Note on the probable origin of the Scottish surname of Gemmill or Gemmell

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did they pursue this study that at the end of eighteen months they had
lead the Iliad and the Odessey, and were able to commit to memory the
whole of St. Paul's Epistles. Prom the very first the sisters adopted the
modern Greek pronunciation ; thus, with very few additional lessons
from a native, they were able to acquire a familiar command of the modern
language when they visited Greece in the spring of 1883. This visit was
a source of great delight to both sisters, as they at once found themselves
in sympathy with the people whose life and characteristics they were most
anxious to study. A result of their sojourn in Greece was found in the
publication by Agnes (in 1884) of Glimpses of Greek Life and Scenery, a
book which, in its Greek edition, served to render great benefits to the
authoress in the way of introductions to many an unknown Eastern home.
The September of 1883 saw the first parting of the sisters, for Margaret
was married to Mr. James Young Gibson, the well-known translator of the
Spanish poets. Agnes consoled herself by plunging into the study of
Arabic, under the tuition of Mr. Habib Antony Salmone, of University
College. Very quickly this difficult tongue became almost easy to this
excellent linguist, and by the time eighteen months of her sister's married
life had elapsed she was almost proficient in it. Becoming an inmate of
Mrs. Gibson's house, Miss Smith, during the next three years, made two
trips to the East, taking every opportunity of learning conversational
Arabic, and collecting the materials for her book of travel " Through
Cyprus." Mrs. Gibson's wifehood was of short duration, for, in October,
1886, she became a widow. In the December of the following year, Agnes
was married to Mr. Lswis, one of his.wedding presents to her being most
characteristic — it was a Hebrew Testament. The widow, Mrs. Gibson,
lived with them from the very first, even accompanying them on their
wedding tour in Greece. In four years Mrs. Lewis was also a widow, and
for the future the twin sistera continued to live together. Mrs. Lewis had
for long cherished an intention of visiting Sinai, her brother-in-law having
done so in 1865. In February, 1892, the sisters were making plans for
this journey, and coming across Mr. Rendel Harris' Apology of Aristides,
Mrs. Lewis was induced to take up the study of Syriac, which she did
with the help of the Rev. R. H. Kenneth, of Queen's College. A slight
acquaintance with Mr. Harris led to a deep friendship with the sisters, and
to his teaching them photography. Leaving Cambridge in January, 1892,
with a thousand films in their trunks, the sisters returned to that centre
with these films covered with impressions from hitherto unknown MSS.
Almost all these were successfully developed by the sisters themselves.
The story of the sisters' journey to Sinai, and of their subsequent discoveries
and labors in the wonderful library in the Convent of the Greek Monks,
before referred to, reads almost like a mediaeval history, so many were
the dangers and so great difficulties they had to overcome. Mrs. Gibson,
in her volume, " How the Codex was Found," gives a very graphic de-
scription of the event. Mrs. Lewis attributes the whole success of the
discovery to their knowledge of Greek, and to their modern pronunciation
of it. Had they been unable to converse intelligibly with the monks, they