110 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. II. 



Scandinavians, properly so-called, made their incursions into the west- 

 ern parts, and therefore, into the Isle of Man and the Hebrides, So strong 

 and stable and resolute was the Celtic population of the Isle of Man, 

 that the Scandinavians who settled there, adopted the prefix Mac, and 

 thus became in name part ot the Celts among- whom they lived. Of 

 such names these are examples : — 



Castell, a contraction of Mac as Ketill, the son of the Kettle. Mac 

 Askel, Makaskil, Caskill are other forms of the same name. 



Corkill, a contraction of Mac-por-ketill, the son of Thor of the kettle, 

 Thorr, the God of Thunder, the Keeper of the Hammer, the 

 destroyer of evil spirits, the son of Mother Earth, was the 

 favorite deity of the North. MacTorquil, Mac Corquodale, 

 MacCorkyll, are other forms of the same name. 



The name MacLeod, which is so common in Scotland, is of Scandin- 

 avian origin, Corlett is the Manx form of the same name. Ljot, which 

 corresponds to Leod, means /^c*//^, and therefore MacLeod signifies the 

 son of the people. It appears that the MacLeods of Scotland have 

 always claimed a Scandinavian origin. The MacLeods of Lewis not 

 only quarter the Manx trie cassyn (three feet) but also use the same motto, 

 ^' Quocumque jeceris stabo." In the names of some of the Western Isles 

 of Scotland, there are indelible evidences of the presence and power of 

 the Scandinavians. Lewis, Barra, Scarb.i, Jura are not Gaelic but 

 Scandinavian terms. Such personal names as Norman or Tormoid, 

 Lewis, Godfrey, Farquhar, Ranald, are Scandinavian and not Gaelic at 

 all. When MacAulay incurred the odium of the Scottish Gaels for his 

 severe and unnecessary strictures on the method of life which their 

 ancestors pursued, it was not commonly known that the name Mac.\ulay 

 is a shortened form of MacAmhlaith, Anlaf's or Olafs son. Olaf was a 

 royal name in the Isle of Man. Though Macx^ulay's great-grandfather 

 was minister of the small Isles, as they are termed among the Hebrides, 

 it is possible to find an explanation of the historian's antipathy to the 

 Gaels of Scotland, in the re-appearance in his person of the hostility 

 which his forefathers bore, or had cause to bear, towards the rightful 

 owners of the soil. The Gaels of Eastern Ontario are unconsciously 

 doing homage to the Scandinavian origin of the term Ranald ; foras- 

 much as in Gaelic, as well as in English, they gave prominence to the 

 vowel a and not to o in the first syllable. Clan Ranald, Clann Raonuill, 

 Raonuill, Raonull: in such terms, deference is properly paid to the etymo- 

 logical meaning of the Scandinavian appellation. Raghnall, the Celtic 

 form of Ragnvaldr, is compounded of ragn the God and valdr, ruler. 

 MacRannall, &c., MacRaghnaill, Reginald's son, are other forms of 

 Raghnall. 



