen of Eye. The characteristics of the spot se- 
 lected, and certain other indications, appear very 
 clearly to point to the Yeats as the constructors of 
 these interesting relics. The place is nearly a mile to 
 the north-east of Ayton Castle. Percyhorner is a re- 
 markably fine name, and it signifies ' the cairns of the 
 giants or mighty heroes.' It designates a locality 
 about two miles to the south-west of Fraserburgh (i.e., 
 mighty heroes' camp-town), and supplies an interest- 
 ing example of a pure Norse definite plural. Crimon- 
 mogate is about five miles to the south-east, and is 
 worthy of attention, for its name means the pillar- 
 stones of the chiefs of the Picts. It may be compared 
 with Innean na Meachach, or the precipice of the Picts 
 a name which it was my fortune to discover in Kin-
 
 HOGG. 287 
 
 tyre, and one of special importance on account of the 
 .perfect state in which it was found. Inkhorn is in 
 Buchan, and denotes either the barrow of Ingi, or that 
 of the giants. Dreghorn signifies heroes' cairn, and 
 there are several places of this name. Compare An- 
 thorn, or the giants' tumulus ; Hawklaw, the hill of 
 the burial-mound ; the Hawk-stone, or barrow-stone, 
 of St Madoes, but connected with a falcon's flight in 
 the legendary history of the Hays ; Houn-point, the 
 cairn-ness or point, and corresponding as a name with 
 Peatdraught i.e., the tomb of the chief at Earl 
 Cairnie, or the chieftains' sepulchres, Dalmeny. Oscar 
 or 'auskir' readily bears the meaning of 'lordly heroes' 
 sepulchres,' and if it has been really found as a local 
 name in Arran, it can be so explained. (See p. 180.)* 
 Hogg means a hillock or mound, as well as a cairn ; 
 and the numerous ' haurstanes ' or ' hairstanes ' are 
 usually so denominated from the barrows which they 
 distinguish. 
 
 Avon-vaig, or little water, appears to be a name for 
 the stream which enters the sea near the site of the 
 Cairn. Ramsay's map, however, distinguishes it by 
 the appellation of Uisge Solus, or ' the bright water," 
 as he explains it. Bright enough it certainly is when 
 glancing in the summer sunshine it dashes adown the 
 steeps of Maithaic-uan, and sparkles like a cataract of 
 brilliants. But if the true interpretation has been 
 
 * Rask says that Asgier [oscar] denotes god's spear (geir), or, per- 
 haps, god's falcon (geyer.) 
 
 Haugs-houme occurs as a local name and signifies Cairn-vale. The 
 latter term in the compound occurs several times in the form of 
 a green vale : see p. 89.
 
 288 KELLYVOHR. 
 
 given, the grammatical construction of its name is 
 about the worst that can be found in Arran. A more 
 creditable alternative might be suggested, but it may 
 be better to wait till an opportunity occurs for acquir- 
 ing further information on the spot. 
 
 The Madalouna of page 179 is evidently the Maith- 
 aic Uan which Professor Ramsay describes as a "hill," 
 but the fact had not been noticed when the page re- 
 ferred to was written. It may therefore be stated here 
 that the two forms of the name show at once how one 
 may lay his finger on the perfect original, and that 
 that original signifies the hill of the declivity, the 
 mount of the steep slope mota cJdaoine. We may 
 still write Madalouna as a sufficiently correct and 
 Anglicised form of the name, but we must not say 
 that it means the wild-dog lair. And if it be possible 
 to represent with exactness the local pronunciation as 
 given to me by one of the natives, I should say that 
 ' muitaluiny ' comes very near the mark. It only re- 
 mains to be said that the hill so designated is nearly a 
 mile to the south-east of Catacol farmhouse. 
 
 Lochranza may now be reached in less than half an 
 hour. Passing along the coast, the traveller soon finds 
 himself opposite a beautiful range of copse-clad cliffs, 
 and these are strikingly romantic between White Point 
 and Kellyvohr Point. The latter name is an Angli- 
 cised form of coille m/wr, that is, great wood, big 
 copse ; but as holt means a copse, a wooded height, 
 and is still used in some parts of the country, it is pos- 
 sible enough that this locality may have been some- 
 times called Stor-holt, that is, great copse, big wooded 
 height. Craig-na-gack, or the jack-daws' crag, is in
 
 LOCHRANZA. 289 
 
 this quarter; and more inland is Craignagairy, or the 
 crag of the champions, with a ruined fort. Both of 
 these names are noticed at page 167, and there the 
 latter of the two is written Creag nan curaidh. To the 
 left, looking across the Sound of Kilbrannan, a charm- 
 ing view is obtained of Riesdal, or mighty heroes' dale 
 (at Clunaig), and also of the grand old Castle of Skip- 
 ness, with the remains of its ancient church on a green 
 mound near the sea-shore. Further to the north may 
 be seen Airdlamont and the mountains of Kerry and 
 Cowal.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A GLANCE ROUND BUTE. 
 
 SINCE it has not been possible to introduce the Bute 
 Studies into this volume, I shall confine myself here 
 to a few observations on some of the local names of 
 the island.* Many of these names have been familiar 
 to me from my earliest years, and the localities to 
 which they are applied are no less so. Every avail- 
 able aid to their elucidation has been used. Charters 
 and retours have been carefully studied, several classes 
 of Bute MSS. consulted, and the local pronunciation 
 of three and four generations back treasured up. As 
 an example of the value of a thorough knowledge of 
 the old local pronunciation, take the name of Largi- 
 zean. It is not found in the charter of 1506, and it 
 does not appear in Font's map of Bute. In short, 
 there is little to help us in this instance except the 
 pure traditional sound of the name, and this may be 
 
 * It is hoped that an opportunity of publishing these Studies may 
 occur before another year has passed.
 
 292 APPENDIX. 
 
 tolerably well represented by Larich-a-yaean. Here 
 Elain's Manuscripts come to our assistance, and these 
 furnish ample evidence that in his time the name was 
 frequently pronounced Larichaneyan. Its meaning is 
 not now far to seek, and it is caught with a certainty 
 which is not always to be had. Largizean, then (to re- 
 sume the conventional form of the name), signifies the 
 burying-place of the hero-strangers, and clearly refers - 
 to the three great pillar-stones in the near vicinity of 
 the farm-house. As a place of sepulture, this parti- 
 cular spot is -alluded to at page 109, and here it may 
 be explained that the same page contains a reference 
 to the pillar-stones in the wood to the north of Yett- 
 house. A further reference to the great standing 
 stones in the wood (near Kingarth parish church) is 
 also made at page 216. 
 
 The determination of the meaning of the name of 
 Ambro' is, in a great measure, due to the discovery of 
 the pure, old, local pronunciation. Without this it 
 would have been very difficult to reach anything like 
 certainty in regard to the two Ambres of Scalpsie, but 
 as things stand every difficulty has vanished. Ambro' 
 signifies the giant-warriors' burg or fortress, as has 
 been explained above, p. 37, and the name has evident 
 reference to the demolished 'caher' or 'brough,' of 
 which the vast ruins may still be seen on a rocky 
 mount at Scalpsie Bay. It should also be noticed 
 that the other name just mentioned was formerly pro- 
 nounced Scalspie, and since this name signifies cham- 
 pions' residence, warriors' fortress, it is clear that it 
 originally designated the same stronghold as Ambro'. 
 Scalbirt, near Campbelton, signifies the warriors'
 
 APPENDIX. 293 
 
 fortress or citadel, and was a place of great strength. 
 Its circular wall or bulwark is fourteen feet in thick- 
 ness, and encloses an area of considerable extent. 
 These names remind one of Scauroe or the bucaneers' 
 fort upon the Aird of King-scorroe in Arran. See 
 above, pp. 148, 175, and 250. Another very interesting 
 fact is brought out by these studies, viz., that Ambro' 
 as a local name is the same as Edinburgh, and that 
 consequently there is a ruined citadel so denominated 
 in the Isle of Bute. See Clusters of Names, p. 36, and 
 compare the Dun-mac-aisneighin of page 39. This 
 last name was evidently at first Ahasaneyan, that is, 
 the palace of the hero-strangers, the citadel or garrison 
 of the fiery warriors ; but in course of time the peasants 
 of the neighbourhood used the name to distinguish the 
 Mac (magk, field, plain) which lies about it, and hence 
 arose Mac-ahas-an-eyan, or the Field of the fenced- 
 town of the fiery warriors. The next step that of 
 prefixing dun, a fastness, a fortified hill shows that 
 the yeomen of Beregonium had utterly lost the mean- 
 ing of the primary form of the appellation. For the 
 sake of those who may not be very well acquainted 
 with Dunmacasneighan, I may state that the name 
 belongs to the remains of a great vitrified hill-fort on 
 the shore of Muik-ness Bay, Lochetive. Antiquaries 
 and others have alleged that it was the capital of the 
 Picts at a very remote period, but the roving strangers 
 from the East evidently called it Bergonium, that is, 
 bragna heim, or the warriors' residence. A newspaper 
 report of a Paper read before the Society of Anti- 
 quaries of Scotland says : " On the other hand it was 
 plain that the dun was not a Roman Camp, and had
 
 294 APPENDIX. 
 
 no title to the name Beregonium sometimes bestowed 
 on it.* Now, with regard to these allegations it may 
 be remarked that the former cannot be doubted, but 
 the latter of the two statements must be entirely re- 
 pelled. It was lately my fortune to make a series of 
 researches in the locality referred to, and whatever 
 may be said about the meaning of the name Bere- 
 gonium, it is undeniable that the name itself is a gen- 
 uine old local name, and has been in continuous use 
 for generations. And for the sake of pure scientific 
 investigation, let it be understood that my interpreta- 
 tion does not indicate any leaning or bias towards the 
 Norsemen on the one hand, or Picts on the other. It 
 is quite certain that many places have several names, 
 and it is easy to' see how some of these could be given 
 at a time when the older appellations were either lost 
 or their meaning forgotten. 
 
