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The Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland Published by James Maclehose and Sons, Glasgow

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The Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland Published by James Maclehose and Sons, Glasgow i^ttiin •••7 * tuwn 1 1 ,1 vir tiiTiv^Vv5*^M òlo^l^!^^ '^- - /f^K$ , yt A"-^^^^- /^AO. "-'no.-' iiuUcotettt>tnc -DOcholiiunc THE NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND PUBLISHED BY JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, GLASGOW, inblishcre to the anibersitg. MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON. New York, • • The Macmillan Co. Toronto, • - • The Mactnillan Co. of Canada. London, • . - Simpkin, Hamilton and Co. Cambridse, • Bowes and Bowes. Edinburgh, • • Douglas and Foults. Sydney, • • Angus and Robertson. THE NORSE INFLUENCE ON CELTIC SCOTLAND BY GEORGE HENDERSON M.A. (Edin.), B.Litt. (Jesus Coll., Oxon.), Ph.D. (Vienna) KELLY-MACCALLUM LECTURER IN CELTIC, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW EXAMINER IN SCOTTISH GADHELIC, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY I9IO Is buaine focal no toic an t-saoghail. A word is 7nore lasting than the world's wealth. ' ' Gadhelic Proverb. Lochlannaich is ànnuinn iad. Norsemen and heroes they. ' Book of the Dean of Lismore. Lochlannaich thi'eun Toiseach bhiir sgéil Sliochd solta ofrettmh Mhamiis. Of Norsemen bold Of doughty mould Your line of oldfrom Magnus. '' AIairi inghean Alasdair Ruaidh. PREFACE Since ever dwellers on the Continent were first able to navigate the ocean, the isles of Great Britain and Ireland must have been objects which excited their supreme interest. To this we owe in part the com- ing of our own early ancestors to these isles. But while we have histories which inform us of the several historic invasions, they all seem to me to belittle far too much the influence of the Norse Invasions in particular. This error I would fain correct, so far as regards Celtic Scotland. Even in the case of England, —and its language lacks not many competent investigators, —the Norse influence has often been slurred over, and this in spite of the many new words which came in with the Danes and the impetus given by that people, in especial towards the ridding of the old English case-endings. Mr. Bradley in his Making of Eng- lish points out that it is only by the indirect evid- ence of place-names and of modern dialects, that we learn that in some districts of England the popula- tion must have been at one time far more largely Scandinavian than English. Important Scandinavian settlements existed in almost every county north of the Thames: in 1017 PREFACE Cnut of Denmark conquered the throne of England, and "his strong rule gave to the country a degree of political unity such as it never had before. Under succeeding kings, — even under the Englishman, Edward the Confessor, —the highest official posts in the kingdom continued to be held by men of Danish origin." English, however, is a much investigated lan- guage. Skeat in his Principles of English Ety- mology devotes a special chapter to the exposition of the Scandian, or properly Scandinavian element ; and there is also a recent treatment of the Scan- dinavian Loan Words in Middle English by Erik Bjorkman. But there is no single accessible volume to render a parallel service to the student of Gadhelic, —to use an older form of the word Gaelic, —that branch of Celtic which has for so many centuries formed the proper speech of the Highlands of Scotland. The Norse influence here also has been alike overlooked too often and underestimated, although it imparted an impetus which has tended towards making case-endings in several districts at least uncertain, and certainly brought many new words. Not that there has not been investigation. On the contrary when an Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language appeared, some were heard to murmur that its author, the late Dr. Alexander MacBain, derived too many words from the Norse. I would rather add to them. There are some few reciprocal influences likewise between Gadhelic and Old Norse. In the Edda, for instance, Irish ^^^7/ 'mad, wild,' becomes gialti\^ ' Saga-Book of the Viking Club, v. 400. PREFACE vu Gadhelic Idm ' hand,' appears in the Fljòtsdaela Saga as Idnir in describing the giant's paws : m standing for the later mh in GadheHc shows the early date of the loan, and Mr. Collingwood points out that the only other use of the word in Icelandic seems to be in the Edda.^ Gadhelic crd 'pen,' åirigh 'sheiling,' are borrowed as Norse kr6, aerg. A list of about a score of Icelandic place-names formed on Gadhelic originals has been made by Dr. Stefdnsson.