Hew Morrison Collection > Adhamh agus Eubh, no Craobh Sheanachais nan Gàël

178 HISTORY OF THE
height, &c., hence it requires to be pronounced
very long in àrd, higb, noble ; gdu, or ^'àbhadh,
jeopardy, peril ; " duine gavi,'" a boisterous savage
man ; gàir, bàir, are terms applied to any open
sound, especially to the open roar of the sea, of
cascades, of a battle shout, &c. ; e.g. "^àirich, or
èàirich a chuain," the roaring of the sea; Gdiri,
the name of a river which gives its appellation to
Glengary, also a noisy rapid river in Perthshire,
and Niagara, in America — resolvable into Ain, a
river, na, an article, and gàrich, expressive of the
open roar of the water. Its rehgious name is Ain-
Tau ; whence, with the addition of Tor, a fort, or
observatory, Tor-In- T'o, initsimmediateneighbour-
hood : Ezekiel, in xlvii. 5, employs the root most
happily. The man first measured a thousand
cubits, the waters were to the ankles : he measured
another thousand, they were to the knees : a third
thousand, they were to the loins : he measured
again, they were (ìsn gav) terrible, perilous, i.e.
they could not be passed over. The hieroglyphic
for a is the hawk— because the god of wind, of
breath, of life.
Of the Character B.
The next most natural sound after a is ò, or m.
These are produced by simply closing the Ups,
which had formerly been open : hence happens it