Celtic Place-Names in Orkney. 251 Celtic Place-Names In

Home , Albion, Damsay, Egilsay, Foula, Old Man of Hoy, Old Welsh

CELTIC PLACE-NAMES IN ORKNEY. 251

II. CELTIC PLACE-NAME ORKNEYN SI HUGY B . H MARWICK, F.S.A.ScoT.

Thia subjec s i s t which has faro s , , received scant, attention from, professional philologists highls hi n yI . interesting book, Scottish Land Names, Sir Herbert Maxwell says (p. 79): " All the names in Orkney and Shetland which are not English are in Old Norse." Mr Johnston, in his Place Names of Scotland, conies to practically the same conclusion. Isaac Taylor, in his Words and Places, p. 113, says of the Orkneys: " In e sixty-seveth l al n islands ther e onlar e y two r perhapo , s three, Celtic names. onle Th y" previous investigator consequency an f so beed eha n Captain Thomas, B.N., and Professor P. A. Munch, and it was probably resulte onth f thesso e gentlemen's work tha r HerberSi t t Maxweld an l Mr Johnston based their conclusions. With regar Shetlando dt e cas th ,s ver ei y different s Shetland-hi n I . s0erne Stednavne, the late Dr Jakobsen has given us a study of Shetland place-names which r combine,fo d precision, exhaustiveness scholard an , - ship, surpasses every other work on British topographical nomenclature. One chapte s devotei r place-nameo dt f Celtiso c numbee originth d ,an r of Celtic words tha foune h t d still survive s quitdi e surprisinge th n I . present articl e writeth e r hope shoo st w tha Orknen i t y also spitn i , e lapse oth ff ove eo thousana r e totad th year ld extinctioan s e th f o n Celtic vernacular a considerabl, place-named eol numbee th f o rs still survive, corrupted indeed at times, but often preserving their old Celtic form unchanged. Before dealing wit namee hth s themselves consides u t ,le r brieflye th circumstances under which, and the time at which, these borrowings could have taken place. On these points there is a considerable diversity of opinion e extremTh . e view—that when e Norsemeth n first came over they foun islee dth s uninhabited (sav Christiaew perhapfe a r nfo s anchorites)—need not detain us long. The supposed absence of Celtic place-names was the chief argument in favour of this view, and the existenc e appendeth f o e d name s sufficieni s o rebut t t that. Until recently, however, the current idea (even yet common) was that the comine Norsemeth f o g s cataclysmicnwa a wav, e sweeping befort i e every vestige formeth f eo r inhabitant d theian s r culture more Th e. recent and reasonable view is that for a couple of centuries before the great Viking age—i.e., roughly speaking, prior to A.D. 800—intercourse had been taking place between Scandinavi thesd an a e northern isles, and that Norsemen had gradually secured a footing, and made settle- 252 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 9, 1923.

ments, bot Orknen hi d Shetlandyan t would'bI . e difficult indeeo t d explain the adoption of these loan-words otherwise. .Professor Alexander Bugge1 employs four converging line f arguo s - men favoun i t thif o r s view. firse 1H . t quotes Zimmer's opinion tha ravagine th t f Torgo y Island Scandiao t e du s n wa sea-rovers A.Dn 7 i . Henderson,61 . G r D . 2 however, shows that it is not necessary to assume this, seeing that the Picts of Albion wer t innoceneno f suco t h pastimes themselves e samTh e. view s takei Professoy nb r W . WatsonJ . , whorecena n i , t paper—reported in the Inverness Courier—argues that Orkney was the earliest head- quarters of the Picts in this country, and that they were notorious freebooters bot lany sead hb dan . Murchobhlach muiridhe, a " marine fleet," is the phrase used in the Annals of the Four Masters for the spoilers of Tory Island, and pioraiti na fairgi, " pirates of the ocean," e phrasth s i e use n i German'sd Martyrology e ravagerth r fo f o s Eigg in the same year. One would suppose that the Picts and their homeland would be well enough known, and it is possible that the phrases used point rather to strangers whose homeland was unknown —" over sea." 2. Jakobsen's research into Shetland place-names proved the existence considerabln i e abundanc f place-nameeo s there which were obsoleter o , nearly so, at the Viking period. Such names as O.N. vin, pasture, b6lstaftr, homestead, and heimr. homestead, are practically unknown in Iceland e nintth f ho centuryd e commo(whicar en settlet s e bu hth )n wa n i n di Shetlan Orkneyd dan . 3. From Celtic decoration on stones, in the island of Gothland it appears certain that intercours taked eha n placvera t ea y early period wit Celte hth f Britainnearese so th d tan , poin f contacf courso to s ewa t these northern isles. 4. Lastly, Bugge shows that odal right was not spoken of in Iceland, but Torf Einar took their odal rights from the Orkney settlers, in return for his payment of the fine imposed on the islands by King Harold Harfagr, as mannb6t for the slaughter of his son Halfdan. Hence, Bugge concludes that at that time Orkney had been so long settled that the timd settler ha acquiro e t d sha e odal rights (probably five generations). In that case the date of settlement would be put back to about the middle of the seventh century, if not earlier. It is thus probable that the Norsemen had been living in touch with the earlier inhabitants for a long time before the great Viking age.