 Dunmacasneighin appears to be also called Bergo- 
 nian (Hill Burton, i. 87), that is, the 'brough' or fenced 
 town of the fiery heroes ; and this name may be com- 
 pared with the Printonian [print-an-eean] of page 21, 
 supra. Speaking of the vitrified forts, Mr Burton 
 says : "Another is on the shore of Loch Etive, oppo- 
 site to the Castle of Dunstaffnage. Its fragments are 
 found on a double-topped rocky mound rising out of 
 the narrow plain, and overlooking long stretches of 
 sea, loch, and of the Island of Mull. Its proper High- 
 land name is Dun Macsniachain. This has been set 
 down as the Rerigonium spoken of by the monkish 
 chroniclers as the capital of the Pictish kings. We are 
 
 * See The Scotsman of December 12, 1876.
 
 APPENDIX. 295 
 
 to suppose, then, that their court was held here before 
 the removal of the establishment, first to Craigphadric, 
 and afterwards to Forteviot on the Earn." History of 
 Scotland, i. 87. 
 
 A note to this passage says : " Among the people 
 of the neighbourhood the Latin name thus conferred 
 on it by the learned seems to have, with an alteration 
 in the first letter, superseded its native name, and the 
 inhabitants speak of it as ' Bergonian.' " 
 
 Now, with reference to Rerigonium, it need only be 
 stated that it clearly signifies the fortress of the lord 
 of the warriors, and that Ptolemy's map shows a town 
 of this name in the country of the Novantae, now 
 Galloway. By a different reading of the name we get 
 Retigonion, that is, the fortress of the heroes ratJi 
 aoighean. Other vitrified forts are Craigphadric, 
 that is, the crag of the prince's palace ; Dunadeer, the 
 mount of the governor's residence, the hill of the chief's 
 fortress ; Farigag, the ruin of the fortress ; Noath, a 
 refuge-hold (naid) ; Dunskeige, the hill or mount of 
 the refuge-hold; Port-rey, in the Cumbraes (seep. 85^ 
 and Dunagoil, or the stronghold of the strangers. The 
 last of these names brings us back to the island of 
 Bute, and also reminds us of the vitrified fort of 
 Ellanbuy in the Kyles. This is probably the same 
 as Eallanboy,. that is, the island of the garrison or 
 fortified residence ; and since it is one of the Burnt 
 Isles, we should bear in mind that ' brunt' signifies a 
 fortress, a camp, a rath. Nearly a mile and a half to 
 the north of it is Eallangheirig (Wade, 357), or noble- 
 man's isle eilean airg with slight remains of a castle 
 which Argyll made use of in 1685. The name should
 
 296 APPENDIX. 
 
 be pronounced ' eallan-yeirg,' and it is very certain 
 indeed that it does not mean " red island," as stated 
 in Wilson's "Guide to Rothesay," p. 5 1, 3rd ed. Font's 
 map has it in the form of Castel oilen Greg, or the 
 castle of warriors' island, because analogous to the 
 name of the great camp of Castle-greg or Campbelty, 
 five miles south of Livingston. Rispaine has been 
 mentioned above (p. 243) as a vitrified fort situated 
 on the coast of Kerry, and on a point of land opposite 
 Tarbert. 
 
 Dunagoil is rendered "the hill of the Lowland men" 
 by Thorburn in his account of the parish of Kingarth, 
 and he adds that it was said to be a Danish fort. Dr 
 Joyce tells us that Donegal means ' the fortress of the 
 foreigners,' and he states distinctly that these for- 
 eigners must have been Danes " for we have direct 
 testimony that they had a settlement there at an early 
 period," (p. 92). These statements may be compared 
 with the view suggested or entertained by J. Eaton 
 Reid, and expressed in the following extract from his 
 valuable " History of the County of Bute," page 16: 
 "At Dungoil (or the Hill of the Strangers) the re- 
 mains are more extensive, but not so well defined. 
 The name (which is applied to a similar site in the 
 Sound of Mull) would lead to the inference that those 
 places were the resort, not of the native population, 
 but of the sea adventurers who infested the western 
 shores of Scotland." MacConachy, a native of Bute, 
 says : "All the ancient fortresses in Bute, Arran, and 
 the other islands, are indisputably of Norwegian con- 
 struction, and were erected about two centuries before
 
 APPENDIX. 297 
 
 the year 1093."* Some people have thought that the 
 Gaelic name of this vitrified fort argues a Celtic occu- 
 pation, but it is easy to see that the mere name war- 
 rants no such conclusion. It is quite possible that 
 the fortress may have had a Scandinavian name, and 
 if so we have not far to look for it. Port-dornach is 
 the name of a little creek at the foot of the headland 
 on which the ruined fortress is situated, and may be 
 rendered 'the port or creek of the pebbles' (dornag) ; 
 but this appellation may really be founded upon the 
 Danish dornock, that is, heroes' hill-fort ; and it is well 
 known that several places throughout the land are so 
 designated. About a mile to the north of this creek, 
 and in the near neighbourhood of another of these 
 old 'broughs' or forts, there is a port which bears the 
 name of Portahach, or warriors' port. This latter 
 creek or port is also called Foule-port, a very likely 
 corruption of Fouar-port, that is, the port of the Fom- 
 orians or sea champions. These facts are significant, 
 but I cannot dwell on them at present, and have only 
 to add, that this little creek or landing place is styled 
 Lubas Port in the Ordnance Survey sheet. -J- 
 
 Creislagh-vourachy has been adduced at page 107 
 in connection with the old sea-rovers. This name 
 may also be written Creaslavouratie, and it is very 
 fortunate that there can be no difficulty in determining 
 
 * MacConachy's Manuscript Account of Bute. He wrote about the 
 year 1840, and spent part of his life in the West Indies. 
 
 f Compare Foule-port, p. 70, and see Dr Joyce's "Names of Places," 
 p. 47, for the frequent substitution of the letter / for r. Uav-atach, 
 that is, the cave of the giant, champion, or monster, is only a short 
 distance southwards from Dunagoil. 
 
 T
 
 298 APPENDIX. 
 
 its meaning. It signifies ' the Fomorians' belt of pillar- 
 stones ;' in other words, 'the girdle stones of the giant- 
 heroes.' But though there be no difficulty now, it was 
 not always so. The errors of scribes and the blunders 
 of copyists had twisted it into all sorts of odd shapes, 
 and if the history of its many disguises were told, the 
 tale would be as curious as instructive. It may with 
 truth be said, that had not the study of this name, 
 as well as that of many others in the island, been a 
 labour of love, the task would have been hopeless. 
 Dr MacLea had not the slightest chance of being 
 able to interpret it, for it is not at all likely that he 
 could spare the time necessary for collecting the writ- 
 ten materials which bear upon it. As for the pillar- 
 stones which rejoice in this long Gaelic name, it is 
 also a fortunate circumstance that they still remain 
 on the site which they have dignified for ages. Seven 
 in number they Fstand, grey and freckled with the 
 lichen-tints of age, and forming a circle nineteen paces 
 in diameter. A ' fail ' or turf dyke encloses the circle, 
 and a fine clump of thirty-one trees overshadows the 
 whole group. In the eastern part of the circle there 
 is a huge pointed block which rises some nine or ten 
 feet above the soil. This massive stone. is about three 
 paces in breadth, and its thickness at the base is one 
 pace. Westward of it there is another huge block of 
 equal height, but thicker at the head than about the 
 waist. Further to the westward there is a large block 
 standing about three feet above the ground. The 
 next, going round more towards the south, is appa- 
 rently thrown out of its original position. In the 
 south may be seen other two massive stones, one of
 
 APPENDIX. 299 
 
 them about six feet in height, and the other nearly as 
 tall. The last of these, as I judged, is composed of 
 gneiss, and between it and the tallest of the group 
 (No. i) there is a low slab of slate occupying the most 
 easterly position of all the seven. Some of the stones 
 are of quartzose mica-rock, one is a hard, compact 
 whin-stone, and others are of a slaty texture. This 
 magnificent circle of monumental stones stands in the 
 fourth field from the lovely strand of Ettrick Bay, and 
 upon a spot which is only about a quarter of a mile to 
 the south of Kilmahalmac. Perhaps it was the cap- 
 tain or leader-chief of these Fomorians who built the 
 palace of Aitrick (Blain's orthography) on the green 
 mount scarcely a mile to the westward. However 
 that may be (and it is a question which cannot be 
 entered upon here), it is important to observe that 
 Ptolemy places the Yeats or Gadini in the territory 
 which lies between Stirling and Loch Fyne, and there- 
 fore it is highly probable that this people occupied the 
 island of Bute also. If the Firbolgs took possession 
 of Arran and Islay, as old chronicles relate (Cps. 23) 
 and local names confirm, it is also very likely that they 
 made themselves acquainted with the green dales of 
 Bute as well as with the shores of Cuningham and 
 Renfrew. Perhaps we may also find traces of the 
 Cruiney in Bute, as we appear to have done so in a 
 neighbouring island ; and since the Cruiney or Picts 
 are placed by Ptolemy in the Argyle of to-day, it is 
 quite possible that they may have had something to 
 do with the ancient vitrified fort and the primitive 
 munitions of Aitrick Court.* 
 
 * Aitrick is variously written Atrig, Athriochg, and Etterick. In the
 
 300 APPENDIX. 
 
 At page 107 Aitrick has been explained to mean 
 ' the site of the palace.' By the use of the term ' pal- 
 ace' we are here to understand a distinguished resi- 
 dence, a fenced or fortified mansion, a court (as of a 
 noble.) The site, as has already been indicated, is 
 identified with a green mound situated about two 
 hundred yards to the south of the homestead of 
 Upper Etterick. Great quantities of the stones which 
 formed the ramparts have been removed within the 
 memory of persons still living in the island. From 
 north to south the fort or palace would be about one 
 hundred paces in length, and the breadth from east to 
 west about fifty-four paces. These measurements 
 were made on the spot, and it may be safely said that 
 no one can visit the locality without being charmed 
 with the romantic features of the place, and the mag- 
 nificent as well as extensive prospect which the sum- 
 mit of the mount commands. The word teamJiair has 
 been fully explained by Dr Joyce, and examples of its 
 use may be found in Tibber-castle z>., palace-tower, 
 at Drumlanrig (the ' rig ' of the nobleman's court) ; 
 Temper, about four or five miles west of Tummel- 
 bridge ; Tepper-moor, near the citadel of Procolitia on 
 the southern Roman "barrier; and probably also in 
 Castle-tarres, now Carstairs. Achintearie may be ex- 
 plained by this term, and the meaning will conse- 
 quently be 'the field of the fortified residence,' with 
 reference to the adjacent fort. 
 
