Review Author(s): W. J. W. Review by: W. J. W. Source: The Celtic Review, Vol. 9, No. 34 (Nov., 1913), pp. 174-177 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30070296 Accessed: 23-06-2016 02:45 UTC

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This content downloaded from 128.250.144.144 on Thu, 23 Jun 2016 02:45:08 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 174 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Dictionary of the Irish Language, based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials, published by the under the Editorship of CARL J. S. MARSTRANDER, Professor of Celtic Philology in the University of Kristiania. Fasciculus I., D-deg6ir. : Royal Irish Academy; Hodges, Figgis and Co., Ltd.; London: Williams and Norgate. 8s. 6d. net. 7s. to subscribers.

The present fasciculus forms the first instalment of the Royal Irish Academy's projected Dictionary of the Irish Language. The aim is to provide a thesaurus of the Irish language, arranged on historical principles, from the earliest period down to the present day. The work is based upon material collected by the Academy during many years past, drawn from printed literature and manuscripts, and frequently supplemented by illustrations from the spoken language. When Professor Kuno Meyer undertook the editorship in 1907, in succession to Professor Robert Atkinson, it was decided that as the letters A to Dn had already appeared in Professor Meyer's Contributions to Irish Lexicography, the Dictionary should begin with the letter D, leaving A to C to the end. It is estimated that the Dictionary when complete will fill three volumes of about 1000 pages (of two columns) each. The price to subscribers will be is. per sheet of 16 pp., post free; or large paper edition, of which only a hundred copies will be printed at Is. 3d. per sheet. The page is large quarto. The print is exceedingly clear, the matter is well displayed, without any feeling of crowding, and the paper appears to be all that could be desired. The work is largely conceived. It will be an inestimable boon to students of the language. Its inception marks an important stage in the study of the language. Henceforward the linguistic knowledge painfully garnered by scholars since the time of Zeuss, recorded in many publications, here a little and there a little, in form of note, translation, or glossary, as well as in lexicographical collections specially made for the Dictionary, will all be available to the student in an orderly systematic fashion. It will no longer be necessary to hunt up the meaning or usage of a particular word in the great array of unrelated publications. The present fasciculus contains seven sheets, or 223 columns, a volume will contain about nine such fasciculi. The intervals at which the parts may be expected are not stated, but on a quarterly basis the complete work would take about seven years to produce.

Learning in Ireland in the Fifth Century and the Transmission of Letters. By KUNO MEYER. Dublin. Is. net.

In this pamphlet is printed a lecture delivered by Professor Kuno Meyer in 1912 before the School of Irish Learning in Dublin. It deals with the problem of the causes which led to that remarkable outburst of classical learning which appeared in Ireland at the end of the sixth century. It has

This content downloaded from 128.250.144.144 on Thu, 23 Jun 2016 02:45:08 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms BOOK REVIEWS 175 long been recognised that this learning could not have been the result of the labours of St. Patrick, who was undoubtedly no scholar, as he himself so often admits. It has been suggested that these studies were brought to Ireland by Gauls or Britons who accompanied Patrick. This, says Professor Meyer, is not at all probable. He does not believe that the introduction or promo- tion of classical learning was due to any missionaries. 'The origin of that wide culture embracing not only the study of Plautus, Horace, Ovid, Persius, Sallust, etc., but also grammar, metrics, and other sciences, such as astronomy, must be traced to a much deeper and broader influence.' The solution of the problem accepted by Professor Meyer is due to Zimmer and was found among his papers after his death. Zimmer made use of a document printed in 1866, containing, amid a glossary of Latin words, a note in Latin stating in effect that in consequence of the devastation of the Roman Empire by the Huns and other barbarians, the learned men of the Continent fled away, and in regions oversea, i.e. in Hiberia and elsewhere, brought about a very great advance of learning to the inhabitants of those regions. This entry, according to Zimmer, was written not later than the sixth century in the west of Gaul. Hiberia is a scribal confusion for Hibernia. Professor Meyer's lecture is devoted to elucidating and establishing the position that here at last a flood of light is thrown upon one of the darkest yet most important periods in Irish history, and a new starting-point for investigation is provided. He draws attention to a passage in St. Patrick's Confession which appears to refer to pagan rhetors from Gaul resident in Ireland. He further shows how, in all probability, the Latin oratory practised by these rhetoricians influenced the form and rhythm of early Irish composition. It is pointed out that here yet another field of study is opened up which needs skilled workers to explore it.

Zur Keltischen Vortkunde iii. KUNO MEYER. In this contribution to the proceedings of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, Professor Kuno Meyer has seventeen short articles, some of them of unusual interest. In No. 41 he deals with Ptolemy's Epidion Akron. This has long been equated with the Mull of Kintyre, and Dr. MacBain assigns the tribe of the Epidii to Kintyre and Lorn. The root is epos, horse; the Epidii were the 'horse folk,' and significantly enough Kintyre in historic times has always been claimed as the habitat of the MacEcherns, from Ech-tigern, ' horse-lord.' Professor Meyer's contribu- tion to the question is the identification of Epidion Akron with a place-name occurring in the Irish saga' Aided Chonr6i, the Death of Curoi.' There mention is made of a hero called Echde who lived in Aird Echdi i Cinn Tire, and Professor Meyer points out that Ard Echdi is simply the Gaelic form of Epidion Akron. In No. 42 Professor Meyer notes the occurrence on Scottish soil of the ancient names for Ireland-Eriu, Banba, Elg, and F6tla-a point already

