Blair Collection > Surnames & place-names of the Isle of Man

Sintttamss treribeir from €ratrcs, etc. 75
Gill [1134], MacGylle [1430], APGell [1504],
APGiLL, Gell [1511].
Gill.— Santon, German, Lezayre (c), elsewhere (u).
Gell. — Rushen (vc), Marown, Malew, Patrick, Santon (c),
elsewhere (u).
I'ear and Teare, contracted from Mac-an-t-saoir, 'The
carpenter's son.'
'Ciaran Mac-ax-tsair,' A.D. 990*
'The importance attached by the Act, 5 Ed. IV. (see intro-
ductory chapter) to the bearing of an English surname, soon
induced many of the less distinguished Irish f.imilies, of the
English Pale, and its vicinity, to translate or disguise their
Irish names, so as to make them appear English ; thus
Mac-an-t-saor was altered to CARPENTF.R.'t
Compare (Gaelic) MacIntyre, MacTier, (Irish)
MacEntire, AIacateer, Mateer, Teer, Tier.
Mactyr [1372],! M'Teare, M'Terre [1504], MacTere
[1511], Teare [1599], Tear [1611], Tere [1688].
The curious name, MacTereboy, found in 1511,
now obsolete, would seem to be the above name,
with hiiidhe, ' yellow,' added.
It is much commoner in the north of the Island
than the south.
Ballaugh, Jurby (vc), Alaughold, Andreas, Bride, Lezayre
(c), elsewhere (u).
Gawx and Gawxe, contracted from Mac-an-Gahhain,
'The smith's son.'
The smith, in olden times, was a very important
personage, as being the maker of armour and
weapons, and as this trade, like others in that day,
descended from father to son, its designation
would soon become used as a surname.
MacFirbis states in his book of Genealogies that
* Chron. Scot., p. 233. t O'Donovan. Introduction, p. 26.
X Manx Society, Vol. XXIII., p. 392.