 Largovrachan is situated on the south-eastern shore 
 
 Retours of two centuries ago we find the two farmhouses of the name 
 described as " the two Aitricks," and Pout's map has " Ettrichs."
 
 APPENDIX. 301 
 
 of Ettrick Bay, and its name signifies the burying- 
 place of the Fomorian champions. The spot is marked 
 by some remains of a circle of stones near a wood, 
 and at no great distance westwards from the farm- 
 house. Traces of these sea-rovers may also be found 
 in the name of Reilivourkie, that is, the barrow or 
 grave-mound of the champions ; and although the 
 barrow and its rude kistvaens have been removed, the 
 site may still be seen on the south-east side of the 
 road, near Greenan-mill. Calmorayin, or grave of the 
 warriors, refers to the same class of adventurers, and it 
 gives name to the field on Scoulag farm in which the 
 barrow with its contents was discovered. Blain speaks 
 of a barrow which was found in the paddock of the 
 mill connected with this farm, and possibly it is the 
 same as the one just described. Aghanvranchan is 
 the name of a large hill-fort at Largs, and denotes the 
 fort or stronghold of the Fomorians. A shorter form 
 of the word (fomhar) occurs in a great number of local 
 names throughout the land ; e.g., Castle-ower, or the 
 fortified town of the warriors, otherwise called Yeat- 
 byre, or Yeats' town. It is situated on one of the 
 Eskdale hills, and is no less remarkable for its magni- 
 tude than for the strength of its munitions. Scoulag 
 has just been mentioned, and may be explained here. 
 It is a Norse name signifying champions' settlement, 
 and may be compared with Danalagh, or the Danes' 
 settlement. 
 
 The subject-matter of the preceding paragraph 
 shows very clearly that the Island of Britain may 
 simply mean the island of the mighty warriors innis 
 na bhfomliaraicJiean, The last term in this compound
 
 302 APPENDIX. 
 
 becomes ' vrachtan ' and ' brettan,' and in point of fact 
 it has become so in many instances which are known 
 to me. The extremely frequent and extensive use of 
 the linguistic principles involved renders this explana- 
 tion much more natural than the one offered by the 
 author of Words and Places. 
 
 Castle-cree is about a mile and a half to the west of 
 Greenan, and its name clearly points it out as a strong- 
 hold of the champions or warriors coraidh. It is 
 built on the summit of a lofty spur which projects 
 from the sea-cliff, and the sides of this hill-spur are 
 sheer precipices, except at the narrow neck which 
 joins it to the main-land of the island. The inner or 
 east-end wall of the fortress takes the form of a point, 
 and is nine paces in thickness. The side walls, so far 
 as they extend, are about four paces in breadth or 
 thickness, and the entire bulwark is constructed of 
 slate-stones without cement of any kind. An area of 
 forty-five paces in length and about ten in width is 
 thus enclosed, and part of the wall is still entire to the 
 height of four feet. There seems to have been a par- 
 tition wall about six paces to the west of the inner 
 face of the eastern defences, thus forming a chamber 
 in the eastern end of the fort. Quite a profusion of 
 ferns and wild flowers adorned the area of this refuge- 
 hold when I last saw it, and while the verge of the 
 cliff all round was beautifully fringed with sloe-thorn 
 in full bloom, the parapet of the walls was gaily crim- 
 soned with the red-leaved sedum or stonecrop. Who- 
 ever may have been the builders of this strong old 
 residence, it is certain that the hand of violence was 
 raised against it, and no one seems to know anything
 
 APPENDIX. 303 
 
 of its history. Sometimes it is called Macrae-castle, 
 that is, the fort or castle of the champions. Androsca- 
 dale appears to be another name of the structure, but 
 the local pronunciation is sometimes Ardrostugal, that 
 is, the high promontory of the Dugalls or foreigners. 
 If the former be held to be the correct form, it is quite 
 possible that it may contain 'skadal' i.e., robbers' 
 hill or residence ; and this may be compared with 
 Skudaborg, or the fortress of the pirates in Skye. 
 With these remarks I must take leave of the subject 
 for the present, though it would be quite easy to intro- 
 duce and discuss one or two other views regarding it 
 which have occurred to me. 
 
 Cryslan Well has been explained above (p. 21) as 
 the health-giving well or pot coire, a pot, a basin. It 
 will be found at a place one mile to the southwards, 
 and near a ruined chapel of the same name. This 
 little chapel is situated at the foot of a cliff crowned 
 with ivy, and which contains a tiny cave in which a 
 'pypar' or hermit may have lodged. The famous 
 fountain is a short distance east of the chapel, and is a 
 strong clear spring of cool sweet water. Troops of 
 pilgrims appear to have frequented it, especially on 
 church-festival days, for the meadow beside the chapel 
 is still called Billie-bog, that is, the play or festival 
 bog : see Bel-stane, p. 58. Of course it will be under- 
 stood that "bog" is here used in the sense of meadow, 
 for such is really the case. Near it is Ruanomar, or 
 islet-point (Jiolmar, island), and farther to the south is 
 Ruh-ant-linnean, or shoulder-blade point, otherwise 
 called St Ringan's. 
 
 Dunallin at first sight might be thought to mean
 
 304 APPENDIX. 
 
 either the beautiful mount, or the hill-fort of the 
 champion adhlan, a hero : compare ' uhlan.' But 
 the name is Dunawlan, and signifies the fortified resi- 
 dence of the lords or chiefs dun na bJiflatfian. Scarcely 
 a vestige of this ancient habitation can now be seen, 
 but the amenity of the situation and the fertility of 
 the district could not fail to point it out- as the proper 
 seat of a noble. On the south is the rich vale of Kil- 
 whinlik, and the house of Ballanlay, or chieftain's 
 mansion. Dumburgadale is nearly a mile to the 
 north-west of the homestead of Westland, and com- 
 mands a fine view of both sides of the island. It 
 stands on the slope of the hill-range of Craig-na-buid- 
 sich, or the crag of the witches, and is only a few hun- 
 dred yards outside of the royalty boundary or march. 
 It has been built of slate stones and without cement. 
 On the north side the outer face of its circular wall is 
 still as high as a man's shoulder, and though much 
 lower in other parts, enough remains to enable one to 
 trace the wall all round. The wall is about five and a 
 half paces in thickness, and the diameter of the in- 
 terior area is the same as that of Ambro, viz., twenty- 
 four paces. Drimahoany, or the ridge of wailing, is in 
 the vicinity of this ruined brough, and the very men- 
 tion of its name is strangely suggestive of war and 
 calamity. As for the name of this great tower, it 
 would be easy to show that it is Burdagal with dun 
 prefixed, and therefore signifies the brough or strong 
 tower of the foreigners. But as the limits of these 
 notes will soon be reached, it may be sufficient for the 
 present to state that Burgadale (in the parish of 
 Kingarth) is often, and doubtless properly, pronounced
 
 APPENDIX. 305 
 
 Burdagal, that is, the fortress of the strangers. When 
 <l craife" is added to the latter name, we get 'the 
 tower of the foreign heroes ' as the meaning. 
 
 Barone Hill is a mile and a half to the south-west 
 of Rothesay, and is crowned with the ruins of a great 
 camp or hill-fort. The bulwark has been constructed 
 with large stones, but as to its builders tradition is 
 silent. The name, however, has its meaning, and this 
 is evidently ' heroes' hill.' From the information con- 
 veyed in a certain note to the "Heart of Mid-Lothian," 
 and taken along with other particulars which bear 
 upon the point, I judge that Bernera is an old name 
 of this fort. Now Bernera signifies warriors' camp or 
 fortification, and it may be remarked that there are 
 two or three places of this name in the Outer Hebrides. 
 The name is a Norse one, and its tale is confirmed by 
 the fact that there is a " Lowlandmans Hill " (sic) in 
 the vicinity of Barone. 
 