1 Vesterlandenes Indflydelse pact Nordboernes og saerlig Nordmaendenes ydre Kultur, levesaet og samfundsforhold i Vikingetiden. Kristiania, 1905. * Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland. 1910. CELTIC PLACE-NAMES IN ORKNEY. 253 The Viking incursions, "which e eightbegath f ho n d towarden e th s century, were due to various causes, into which we need not enter here. The point to be emphasised, however, is that it is quite improper to conclude that even then did a complete extirpation of the natives take place in Orkney. Even these terrible Vikings must have been fully alive markee th o t t e nativevaluth women-folke f s o slaveseth a s d an , t a , least, must have been regarde s desirablda e property Laxdalee th n I . Saga is told the story of an Irish slave Melkorka and her little son—one of the most moving episodes in literature—and saga references to Celtic slaves are too numerous to mention. The influenc e Norsemeth e Celtf o s th ebee ha n s no sketchedy b lat e r Hendersonth eD e reciprocath d an , l influence Celte th th n o sf o e Norsemen has been very fully discussed by Professor A. Bugge (see above). Among other things e latteth , r refer Celtio t s c words stiln i l use in Faeroe. Some of these, together with others, are represented in the Orkney dialect of to-day; but here it will be sufficient to refer only to the traces of Celtic preserved in the place-names. r manFo y years befor s moshi e t regrettable death r JakobseD , d nha been makin gcarefua l stud f thiyo s subject conversatioa n I . d ha nI witduringm hhi I think, s lashi ,t visi Orkneyo t t I aske, wham dhi t proportion of the Orkney place-names were of Celtic origin. " One per cent.?" I asked tentatively. "Oh, much more than that," he replied ; "I should think probably from five to ten per cent." This I feel sure was an exaggerated estimate; but of course there was no one better able to express an opinion. Onl y done rasa har b y n ehb m ca ascriptio Celtio nt c origi f wordno s which are difficult of interpretation otherwise. Seeing that the vast majority of Orkney names are of Norse origin, it is always safer when a word may, with equal probability, be interpreted either as Celtic or Norse prefeo t , e latteth r r origin. Take Grory (gr5riexamplen a s a ) . This name occurs twice, onc n Eynhalloei e Holagaid th wan f mn no i Scockness, in each case as the name of a low pebbly point—the marked characteristic in each case being the mass of clean, light-coloured pebbles throw seae I nmentioneth . y upb r Jakobsene namD dth s o a et d an , e coul h t thina Norsno d f ko e origi lookee w n Spurrell'p u d s Welsh Dictionary. There we found gro, " pebbles, ridge of pebbles thrown up by the sea." This seemed extraordinarily appropriate. Recently, however thinkinn i , g over thi s sunexplaine it wor d an d d terminationt i , occurred to me that it was a combination of Norse grd, grey, and eyrr (in dative, eyri), a gravelly beach. Hence, I prefer to regard the name as Norse; though, on the other hand, Professor Magnus Olsen of Christiania in a recent letter to me notes: " It seems to me a little 254 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , APRI , 1923L9 . strange tha placeo t -eyrrtw n si shoul combinee db d wit e adjectivhth e grdr, whicvernot yhis commo place-names.nin " Another difficulty arises with Hoy names. There we find several glens, and there are little lochs among the hills marked lochans on the map. It is very hard to decide whether these are ancient names or names applied more recentl map-makery yb r others.o s Consequently, though it is necessary to refer to them, I do not feel confident in regarding them as ancient borrowings. o One further point must be mentioned. It is generally acknowledged tha pre-Norse tth e inhabitant f Orkneo s y were Pictsr almosOu . t total ignoranc e Pictisth f o eh language make t veri s y difficul o decidt t o et which branch of the Celtic race they belonged, even if we do not go so s Rhy a d den r an sfa y them Celtic origin altogether. Most authorities regard the havinms a g bee closen ni r affinity wit e Cymrihth c thae nth Gaelic branch t untibu , l e mordisposath t e a f scholarfact o le ar s s a final decision is impossible. Some of the names cited below may perhaps shed a little light on the nature of their language. It may seem staggering to some to find Cymric, Gaelic, and Irish words occurring sid sidy eb Orkney.n ei t JakobseBu n foun e samdth e thin Shetlandn gi , and we must accept the facts as we find them and make our theories sui t vice t knowledgn no the d ow versa. my an M f Celtio e c being very slight, I shall merely suggest derivations that seem obvious, and as far as possible make comparisons with similar forms occurring elsewhere. (For convenience in comparison, the system of phonetics employed below is that used by Dr Jakobsen in his various works on Shetland.) Gael, airigh, hill pasture, shieling. This wor founs di thren di e places at least: in Stronsay where we have the farm of Airy (a^ri), in Birsay where there is a farm of the same name near Greeny Hill, and in Sanday where there was a farm of this name now extinct. (See Mr J. S. Clouston's Records e Earldomth f o f Orkney,o . 