Blair Collection > Vestigia celtica

6i
ethical right of acknowledged ownership.
To say that the idea of this distinction is
always consciously observed in the common
use of the Celtic or any other tongues,
would be absurd. But there can be no
doubt that there is, as has been said, a
sufficient basis for the clear suggestion of
such a distinction. " Co leis an damh
donn," I once said, in sauntering along the
stalls of the Highland Society's great Cattle
Show, to a brawny Highlander, stretched
at full lenofth on the straw beside a mag^ni-
ficent Highland bull, to which the first prize
had just been awarded. '■'■ Tha e leamsa,"
proudly and promptly replied the High-
lander, whom I afterwards found to be the
celebrated Stewart of Duntuilm, in the Isle
of Skye. His herdsman, or his grieve,
could not use the same words. You might
say to either of them " is math am beathach
a th' agad," but only the owner could say
"is leams' e"=:"he is with me = "he is
mine." In like manner, and observing the
same distinction, you could say to the
cashier of a bank, as you saw him shovel-