142 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [ Vou. IT. 
The Topography of Iona furnishes an indissoluble link between the 
Gaelic of modern days and the Gaelic which Calum Cille and his monks 
and their successors were wont to speak. 
It is only natural that the names of places should be subjected to an 
imperceptible process of polish and attrition, as the language to which 
they belong is undergoing development; because such words are in con- 
tinual use and are modified according to the growth of language. There 
can be no greater difference between the names of places in Iona as they 
were wont to be pronounced by Calum Cille and his successors, and as 
they are pronounced by the modern Gael, than obtains between the 
robust and rugged verses of Chaucer, and the musical and polished 
rhythm of the poems of Tennyson. Among the topographical names. 
of Iona are these: 
Aird, height. 
Am bealach mor, the large gap or opening. 
Blar buidhe, the yellow plain. 
Carnan buidhe, the yellow heap. 
Carn cul ri Eirinn. The heap with its back to Ireland. 
Carraig a’ Chaolais, the rock of the straits. 
Cladh an Diseart, the cemetery of the deserted place. 
Cnoc an tobair, the hill of the well. 
Cnoc na h-analach, the hill of the breath, the steep hill. 
Dusgeir, the black rock. 
Eilean nan con, the island of the dogs. 
Fang Mhaolain, the enclosure of the brow of the hill. 
Goirtean Tomhair, the field of protection. 
Iomaire nan righ, the ridge of the kings. 
Loch Staonaig, the loch of the juniper berry. 
Cnoc Odhrain, the hill of Odhran. 
Reilig Odhrain, the burying-place of Odhran. 
Port a’ churraich, the harbor of the Coracle. 
Maol nan uan, the bare place of the lambs. 
Sron Iolaire, the eagle’s nose. 
Sruth a’ mhuillinn, the stream of the mill. 
Tigh an Easbuig, the Bishop’s house. 