 Rothesay has been described by Dean Monro as 
 " the round Castle of Buitt, callit Rosay of the auld." 
 It is, then, to the castle, and not to the town, to which 
 the name of Rothesay was formerly held to belong. 
 But the distinction is more apparent than real, and 
 could not have been applicable at the time when only 
 a fenced or fortified town stood in the place of both. 
 First settlements are usually mere stockaded camps, 
 and when walls and trenches have been added to their 
 defences, they come to be regarded as fenced towns. 
 The increased security leads to the erection within 
 the enclosure of more permanent structures, and 
 chief among these will always be the tower which is 
 appropriated to the governor's use. By-and-by, as
 
 306 APPENDIX. 
 
 law and order prevail, the general community seek 
 quarters outside the fortifications, and construct a new 
 town ; while on the other hand their chief, taking ad- 
 vantage of the exodus, transforms his tower into a 
 castle or palace. Both parties, however, retain the 
 original designation of the camp or settlement, and 
 only make such modern additions to it as town, castle, 
 or burgh when necessary for distinction's sake. In the 
 case before us a progress or developement of this kind 
 has evidently been made. But whether this be ac- 
 knowledged or not, the name of Rothesay has its 
 meaning, and there can be no harm in trying to dis- 
 cover it. Let it be observed that all the old maps * 
 represent Rothesay as wholly encompassed by water. 
 Possibly a river-holm or islet had been naturally 
 formed in the vale by the parting of the little river 
 into two branches, and the 'armot' or confluence of 
 both with the waters of the bay. At all events the 
 river and the sea guarded two sides of the site, and if 
 necessary it would be no difficult matter to defend the 
 other with a trench or fosse, and then to flush it with 
 the waters of the stream. Upon the island thus 
 formed and fenced stood the town of Rothesay, that 
 is, camp's island riodhs ey. The Norse term riod or 
 riodh signifies a clearing, a cleared or open space in a 
 forest ; and in provincial English and old Scots it 
 takes the form of royd, rut, roth, roe, rew, reive, &c. 
 
 * See Font's map of the island of Bute ; also " Insula de bote " in the 
 Facsimile of a Map of Britain of the I3th century, and contained in the 
 3rd part of Facsimiles of National MSS. MacConachy says that 
 Rothesay was in early times, and for many centuries, "completely 
 surrounded with water."
 
 APPENDIX. 307 
 
 A careful and lengthened study of the term shows 
 that it is used in many local names in the sense of 
 camp, fort; fenced-town ; and when towers or castles 
 came to be erected on the sites of such roes or camps, 
 then the term acquired a corresponding developement 
 of signification. Rothesay, accordingly, may be ren- 
 dered Camp-island, castle-island, the island of the burg 
 or citadel. Examples of the use of 'roe' in various 
 modes of spelling may be found in Thuroe, Andrew 
 (P- 38), Mangroue, Rue-castle, Rut-chester, Skawret, 
 Anderida, Clitheroe, the "meikle reive of Campsie," 
 the "Earl of Mar's reive," and "rewheids."* 
 
 The only Gaelic compound (so far as I have per- 
 ceived) which comes anything near to Rothesay, is 
 rath an toisick, that is, the circular fort of the leader, 
 the entrenched camp of the captain or chief. Accord- 
 ing to many facts and analogies, this compound might 
 readily become Rah-tishie, but a very considerable 
 amount of elision and abrasion would be required in 
 order to reduce this to Rosa. Whether this may have 
 happened or not, it would be rash to speak dogmati- 
 cally on the point ; but at the same time it is perfectly 
 clear that the view which ascribes a Dano-Scottish 
 origin to the name has by far the weight of evidence 
 in its favour. To give the entire argument for this 
 view would occupy much space, and must be deferred 
 
 * The last of these is taken from the following verses, cited in Scott's 
 " Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border" : 
 
 " In Tiberius tyme, the trew imperatour, 
 
 Quhen Tynto hills fra skraiping of toun-henis was keipit, 
 
 Thair dwelt ane grit Gyre Carling in awlcl Betokis hour, 
 
 That levit upoun Christiane menis flesche, and rewheids unleipit."
 
 308 APPENDIX. 
 
 in the meantime. Possibly the name of Tushilaw- 
 castle has come from brugli a' toisich, or the captain's 
 tower. The word rath does not often occur in the 
 islands of the Clyde firth, but two examples are 
 noticed at pp. 85, 182 ; and raithean, a little fort, is 
 probably found in Rhuddan, near Bulachreige, and 
 also in Loch-ridden with reference to the castle, or 
 to the small vitrified fort. Joyce gives Rashee, or the 
 fort of the fairies, and as his interpretation may be re- 
 lied on, the fact may serve as a caution against hasty 
 interpretations. He also speaks of the tribe of Uibh- 
 Rosa, or the descendants of Rosa, at p. 118. It has 
 only to be added that a very probable instance of the 
 use of toiseach is mentioned above (p. 84), and that the 
 word suidlie, a sitting-place, can have nothing to do 
 with the name of Rothesay. 
 
 Cillabhruic is pronounced Keilavruic, and signifies 
 the house of the bedesmen, the church of the clergy- 
 men. It has been referred to at page 138, and must 
 have been a very ancient place of worship. Madowna, 
 or field of the church, is at Lady-kirk of Rothesay, 
 and has the term ' cap ' suffixed in order to indicate 
 the head or upper portion of the church-land. Font's 
 map shows Rillevoil, or the ruined church, in the near 
 vicinity of Chapelhill the site of St Bride's chapel. 
 
 The " Nunnery " at Kilblain must be a contracted 
 form of Nuinawrie, that is, the sepulchre of the bedes- 
 men or clergymen ; and the reference is very probably 
 to the abbots and bishops who exercised the functions 
 of their office at Kingarth in the seventh and eighth 
 centuries. The enclosure which bears this name is 
 seven or eight paces in length, and about six paces in
 
 APPENDIX. 309 
 
 breadth. Its walls are very thick, and the interior 
 area is overlaid with five long tombstones of ancient 
 type ; but if these ever bore any inscriptions they are 
 now wholly effaced. A story is told of its having been 
 a burying ground for females, but it is manifest the 
 tale has arisen from confusing mnathan, women, with 
 the old Gaelic for bedesmen. The Dreamin-tree ruin 
 is about seventy or eighty yards north-west of the 
 ancient church, and it is highly probable that it has its 
 name from tearmann, a place of security, a sanctuary, 
 a refuge. It appears also to have been called Dealis- 
 cawdran, that is, the stone-house (aileach) of the 
 clergymen ; and there can be little doubt that they 
 used it as a protection against the assaults of pirates 
 and kernes. A tall fir-tree long flourished within the 
 interior area of the building, but it was a mere shat- 
 tered stock when I first saw it and was taught to take 
 away a portion of its bark " to dream on." The ruin 
 shows a circular wall nine feet thick and enclosing an 
 area thirty feet in diameter. Part of this wall is still 
 seven feet in height, and many of the stones used in its 
 construction are very large. Possibly it was of a bee- 
 hive shape, and there are some apparent grounds for 
 concluding that the only entrance into it was by a 
 secret passage which ran through an artificial mole or 
 bank of stones at the base of the cliff. 
 
 Kengaif signifies ' the house of prayer,' and is evi- 
 dently the ancient name of Kilblain, or St Blane's 
 church. At a very early period the same church was 
 spoken of as Cindgalarath, that is, the headland of the 
 house of prayer, and in later times the name of Kin- 
 garth came into use. There was a clerical hospice or
 
 310 APPENDIX. 
 
 monastic establishment here in the 8th century, and 
 the fact is clearly referred to in the name of Avna- 
 craine, that is, the brook of the churchmen's hospice. 
 This stream is in the neighbourhood, and it flows past 
 Largizean towards the north-west. Drimavaineran, or 
 the ridge of the hermits' abode, is also in the vicinity, 
 and evidently points to the cloisters of the old recluses. 
 Carnabainn.or the warriors' cairn (not "white cairn"), 
 is the name of a series of huge kistvaens about half a 
 mile to the north of Clachnabeye. The stone cham- 
 bers have been covered with smaller stones after the 
 manner of a cairn, but the whole of them have been 
 broken up, and are now, with one exception, mere 
 ruins. They have certainly been the last resting- 
 places of the mighty dead, and there is nothing to 
 give countenance to the notion that they were " con- 
 structed in Christian times, and probably as a penance 
 imposed on some poor miscreant." I had the oppor- 
 tunity of making a thorough inspection of this grand, 
 ancient mausoleum, and regret that a full account of 
 it cannot be inserted here.- There was another tumu- 
 lus of the same name at Kerrylamont, and other ex- 
 amples have already been noticed. At Stravannan, 
 or the vale of grave-mounds, there was a large tumulus 
 or barrow called Ayshaug, that is, the mighty warrior's 
 cairn ; and the name of Larryvuanach confirms this 
 interpretation. 
 
 THE QUIGRICH. 
 
 This is the name of an ancient staff or "crosier" 
 which is said to have belonged to St Fillan, but of 
 which only the beautifully ornamented silver head
 
 APPENDIX. 3 1 I 
 
 remains. This relic has been described as "a structure 
 in silver resembling nothing so much as a large, if 
 ancient, umbrella handle " of a " hooked shape," and 
 another account states that " the crook is elaborately 
 ornamented with lozenge-shaped and triangular com- 
 partments of beaded work." Many attempts have 
 lately been made to ascertain the meaning of Quig- 
 rich or Cogerach, but the only explanation which ap- 
 pears to have begun on the right track is contained in 
 the following extract : " There is extant evidence 
 that in 1329 King Robert Bruce made a gift towards 
 the building of St Fillan's Church, and if he also gifted 
 the crosier, its traditional name, cuag-rigk, or 'the king's 
 crook,' would be fitly accounted for, although it seems 
 probable that it may be much earlier than the four- 
 teenth century."* Now, the word cuach signifies a 
 cup, a coil, a curl, and many facts and analogies can 
 be adduced to show the extreme likelihood of its 
 having been used in the sense of " crook," as in the 
 phrase, a shepherd's crook. The author of the passage 
 just cited evidently writes cuag as a form of cuach, 
 and he renders it by the work ' crook.' A shepherd's 
 staff is usually, and by a well-known metaphor, called 
 a crook ; and the Scoto-Gaels of Perthshire could 
 scarcely fail to follow the same usage. Taking, then, 
 the term cuach in the sense of ' crook,' the meaning of 
 Quigrich should be ' the bedesman's crook,' the bacul 
 or staff of the clergyman. If further research be found 
 to establish ' crook ' as a true interpretation of cuach, 
 the whole version will be as easily verified as its ap- 
 
 * The Edinburgh Courant, February 10, 1877.
 