206. p Sandan I ) y alson o , e far th f Warsettermo , ther a fiel s i ed Airafea (serafi) situatedn a n o , elevation almost the highest in the island. The farm of Airy (spelt Arie in the Uthel Book) must have been near here if not actually on this field. n StronsayI , Airafe a nam s i ae applie n extena o f t dhillo t y ground. These names seem to contain the same root; the -fea part is of course the usual Orkney termination meaning hill (O.N.fjall). The Early Irish form of the word was airge, and we know from the Orkneyinga Saga that the Norsemen understood and used this term as a place-name, Asgrims-erg. (See Rolls 0. Saga, p. 216.) In Joseph Anderson's edition of the Saga we find (p. 187) this name identified with the present Askary. In the Flatey Book text of the Saga the form is different—-Asgrims- •cergin. Anderson, followe y Jakobseb d n Shetlands0ernei n Stednavne, CELTIC PLACE-NAME5 25 ORKNEYN I S . regarded cergin as the Gaelic plural airidhean; but Professor Watson inform thae sm t thimodera s si n for hencd me suggestean eth d explana- tio e latesn th fails n tI Norda. editio. e SagS th y af b no l (Copenhagen, 1913-6) it is suggested that the word is a neuter plural with the suffixed article -in. That is more probable, but whatever the . explanation, it seems certain tha e namt th thifine s w ei sd applie a far o mt d near Stromness—Ayrean (serion), and again to a place in the Woodwick hills. {For the phonetics cf. Burrian infra.) Elan. This wor applies di hila Shetlandn o i ldt Jakobsed an , n refers Welse th o ht t blaen,i pointa , extremity, end, top, etcStronsan I . y there Blaa s i n (blan) Loch a ,tin y loch wit hhilloca k rising besid . eit Thi s i s possibl e samyth e Bonaldsa. wordS n I . y ther alss ei ofara m Blansetter on the slope of a small hill above St Margaret's Hope, but that, I think, must be regarded as the saeter (O.N. scetr, pasture, etc.) of Blan. A man of this name figures in the Ork. Saga. Nevertheless, as the farm appear e 150th 2 n i srenta s Blanksettera l havy ma e e herw , e another origin altogether. Burrian. Jakobsen derives this wor s useda Shetlann i d d froe mth Irish boireann, cliff, rocky coast, and says that the fact of its always being applied to cliffs or " stacks " in the sea shows it can have nothing wito d ho t O.N. borg. n OrkneyI , however e -worth , d occurs several times—in N. Bonaldsay, Bousay, Sanday, and Harray—and in each case is a brochappliee sit f th o e o .t d Thus Orknen i , t leastya , thers i e no doubt that it is simply the O.N. borg + in (the def. suffixed article). This wor s citedi Jakobsey b d n once from Shetland t thers i bu , t i e pronounced burgen (borgan). Thi rathes si finre e Orkne w oddth d r fo , y pronunciation reproduced in the Hildina-ballad from Foula which Low took down phonetically. Ther e originath e l glas borgin (glass castle) bees ha n modifie fore th m o d t represente Low'y db s glass buryon. Brae. Gael, braighe, upper par f places)(o t , Scots brae. This appears in the name Brae-an-fiiiyan (bre:en:ffnj8n)—a steep brae on the farm of Faraclett in Bousay. The structure of the word is characteristically Gaelic—the chief accented qualifying syllable coming last. What -finyan mean vers si y doubtful. Althoug e bra th fooe s ver ei f hth o t y marshy, we can hardly think of the Welsh ffynnon, well, spring, as that word seemregardee b o t sborrowina s da g from Latin. Gael, ceall, churcha Sandan I sitd . ol ee e nam goen th th y a f y eo b s Kirk an' Kill o' Howe (kil). Here, there are two slight hillocks—about 100 yards apart. The westernmost summit is called the Kirk, and the eastern one the Kill, but they are generally referred to conjointly as the Kirk an' Kill o' Howe. Though there is no, trace of building now on either spot, the whole field being cultivated land, one suspects from 256 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 9, 1923.

e curiouth s combination that her e havw e e indication n earliea f o s r and a later church. I imagine that the Kill has been the site of a Celtic church, and, after that fell into decay a late, r Kirk n Norsi , e times, was built in close proximity. The same word may, I think, with certainty be found in Kili (Kili) Holm, a small islan df Egilsay o e nort lyin th O.Nd e t hen gTh a . . Kill means a long narrow inlet, or passage of water, as we find in the Kyles of Bute. Here the word is quite inapplicable. Furthermore, we must note that in his description of Orkney, written in 1633, Robert Monteith of Egilsa Gairsad yan y give e namth s f thieo s islan s Ridholmeda s A . ownere th s hardl i s ht i ,ewa y possible tha wae h t s makin ga mistak e about the name, although to-day it is quite unknown. The north point e islandoth f , however s callei , e Poindth f Riddeo t n (ndn) thid an ,sI fancy is the same word. The full significance of the name Kili can onl realisede yb , however, whe considee nw relation i name t i th r o ent Egilsay later. Can-. Several names containing this prefix may be cited, but whether all are to be referred to the Gael, ceann, head, is doubtful. There are Cannigil (kanigal), a farm near Scapa; Canniesile (kanisal), a point just below the church in