EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE BRITISH ISLES BY CELTS. 319 



granted that Cymric names occur in the Topography of Strathclyde, 

 it would still be true that the names of streams, and hills, and valleys 

 in that part of Scotland are purely Gaelic. 



Taylor correctly observes in his Words and Places (p. 203) : "That 

 the river-names, more especially the names of important rivers are 

 everywhere the memorials of the very earliest races. These river- 

 names survive where all other names have changed : they seem to 

 possess an almost indestructible vitality." The names of the streams 

 and rivers that occur in the southern counties of Scotland are so 

 manifestly of Gaelic origin, that they refute the theory to which 

 allusion has already been made, e. g. 



In Wigtonshire are Tarff (tarbh, a bull), the wild river. Cree, 

 criadh, clay, perhaps owing to the colour of the water. 



In Ayrshire are the rivers Ayr, a, water, reidh, smooth. Doon = 

 Don, dubh an, the black or dark river. Girvan, town and river, 

 .garbh, rough, an, river, rough river. Irvine, town and river, far, 

 west, an, the west river. 



In Kirkcudbright are Dee = da, two, abh, water, double water. 

 Ken, ceann, a head. Urr, oir, a margin, from the direction in which 

 it flows. 



In Dumfries (Dunphreas, the fort of the copseioood), Esk, uisge, 

 water. Annan, an, quiet, and an, the quiet river. 



In Lanarkshire, Avon, amhainn, river, which flows into the Clyde. 

 Douglas, dubh and glas, grey, the black, grey stream. Kelvin, coille 

 an, the wooded river. Clyde — Cliid = Cli, strong. 



In Peebles, Esk, uisge, water. Lyne, Linnhe, pool, as in Dublin, 

 Loch Linnhe. Leithen, Hath, hoary, and an, the hoary river. 

 Earn, Ear, east, and an, the east river. 



In the counties of Roxborough and Selkirk are some of the rivers 

 that have been celebrated by Sir Walter Scott, e. g., Teviot taobh, a 

 side, and aite, a place, from the course which the Teviot pursues. 

 Ted, teud, a string, owing to the straight channel of the river. 

 Gala, geal, white, and a, water, the white water. Tweed, tuath, 

 north, and aite, a place, from the direction in which it flows. Yarrow, 

 garbh, gharbh, rough. Enrich, an, river, riabhach, greyish, the 

 greyish river. 



Those rivers in Strathclyde, whose names have now been given, 

 are purely Gaelic and not Cymric, and thei'efore invalidate the 

 theory that the Topography of Strathclyde is Cymric. 