^ Some of these contain in part the Old Irish personal names, Brian, Dubhtach, Dubhgus, Colman, Cel- lach, Ciaran, Colcu, Coelan, Mael Curcaigh, Patric. Others, such as Cormac and Faelan, appear in Ice- land as Kormakr, Feilan, while Nfal is immortalized by the Saga of Burnt Njal. Legends too were taken over at times, if we may judge by a legend of Shetland in the Fljòtsdaela Saga, which appears to Mr. Collingwood^ to be a piece of Celtic folk-lore transplanted into Iceland. Irish Episodes in Ice- landic Literature have been treated of by Miss E. Hull in an interesting paper, and Bugge has elabor- ately expounded the influence of the Westmen upon the Norse. If I cherish the conviction that in the Highlands we have more Norse elements in our making than we may have thought, I do so on a chain of evidence which confirms the fact that this influence has been well absorbed in the richness of Gadhelic speech. Gadhelic, ancient and modern, is exceedingly copious in word-forms, and as rich in its way as any of the speech-groups within the Indo- European family. But it is false to suppose that it shows no external influences : such are found in * lb. 273. * lb. 293. ^ lb. 272. viii PREFACE every language that has been a medium of thought and life. Highland place and personal names admittedly shew strong Norse influence ; and there are many words in the spoken language that are not in any dictionary, as well as many words for which no derivation has been offered. While giving a re- sume of achieved results, my purpose is to point out further Norse linguistic influence on the Gadhelic vocabulary (especially where words seem difficult of explanation from the native side or have escaped attention), and to unfold the continuation of Norse influence in belief, archaic ritual and literature ; and, by giving an historic picture within brief compass, to introduce the student to a comprehensive survey of facts which persuade that the Norse element is of permanence in Celtic Scotland. For its own sake this influence is well worthy of study. It is a chapter in international history and deserves a connected record. My obligations I record throughout the work. But I must specially acknowledge the great help I have received from the late Dr. MacBain's paper on the Norse Element in the Topography of the Highlands and Isles} In painting a description of an important movement in the national life I could not avoid touching on scenery ; and in that section I have very largely followed his masterly guidance ; supplementing other examples relating to Skye, from his Place-Names of Inverness-shire ^- with other instances of my own. His Dictionary I ' Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness^ vol. xix. pp. 217- 245. 2 lb. vol. XXV. PREFACE ix have used throughout. I have not been forgetful of living sources, and make such additions as seem to me in place. I cite the best witnesses to enable the reader to form an historical judgment from reliable facts. Previous investigation was useful. Professor Mackinnon treated the subject in my student days in a manner to me interesting and fresh. My memory thereof, refreshed from papers quoted, is a pupil's obligation to a master's pains. I was fortunate in having Mr. W. J. Watson's treatment of Norse-Gadhelic phonetics, in his Place- Names of Ross and Cromarty, which was of great service for the amplified synopsis I append—often quoting his work with some of his examples, so successfully explained, as results already attained. Even if some instances I give provisionally be queried, the total impression will but slightly alter. On the whole, the sound-changes work out with regularity and reveal the mechanism of lingual inter- change with the self-evidencing certainty of law. I thank Mr. J. Maclean, Glasgow, for the Tiree ' folk-tale, an after-echo, I fancy, of the ' Red Woman {^A7i Inghean Ruadk), whom Prof. Bugge believes to have been among the Viking invaders of Ireland ; but perhaps in Innse-Gall a different one. For the use of illustrations, it is my pleasant duty to offer my sincere acknowledgments to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland ; to the Viking Club and to Mr. W. G. Collingwood for the Galley Inscribed Cross at Iona; to Mr. P. C. Kermode, with per- mission of Messrs. George Allen and Sons, for the Sigurd Slabs at Malew, Jurby and Andreas ; and to the Rev. R. L. Ritchie for the offer of photographs, ; PREFACE which I regret I was unable to use. To Mr. James MacLehose I am grateful for his skilful oversight and to the Carnegie Trustees I am obliged for a grant in aid of publication. To distinguished predecessors I owe a noble example and more : Dr. Magnus Maclean, who well embodies the influences I portray, and who by his published Kelly-MacCallum lectures has contributed to a better understanding of Highland letters—a boon to many ; and Dr. Kuno Meyer, from whose works I am ever learning : wer ivimer strebend sick be7nuht, den konnen wir erlosen. My authorities and my obligations must be numerous as the people whose speech has been mine since boyhood.
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