 312 APPENDIX. 
 
 propriateness is manifest. It may be briefly added 
 that the family name of "Deore" or Dewar (associated 
 with the above-mentioned relic) is probably a form of 
 dearrach, an oratory, a church, a chapel ; because we 
 have Dirrow-hill or Durayhill for the name of a farm 
 on the "kirk-land" of Edzell. The transition to 
 ' derach,' a bailiff, or officer, is obvious. 
 
 SYMBOLS. 
 
 The crest on Lord Boyd's shield is a "loupen hand," 
 but the meaning of the'words seems to have become 
 utterly lost. These, however, have been preserved in 
 the following verses : 
 
 " The Water o' Carth rins by the Dean 
 That ance was Lord Boyd's lodging : 
 The lad wi' the loupen han', 
 Wha lost his title an' his Ian'. " 
 
 By a little attention to our old Scots it has been found 
 possible to recover the meaning of the term ' loupen', 
 and to show that the "loupen hand" is the blessing 
 hand the hand of the bishop or priest who pronounces 
 the benediction. A 'loupen hand' has the thumb and 
 the two nearest fingers erect, while the little finger 
 and the one next to it are folded down upon the palm. 
 It may also be seen on the pew cards of the Church 
 of the Blackfriars, Glasgow. Here, then, have we 
 traces of some connection between the lords Boyd 
 and the ancient church dignitaries of Kilmarnock. 
 The shield of the Boyds shows also a piece of lattice- 
 work, and this may be interpreted as a memorial of 
 the ancient wattled church of the said town. Further,
 
 APPENDIX. 313 
 
 the squirrel upon the same shield is shown by Whurl- 
 ford (Hurlford) to be the Squiral, that is, the holy 
 chapel or oratory. How this appears will be more 
 fully elucidated in a contemplated second series of the 
 Landmarks ; but it is curious to notice that the ' ele- 
 phant ' on the shield of the burgh of Dumbarton must 
 be elephas, that is, the ruined castle, and this may also 
 explain the elephant of the ancient sculptured stones. 
 Glasgow city arms shows a tree, that is, crann, but evi- 
 dently confounded with ceitkreann. a hospice (see p. 
 249) ; and the robin as well as the salmon (bradan) 
 have evidently been found in the old broken Gaelic 
 for bedesmen. The Three fish-heads have been al- 
 ready alluded to as evincing a clerical association, and 
 the serpents on the old sculptured stones may have 
 some light thrown upon them by what has been said 
 in connection with the Torrmor Caves. 
 
 EXPLANA TIONS. 
 
 Several sections or chapters have been deferred for 
 want of space, such as those on the Caledonians, Fir- 
 bolgs, Picts, Scots, Churches, Heroes, Kintyre, and the 
 Lothians. So much, however, has been said through- 
 out the work on most of these subjects as to make it 
 highly probable that their absence will not be felt. 
 
 Knocacharbeil, p. 164, is excluded from the com- 
 parison, because founded upon a clerical error or mis- 
 print (/ for /) in Pennant's Tour. Slaiyne, p. 240, 
 signifies mountain-water, the hill-moor stream. 
 
 Kylrecan occurs in the inscription on Campbelton 
 Cross, and may be held to be only a variety of Kil- 
 
 u
 
 3H APPENDIX. 
 
 kerran. It has the same meaning as Kilreivin (the 
 old name of St Andrews), that is, the cell or church of 
 the bedesman. See Airgile, p. 251, and compare 
 Sant-arigal, or the holy church, with Saint Regul. 
 
 With reference to p. 226, it may be observed that 
 Buchanan only says that the Celtic tongue was used 
 up to his time in a very considerable portion of Gallo- 
 way. His statement, however, scarcely modifies the 
 facts stated loc. cit. Galweidia or Galloway (see p. 121) 
 is evidently the land of the foreignised Yeats. 
 
 Dunbar signifies* the stronghold of the champions ; 
 Banff or Banet, the stranger-heroes' town or castle 
 Wallis House ; Blairinroan, the battle-field of the 
 Romans ; Caterthun, the fortress of the hero-chief ; 
 Parkandiskie, the prince's castle, and apparently a 
 name of Fyvie Castle, that is, the castle of the chiefs 
 or princes ; Rothienorman, the camp or fort of the 
 chief (armun) ; Bethelnie, the oratory of the noble or 
 prince ; Clachaudarak, the goblin's stone, the stone of 
 the ogre-giant ; Annans-treat Stone, the stone of the 
 lord of the warriors ; Bede's Burn, bedesman's brook ; 
 Rhubodach, the point of the Dane's grave ; Scavaig, 
 pirates' bay ; Vanduara, the town of the giant-heroes ; 
 John o' Groat, the strong house or camp of the 
 warriors ; Kingedward, the mount of the princes or 
 lord's castle ; Dunsapie, the warriors' stronghold ; and 
 Waverley, the giant-heroes' camp.
 
 CONTRACTIONS. 
 
 General List (i). Authorities and References (2). 
 
 al., alii, others 
 
 app., appendix 
 
 arch., archaeological 
 
 Archd., archdeacon 
 
 A. S., Anglo-Saxon 
 
 fas., castle 
 
 tf., confer, compare 
 
 cp., compare 
 
 Dan., Danish 
 
 def., definite 
 
 diet. , dictionary 
 
 e.g. , for example 
 
 Eng., English 
 
 eqniv., equivalent 
 
 tt seq. , and the following 
 
 Go.., Gael., Gaelic 
 
 Ger., German 
 
 High. Soc., Highland Society 
 
 Hist., history 
 
 id., the same 
 
 i.e., that is 
 
 Ir., Irish 
 
 k., kirk 
 
 lit., literally 
 
 mod., modern 
 
 Nor., Norse 
 
 Nonueg., Norwegian 
 
 O.E., old English 
 
 O.H.G., old High German 
 
 O.N., old Norse 
 
 Ord. Sur., Ordnance Survey 
 
 p., port 
 
 perh., perhaps 
 
 pref., preface 
 
 proncd., pronounced 
 
 q.v. , which see 
 
 Reg., register 
 
 Sax. , Saxon 
 
 Sc. , Scot. , Scots or Scottish 
 
 Swed., Swedish 
 
 v., vide, see 
 
 Wei., Welsh 
 
 Authorities and References. 
 
 Arms. . . . Armstrong's Gael. Diet. 
 Beckett's Tourist's Guide to Arran 
 Blain's MS. Hist, of Bute 
 
 Bruce, The Roman Wall 
 
 Bryce, Geology of Arran 
 
 Caled Caledonia ; see 59 
 
 Camden, Britannia, fol. Latin, 1659 
 
 Chips, Max Muller's 
 
 Cps Chronicles of the Picts and 
 
 Scots (Dr Skene's ed.) 
 Cleasby-Vigfusson . . . . Icel. Diet. 
 E. R Eaton Reid's Hist, of the 
 
 Co. of Bute 
 
 Fergusson's Rude Stone Monuments 
 Green's Short Hist, of the Eng. People 
 Grierson's Rambles among the Scot. 
 
 Mountains 
 
 Hak. Sag Hakonar Saga 
 
 Hill Burton's Hist, of Scotland, 2nd ed. 
 
 H. S. D High. Soc. Gaelic Diet. 
 
 Innes, Cos Sketches of Early Scot 
 
 Hist. 
 
 Inquis. Spec. (Retours) 
 Jamiespn's Diet, of the Scot. Language 
 Jervise's Land of the Lindsays 
 Joyce, Dr P. W., Irish Names of Places 
 Kal. Sc Bp. Forbes' Kalendars of 
 
 Scot. Saints 
 
 Landsborough's (Dr) Arran 
 MacAlpine's Gaelic Dictionary 
 
 MacAr MacArthur's Antiquities 
 
 of Arran 
 MacLauchlan's (Dr) Early Scottish 
 
 Church 
 
 Martin's Western Islands 
 Martineau's Guide to the Eng. Lakes 
 Monro's Western Isles 
 Munro's Gael. Grammar 
 N. S. A New Statistical Account 
 
 of Scotland 
 
 Nelson's Hand-Book to Scotland 
 Oliver's Stone Monuments of Sardinia 
 
 (Eraser's Mag.) 
 Orkneyinga Saga 
 
 O. S. A Old Statist. Account 
 
 Pennant's Tour in Scotland 
 
 Pont and Blaeu, Geograph. Blavian., 1654 
 
 Ramsay, Prof. See p. 205 
 
 Rask's Icel. Grammar 
 Reeve's Adamnan's Vita Columbae 
 Simpson's Arch. Essays 
 Taylor's Words and Places 
 Thorpe's Northern Mythology 
 
 Vita Colum See Reeves 
 
 Wade's Delineations 
 
 White, Capt. T. P., Arch. Sketches 
 
 Wors Worsaae's Danes, etc. 
 
 Wyntown's Orygynal Cronykil, D. Mac- 
 
 pherson's ed., Lond., 1795 
 Zeuss, Grammatica Celtics 
 
 N.B. Dh is often used for the old Norse ' stungit ' d.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 LOCAL NAMES. 
 
