Hew Morrison Collection > Gaidheal > 1 Leabh 2 Air

248
THE GAEL.
■warm river." The rivers " Tcan " and
"Teign," of Devonshire, are probably
of the same derivation. There is an
" Aide," in Suffolk, which is certainly
identical with the " Aldie," streams of
Scotland, derived from the Gaelic words
Allt-dn, or "The dark stream." It is
ridicnlous to say the name of these
streams (there are four in Scotland) was
given by the English race from tlie
Alder tree. The Gael must have given
the names centuries before any English-
men entered the country.
The " Allt " of Lancashii-e is iden-
tical with the " AUts " of Scotland, and
of which there are many hundreds. INIr
Edmunds makes an astonishing mistake
as to this name in his last Avork (p.
14), where he derives it from the Welsh
word Allt, meaning, he says, "a steep
place, or mountain district " — which is
impossible, because the " Allt," of Lan-
cashire, is a stream.
There is a brook in the county of
Kent called the " Eden," and in Cum-
berland there is a river called the
" Eden," on which is Carlisle. There
are four different rivers of the same
name in Scotland ; their ancient spell-
ing is " Edan," which is nearer to the
Gaelic word whence this river name is
derived — namely, from "Eudan," mean-
ing "The front river," probably from
being conspicuous ; the Gaelic word also
means "the face," which would be ap-
plicable to a river that ran along the
edge or slope of a ridge. At p. 15,
Mr Edmunds says this river name
(Eden) " must be conceded as Gaelic."
This admission is important, coming
from an advocate contending for the
Welsh race being the first inhabitants
of Britain ; but Avhich is impossible,
when we find proofs of the Gael naming
rivers from Kent to Cumbei-land, botli
included, and that tlie very same river
names are also spread over all Scotland,
demonstrating that it was a Gaelic-
speaking race who gave these names in
both countries. That it is altogether
erroneous in Mr Edmunds, or any other
person, to say that the "Douglas" and
" Esk " river names come from the
Welsh language, is proved by the im-
portant fact that they occur in Ireland,
where the Welsh race never gave any
names. Thus, Mr Joyce, in his work on
Irish Topography, 1st edition, p. 411,
says — " Douglas is very common both as
a river and a townland designation all
over the cou.ntry ;" and however eager
Welsh writers may be to attempt to
give their derivations to the Scotch and
English rivers callejl "Douglas," we
learn from this same Irish river name
that they must be wrong. Esk is also
found as a name in Ireland, and Mr
Joyce (page 408) brings it also from the
same coi'responding word of tlie Irish
Gael, namely, iiisce, " water." Th«
name " Eden " is also found in Ireland,
derived, as mentioned above, and by
this -wiiter, from " Eudan." (See page
464.)
There are, besides, such a number of
rivers identical in England with those
of Scotland which must have been given
by a people speaking the language of
the Gael. There are also a great many
others derived from it, and as it was
not the Welsh race who named the
Scotch rivers (which is admitted by Mr
Edmunds), so the similar names in
England must have been given in like
manner by the Gael long before the
Welsh race arrived.
James A. Eobertson.
RETIREMENT of MR. MURDOCH.
It is witli deep regret we announce
tliat Mr. Murdoch, the spirited writer
who has done so macli to vindicate the
Celtic character, is now retiring from
his public office. Mr. Murdoch was
for thirty-four or thirty-five years in the
excise, and during that time, was
continually contributing to the forma-
tion of public opinion on a variety of
subjects — among others, the Repeal of