220 SHREW— SOW 



and is founded on the old belief of this innocent animal being 

 not only destructive but venomous. 



Sibbald in 1084 writes : " Lavcllan, animal in Cathancsiafrequcns." 

 Its bite then said, as above, to be venomous, a cure therefor 

 being to drink of water in which its head had been boiled or 

 decocted. It was also supposed to have "bewitching" powers, 

 hence " Inch shith." Rob Donn refers to it in " Briogais 'Ic 

 Ruairidh." There is a place called " Dallagan fhraoich," anglicised 

 "Shrewfield." In Sutherland it is believed to live in "deep 

 pools." This animal is no kin to the common mouse. It is the 

 most pugnacious of all animals in proportion to its size. 



SLOW-HOUND (see Dog). 



SOW (see also Pig). — Aitheach ; Ceis, crain, cruimeachda ; 

 Durraidh ; Feis, fionn, fuin ; Gius, giusaidh ; Miaduigh, muc- 

 ainidhe, more, muc ; Oirceann ; Pore; Rue, ruclid, rucht ; 

 Triath ; Urc. 



Bath ; Gamald (aged), grumphie ; Kep (littered dead^ young — 

 Roxb.); Sau; Wrotok. 



From the root " su," to produce. 



It is not unlikely that at an early period the Celts worshipped 

 the sow like the Egyptians, whose worship of it might have been 

 one reason why it was pronounced unclean. Whether the Celts 

 worshipped it or not, it is manifest that it was held in high 

 esteem, for its figure is engraved on most of the ancient 

 sculptured stones of Scotland. Among the Welsh it is a 

 national emblem, and hence one argument for the ancient Picts 

 being British, as these stones are found confined to the ancient 

 Pictish territory. The word "muc," a sow, enters largely into 

 Scottish topography. We have " Eilean-nam-muc," the isle of Muck 

 or sow island, the ancient name of St Andrews was " Muc ros," 

 the sow's headland, and we know that the sow is associated with 

 the memory of Saint Regulus ; there is a " Slochd muice," or the 

 sow's hollow, near Inverness on the Highland road, a name derived 

 from a hillock shaped like a sow's back, in the bottom of the 

 chasm, a little to the west of where the coach road crosses, there 

 is " sron muice," the sow's snout, on the north side of Loch Ness, 

 derived from the resemblance of a hill face to that part of the 

 animal. These two latter names are manifestly derived from 

 natural resemblances, and have nothing to do with mythology. 

 " Muckrey," or the island of swine, is an ancient name for 

 Ireland, derived obviously, not, as it might be in modern times, 

 from the abundance of pigs in the country where it is frequently 

 the sum total of the family possessions, but from the place which 

 the sow held, as above referred to, in the national mythology. 

 "Banva" is another name for Ireland, being Gaelic, and meaning 

 sucking pig, so that it also is mythological. " Aitheach-tuath " is 

 one name for a husbandman, lit. a sow-tenant. 