Holm; Caniiamesurdy (kanameso'rdi), a well on the beac Frotoftn hi , Rousay; Catitick (kantek) Head e easterth , n poinf o t Walls that jutt inte Pentlanou soth d Firth e Gle th f Kinnaird; no n i , Hoy vallea , y amon e hills Stourd gth an ; s Kinnora e wes, th cliff tn o s sid f Hoyo e I tak. e these last tAvo names d fro e Survean m th p yma have not been able to ascertain the local pronunciation. In Cantick, accene th te can- beinth n gshowo e qualifyinth se thab o t tg partr M . A. W." Johnston, Editoe Vikinth f o rg Club's Miscellany, etc.lettea n i , r suggeste m o t s that thi s Gaelsi , ceadha-an-t-'suic, poine a ploug th f o t h on which the share fits. Ceadha is also used of a quay or pier jutting out into the sea. This seems phonetically suitable, but is somewhat too ingeniously metaphorical. But, in any case, there seems no doubt of Celtic" origin. Gael, cnoc, a hill; dimin. cnocan. The latter word certainly appears n Nockai n (iiakan), the. nam a fishin f o e g mar k. Ronaldsay N eas f o t . Knucker Hill (ndker) in Westray is, Jakobsen thought, the osame word. In Faeroe, knokkur, ni., is used for the head, especially the crown or e headbacth f k.o Furthermore, Knokku Kuokka r e namo rth f s eo i i a fishing mark also in Faeroe, while another bears the plural form Knokkarnir. Bugge regards thes s certainla e f Celtio y c origin, and, as Jakobsen says that the word does not occur elsewhere in Norse, either as a generic or a place-name, there seems no doubt on the point. It is interesting to note the termination -r, Faer. Knokkur, CELTIC PLACE-NAME7 25 ORKNEYN I S . Shet. Knokkers Knowe, Ork. Knucker Hill. Jakobsen thougha t i t modificatio e Celtith f co n diminutive ending -an, d comparean e th d change sometime f boireannso e slopbarrier.o t th f Knucken eo O r Hill e far th f Knugdalm o s i e (n6g:del). Here agai e cnocth n appearsn I . Rousay there is a high hill called Knitchen (nit/an, knit/en). Not far down from the summit is a fairly big loch called the Loch o' Knitchen. This I think shows a double transference. The Norse have found the hill termed Cnoc; they have adopted the name and called the loch Cnoc- tjdrn e cnoc-tarn—whicth , h nam tim n ebeei s eha n transferred baco kt e hilth l itselfO.Ne Th .. tjorn regularly becomes -shun r -chuno (/ar no t/en) in Orkney. Gael, core, Ir. coirce, Ir. .M corca, Welsh ceirch, oats. Ther e manear y places in Orkney having the prefix cork- or curk-, e.g. Corkaquina, Curquoy, Curkland, Curkabreck, Curcum, etc. Most of these names e certainlar derivee b o yt d from O.N. kirkja, church I hav t ebu ; always thought it strange that, while we have names preserving the old Norse word for barley, we have apparently no word meaning oat-land. It is almost certain that the Norse must have adopted that cereal from the Celts, whether they borrowed the name or not. I am thus inclined to suspect that som f theseo e cork- names represen Celtid ol e c th tnam e for oats. Diamonds. e mosth f t o interestin e Thion s i s g namee islanth n i sd group. Jakobsen says that in Faeroe are two high rocky islands—Stora and Litla Dimun; in Broadfirth, Iceland, there is Dimun, an island with twin hills Dimunarklakkard ,an talo l , tw searock e Rangaavoldeth n i ; n si , Iceland hillso ,tw , Stora Dimu Litld nan a Dimun doe e t refeH .sno o t r name th Norwayn ei Rygh'n i t bu ,s Norske Gaardnavne (Romsdal's Amt) we find Dinimen indr ytrg eo e (pronounced Dimna), " doubtles propee sth r name of the island now called Dimm<£. The island has two hills separated deea y pb hollow. Shetlandn I " name th , e Dimons (dimans) occurs twice. Everywhere the word occurs there is a suggestion of a group of two— islandso tw peakso rocks,tw o Norsd ,tw ,an e philologists seem agreed that s ai Celtit i c word. Joyce (Irish Names of Places, . 247 p vol . )ii .show s that the numeral two was a favourite in Irish place-names. Jakobsen suggests the Irish di-muinn, two tops, two heads. It may, however, r ratheo , beda r demonadh,+ hillo r elevationstw so t whateveBu . e b r precise th e origin usagee th , s mak t cleaei worra s thai d t i timplyin g twin elevations of some sort. In Orkney there is a house in Deerness called now Diamonds—pronounced as the English word; but Jakobsen made a special trip there to see the place, and great was his delight to discove hillocko r agaitw e nsth nea e housth r e thagived ha t n riso et the name. VOL. LVII. 17 258 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL'9, 1923. There is a small island lying in the Bay of Firth called now Damsay. The Saga nam s Damiseyei r Daminsey.o Professor Munch regarded this as a Celtic name, and suggested that it might perhaps have been named after St Adamnan. His mere suggestion has been generally adopte true th es da origin . More recently, however W. A . r Johnsto,M n Scotsman,ie lettena th o t r date Juld dy2n 1921, associate t witsi e hth name of an island in Lough Erne in Ireland—spelt in the eleventh centur s Daiminisya , i.e. Bovis insula r ox-islando , meano .n y Thib s s i s improbable; but we have to note that here again in the Bay of Firth, lying close together, are two small islands—the one called Damsay and the other merely the Holm of