/ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE PLACE-NAMES OF ARGYLL Other Works by H. Cameron Gillies^ M.D. Published by David Nutt, 57-59 Long Acre, London The Elements of Gaelic Grammar Second Edition considerably Enlarged Cloth, 3s. 6d. SOME PRESS NOTICES " We heartily commend this book."—Glasgow Herald. " Far and the best Gaelic Grammar."— News. " away Highland Of far more value than its price."—Oban Times. "Well hased in a study of the historical development of the language."—Scotsman. "Dr. Gillies' work is e.\cellent." — Frce»ia7is " Joiifnal. A work of outstanding value." — Highland Times. " Cannot fail to be of great utility." —Northern Chronicle. "Tha an Dotair coir air cur nan Gaidheal fo chomain nihoir."—Mactalla, Cape Breton. The Interpretation of Disease Part L The Meaning of Pain. Price is. nett. „ IL The Lessons of Acute Disease. Price is. neU. „ IIL Rest. Price is. nef/. " His treatise abounds in common sense."—British Medical Journal. "There is evidence that the author is a man who has not only read good books but has the power of thinking for himself, and of expressing the result of thought and reading in clear, strong prose. His subject is an interesting one, and full of difficulties both to the man of science and the moralist."—National Observer. "The busy practitioner will find a good deal of thought for his quiet moments in this work."— y^e Hospital Gazette. "Treated in an extremely able manner."-— The Bookman. "The attempt of a clear and original mind to explain and profit by the lessons of disease."— The Hospital. Gaelic Names of Disease and Diseased States Price IS. nett. A Gaelic Medical MS. of 1563. Prize Essay of the Cale- donian Medical Society. "The territory to which Dr. Gillies has directed his attention is thus so little known that only two explorers appear to have preceded him in the course of a century, and we may also claim that he has penetiated farther than either of his distinguished predecessors." —Editor Cal. Med. Journal. The Theory and Practice of Counter-Irritation Price 6s. nett. ' ' A valuable addition to the small number of books which are of practical use to surgeon and physician alike."—Medical Times. " Dr. Gillies is to be congratulated on his courage in producing such a work."— Provincial Medical Journal. " Certainly well worth reading by all who take a wide and philosophical view of the to them in their daily work." — The Hospital. problems" presented The profession owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. Gillies for his effort to place the widely used, and abused, practice of Counter-Irritation on a rational basis."—Edinburgh Medical Journal. THE PLACE-NAMES OF ARGYLL BY H. CAMERON GILLIES, M.D. WITH A SHORT PREFACE FROM HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF ARGYLL LONDON DAVID NUTT, 57-59 LONG ACRE 1906 Printed by Bali.an rVNK, HANSON &* Co. At the Ballantyne Press PREFACE This seems to me a valuable book, and I am glad the London Argyllshire Association has encouraged the author in what must have been a really hard work. It must be of interest to all branches of the Celtic-speaking people, not only to all the Highlands and all Scotland as well as to Argyll, but to Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany, where the old language is retained, if not always as a spoken tongue, yet always in their own old names from the same or a kindred origin. It may be of interest to even those outside the Celtic circle to learn how much of true and important history lies dormant in the place-names of a country. Argyll is exceptionally complex in its history and therefore very rich in its names, and I am not surprised that the author found many of them to be difficult to explain, and some even impossible. The several layers of names left by succeeding " " races come out very clearly. There are the bottom " names of the pre-Celtic race, variously named Iberian," "Pictish," and otherwise. These must be difficult to explain, perhaps they never can be explained. The Gaelic names are by far the most numerous, but they seem to be coming well into the control of Gaelic o 128855;-^ vi PREFACE scholars. They are always poetically appropriate to the land-features of the country. Norse names are surprisingly numerous in some parts, in the islands especially. This shows what a strong hold the conquering Norseman had upon the West, through something like five hundred years. The chapter upon the names derived from the Columban Church, seated in venerable lona, is especially interesting to all who have watched the influence of the " " pure Culdees in the spreading of Christianity. I am very glad to accept this work on behalf of the Association, and I hope it will be appreciated by our people as I believe it deserves to be. CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE V INTRODUCTION xi THE COUNTY NAME i GENERAL TERMS 7 THE DISTRICT NAMES— KINTYRE 22 GiGHA . • 33 KNAPDALE 34 ARGYLL 39 COWAL 45 LORNE 55 Shuna, Luing, Torsay, Seil, Easdale, Kerrara . 