320 A TOPOGRAPHICAL ARGUMENT IN FAVOUR OF THE 
In the Mull of Galloway, the word mull or maol, bald, is the same 
word that occurs in the Mull of Kintyre, and in Malin Head 
(Maolan), in the north of Ireland. Galloway is Galway in Ireland, 
and is a compound of gall, a stranger, taobh or thaobh, a side or 
direction. Zairbeart, the Gaelic word for Isthmus, which is of 
frequent occurrence in the Topography of Scotland, is found near the 
Mull of Galloway. There are in Wigtonshire such additional Gaelic 
names as Glenluce, gleann au luis, the glen of the plant: Drummore, 
Druim mor, the large ridge: Blairbowie, blar buidhe, the yellow 
plain: Loch Ryan, reidh an, the loch of the smooth river: 
Machriemor, the large tield; Stranraer, srath an rogha fheoir, the 
Strath of the good pasture. 
In Ayrshire are Ballantrae, Baile ’n traighe town or hamlet of the 
shore: Maybole, magh, a plain, baile, a town, the plain of the town : 
Mauchline, magh linne, the plain of the pool. MJagh is a common 
word in the Topography of Ireland, e.g., Armagh, Mayo, Omagh. 
In Ayrshire are also Dalry, Dal-righ, the field of the king: Dunlop, 
Dun Luibe, the foot of the corner or angle: Largs, Learga, a plain, 
and a word of constant occurrence in the phrase Learga Ghallda, 
the Lowland Largs. 
In the Valley of the Clyde are Strathaven, Straven, the strath or 
valley of the river; and Jnbhiravon, the confluence of the river. 
Melrose is compounded of meal, a heap, and rots, ros a promontory, 
the projecting hill. Zvldon is ele, another, and dun, a fort, the 
other fort or hillock. Linlithgow is compounded of linne hath, 
dhubh, and accordingly means the grey-dark pool. The examples 
which have now been given from the Topography of Strathclyde 
may suffice to substantiate the conclusion, that the Gaels gave names 
to the rivers and prominent places of that region before the 
Cumbrians obtained possession of it. 
From that portion of Scotland which has always been inhabited 
by Gaels, it will be well to take a few topographical names merely, 
if for no other purpose than to show how strong and unmistakable 
the correspondence is between the names of the rivers and streams 
of England and of Ireland (as will subsequently be seen), and between 
those names which are acknowledged alike by friendly and unfriendly 
critics to be purely Gaelic. 
Achadh, the Gaelic word for field, is of frequent occurrence in the 
