xxxvi HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 



nor English, may belong to the Pictish vocabulary, but 

 the nature and classification of that language are still a 

 puzzle to philologists. 



It is unnecessary to enter into a detailed discussion of 

 place-names in the Outer Hebrides, other than those of the 

 islands which compose the group. The word " Hebrides " 

 itself is puzzling, etymologists not being in agreement* 

 In the best editions of Pliny and the manuscripts of 

 highest authority, the name appears as " Haebudes " or 

 " Hebudes," the modern form having, however, been also 

 used both by Pliny, and in an edition of Solinus. From 

 " Hebudes " was evolved the form " Ebudae," used by the 

 writers of the first and second centuries. If one more 

 guess may be added to the list of origins, it is that the 

 word " Hebrides " may mean the Islands of Brude, Bruidi, 

 Bridei, or Buidhe. There are no fewer than thirty Brudes 

 in the first series of Pictish kings, and six Bruidis or 

 Brideis in the second. The islands have also been called 

 Beteoricae, Inchades, Ebonides, and Leucades. They were 

 known, too, as Iniscead, and Innis Cat, i.e. the Hundred 

 Isles, and the Islands of the Catani. 



" Lewis " is a hard etymological nut to crack. The sur- 

 mises which have been made about the derivation of the 

 name are almost as varied as the forms in which, at different 

 times, it has appeared.! The most satisfactory explanation 

 appears to be that it is of eponymous origin, a theory 

 frequently falsified in connexion with other place-names, 



* Boece derives the name from Hibernia, or from King Hiber ; Camden, 

 from Ebeid, signifying without corn ; Dr. Macpherson, from Ey-budh, the 

 islands of corn, or from Saint Bridget ; Pinkerton and Laing from Ey-Bud 

 or Ey-Buth, island-habitation. 



t John Major derived " Sky and Luys" from "twilight and light" ; Martin, 

 Captain Thomas, and Sir Herbert Maxwell derived Lewis from " Leog " a 

 marsh ; Pinkerton, from the " less " or low parts, in contradistinction to Harris, 

 the "heights " ; Dr. McCulloch, from "Loda the Scandinavian deity" (Odin) ; 

 Johnstone, from "the residence of Liot " (Enrl of Orkney); Taylor, from 

 "wharf or landing place"; and Baxter, from " Claunis," meaning an arm- 

 shaped island. The name has appeared in such varied garbs as Leodus (the 

 earliest form), Ljodxis and Ljodhus (during the Norse occupation), Lodoux 

 (1292), and Lewethy (1335). Later it assumed the forms of Leogus, Leoghuis, 

 Leoghas, Leoghys, Luis, Loise, Loyvis, Looyss, Louiss, Leuissa, Luys, Levisia, 

 Lewys, and Lewes. In the Chronicles of Man, it appears as Lodhus, Lodws, 

 and Leodus. 