62 APPIN 65 LiSMORE ........ 73 KILMAILLIE 75 ARDGOWER 80 SUNART 83 ARDNAMURCHAN 89 Rum, Eigg, Muck, Canna .... 96-100 MORVEN 102 MULL 109 Coll, Tiree, Ulva, Iona . 122-130 vii viii CONTENTS THE DISTRICT NAMES {Continued)— PAGE JURA 132 COLONSAY AND ORONSAY . .140 ISLAY 144 THE CHURCH-NAMES 160 THE GAELIC ELEMENTS IN NAMES . 186 THE NORSE ELEMENTS 220 SOME NOTES 243 INDEX 252 LIST OF REFERENCES ' F. Ftonn, Mr. Henry Whyte. C. Gr. Carinina Gadelica, Mr. Carmichael. S. Gr, . Sylva Gadelica, Mr. Standish O'Grady. Mb. Dr. Macbain's Dictionary. Kal. ... The Calefidar of Allans the Culdee, Stokes. C Cormac's Glossary. C. P. S. 7"-^!? Chrotiicles of the Picts and Scots. L. B. Leabhar Breac. 0. C. The Materials of Ancient Irish History, O'Cnrry. Sk Celtic Scotland, Skene. H. S. D. The Gaelic Dictionary of the Highland Society. Adamn. Life of Adamnan,^GGwes. 0. P. Origines Parochiales, Cosmo Innes. D. L. The Book of the Dean of Lismore. J Dr. Joyce, Place-names of Ireland. Cleasby's Dictionary of the Old Norse {Icelandic) Tongue, Whitley Stokes' Glosses and other works of his wonderful scholarship, Windisch's Irische Texte, and many more, I have had to draw upon. DISTRICT REFERENCES K Knapdale. G Ardgower. K Kintyre. S Sunart. R Argyll. A Ardnamurchan. Cowal. V Morven. L Lome. M Mull. P Appin. J Jura. E Kilmaillie. I Islay. " ARGYLLSHIRE " By His Grace The Duke of Argyll " Written for the London Argyllshire Association," April 1902 IVho knows Argyllshire's story Can tell all Britain's fate, Since there the Romans' glory Broke, at her Highland gate, To leave to sons of Erin, To bring the Scottish name, Where blessed by holy Kiaran, A town has kingly fame. For there the stone of wonder. To Eastern Magic known. Was brought, the Oak thwarts under. Great Britain's Crowning Stone ! Kinloch, Dunadd, Dunstaffnage, Three forts of old renown. Safe kept that stone, the presage. Where Scot shall wear the Crown. "ARGYLLSHIRE" Once more lona ! waken, Wiih Choral song the deeps; Lift fear from hearts sin shaken, Where great Columba sleeps : — Green isle of white sands—bearer Of happiness and doom— Dyed with a hue yet fairer, The Red—of Martyrdom ! Argyll's sweet dewy splendour, Looks over Loch and Sound, Whose purple lights attend her, Imperially crowned; And kissed by loving Nature, In Ocean's arms she lies. Fair fenced with hills whose verdure, From Isle and Mainland rise. She knows she gave the cradle, From whence has Empire grown, And proudly minds the fable, ^^ Scots rule where stands yon Stone.' INTRODUCTION I HAVE undertaken this rather difficult piece of work, first, from a feeling that it ought to be done, and did not of else to know any one anxious or ready do it, and second, on behalf of the London Argyllshire Association, who have shown a keen interest in the matter, and readily undertook the considerable expense which the publication entails. I am quite aware that the work is far from No could make it perfect. person perfect ; and certainly no one in my position, with my poor scraps of available time, could do it better. I believe it is as nearly correct as any one could make it. I say this not for myself altogether, but because I have had the constant utmost assistance of competent friends, whose only regret has been that they could not assist me more. Their feeling of weakness, as mine also, has been because in a work of this kind, even fairly com- petent knowledge must fail when the outmost limits of reliable history and language are reached. The scope of such a work as this is practically without definite limits. In the case of Argyll this is peculiarly true. Far beyond the time of the Dalriadic kingdom, there was an intimate contact of the land, now and for so long called Argyll, with the hoary history of Ireland— a contact more easily felt than found out or definitely stated one in that and far by any searching way ; beyond the accepted Norse invasion of the early ninth century \ xii INTRODUCTION there is abundant evidence to show that the Norseman was a considerable factor in the historic dawn of the Western Isles and the West Highlands of Scotland. Then there is the great chapter of the Columban Church —one of the cleanest and finest chapters that has ever come into the life of any people—to which we owe more than can be easily measured or ascertained. There is beyond all this the fragmentary record of a past race and people which must have come appreciably into our making, and have left us a few "bed-rock" names, which are the despair of the historian and of the linguistic historian particularly.