 Abbot's Meadow, 57 
 
 Babba Cotes, 138 
 
 Butter-burn, 59 
 
 Aberlady, 232 
 
 Balcaskie, 38 
 
 Buttermere, 125 
 
 Abercorn, 236 
 
 Bal weary, 95 
 
 Byron, 63 
 
 Achab, 239 
 
 Balsillie, 233 
 
 
 Achagallan, 274 
 
 Bamborough, 137 
 
 Cabel Urial, 137 
 
 Achaveyra, 146, 246 
 
 Banavie, 14 
 
 Cahrnanaegh, 252 
 
 Achinleck, 131 
 
 Bandry, 221 
 
 Cairispaine, 243 
 
 Addergil-hill, 37 
 
 Basatar, 262 
 
 Cairnarran, 189 
 
 Adniston, 36 
 
 Bauna Knowe, 112 
 
 Cairnchedly, 48 
 
 Ahval, 215 
 
 Bawnagearc, 210 
 
 Cairndale, 153 
 
 Aikan Castle, 61 
 
 Bearrin, 58 
 
 Caledonia, 46 
 
 Ailen na Ingen, 48 
 
 Beetha, 137 
 
 Calgarth, 121 
 
 Airaverga, 148, 282 
 
 Benrisapol, 243 
 
 Calkou, 83 
 
 Airgile, 251 
 
 Bentpath, 14 
 
 Cal lander, 221 
 
 Aisharel, 275 
 
 Benuish, 276 
 
 Callodale, 210 
 
 Aitrick, 107, 299 
 
 Benvarren, 157, 277, 280 
 
 Calthwait, 138 
 
 Alba, 115 
 
 Bergonian, 39, 293 
 
 Calveeghal, 228 
 
 Alcluid, 39, 52 
 
 Berwick, 12 
 
 Camelon, 32 
 
 Alcuin, 40 
 
 Bewaldeth, 138 
 
 Campbelton, 292, 313 
 
 Allteidrich, 214 
 
 Bewcastle, 138 
 
 Camp Meagg, 119 
 
 Allynclowd, 39 
 
 Biel, 244 
 
 Campsail, 32 
 
 Altivaig, 246 
 
 Billies-well, 55 
 
 Camstraddin, 32 
 
 Alwen, 139 
 
 Blairmore, 246 
 
 Canasp, 276 
 
 Ambleside, 38, 123 
 
 Blenerhasset, 138 
 
 Candida Casa, 231 
 
 Ambro', 37, 292 
 
 Blinbothel, 139 
 
 Canobie, 30 
 
 Annan-street, 37 
 
 Blue Rock, 197 
 
 Cantyre, 86 
 
 Annet- walls, 138 
 
 Blyndwell, 139 
 
 Cape Clear, 102 
 
 Anrue, 38 
 
 Boens, 232 (note) 
 
 Caroisthean, 41 
 
 Anster, 37 
 
 Bomby, 50 
 
 Carlatton, 138 
 
 Anteyna, 207, 214, 275 
 
 Bon Accord, 51 
 
 Carnabainn, 246 
 
 Anthorn, 287 
 
 Bonhill, 14, 55 
 
 Carskey, 23 
 
 Antony's Chapel, 152 
 
 Bonvyte, 14 
 
 Castle-creavy, 165 
 
 Aorinn, 219 
 
 Borrowdale, 127 
 
 Catacol, 283 
 
 Aplencors, 131 
 
 Bota, 35 
 
 Cathkin, 285 
 
 Aplenira, 130 
 
 Bout-hill of Scone, 83 
 
 Catrine, 67 
 
 Appleby. 131 
 
 Bout Scotlan, 83 
 
 Cayran, 67 
 
 Applecross, 131 
 
 Braidsaura, 40 
 
 Cheviot Fell, 39 
 
 Ara Force, 125 
 
 Braighaneogh, 61 
 
 Cillabhruic, 138 
 
 Ardrossan, 243 
 
 Brankein, 268 
 
 Cillgah, 232 
 
 Arkilston, 137 
 
 Bridekirk, 138 
 
 Clachnakeelyechuir, 133 
 
 Arrin Cairn, 283 
 
 Brodick, 241 
 
 Clach-ossian, 254 
 
 Arywhonyne, 245 
 
 Brown Hills, 255 
 
 Clahanrighuirt, 246 
 
 Asapol, 275 
 
 Bruces" Caves, 261 
 
 Clahveecnal, 140, 217 
 
 Asgard, 25 
 
 Brughog, 61 
 
 Claife, 122 
 
 Assynt-shire, 47 
 
 Brmnerekin, 268 
 
 Clapersgate, 123 
 
 Attinburn, 36 
 
 Bruses-castle, 246 
 
 Clota, 195 
 
 Auchencruive, 165 
 
 Buc of the Cabra', 157 
 
 Cockley-beck, 129 
 
 Auld Reikie, 41 
 
 Buchan, 63 
 
 Cockpen, 120 
 
 Aydencraw, 36 
 
 Bui t land, 63 
 
 Coldingham, 131 
 
 Aymar Glen, 279 
 
 Burdoswald, 30 
 
 Coludi, 131 
 
 Ayrin, 279 
 
 Burdsyards, 62, 84 
 
 Coniston, 121 
 
 Ayshaug, 275 
 
 Bute, 58, 62, 63, 107, 109, 
 
 Copeland, 139 
 
 Ayton, 286 
 
 216, 242, 291 
 
 Cornawhee, 196
 
 INDEX. 
 
 317 
 
 Corrie, 238 
 
 Easbie, 275 
 
 Glesannnock, 218 
 
 Corriviarlich, 166 
 
 Easnabeira, 212 
 
 Glenshearag, 241 
 
 Corry-ghyll, 246 
 
 Eatnagh Craig, 41 
 
 Glentuie, 266, 274 
 
 Coventry, 279 
 
 Edderton, 37 
 
 Glenwhurry, 94 
 
 Cowanhead, 121 
 
 Eden's Hold, 36 
 
 Goatfel, 240, 193 
 
 Cowdenknowes, 40 
 
 Edinample, 36 
 
 Golcagh, 232 
 
 Cowgate, 122 
 
 Edinburgh, 36, 47, 314 
 
 Goudenbery, 47 
 
 Crae-castle, 165 
 
 Edleston, 20 
 
 Gowbarrow, 127 
 
 Craigphadric, 295 
 
 Ednaham, 36 
 
 Gowks-hill, 120 
 
 Craignagairy, 209 
 
 Eersa Water, 278 
 
 Grany o' Male, 72 
 
 Cransha, 59 
 
 Eggarness, 216 
 
 Grasmere, 133 
 
 Creanggour, 133 
 
 Elleray, 131 
 
 Greenan Ahval, 205 
 
 Creislagh-vourachy, 107 
 
 Enterkin, 38, 285 
 
 Greistonlees, 245 
 
 Crier of Claife, 122 
 
 Eoden.Ha', 36 
 
 Greskin, 285 
 
 Crimonmogate, 286 
 
 Ercildoun, 137 
 
 Grianon Athol, 135 
 
 Crispiana, 243 
 
 Ether-knowe, 37 
 
 Grisedale, 131 
 
 Cristenbury, 138 
 
 Eval, 144 
 
 Gummers How, 124 
 
 Cromla, 239 
 
 Evie, 279 
 
 
 Croshileagie, 232 
 
 Ewesdale, 37, 140, 189 
 
 Habitancum, 244 
 
 Cryslan Well, 21 
 
 Eyemouth, 13 
 
 Haddington, 40, 262 
 
 Crystal Well, 226 
 
 
 Hairstanes, 12, no 
 
 Cuillin, 277 
 
 Fairlie, 30 
 
 Halifax, 188 
 
 Culgaith, 139 
 
 Fairneyside, 31 
 
 Hammar, 87 
 
 Cumbraes, The, 43, et 
 
 Pairy-castle, 31 
 
 Hardegrepes, 37 
 
 seq. 
 
