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The Diocese of Sodor 261
without regard to their geographical relations ; and Mr. Moore
seems to have thought that the Western Isles were similarly
unarranged, for he conjectured '
Eya,' which is mentioned between
'
Aran '
and '
He,' to be lona. 60
I venture, however, to hold that
the document starts at any rate with a
nearly regular enumeration
of the islands
following the coast as near as may be from south
to north. Thus we have Bothe (Bute), Aran (Arran), Eya
(Gigha), Ik (Islay), Jurye (Jura), Scarpey (Scarba), Elath (Elachnave,
the southern of the Garvelach group), 61
Co/\vansey] (Colonsay),
Muley (Mull), Chorhye (apparently Tiree), Cole (Col), Egc
(Eigg), Skey, Carrey (Canna), [...] (Rum). Of these the
identification of Chorhye with Tiree alone presents difficulties,
though it is possible
if hardly probable that the initial R may
indicate Raasey rather than Rum. The remaining four names on
the other hand are an enigma,
de Howas, de insulis Alne, de Swostersey, et episcoporum h[. . . ].
These should naturally designate the Hebrides ; but I leave to
scholars more skilled in Scottish nomenclature than I can profess
to be, to expound the true names which are here concealed
through a double process of mistranscription.
REGINALD L. POOLE.
[The Editor has shown proofs of the above paper to two or three
contributors to the Scottish Historical Review^ and has received the follow-
ing
notes :
Dr. Maitland Thomson says,
It is indeed a
pity
that so interesting a
document is preserved only in so corrupt a form.
It seems to me that your learned correspondent's identifications may well
be accepted up to '
Skey '
inclusive, which is as much as to accept his theory
that the islands are arranged in
fairly regular geographical order. If that is
so, one would expect, after Skye, the '
Long Island,' that is (according to
the medieval nomenclature) Barra, Uist and Lewis Benbecula ; being
reckoned part of Uist and Harris of Lewis.
'
I therefore suggest that Barra, the Barey of the Sagas,' has been miscopied
Carrey ; and that Howas is miswritten for Liowns, Lewis the ('
Ljodthhus of the Sagas') ; the lost intermediate word would be Uist, in the
Sagas luist, which it would not be difficult to miscopy into Ruist.
60 Dr. James Wilson and Sir Archibald Lawrie kindly point out that lona was
entirely unconnected with the See of Sodor, being under the immediate jurisdiction
of the Pope.
61 Cf. C. Innes, Origins parochiaks Scotiae, ii. (1854), 277.