CO 
58 Prace NAMES. 
A third class comprises a very interesting set of names. 
Class I].—Hybrids.—YVhis again is composed of two sub- 
classes :— 
(g) Hybrids, pure and simple... oe 22 eee 
(i) . complex and irregular 100) 
Class IV.— Unclassifiables.— This name is applicable to several 
place names which are, on the face of them, apparently beyond 
the pale of any one of the above sub-classes, names which do not 
seem accountable for upon any method of linguistic cross-breeding, 
so to speak. 
Class V.—Uniques.—A somewhat arbitrary nomenclature, 
perhaps ; the term must be understood, of course, as unique in 
the locality. This class comprises mostly hill names. They 
number only 25, and are not included in any of the other groups. 
By this severely unromantic method of sub-dividing, halving, 
quartering, and, if necessary, decimating our groups, it is possible 
to arrive at a stratum of fact, of a whole world of facts, indeed, 
which, so far from being the prosaic atoms we commonly suppose, 
are intrinsically brimful of interest. At the outset of this enquiry, 
for instance, it is not unimportant to notice that the non-Gaelic 
hames outnumber the Gaelic by over 200. I have heard the 
exact reverse stated, without any figures to prove the assertion. 
A second very striking result is the small number of stream names 
that exists compared with the number of hill names, about one to 
four. Unthinkingly, one might be led to infer from this that, in 
comparison with mountains and heights of all kinds, the Stewartry 
was poor in that most beautiful and divine touch of beauty, water. 
This is not the case, as we all know. ‘The secret is explained by 
the very simple fact, that names of farms or farm-lands are 
repeatedly given to the nearest burn or river, while the hill names 
are their own, ze., the names of farms are treated of in their 
proper place. Were they added to the specific names of the 
burns and other waters, their total might rival that of the hills 
themselves. 
Coming more to details, we are met, next, by an array of 
Gaelic affixes or suffixes which are all-important. Of these the 
commonest are Auchen, Bar, Ben, Craig, Dal, Drum, Dun, Knock, 
Mull, Tor, and the word Hill following a Gaelic name. In the 
