J. F. Campbell Collection > Celtic gleanings, or, Notices of the history and literature of the Scottish Gael

128 LECTURE IV.
most earnest and lengthened discussions, in
which there is abundant room for the exer-
cise of imagination, and not a little for very
resolute asseveration. It is astonishing how
much time a gathering of Highlanders wdll
spend in discussing the etymology of a name.
It is generally thought that, for this kind of
study, any man possessing ordinary know-
ledge of the Gaelic language is amply quali-
fied, and that a little twisting and untwisting
of words, which any man can accomplish, is
all that is necessary to bring forth a satisfac-
tory result. If these analysts be correct in
most of their surmises, their forefathers must
have been the clumsiest of mortals, and the
most indifferent as to gTammar in forming their
names. They must have exercised no little
ingenuity in selecting the collocation of terms
least in consonance wdth the genius of their own
language. The fact is, of all our studies, that of
etymology is the least satisfactory, and merits
having least confidence reposed in it; or if it be
at any time satisfactory, it is in the hands of
our very best scholars. To be a good etymo-
logist, besides a sound judgment, requires a
thorough knowledge of the language whose
words have to be analysed, and that dur-
ing the difi'erent periods of its history ; for no-