 Fallen Rocks, 198 
 
 Hardknot, 129 
 
 Cuuseybeck, 122 
 
 Fatlippes, 244 
 
 Harlaw, 12 
 
 Curwen, 124 
 
 Feorlin, 256, 284 
 
 Harrington, 189 
 
 
 Ferguslie, 30 
 
 Harris, 41, 189 
 
 Dalmeny, 287 
 
 Fernyhurst, 120 
 
 Hassywells, 47 
 
 Dairy, 41, 59 
 
 Fiddlers-Rock, 238 
 
 Haugs-houme, 287 
 
 Danskin, 29 
 
 Fife, 166 
 
 Hawick Mote, 226 
 
 Darnabo, 48 
 
 Finnis-cairn, 37, 48 
 
 Haylie, 80 
 
 Daugbrahn, 268 
 
 Fireburn, 30 
 
 Heathry-gripps, 37 
 
 Dauvalassaly, 109 
 
 Firrypein, 241, 120 
 
 Hempres, 37 
 
 Davis Duib, 127 
 
 Forfar, 29 
 
 Hepe Abbey, 137 
 
 Dennyleir, 48 
 
 Forgislagh, 30, 273 
 
 Herey, Hersey, 188 
 
 Dingwell, 21 
 
 Forleyn, 30 
 
 Hermand, 29 
 
 Dinxie's Well, 233 
 
 Formby, 29 
 
 Herropsyke, 189 
 
 Dippen, 253 
 
 Forres, 29 
 
 Hinny's Pap, 215 
 
 Dirnabol, 203 
 
 Foule-causey, 70 
 
 Hogg, 287 
 
 Dockraes, 130 
 
 Fourta Aykar, 71 
 
 Holy Island, 246 
 
 Doggerstane, 76 
 
 Foyers, Fall of, 62 
 
 Honister-crag, 38 
 
 Dolls-hellir, 201 
 
 Fraserburgh, 286 
 
 Horn, or Haurn, 286 
 
 Dougary, 277 
 
 Fyvie, 47, 125, 314 
 
 Hose-law, 275 
 
 Douglas Hotel, 246 
 
 
 Hound's Tooth, 196 
 
 Doulybrig, 48 
 
 Garrawalt, 276 
 
 Hoy Shevit, 39 
 
 Dragon of Dunning, 94 
 
 Garrison, The, 93 
 
 Humber, 102 
 
 Dreghorn, 287 
 
 Gatefield, 172 
 
 Humfrey, 102 
 
 Drimadoon, 257 
 
 Giants' Hill, 165 
 
 Hunterston, 83 
 
 Drimeich, 215 
 
 Gigha, 22, 285 
 
 Huntingdoggesatdcar, 
 
 Drimlecarlew, 253 
 
 Gillerux, 138 
 
 134, 262 
 
 Dunadeer, 295 
 
 Gille-chamigil, 276 
 
 Hutton, Old, 137 
 
 Dunbalrais, 152 
 
 Gillianbrigs, 182 
 
 
 Duneaden, 39 
 
 Gillemoriston, 20 
 
 Ibbots-Holm, 124 
 
 Dunfermline, 29 
 
 Glascho, 83, 313 
 
 Iduman, 101 
 
 Dunkeld, 55 
 
 Glasgow, 47, 54, 249 
 
 Imochar, 278 
 
 Dunlop, 61, 76 
 
 Gleadstane, 72 
 
 nchmahome, 279 
 
 Dunmacaisneighin,39, 293 
 
 Glencloy, 245 
 
 nkhorn, 287 
 
 Dunoon, 257 
 
 Gleneasbuig, 275 
 
 nnean na Meachach, 286 
 
 Dunse, 21 
 
 Glenfas, 171 
 
 ona 57, 162 
 
 Durris, 220 
 
 Glenkroden, 131 
 
 reby, 139 
 
 
 Glenkwen, 125 
 
 rriewell, 161 
 
 Eaglesfield, 138 
 
 Glenluie, 274 
 
 Irthing Water, 125 
 
 Eambro, 37 
 
 Glenree, 173 
 
 Isanparles, 139 
 
 Earsay Loch, 277 
 
 Glenrosa, 241, et seq. 
 
 Islekirk, 138
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Jocks-Tom, 90 
 
 Lamlash, 246, et seq. 
 
 Monteviot Park, 109 
 
 
 Lanercost, 137 
 
 Moorfoot Hills, 13 
 
 Kaga, 159 
 Kambiswillis, 32 
 
 Langholm, 233 
 Lang Meagg, 119 
 
 Morphie, 279 
 Mugdock Castle, 245 
 
 Kames Castle, 35 
 
 Largizean, 291 
 
 Muk-stat, 53 
 
 Kampsos, 32, et seq. 
 Kattikil, 23 
 
 Largs, 130 
 Lasswade, 181, 244 
 
 Munc-caster, 139 
 Musselburgh, 245 
 
 Katt-stane, 239 
 
 Lattanoon, 257 
 
 Mustard, 245 
 
 Keadefel, 172, 240 
 
 Leanry, 255 
 
 
 Kead Vol, 215, 240 
 
 Lefansbye, 24 
 
 Narahan, 134, 211, 53 
 
 Keenahein, 215 
 
 Leilveit, 21 
 
 Nayrin, 279 
 
 Keervohr, 196, 215 
 Keileebertsh, 210 
 
 Lethenty, 48 
 Letrewell, 164 
 
 Neagles, 209 
 
 Keilhuitan, 137 
 
 Lewes, Lewis, 15, 48 
 
 Orcades, 104 
 
 Keilreivin, 47 
 
 Leystar, 250 
 
 Osborne, 275 
 
 Keirens-Caves, 259 
 
 Lilticochee, 23 
 
 Osnaburgh, 275 
 
 Keirnes, 239 
 
 Lindale, 140 
 
 
 Kelbar, 77 
 
 Liodhus, 15 
 
 Paddaburn, 125 
 
 Kellswick, 138 
 
 Livingston, 244, 178 
 
 Paisley, 47, 262 
 
 Kellyvohr, 288 
 
 Lochandaivy, 135 
 
 ' Paltreath, 83 
 
 Kelso, 54 
 
 Lochanougal, 244 
 
 Panel's Stone, 266 
 
 Kelsoland, 130 
 
 Locharisaig, 244 
 
 Panrisok, 280 
 
 Kempock, 32 
 
 Lochranza, 18, 204 
 
 Patterdale, 124 
 
 Kendal, 137 
 
 Lochresort, 243 
 
 Peaght-stane, 269 
 
 Kent's Cavern, 259 
 
 Lochrin Burn, 240 
 
 Peebles, 89 
 
 Keswick, 129 
 
 Lochshot, 178 
 
 Pemrioc, 181 
 
 Kid Vol. 215 
 
 Loch Teavie, 127 
 
 Penrith, 119, 138 
 
 Kiel-veekil, 140 
 
 Loch Tinna, 275 
 
 Percyhorner, 286 
 
 Kilbarchan, 22, 64, 314 
 
 Lorn, 78 
 
 Petuaria, 103 
 
 Kilbrannan Sound, 268 
 
 Lothian, 225 
 
 Physgil, 62 
 
 Kilbride, 138, 246 
 
 Lots-wife, 80 
 
 Pilcruvie, 165 
 
 Kilcaise, 132 
 
 Loumstreet, 251 
 
 Pleystar, 248 
 
 Kildalloig, 246, 264 
 
 Loxa, 103 
 
 Pollock, 73 
 
 Kildavee, 231 
 
 Lugar, 239 
 
 Pomona, 17 
 
 Kildonan, 253 
 
 Lukopibia, 231 
 
 Portchrannaigh, 170 
 
 Kileirvan, 47 
 
 Luss, 221 
 
 Portcrosch, 243 
 
 Killath, 137 
 
 Lydal, 252, et seq. 
 
 Prenderguest, 286 
 
 Killeush, 84 
 
 
 Presminnen, 244 
 
 Kilmalie, 264 
 
 Maburg, 119 
 
 Preston-fells, 139 
 
 Kilmarnock, 71 
 
 Macbhrolchin, 241 
 
 Primrose, 244 
 
 Kilmichael, 220 
 
 Macfarlanes-carn, 218 
 
 Printonian, 21 
 
 Kilmory, 254 
 
 Macfarlane's Cross, 284 
 
 Purvis-hill, 103 
 
 Kilpatrick, 164, 256 
 
 Machrie, 273 
 
 Pypars' Cairn, 82 
 
 Kilrecan, 47 
 
 Madalouna, 288 
 
 Pypar's Cave, 263 
 
 Kilsyth, 54 
 
 Madan Way, 121 
 
 
 King Loth's Grave, 285 
 
 Maes-Howe, 119, 245 
 
 Ramsey, 138, 263 
 
 Kings-caves, 259 
 Kingscorro, 250 
 Kingshaw, 285 
 
 Magga Clagh, 48 
 Maiden Castle, 40 
 Maithaic-uan, 287 
 
 Ramskel, 263 
 Rankleburn, 28 
 Rasena-land, 245 
 
 Kinnaleeky, 216 
 
 Makkis-hillock, 48 
 
 Rathillet, 54 
 
 Kintyre, 55, 67, 231, 232, 
 
 Markendale, 138 
 
 Renfrew, 83, 314 
 
 238, 243, 262, 275, 286, 
 
 Markmanna Hill, 14 
 
 Renisdal, 18, 214 
 
 289, 292 
 
 Martindale, 138 
 
 Renton, 18 
 
 Kirkby Stephen, 137 
 
 Martnaham, 38 
 
 Resapol, 86 
 
 Kirk Urral, 251, et seq. 
 
 Mass-kirk, 210 
 
 Ressalrig, 244 
 
 Kirn, 67 
 
 Matterdale, 128 
 
 Reston, 19 
 
 Kiskadale, 176 
 
 Mayfield, 120 
 
 Risapol, 47 
 
 Kittilnakit, 279 
 
 Meigle, 285 
 
 Risenuke, 243 
 
 Knichts-Lands, 186 
 
 Melstane-point, 198 
 
 Risingham, 244 
 
 Kwee, 167, 198 
 
 Menzion, 285 
 
 Ricpain, 171, 242 
 
 Kynance Caves, 159 
 
 Mikkeldale, 140 
 
 Romlingburn, 138 
 
 
 Ministers' Hill, 180 
 
 Rosehearty, 243 
 
 Lag, 254 
 
 Mitterdale, 128 
 
 Rosencath, 243 
 
 I-agantuin, 198 
 
 Monichoillyie, 285 
 
 Roslin, 244 
 
 Lake, The, 240 
 
 Moniquil, 274 
 
 Rosnat, 243
 
 INDEX. 
 