Grimbuster (from the township on the adjacent mainland) I woul. d suggest, then, thaNorse th t e foune th d name, represented in the examples cited above, applied here to the two islands, and t understandinno , meanine gth worde th f g,o applieo t t di one only—the larger. And in slight confirmation of this we can point to the fact that the other has no independent name of its own, but is simply the Holm of Grimbuster. It is also noteworthy that the final -s appear e Shetlanth n si d form e Deernesth , e Sags th form ad forman , . highese th n i casety s i degre an t i , n I e improbable thaname th s t eha any connection with Adamnan. thin I s connection ,havI e see referenco nn e mad Ptolemy'o et s Dumna which Captain Thomas identified with Foula. I think it highly probable that this name also shoul associatee db d wit varioue hth s forms cited above. Aise, etc. Between Kirkwal Scapd lan a therBure th f Aisedals neo i e (ez-, es-) n Sandwicki ; e Bur, th par f Hourstof no o t n appeare th s a s Burn of Ess; in Rousay^ there is a spring on the beach below Langskail knowe Welth ' Eass o la n e (Iz, Is). With these name . Esthwaitcf s e Wate Easedald an e Lakr th en i eDistrict , Easdale near Oban Ise eth , River near Wellingborough, Easeburn in Yorkshire, etc. In all of these Isaac Taylor thought there was to be found the Celtic word for water- Gael, uisge, Welsh wysg, a current. These two roots, however, are not cognate, as the Welsh wy regularly corresponds to the Gael. ia. Nor is it probable that in either do we see the origin of the above names. e Gaelth Non , ca eas,r a waterfall e acceptedb , , for, while there ar e indeed some small falls on the Burn of Aisedale, there is nothing in the other two cases to which eas could refer. Nevertheless, as no Norse, origin can be suggested, and as similar forms are so numerous, both thi n i Continente sth countrn o musd e yw ,an t conclude that they have their origin in some Celtic root—living or obsolete. In Harray, there is also a valley Eskadale which is obviously derived fro mbura n *Esk-d, wher e suffieth x represent e O.Nrivea th s, r d . o r CELTIC PLACE-NAMES IN ORKNEY. 259 burn. The Esk-, however, is probably not the Celtic word but the O.N. askr, ash-tree, which appears als Eskadan oi Norwayn li . Gael, achadh, fielda , plain. This seem appeao namt e s a th f n eo i r loc n Burray—Echiialoci h h (aexna: lo^). This loc s separatei h a y b d narrow stri f lanpo d from' whicy ba a h bear name sth e Echnaloch Bay. A difficulty arises fro e positio e m stressth t meani th f f I o n. s Field- loch woule on , d expec worde orde e reversede th th tb f o ro st t meani f i ; s Loch-field strese th , s juss shoul-lochi n o t tI e possibl.db e that locs ,a h ia well-knows n generic ter n mOrkneyi e Echnath , e s comb ha - o t e regarded as the descriptive part and attracted the stress. Egilsay. Probably mor bees eha n writte thin no othey s thaan rn no Orkney place-name. Munch lent the weight of his great authority to e Celtith c side—derivin t i frog e Greemth k wor r churchfo d , which passed into Old Irish as eclais, Welsh eglwys, and Gael, eaglais. No doubt the presence of the famous old church lent much credibility to this origin, but the actual occurrence of another Egilsay in Shetland I know s a r churc)d withou fa makeol o y suspicioue h(s an on ts d an s disposed to regard the name in both cases as O.N. Egils-ey—Egil's island. Jakobse uncertains uwa t inclinebu , d towards regardin f thio ss a t gi Nors t thinkeno origin o ,d howeverI . fule awars ,th l wa thaf eo e h t significance of the combination Egilsay and Kili (see above). Rev. A. B. Scott in his Pictish Nation deals with the organisation of the Ninian Missions d show thean ,w ho sy were modelle e establishmenth n o d f o t St Martin at Tours. Apart from the church and the group of monastic buildings f eaco b h e heaA settlemen th ,r do t seemr fo o havt sd ha e himself at some little distance a "cell" or cave or other retreat to whic coule hh d retir r prayeefo meditationd an r .t Ninian' S Sucs hwa s cave at Whithorn, and such I imagine was Kili Holm in connection wit Egilsae hth y Mission maie Th n. churce islanth n eaglaisr dho o s wa of Egilsay d Kilan , i Hol s probablm wa e cel r ceallth o e sitl f th yo e (genitive, cille). Ther appearanco e holmn th s ei n ,o a hous f w o e no e but cair g onl bi stonesf nyo a t woulinterestinI n .a e db g site ,I believe , for 'a thorough archaeological investigation abovw sa ee thaW . t Monteith's name for the island is perhaps preserved in the name for the north point—Bidden. This also—Bidholme or Bidden—is a difficult name to explain from any Norse origin, and may represent some other Celtic word. Finally a hostil, e critic might very welthay sa l t the curious juxtaposition of the two names Egilsay and Kili Holm may be regarded as a mere coincidence. But when we find a similar juxta- positio anothen ni r island muse w , t regar s somethina t di g more than coincidence n SandayI . , fou r fivo r e hundred yards e Kirnortth kf ho and Kil ' Howo l e referre aboveo dt , liee Nortsth h between Lochi d an , n 260 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , APRI , 1923L9 .

