the Celtic languages. Accordingly, we find in England (excluding Monmouthshire) seven rivers of this name. Three of these are tributaries of the Severn, one joining that river at Tewkesbury, one at Berkeley, and one near Bristol.

Then there are two Avons in Hampshire, one in Somersetshire, and one in South Devon. The fact of these seven rivers being distributed over different parts of the country, will be sufficient of itself to prove our point. But we may go farther. In Lancashire we have the Alt-the ordinary Gaelic name for a small stream or burn. It must be remembered that this word burn, is in itself Celtic, and is used as the ordinary designation of small streams in Northumberland as Erring-burn, Ouseburn, etc., and the word is probably to be recognised in the name Bourne which distinguishes two rivers, one in Wiltshire and one in Surrey. The Whiske in Yorkshire (and probably the Wiza in Cumberland), is nothing but Uisge, water, and is analagous to the Welsh Uske and the Scotch Eske, a name which is also found in Yorkshire, Devon, and Cumberland. Joyce, however, gives Eisc as meaning a water channel, and this may be the derivation of the name of the Scottish river.

*

Another Gaelic word Cam, crooked, gives its name to three rivers, one in Essex joining the Chelmer, near Chelmsford, one in Cambridgeshire, and one in Gloucestershire. The Camel in Cornwall is probably derived from the same root. The Stour, a name which occurs in Kent and Worcestershire, and with the addition of an e in Somerset, is said to be derived from Es Duer,† the water. This root probably appears in other names as Dore, in Hereford; Thur, in Norfolk; Durra, in Cornwall; the Dour water in Yorkshire; Dover, in Nottinghamshire; the Rother (red-water) in Sussex; the Adder in Wiltshire; and the Adur in Sussex; the Stort, in Hertford and Suffolk; the Torant, in Dorset ; and probably in other names. Ken is a Celtic word, said to mean white or clear,§ and is found in several names in Scotland. In England there is a Ken in Devonshire, and one in Westmoreland, and the name Kennet in Wiltshire may in all probability be derived from the same root.

Irish local names explained.

Parliamentary Gazeteer voce Kent. The meaning of the letter s is obscure, and the conjectures of philologists do not seem worthy of much credence.

See a paper on Cymro Celtic names of places, by E. S. Jones, in the Transactions of the Royal "National Eisteddfodd" for 1883.

§ A writer in the "Gentleman's Magazine" derives this word from Ceann a Head or End, with much probability.

The Guash in Rutlandshire is probably derived from Guaimeas-quietness; and the Beult in Kent from Beul-a mouth or opening, a word frequently applied to rivers and their valleys, as Beul Atha, a ford.

Laugherne, the name of a brook in Worcestershire, is a name found both in Wales and in Ireland.

In addition to those words, which are clearly Celtic, we have a number of names, which, from the fact of their appearing with certain variations in distant districts, may fairly be assumed to be generic, though we may not with certainty determine their meaning.

The Thame, which afterwards becomes the Thames, appears as the Tame, in Warwickshire, again in Staffordshire, and again in Lancashire, as a tributary of the Mersey, near Stockport. Then we have the Terme, in Worcestershire, and the Tearn, in Northumberland.

May not all these be analagous to the Tay, in Scotland, and be derived from the Gaelic Tamh, quietness, a derivation supported by Pictet, in the "Revue Celtique," vol. 2. The Teign may possibly be of similar derivation, and signify the quiet river, and this may also be the derivation of the Coaly Tyne, in Northumberland.

Another name which appears to be generic is the Ouse. There is one river of this name in Yorkshire, one in Norfolk which has a tributary, the Little Ouse, and another the Ousel, one in Sussex, one in Cumberland, and an Ouseburn in Northumberland. There is also an Oux in Hampshire. I can find a LochOusie near Dingwall, and the Oise in France is probably derived from the same. I cannot speak positively about it, but Macalpine gives Oth, water, large body of water, and quotes the following as having a reference to Loch-Awe in Argyll, "Cha leithne Loch Otha a null na nall." Loch-Awe is equally broad whether you cross it hither or thither.

The name Colne seems generic, though I am unable to trace its derivation. There is one in Hertfordshire, one in Essex, and one in Gloucestershire. The name Rea appears in Shropshire, Warwickshire, Herts, and Worcestershire, and is from Ruith, to flow. From this root we have doubtless Rye in Yorkshire, Rey in Wiltshire, Ray in Oxford and Lancashire, Rhu in Cambridge, Rhea in Stafford, and probably Wray in Devon.t

* Taylor seems to think it a variation of Uisge. Names and places page 141.

+ The Spanish and Portugese Rio is probably a cognate word and pos sibly the Italian Riviera and English river.

Another argument in favour of the Celtic origin of the names of the English rivers is the fact that the names of the rivers in Scotland are repeated in England, and it will generally be conceded that the names of the former are Celtic. Thus we have a Dee * and a Don in Yorkshire; a Leven in Lancashire, and a Leaven in Yorkshire; a Calder in Yorkshire flowing into the Aire, and another in Lancashire flowing into the Ribble; a Yarrow in Lancashire, and an Arrow in Herefordshire. Perhaps the Yar in Norfolk and in the Isle of Wight may be mentioned in the same connection, as may the Aire in Yorkshire and Ayr in Scotland.† In Somersetshire we have the Brue. This may be the representative of the Bruar in Perthshire. There is a Glen in Lincolnshire, and another in Northumberland ; an Eden in Cumberland, and another in Kent. The name Douglas appears in Lancashire. The root of this is probably Dubh, black. From this may also be derived Dulas, a name which appears in Dorset, and is also frequently met with in Wales and Scotland. On the other hand, the word Geal, white, appears in the Calder, a name which is found in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and in Scotland, and in the Calder in Cumberland.