 319 
 
 Routan-burns, 139 
 
 Straveelo, 23 
 
 Ulpha, 126 
 
 Kuantrah, 197 
 
 Strontian, 161 
 
 Ulswater, 130 
 
 Rushen Castle, 233 
 
 Suighairean, 267 
 
 Urinbeg [uirin], 209 
 
 Russafelt, 244 
 
 Suuhoney, 267 
 
 
 Rysedale, 86 
 
 Sunken-church, 129 
 
 Vaesac, 264 
 
 Ryselaw, 21 
 
 Suy-faeroch, 196 
 
 Vanner-loch, 276 
 
 
 Swinscoe, 285 
 
 Veitellir, 238, 264 
 
 St Abb's Head, 263 
 
 Swir-burn, 149 
 
 Vergionius Oceanus, 102 
 
 St Andrews, 231, 251, 314 
 
 
 
 Salisbury Crags, no 
 
 Tagoat, 84 
 
 Wasatar, 261 
 
 Santa Vey, 4.8 
 
 Tail's Cross, 170 
 
 Wasdale, 129 
 
 Sannox, 215 
 
 Tammis-hill, 127, 138 
 
 Wat Carraik, 107 
 
 Satiris Muli, 262 
 
 Tankar-ha", 90 
 
 Wedale, 52 
 
 Saurby, 40 
 
 Teits-well, 170 
 
 West Kilbride, 83, 38 
 
 Scauroe, 250 
 
 Thirlwall, 70, 74 
 
 Wetheral, 139 
 
 Scenes-law, 232 
 
 Tingwall, 173 
 
 Wey Cumbrae, 48, 87 
 
 Seillery-knowe, no 
 
 Tirguy, 280 
 
 Weydale, 23 
 
 Senbigel, 140, 220 
 
 Tirnaboul, 170 
 
 Whithorn, 231 
 
 Sharpitlaw, 70 
 
 Toliapis, 101 
 
 Whitehouse, 249 
 
 Sheaskan Vale, 183, 258 
 
 Torrandaive, 164 
 
 Whiting Bay, 251 
 
 Sheehan Hills, 87, 164 
 
 Torranree, 261 
 
 Willock, 263 
 
 Siccar Cave, 262 
 
 Torr-mor, 258 
 
 Winster, 124 
 
 Skasbidel, 246 
 
 Touredder, 253 
 
 Wittyham, 139 
 
 Sleenagarrahan, 264 
 
 Trahoun, 91 
 
 Worme's Glen, 262 
 
 Slipperfield, 285 
 
 Traighiluith, 167, 258 
 
 Wrenose, 276 
 
 Snittlegarth, 139 
 
 Trisanton, 101 
 
 Wythop-chapel, 139 
 
 Solway, 121 
 
 Tucorin, 267 
 
 
 Sorowful Hil, De, 39 
 
 Tuhvein, 152 
 
 Yarlside, 137 
 
 Soutergate, 137 
 
 Tynquharry, 278 
 
 Yondertoun, 38 
 
 Soutra-Kirk, 262 
 
 
 Ythan, 36 
 
 Staveley, 138 
 
 Uaigh-t-Hoirle, 264 
 
 
 Stirling Castle, 209 
 
 Uasghnogh, 256 
 
 Zetland, 20, 74 
 
 Stockers-well, 89 
 
 Udny, 161 
 
 
 
 MATTERS. 
 
 
 Ab, 48 
 
 beorh, 12, 149 
 
 churches, ancient, 47, 141 
 
 abbots in Bute, 308 
 
 beorn, 145, 148 
 
 circles of stones, 129 
 
 addnaid, 41 
 
 bidder, 59 
 
 clergy, the early, 142 
 
 ./Esir, 25 
 
 biender, 24, 52 
 
 clerical retreats, 134 
 
 air, 40, 50, 73, 236 
 
 bild, 158 
 
 comaraich, 54 
 
 airicul, 141, 159 
 
 billie, 15, 58 
 
 comhan, 47, 51, 65 
 
 Airthir's curse, 154, 161 
 
 bister, 259 
 
 Cruiney, 169, 258 
 
 aoidhe, 21, 39, 41, 56 
 
 Blue (surname), 263 
 
 Culdees, 142 
 
 aoigh, 61, 138, 178, 254 
 
 boen-house, 232 
 
 Cumbrae ancient chur- 
 
 apaidh, 64, 148 
 
 bonnit-lairds, 52 
 
 ches, 48 
 
 apelringie, 131 
 
 Boulder of the Cell, 135 
 
 
 armot, 147, 232 
 
 Brandanes, 45, 98, 105 
 
 daddy, 101 
 
 Armstrong, 30 
 arthurs lords, 209 
 
 Britain, 301 
 Brown, 99 
 
 Dag, 183 
 Danans, 101 
 
 Astioremon, 275 
 
 Bruce, 99, 146, 259 
 
 dearrach, 177, 220 
 
 
 buccaneer's grave, 81 
 
 dedications, church, 86, 
 
 bae, 24, 170 
 
 burg, 119, burh, 127 
 
 141, 232 
 
 baisleac, 47, 141 
 
 buta, 62, 50 
 
 deor-win foreign hero, 
 
 Ballantyne, 34, 91 
 
 bygd, 62, 103 
 
 cf. 27 
 
 baron hero, 35, 58, 187 
 
 
 Dewar, 312 
 
 Beachach, 117 
 
 Cairn, The, 153 
 
 domhnach, 141 
 
 beady, bedie, 125 
 
 cairn-men, 14 
 
 Donald, 275 
 
 Beaina Sunday, 13 
 bearg, 147, 158 
 
 Campbell, 31, et seq. 
 ceall-ghuidhe, 54 
 
 dreadin, 269 
 Druidical fiction, 270 
 
 beauties of Druidism, 270 
 
 Celtic lord's tomb, 217 
 
 Duncantait, 248 
 
 bede-houses, 23 
 
 Chisholm, 275 
 
 
 beiia, 27, 170 
 
 Christians, early, 117 
 
 eatan giant-hero, 37, 70
 
 320 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 eateren, 75 
 
 ladikin, 151 
 
 rode camp, 125 
 
 eccles, 47 
 
 Lady Godiva, 279 
 
 rom, romling, 137, 263 
 
 eimh, 126, 279 
 
 Lars Porsena, 245 
 
 Ross, the (head of the 
 
 Etruscans, 244 
 
 legends, 263 
 
 clan), 243 
 
 eyri, 50 
 
 Leillies Day, 22 
 
 Rosses, 1 80, 243 
 
 
 Light-elves, 229 
 
 
 Fairies, 87, 173 
 
 Lochlings, 71 
 
 's' prefixed, 91, 95 
 
 fear-ghuidhe, 81 
 
 loupen hand, 312 
 
 St Ninian, 64, 119 
 
 Fenians, 271 
 
 Love, 126 
 
 Saxons, 103 
 
 Firbolgs, 101, 145, 146, 
 
 
 Scots, 46, 224, et seq. 
 
 164, 175, 185, 299 
 
 Macnish, 248 
 
 seile, no, 216, 242 
 
 Fleming, 29, 225 
 
 Marchmond, 29 
 
 Selgovae, 116 
 
 Fomorians, 100, 107, 136, 
 
 Meatae, 46, 117 
 
 serpent, 259, et seq. 
 
 243 
 
 melgrave, 210 
 
 singed man, the, 168, 248 
 
 Fomorian's grave, 73, 104, 
 
 Michael, 22, 175, 220 
 
 Souters of Selkirk, 262 
 
 et seq. 
 
 minde, 48, 285 
 
 spider tale, the, 259 
 
 Frasers, 244 
 
 Mohennoc, St, 57 
 
 stone circles, 107, 265 
 
 froude, 51, 56 
 
 muke, 52 
 
 swedenkein, 168, 283 
 
 gaddar, 238 
 
 nickname, 106 
 
 taigh-ghuidhe, 23 
 
 Gadeni, 20, 117, 299 
 
 Ninian, 56 
 
 teamhair, 40, 90, 107 
 
 Gaels, 122 
 
 Norse surnames, 99 
 
 Tear-hillock, 91 
 
 Gallgaels, 93, 127 
 
 Northmen, 25 
 
 tearmann, 309 
 
 S:birge, 157 
 
 
 Teary bus teary oaden. 
 
 ewictis, 47, 74 
 
 old tale, 135 
 
 227 
 
 girdle-stones, 107 
 
 old verses, 269 
 
 thing, ting, 21, 172 
 
 girth, 23, 52 
 
 oral tradition, 128 
 
 Three fish-heads, 173, 231 
 
 graves of Caledonian 
 
 Oscar, 287, 180 
 
 translation in part, \\i 
 
 lords, 109, et seq. 
 
 'ossian,' 42, 162, 176, 256, 
 
 treasure, 209 
 
 Guineach, 33 
 
 et seq. 
 
 troch-stane, 83 
 
 Guinevere, 285 
 
 Oswald, 275 
 
 true-man, 236 
 
 Guthorm, 263 
 
 
 True utterances, 10 
 
 
 papa, 234, 181 
 
 Twaesistar, 262 
 
 haugr, no, 75, 152 
 
 Parisi, 103 
 
 
 Ha wick Slogan, 227 
 
 Peachts, Peahts, 24, 46, 
 
 udallers, 52 
 
 hellir, 85, 238 
 
 80, 117, 169 
 
 tila, ulla, 87, 91 
 
 Heroes' cairns, 266 
 
 peapar, 81, et seq. 
 
 Urquharts, 275 
 
 Hogmanay, 14 
 
 penitent's cell, 77 
 
 
 hospice, 66, 141, 213 
 
 Pict-men's Isle, 114 
 
 valdr, 248 
 
 house of prayer, 14, 230 
 
 Picts in Arran, 169 
 
 ve temple, 22, 52, 126 
 
 
 pilgrims, 69, 278 
 
 Verses on Kirk-Urral, 252 
 
 image, 62, 158 
 
 pirates, 18, loo 
 
 
 Inkson, 99 
 
 prester, 234 
 
 Weird, the, 161 
 
 
 
 wells, 21, 139, 280 
 
 kamp, kemp, 31 
 
 qua, 96 
 
 wick, 13 
 
 Kate Kennedy, 231 
 
 qua:stionarii, 133 
 
 wikings, 32, 151 
 
 kei, 23, 259 
 
 
 willis graves, 32 
 
 keier, 159, 259 
 
 races in Arran, 99 
 
 wine hero, 27 
 
 keirnes, 259 
 
 Rainnies, 214 
 
 worm, 262 
 
 Kelsoes, 230 
 
 Rank in, 28 
 
 
 Kempis-riggs, 32, 40 
 
 read eattins, 38, 70, 75 
 
 Yeats, 20, 48, 115, 163, 
 
 kernes, 95 
 
 research, 46, 190 
 
 181, 299 
 
 key, 96, 78 
 
 rewheids, 307 
 
 Yeats' Stone, 285 
 
 kirk-house, 141 
 
 riodh, 38, 306 
 
 
 kraken, 27 
 
 risi, risar, 85, 244 
 
 Zetland, 74, 116
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
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