The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

AND NOTES] OFSCOTLAND 393
common in Latin as a combination, for early Gaelic shows
in Dun-Keld and there are
Callden, now Caillinn, Scotch Keld, ;
three other names near at hand there with the same endin^^,
notably, Schiehallion. The root cald in Celtic means " wood,"
and Caldonii would mean " woodlanders."
Tacitus also records the Boresti in Fife ; he gives the
personal name Calgacus,
"
sworded
"
one (Gaelic calg, colg,
Welsh caly), The much misread Mons Graupius (now Gramp-
ian), yields the root grup, a non-Gadelic root in />, which argues
its Picto-Brittonic character. Stokes compares it to Greek
grfipos, rounded (Ger. kruinin, bent). The Orcades, or Orkney
Isles, give the Celtic root ore, pig, possibly here meaning "whale."
Ptolemy (circ. 140 A.D.) in his geography, gives some 44
names connected with Pictland. Ptolemy's tribal names begin
in south Pictland with the Damnonii, who stretched across the
neck of Scotland from Ayr to Fife. It is usual to regard the
word as a variant of the Cornish Dumnoni, now Devon (Gaelic
domhan, world, and duinno) both Skene and ;
Rhys allow them
to be Britons— those Britons of Fortrenn who were responsible
for the Brittonic elements in the Pictish language according to
the theories held by these writers. The Epidi of Kintyre are
distinctly of the P Celtic branch ;
the root cp or cq means horse
(stem eqo, Gaulish epd). The Carnonacai (G. cam), the Caireni
(" sheep men "), the Cornavii (compare Cornwall), the Lugi
{lug, win), Smertai and Vaco-magi {jnagh, plain), are all good
Celtic names) ; and to these may be added the Decantai, found
also in Wales, and the Vernicones (G. fearna, alder ?). The
Taixali of Aberdeen, and the Cerones or Creones, are as yet
unexplained as to name. The coast names come next. The
Clota or Clyde is from the Celtic clu, clean ; Lemannonios,
now Lennox, like lake Lemann, comes from lemano, elm. The
river Longos, Norse Skipafjord, or Loch Long, comes from long,
ship ; Tarvedum {tarbh, bull) ; Cailis river {caol, narrow) ; Deva
river means "goddess," and is a common Celtic name, more
Gaulish-Brittonic than Gadelic ; Tava, the Tay, has Brittonic
equivalents (W. Tawe, Devon Tavy? Welsh taw, quiet).
Celtic,
too, must be Itys (Gaulish Itins), and Vir-vedrum and Verubium
(prefix ver) ; nor would it be difficult to explain from
Celtic roots Volas or Volsas, Nabaros {nav, float ?), Ila, now