lies a field known as Egiltun. The final element of this word is of cours well-knowa e Egile n th I a stronglfieldtert r mbu fo , y suspect Celtie th e cb eaglaiso t again absence e " "s Th th soun. f eo curiouss di , but the only alternative origin that can be suggested is the Norse personal name Egill, and in that case also an " s" should be present— *Egilstun. Furthermore, the disappearanc parallelee b f "sn eo "ca n di e namth e Ecclefechan hybrie th d dan , form appears als Eagleshan oi m Eaglesfieldd an . (See Scottish Land Names, . 29.p ) Finyan, etc. We have already considered Brae-an-finyan. In Bousay, also, there is a field called Fananoo (fanaiiu). Alongside this field runs a small burn. The u- sound hardly represents the O.N. d, burn, seeing tha t carriei t stresse th s . The nSourie edge againth th f eo nn o ,Burn , e U.Fth wher .w Mansno e e garden liesa hous e , b usee o t dcalle d Manafinyie (manaffnji). There is a small waterfall at the spot, and this may be borne in view when we come later to Mananeeban. What the t knowI fee no t lo bu ,d origicertain I s ni , both fro e sounmth d an d stressing of these names, that here again we must ascribe a Celtic origin. Cro. .On one of the Sanday farms called Trave (see infra) is a field called Kromerrandeem (kroimaeranidim). As Trave is a certain Celtic t improbablno word s i t i , e tha thin i t s nam fiele Kro-e eth th d als r ofo represents the Celtic cro rather than the Norse kro, which is indeed a borrowing from Celtic. The rest of the word is very obscure. Gael, linne, poola ; Ir. linn, Welsh llyn. Shapansayn I , nea Poine rth t of Ork in the north-east of the island, we have a small loch called Loch Linn. The O.N. htifi, a slope, is here inadmissible, as that word appears Orknen i y regularl Lees ya witr ,o definite hth e article—Leean (lien). Maes. Thivera s si y puzzling word t I appear. n Maeshowe—thi s e famous chambered mound—and seem•e repeateb o t s n Masshowdi n i e Holm—a name I have heard pronounced also mez:hou. On Blaeuw's map of Orkney, the present Maizer in Sanday is spelt Maisouer. This seem e samth s e name—the -ouer representin e O.Nth g . nominative singular haugr, or, more probably, the plural hangar, mound(s). Then ther s Maesleeei a beac, n Shapansayi h ; Maestaing a littl, e tairin i g Gairsay; Maesquoy fiela , Harran di y wit hknola itn i l; Maesdale fiel,a d Burrayn i ; Mount Maisery chamberea , d moune Starth t tda Poinn i t Sanday; arid Maeswell, a shoal off N. Ronaldsay. In the last-named island also there is a mound called Howamae (houame), which Jakobsen fancied wae samth s e nam s Maeshowa e e transposed. r Welso a hm maes, a field, is cognate with Gael, magh, a field or plain ; and Jakobsen was incline believo dt e that this word must have been usehilloca f do k also—from its use in Orkney. This, however, is most improbable, and we rathey ma r Gaele thinth f ,k o mas, . mass,Ir . O buttock comins a , g nearer CELTIC PLACE-NAME1 26 ORKNEYN I S . to the sense. But in any case, one has to look elsewhere than to Norse for any satisfactory origin. Gael, meall, . IrE . mell, a lump , knob, hill e Cost, th etcf a Of .coas t there is a sunken rock called the Mell which we may regard as from that root. Joyce, however, remarks tha e Iristh t h mael (use bara f do e bald object) has a diminutive maelan, often applied to round-backed islands or round bare rocks. Mam. Joyce says (Irish Names f Places)o "the word madhm (pron. maum or moym) is used in the western counties to denote an elevated mountain pass or chasm; in "which application the primary sense of breaking or bursting asunder is maintained." In Galloway, Mammy's Delph cliffse clefth ,a n ,i tshow same wore th sth en d i origina l sense. Jakobsen ascribes the Shetland Mamiskala, a cliff with an opening clear through it; and Mamas-Hole, an opening in a cliff, to the same origin Birsan I . wore yth d seem appeao st r als Mamrn oi o (mamru)a , cliffse clefr th " o o n ."i t ge Munt. Welsh mwnt, a mound, cognate with mynydd, Gael, monadh, a mountain—from root men, to jut out. This appears in the Munt (mont), a small promontory or elevation jutting out into Kirkwall Bay, immediately to the east of the harbour. Jakobsen found this word applied als rocko ot r cliffo s n Shetlandi s n EgilsaI . y ther smala s ei l creek, runnin amonn i g g rocks, know s Muntlyna e (Montlai)e th n O . Nes f Tenstono s n Sandwicki , , thera plac s i ee called Maemont, with tumuli near. Man. Welsh maen, a stone. In Orkney we have the Old Man of Hoy, an isolated pillar or " stack" on the west side of Hoy; Manclett, a farm in Walls; Manafinyie, in Rousay (see above); Manmogila, now applied smallisa o t h pond near Maemon Tenstonn i t ; Mananeeban waterfal,a l (sometimes calle e Forcedth ' M——e buro s th f Netherbroug no n o ) n hi Harray Sinchmad an ; n (sari/man) fishina , ge Birsa th roc n yo k coast. There is an Old Man of Coniston, another Old Man in Cornwall, and a third in Skye. Isaac Taylor derives these from Celtic alt maen, high rock. Maen Welshs i t ailt,bu , high, while foun Irisn i Gaelid han c is t Welshno . Ther , however eis Welsd Ol hn a ,for m allt, meaning cliff. Professor Watson informs me that the Old Man of Storr in Skye is a mere euphemism e reath ; lStorr—thd namBo s i e e phallu f Storro s . Another complicating factor is the occurrence several times in Orkney d Shetlanan f Gamado r Gaml o l nama cliffa t firs s A r a i.te fo sight this would appear to be the Norse equivalent of Old Man (O.N. gamall, old); but Jakobsen regarded this as a broken-down *gamla miS, old (fishing) marke variouTh . s example f man,o s bot n Orknei h d an y elsewhere, give probability, however, to a Celtic origin. Manclett would 262 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 9, 1923.