This content downloaded from 128.250.144.144 on Thu, 23 Jun 2016 02:45:08 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 176 THE CELTIC REVIEW noticed by Skene and others more or less completely. Eriu, genitive Erenn, undoubtedly appears in the various stream names Earn, of which we have at least five, one being in Renfrewshire. Under Banba Professor Meyer notes Banff in Banffshire, and Bamff in Perthshire. There is another Banff in Kincardineshire. The word forms the base of the Banavie burn which flows by Blair Castle in Atholl, and there is another Banavie burn and Loch Banavie in Sutherland. Professor Meyer mentions a Banavie in Argyll, of which I have not heard. He is mistaken in thinking that Banavie, aear Fort-William, is a stream name: it is a place-name. F6tla occurs in Atholl, which has been repeatedly and rightly explained as New Ireland. Elg occurs in Elgin. This also has been pointed out more than once, but Professor Meyer considers Elgin to be a diminutive in -in of Elg, and therefore parallel to Atholl. The fact of the Gaelic form being universally Eilginn is against this view. We have also to reckon with Glen Elg, in Gaelic Gleann Eilge and its derivative Eilginneach, which points to Eilginn being a locative formation. There is a stream Allt Eilgnidh in Sutherland. Professor Meyer suggests that the occurrence of these names in the east of may point to a direct occupation from Ireland in early times. This is a suggestion well worth considering on various grounds, but, as I have pointed out, the Elg, Banba, and Eriu names occur also on the west coast. The other articles are on: ar-cridiur, Cathdir, Diwrnach, esclac, the root s~el in Irish, minne, etrdin eirdnaim etraigim, all=a hall, cennmar, bruinnim, aiste, enatur-bare, facht gwaeth, inellgim, Uanaind.

Alt-Celtischer Sprachschatz. Von ALFRED HOLDER: . This, the twenty-first part of Dr. Holder's great work, continues the additions and corrections. It runs from Cabillus to Corbacum, being 225 columns of additions to an original of about 450 columns.

Antiquarian Notes; a Series of Papers regarding Families and Places in the Highlands. By CHARLES FRASER-MACKINTOSi. Second Edition, with a life of the author, notes, and an appendix on the Church in Inverness, by KENNETH MACDONALD, Town Clerk of Inverness (xxxii+462 pp.). Stirling: Eneas Mackay. 21s. Dr. Charles Fraser-Mackintosh's Antiquarian Notes needs no recom- mendation. The Notes contain a vast amount of accurate information regarding the Highlands, and no one interested in Highland history or genealogy can afford to neglect them. For some time copies of the first edition, issued in 1865, have been rather difficult and expensive to obtain, and this new edition will be welcomed. The editor has done his part with care and competence. The life of the author, with an excellent portrait of

This content downloaded from 128.250.144.144 on Thu, 23 Jun 2016 02:45:08 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms BOOK REVIEWS 177 him prefixed, is succinct and full. His was a life that deserves remem- brance, and the pious duty has evidently been congenial to the editor, who writes with the authority of contemporary acquaintance. The editor has also supplemented the text with notes illustrative and occasionally corrective, which add considerably to the interest and value of the book. The appen- dices on Smuggling and the Church in Inverness are also by the editor. The latter is a particularly full and able piece of work, embodying the result of prolonged research, consideration, and discussion. It is impossible in a brief notice to give an adequate idea of the amount and variety of matter brought together in Antiquarian Notes. The valuation roll of the Sheriffdom of Inverness, including Ross, for 1644 is a treasure in itself. Among similar documents are given the rental of the forfeited estates of Cluny; the rental of the Bishopric of Moray for 1641; rental of the Scot- tish Bishoprics 1692; list of the writs of the lands of Rheindoun in Urray; the titles of the Urquharts of Cromarty; the rental of the Scottish counties 1649; the rental of the Bishopric of Ross, 1691; list of the heritable jurisdictions in Scotland and sums asked for their abolition, 1751; valuation roll of Inverness-shire 1691. These are, all of them, most valuable docu- ments, and they form but a part of the collection, which runs to one hundred and one headings. We have noticed some points that look like slips. On p. 404 the editor in dealing with Robert Ingerami, treats Ingerami as a regular surname. Surely the meaning is ' Robert son of Ingram,' just as on the same page David Senescalli means David son of the Senescal or Steward. On p. 379 it is stated that the brave Alexander MacGillivray who fell at Culloden 'was reddish haired and a great frequenter of markets, being termed Alastair ruadh na feile.' The epithet na fdile means 'of hospitality,' 'hospitable'; so Duncan Campbell of Glen Lyon, who lived in the middle of the sixteenth century, was called Donnchadh ruadh na fdile, ' Red Duncan of hospitality.' In the note referred to, fdile, the genitive case of fial, is confused with frill, a market. It may be added that 'red Alex- ander of the markets' would be Alastair ruadh nam flilltean. On p. 382, and again on p. 397, the name Ay is equated with Adam. This equation may be correct in these particular instances, but it needs proof, for else- where, as is well-known, Ay (or Y) stands for Aodh or Aoidh, both as a personal name and in the surname Mackay, MacAoidh. On p. 251 a note states 'Ballifeary is not Town of the Watchers,' as Dr. Fraser-Mackintosh interpreted it. This is doubtless true, but in view of the spelling Balnafare, 1244, it would be bold to say that Ballifeary does not mean ' Town of the Watch' (Baile na faire), the view which had the support of Dr. MacBain. These, however, and suchlike are small points which only very slightly detract from the value of an excellent and well-edited work. W. J. W. VOL. IX. Ml

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