The name pool is supposed to be Celtic.-Poll in Gaelic signifying a pool, and in Irish a hole (Joyce). This name frequently appears in combination, as Liverpool, &c.. I think I have brought forward sufficient evidence in support of the Celtic origin of our river names, and I hope by drawing attention to the subject," that those learned in Welsh and other dialects of Celtic may further illustrate the subject. I have found a very great difficulty in discovering the names of the smaller streams; most works of reference and maps, unless of very large size, merely giving the names of the larger or principal rivers, while for philological purposes the names of the small streams are of equal importance with the larger. Perhaps some readers of this may be able to furnish me with names which have escaped me, and thus may enable me to throw more light on the subject.

Note. Since writing the above my attention has been called to Mr Isaac Taylor's work, "Names and Places.' His chapter on river names is most interesting, and though not prepared to accept all his conclusions, I must recommend the perusal of his work to all interested in this subject. He maintains that the principal rivers of Europe have in their names one of five Celtic roots-Avon, Devon, Esk, Rhe, and Don. The whole subject is treated in a masterly manner. I should like, in conclusion, to draw particular attention to Dr Joyce's valuable little work, "Irish Local Names

* This name is supposed to be from the root dia, god, and indicates river worship.

Taylor derives these names from garbh, rough.

Explained." It has seemed somewhat strange that no name conveying the idea of size has presented itself. We read in Holy Scripture of the great river, and in Spanish and Portuguese Colonies we frequently find Rio Grande. A volume just published, however, "The Gentleman's Magazine Library" -dialects, proverbs, and word-lore-contains a paper on river names which, amongst other interesting matter, gives Al Aune as meaning the Great River. I do not know whether the writer is correct, but the name Alum occurs in Cornwall; Allen, in Dorset; Alon, and Alanus, or Alen, in Northumberland; and Alen in Warwickshire; besides similar names in Wales and Scotland.

I have been anxious to find the derivation of the name of England's noblest river, the Severn, but with no satisfactory result. The termination Ern or Erne occurs in the Erne in Scotland; the Tern in Shropshire, and I think there is a Terne in the Lake district, but beyond this I have been unable to go.

18TH FEBRUARY 1885.

On this date Mr William Mackay, solicitor, Inverness, read a paper on the Ardnamurchan Bard-Mac Mhaighstir Alastair. Mr Mackay's paper was as follows:

:

PRESBYTERIAL NOTICES OF MAC MHAIGHSTIR ALASTAIR, AND SOME OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES IN ARDNAMURCHAN AND MORVEN.

Through the courtesy of the reverend members of the Presbytery of Mull, I was recently enabled to peruse the earlier records of that Court; and I propose this evening to give you a few gleanings from them concerning our great Gaelic bard, Alexander Macdonald (better known as Mac Mhaighstir Alastair), and some of his associates, and throwing considerable light on the state of society in the Western Highlands during the first half of last century.

Macdonald is first mentioned in these records in September 1729, when he appears as teacher and catechist in the service of the Society for Propogating Christian Knowledge, and the Committee for managing the Royal Bounty, in his native parish of Ardnamurchan. This post he has apparently occupied for some time. His father was minister of Ardnamurchan in the days of Episcopacy, but refusing to conform when Presbyterianism was established, he was deprived of his living in 1697. He still continued to labour in the parish, however, and the bard was born there about the year 1700. The child early displayed signs of that intellectual vigour which distinguished him in after life; and,

as he approached manhood, his father dreamed of future eminence for him in the Church, while his chief, Clanranald, harboured the more worldly intention of educating him for the Scottish bar. The youth was sent to the University of Glasgow, which he attended for some sessions; but an early marriage made it difficult for him to prosecute his studies, and, like many another poor Highland student, he lapsed into a charity-teacher, supported by the Society and Committee which I have mentioned.

The Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge had its origin in the design of a few private gentlemen, who met in Edinburgh in the year 1701, to establish charity schools in the Highlands. Their first school was started at Abertarff, which was then "the centre of a country where ignorance and popery did greatly abound;" but the teacher was so harshly treated by the people, that he fled the parish in less than two years, and no successor was appointed. The Edinburgh philanthropists were, however, not discouraged. They planted schools in other parts of the Highlands, secured the co-operation of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, collected money throughout the kingdom, and, in 1709 obtained letters-patent from Queen Anne, erecting certain of their number into a corporation under the title which it still bears.

In 1725 King George the First gave a donation of £1000 to the General Assembly, "to be employed for the reformation of the Highlands and Islands, and other places where popery and ignorance abound." This donation, being annually repeated by the First George and his successors, was placed under the control of a Committee nominated by the General Assembly, and called the Committee for managing the Royal Bounty; and it was this Committee that joined, as we have seen, with the Society in supporting the teacher and catechist of Ardnamurchan.

The times in which Macdonald lived were wild and unsettled, and the people among whom he laboured prone to war and factious disputation; but catechist and teacher, and elder though he was, he was no peace-at-any-price man, and into the quarrels and disputes of his time he threw himself with all the energy of which his fiery spirit was capable.

Early in 1732 Mr James Stevenson, the minister of Ardnamurchan, was (to quote from the Presbytery records) "carried off by the Presbytery of Lorn to the parish of Ardchattan, within the bounds of the said Presbytery, and fixed minister there, without ever acquainting the Presbytery of Mull or parish of Ardnamurchan, to both which he was related." The Presbytery of Mull and parishioners of Ardnamurchan were naturally indignant; but the latter