thua hybri e sb d (O.N. Klettr, rock), each element being synonymous (cf; Men-roc Cornwalln ki Care th rd Rock,an t Crais a Berwick-on-Tweed) d lan . In Sinchman the first part may be a cognate of Gael, seem, old (cf. Early Irish sinser, an elder). Contrary to the usual practice in Gaelic, sean places i d befor nouns eit . Ore. Besides "Orkney" itself, we have the Ness of Ork in Shapansay, Orkahaugr,d an e Sagth a nam r Maeshoweefo Deernesn I . s thera s ei mound, Howe Hurkis (houihbrkes), which Jakobsen was disposed to regar transpositioa s delementa o tw e th Orkahaugrn si f no Shetlandn I . , on the west coast of Unst, is a cliff called the Orknagabel, which fisher- men at sea refer to as " de Orka" or " de Orki," " de face o' O—," " de gable o' O—." On the west of Dunrossness are found two hills, de Muckle and de little Orka. Then we have the Ptolemaic Orcas—probably Dunnet Head. Jakobse f opinioo s nwa n that a connectiother s ewa n between Pictisd ol e hth ore (see Orcasn ni thesd an ) e ore- name Orknen i s d yan Shetland, which makes it appear probable that Ore has been a term for a projection or elevation. In his Rhind Lectures, and again in a more recent lecture reported in the Inverness Courier, Professor Watson offer weightiese th s t grounds for regarding " Orkne wora y s "a d derived from a Pictish tribe—the Ores—who resided in Orkney, and are often referred to by old Irish "writers. Professor Watson's distinction as a Celtic scholar and the authority with which he speaks on place-names are well known, and in the face of the evidence he adduces it is most unwise to accept any other explanation. In that case Orka- might perhaps be regarded as a Norse genitive plural and Orkahaugr be taken as the " howe of the Ores." Papa. Whe e Norsth n e came ove e o Orkneyt th e rtol ar n di e w , Historia Norvegiae they found the isles occupied by two classes of people, the Papae and the Peti, or Picts. The former were the Christian missionaries theid an , r nam stils ei l preserve Papn di a Stronsay, Papa Westray, Papdale (Kirkwall), and Papley in Holm, and S. Ronaldsay. The same name is probably to be found in the Steeven o' Papy, a rock . e Ronaldsayshor ofN e th stil ff ar o e l e o firscalletw Th t . d Papey (papi e sak )th f referenc locallyo er fo t bu , e people outsid f Stronsao e y and Westray generally speak of them by the map names, and then the wor s pronouncei d d Papa (papa) e SagTh a. name e Papeyar s meiri (P. Westray) and Papey minni (P. Stronsay). Papdale must represent n O.Na . *papa dalr, vallee Papas—ith f yo n this case Kirkwall—where ther evidentlhas e y bee a nChristia n settlement. Papley (the Saga Papuli) s probabli ya contractio f *papa-b0li,o n e homesteath e th f do Papas. In Pittaquoy (Graemsay), Pickiequoy (Kirkwall), and Quoypettie (Deerness seee w )o finmt d traces e earlagaith f yno inhabitantse th , CELTIC PLACE-NAMES IN ORKNEY. 263: Picts or Petts. Pentland Firth is, of course, the old Pettlands-fjdrftr, and by the older generation is still called commonly the Petland Firth. Ros. Gael Ird .an , ros, promontorya . Roseness (roz:nez Holn i ) ms i one of the boldest and most characteristic promontories in Orkney— running out towards the south-east and ending in some magnificent crags. I have little doubt that we have here a hybrid of synonymous names d Nors, an Gael s e ro nes.,n OrkneI e finyw d O.N. Tiros, horse, frequently combined wit hpronunciatioe -ness,th t bu always ni s Eussness (r6s:nez), while the Holm name is pronounced with a long o sound. On the headland is a farm called Roy, also suspiciously Celtic in appearance. Welsh rhaiadr, cataract, waterfall; rhaiadru, spouo t t out. Jakobsen considered that this appeared in Orkney sometimes also, in the sense of " spring." In the Harray hills is a well called Inyar-ia (injaraia or irijaraia). Thi explainee sh s "da coo l spring," derivin firse gth t element, I think, from fionn-fuar, which appears in Gaelic as fionnar and in Mid. Irish as indfhuar, cool. In Rousay the same word seems to appear in e nam rocka th f eo y hill above Bullion—Marlariar (marlaraiar)n i d an , Egilsaname goey th Ramriaf y ba eo s b y a r (ramraiar). Gael, sruth (also Irish) streama , n EgilsaI . y ther a wel s i el just abov e Santh ef Skaido l knowe Welth s ln a o ' Struith (str08) tinA . y stream runs pas . it Neat r Stromness e Burther th f Straithe o ns ei r (str65ar). This is a diminutive form used in Ireland—Sruthair (pron. sruhar) according to Joyce, and occurring in Scotland as well, e.g. Anstruther. Gael, tobar, a well . This appear . e Farae islanN th th f s n yo da i s nam smala f eo l point—the Poin f Tobeo t r (pron. tubor). Alongside this poina narro e s geo i tt e heath separate th w,f bu do t "geo,a d dan " from it by a narrow bridge of rock, is a deep hole or "gloup" or well, abou fee 5 diameter1 n ti t watee Th thin .i r s hol s abouei fathom5 t s deep, and the sea ebbs and flows through an opening underneath the bridg f roceo k referre. to d In Rousay there is a small ridge, which occupies the bottom of a small valle r corriyo e amon .hillse whicd gth an , h knowe useb o dt y n b the quaint name of "The Camps o' Jupiter Fring." Now it is merely termed "The Camps." This last ter mprobabls i Norse yth e Kambr,a "kame" or ridge, but the other part is very obscure. There is a well also at the spot, and Mr A. W. Johnston has suggested to me that the name represents tiobart fring,r "ai e welth l upo e hill-brow.nth " Ffring iWelssa h term for bro ledger wo tiobartd an ,Gaelia s i c ter "r m well,fo " though apparently not found in Welsh. At all events, whether this be correc e mosth r nots o tti reasonablt ,i e conjecture thabees ha tn made with regard to this Olympian name. . 