i+ THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND. 



beset the speller of Gaelic names I will take the 

 prefix " Ben " borne by most of the high Scotch hills, 

 which some Gaelic specialists maintain means moun- 

 tain, while others hold that "ben" is merely a 

 corruption of " ban," pale, and is applied to only those 

 hills that continue snow-capped longer than the 

 surrounding ones. Gaelic spelling and pronunciation 

 likewise vary greatly according to the county, and as 

 proof of this may be mentioned the different methods 

 of spelling and articulating the Gaelic for the "red 

 mountain," for spelt in Perthshire " Ben Derg " and 

 pronounced " Ben Jerig," in Ross-shire these become 

 " Beim Dearg " and " Bin Jarrack " ; again, in Perth- 

 shire, a very good Gaelic scholar taught me to say 

 " Fie-eh,' as correct for Feidh, deer, while an equally 

 well informed Ross-shire authority vowed that " fay " 

 was the only correct method of articulating the word ; 

 and so, finding that a smattering of Perthshire Gaelic 

 would not help in Ross-shire, I gave up any attempt 

 to acquire a small knowledge of the throat-breaking, 

 nostril-stretching language. 



