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A new edition of Toland's History of the druids: - Free History Ebooks

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NOTES. 3-13gency, when no omen could be obtainedfrom <strong>the</strong> wild fowls,who were more without <strong>the</strong>ir reach.Note LXiX.—Page 205,Borr.—This word has crept into our common colloquial Ian.guage; and <strong>the</strong>re isnothing more common than for a person tosay, he will do any thing with all his Borr^ or Birr—i. e. '* withall his strength." The radical import <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> word is Sireiiglh^or, when adjectively taken, Sirong, Boreas—i. e. ilie Norihmwindy is supposed to be peculiarly Greek. But this groundlessidea may be confuted fay any one capable <strong>of</strong> consulting a Greeklexicon, and seeing <strong>the</strong> wretched attempts made to etymologizeit in that language. It is attempted to be deri?ed cqjo tou BoaeinIcai Rtein—i. e. " from roaring and running." The o<strong>the</strong>r deri-Tation is from Bora—i. e. ''grass for cattle," as if Boreas were?i promoter <strong>of</strong> vegetation, instead <strong>of</strong> being a destroyer <strong>of</strong> it. Themerits <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Gaelic language have never been duly appreciated.It ismore or less <strong>the</strong> foundation <strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong> languages <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> west^and in particular those <strong>of</strong> Greece and Rome have borrowed copiouslyfrom it. I have already noticed, that Calepine derivesApollo from <strong>the</strong> Greek participle Apolijon^ and makes ii!m <strong>the</strong>destroyer, instead <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> benefactor oi <strong>the</strong> human race—that Dr.Ty tier and Mr. Bryant derive Apollo (Car neus) from <strong>the</strong> GreekKereny and by this means make him a IJorn^ or a Siork—thatCicero derives Sol (<strong>the</strong> sun) from <strong>the</strong> Latin Solus (alone), andmakes him <strong>the</strong> solitary and exclusive traveller <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ccekstialexpanse. In <strong>the</strong> present instance we see <strong>the</strong> Grecian etymologistsascribing to <strong>the</strong> north- wind (Boreas) <strong>the</strong> characteristic qualities<strong>of</strong> a Riad bull, and at <strong>the</strong> same time making him <strong>the</strong> genialpromoter <strong>of</strong> herbage and food for cattle, and by this meansascribing to him a train <strong>of</strong> gentle and benevolent qualities, thsTery reverse <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se possessed by him. I have already rectified<strong>the</strong> etymologies <strong>of</strong> /Jpollo, Sol, and Carneus, from <strong>the</strong> Celtic,and shall now advert to that <strong>of</strong> Boreas. Borr^ or Bor, in <strong>the</strong>Celtic, signifies Strong, and Eas a Cataract, Tempest, or Blast<strong>of</strong> Wind, or any tluag ^Qiy impetuous. Bor.Eas tUea literally

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