264 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 9, 1923. Treb, Trave. Early Irish, Old Welsh, and Old Breton treb, a dwelling, homestead; Welsh tref, id. (Cf. Early Irish trebaim, to inhabit or cultivate d Gaelican , ' treabh, to plough s Rhin,hi till.n dI )Lecture s Professor Watson stated (Scotsm-o.n report) "the term Treb, W"elsh tTef, a settlement, appeared from Invernes e east Forte d th th an ,n ho o t s sout f Fortho Clyded han n suci , h name s Cantray,a s Fintray (white stead), Ochiltree (high stead) Threaved an , e Douglath , sislen a hol n t do rivee th rn i Dee. wore "Th d occur n Orknei s . Ronaldsay N also n I . y ther fara s ei m called Trebb lane whicn th , do mos e s reputehi th e t b o dt fertile in that island. In Sanday there was also a house of this name— now forgotten. In Sanday also, in several places, are to be seen the remains of prehistoric, low, earthen ramparts. They are really too broacallee b o dt d name dikesth t e bu ,give e Tree th eaco nth t r bo s h i Treb Dike. In fact, they are so numerous that the word is now employed generia s a c term, and Sandayn i , speake trebon ,a f so trebbydika r eo dike. There are also three farms in the island called Trave. I had long suspecte e samth de b thiword o t t slas bu ,t summe d strikinha I r g confirmation. In Burness there is a Treb dike that runs in a north- westerly direction pase far th f Neagartm o t theI . n loses itsela n i f huge mound called Gorn—probable th brochd ol n O n .a e sit f th yeo other sid f thieo s moun t di emerge yardw sfe sagaina farthed an , n o r we come on the house of West Trave, actually built on the Treb itself. Twyn. In Orkney there are several instances of the name Twinyes (twinjez) — in N. Ronaldsay, Westray, Shapansay, and St Andrews— always applie pointa o dt nessr o nonn I . thesf eo thers ei possibility ean y of findin e O.Nth g . twi, two d indee,an e palatalisinth d g suggeste th s thesn i s en' presenc nameso tw f eo . Jakobse s satisfienwa d thae w t have here the Cymric root which appears in Welsh—twyn, headland or promontory. Thus once mor fine ew hybria d elemento d tw wit e hth s synonymous—tivyn+ness. addition I above th o net words ther somee ear others tha quite ar t e non-Nors sounn ei applicationr do . Among mentioy thesma eI n Pontith (pont9», the name of a point jutting out into the Loch of Harray; Cloudie e nama piecth , f f lano eo e d near Cleat, Westray; Pinquoy (ponjkwi), a small ridge of land surrounded by a marsh in Egilsay; the Bur f Peenono , running down fro e hil mf Blotchniefelth o l Rousan i l y (ther a river-nam s ei e Piii Norwan i a y als r whicofo h Rygh offero n s explanation) d Pullanan ; e north-westh , t shoulde e Warth f do r Hill of Orphir. In conclusion I shall refer to a few names that seem to commemorate e nameth e earl f somth o s yf eo Celtic saints e SagTh a. . namN r efo Ronaldsa s Rinansey,wa y e islanth f Rinao d r (almoso n t certainly) CELTIC PLACE-NAME5 26 ORKNEYN I S . Ringan—a variant of the name Ninian. Colm's Kirk is a name applied severao t churcd ol l h site Orkneyn si thesd Scot. Reve ,an B eth . n t(i .A s Pictishhi Nation) would attribut e Pictisth t o Colet hS r Colmamo n rathe rgreae thath o ntt Columba othee th n r O hand. , ther placa s ei e in Sandwick called Clumlie (KlOmli), and on an old map appearing in a Dutch edition of Camden's Britannia, published at Amsterdam in 1617, napie th t ColumbaneS markes i t thida s spot n ShetlanI . name dth e Clumlie also latGilberoccursthe Mr e and t, Goudie (followeby d Jakobsen) regarded it as derived from Choluimcillie. The stress, however thin ,i s latter word fall -cillen so fac,a t that would see invalidatmo t e e abovth e suggestion. Neverthelessf o p e appearancma th , e th n o e St Columban renders it probable that Columba's (or Colm's ?) name is represente wore th dn d i Clumlie Scotr M . t would also regar name dth e Deerness as derived from the Celtic daire, an oak grove, which he says was used by the Pictish clergy of their churches. Now, although there are plain traces of a church settlement on the Brough of Deerness, that seem e slenderesth s t evidenc whicn o e baso ht e theor th e y that daire s corruptewa d int e Sagoth a word Dyrnes, from whic presene hth t name descendeds i . In the foregoing pages, dealing as they do with obscure names that have for the most part never been discussed before, and of which there unhappile ar spellingd y ol ver w yfe s available doub,o thern e te ar man y errors that would have been avoided by any one really skilled in Celtic philology sucy an h f I schola. readinn o r g this paper woul e kinb d d enough to communicate with me on any of the points raised, I should estee greaa mt i t favour bes y Professoo t M t e . thankdu e r ar sW . J . Watson, of Edinburgh University, for his great kindness in replying to numerouy m s querie differenn o s t pointsresponsibilito n t bu , y restn so him for any of the views expressed herein.