36 



Lanark, Dumbarton, Ayr, and Dumfriesshire. These have been 

 found both under the boulder-clay and in comparatively recent 

 deposits, and in Caithness and Sutherland they are associated 

 with human remains in the ruined "Brochs." Attention was long- 

 ago directed by Fleming (Brit. An., p. 27) to a passage in Torfaeus 

 in which he states that the Jarls of Orkney of the 1 2th century 

 were in the habit of passing over to Caithness to chase the Roe 

 and Rein-Deer (Rer. Oread. Hist., lib. i., cap. xxxvi.). The source 

 from which Torfaeus copied was undoubtedly the " Orkney inga 

 Saga," and the original passage in Jonas Jonaeus' editio princeps 

 (Hafniae, 1780, p. 384) is as follows: — 



"Thar var sithr Jaiia naer hvert sumar at far? yfer a Katanes oc tliar 

 upp a merkr at vekla rauddyri edr hreina." 

 This Jonaeus renders — 



" Solebant Comites qua vis fere aestate ill Katenesum transire ibique in 

 desertis feras rubras & rangileros venari." 



In the English edition of Jon A. Hjaltalin and G. Goudie 

 (Edinburgh, 1873, p. 182) the words are translated — 



" Every summer the Earls were wont to go over to Caithness and up into 

 the forests to hunt the red-deer or the rein-deer." 



Through the kindness of Professor Newton I have obtained the 

 opinion of the celebrated Icelandic scholar Mr. Eirikr Magnusson, 

 of Cambridge, who informs me that neither version is quite correct 

 as regards the latter words. The literal translation is — 



"It was the custom for the Earls (Rognvald and Harald) nearly every 

 summer to go over into Caithness and then up into the woods to hunt red- 

 deer or reins." 



Mr. Magnusson further observes that the word edr has two 

 meanings, equivalent to the Latin sive and vel, and he therefore 

 considers it uncertain whether the proper reading is that they went 

 to hunt either Red-Deer or Rein-Deer, or whether, as appears to him 

 more likely, the Sagaman was under the impression that rauddyr 

 and hreiii were synonymous terms. 



It will thus be seen that the evidence of the " Orkneyinga Saga" 

 as to the survival of Rein-Deer in Scotland till the 12th century is 

 much less positive than has been generally represented. On the 

 other hand, it receives a certain amount of confirmation from the 

 fact already noticed, that remains of the animals have been found 

 in the ruined " Brochs " of the northern counties, and also from a 

 rude figure on a sculptured stone, copied by Dr. Smith, which 

 certainly appears to be intended to represent a Rein-Deer. This 



