Volume 3 - Electric Scotland

140 ETYMOLOGIES OF THE ISLANDS.
sometimes useful, far more that which is of a calcareous
nature. They may cease to be so anxious in checkings
the sand inundation; whenever at least the position of
the ground is such as to enable the prevailing winds to
dispose of it in the manner in which it seems most evi-
dently to be distributed in North Uist.
At the entrance of Loch Maddy there are two basaltic
rocks rising abruptly out of the sea, which seem as if
they had wandered across from Sky, the whole of North
Uist being formed of gneiss. They give the name to this
inlet, Maddy signifying a dog. It signifies a horse-
muscle, says Martin ; and thus are etymologists ever at
variance. The Gaelic etymologists seem to have been
singularly infelicitous in their attempts to trace the names
having puzzled themselves as much
of their own islands ;
about the most obvious words, as those learned persons,
St. Jerom, Tertullian, Beausobre, Godfrey Wendelin,
Pere Hardouin, and Mons. Basnage have done with
Abraxas and Abracadabra. Confiding in your love of
this divine science, I set about vigorously to collect them
all, and ran aground on the very first island. Sky, says
Martin, is Skianach, and Skianach is winged. So say
others who ought to have known better. Skian is a
dagger, says another philosopher ; ach is added " eu-
phonise gratia," and then this unnecessary syllable as
well as the preceding one being lopt off again, we have
Sky. This is as bad as Loch Cateran : broad, plain,
tangible, common Gaelic ; spelt, pronounced, and under-
stood in the exact and necessary sense, and yet over-
looked for a century by the Gael themselves, residing on
the very spot, and writing books about it. How is this.
Is it the necessary destiny of etymologists always to
take the wrong road when the right one is before them.
So it has been said. So says Swift. But they may con-