ORTHOGRAPHY. 7 



letter ; or because, in default of y being sufficiently repre- 

 sented in the fount of type, the z was commonly used to 

 replace it, or vice versa. 



I may even go so far as to say that it was probably in 

 this way that the z came to be introduced into all the above 

 proper names, and into many others besides. There being no 

 z in Gaelic, it has no right to appear in words of Gaelic 

 origin : originating in error, it cannot be considered as good 

 Scotch. Indeed, spelling the word with either a ?/ or a 2; is 

 perpetuating an error, arising from a misconception of a 

 Gaelic word by a Lowlander. Even Bellenden — good autho- 

 rity as he is justly considered as an author of Scotch writing 

 — cannot be followed in his spelling of this word, viz.. Caper- 

 cailye. In Gaelic the II is liquid, like the French lie; 

 and, as explained to me by a good Gaelic scholar — D. Mac- 

 kinnon, Esq., of Edinburgh — when pronounced slowly, the 

 sound might fairly be represented in Scotch by lyie. As 

 the Eev. Mr. Macfadyen has pointed out to me {in lit.) this 

 pronunciation can best be accomplished by dwelling on the 

 second I, and having the tip of the tongue " not touching the 

 roof or palate, close behind the teeth, but about an inch far- 

 ther back." This gives the ?/-sound in the Gaelic ; whence 

 the insertion in MS. by a Lowlander of the y ; whence, sub- 

 sequently, the substitution of a « by the old printers. Many 

 Highlanders at the present day pronounce the last half of 

 the word as in the French word " caille " — a quail ; and one 

 individual, when saying it, added — " without the ' eh' which 

 some give it." Mr. Macfadyen's name, as he himself shows 

 me, is another good illustration of the insertion of the y and 

 z. He says, "I spell it 'Macfadyen' but others ' Macfad- 

 zean ; ' but in old registers it is without the y or z, thus — 

 ' Macfadean,' no doubt the original and correct spelling." 

 Even the name Mackenzie in the old Gaelic name has no 

 z. It was MacConnich — nn, like II, being liquid and pro- 



