320 A TOPOGRAPHICAL ARGUMENT IN FAVOUR OF THE 



In the Mull of Galloway, the word mull or maol, bald, is the same 

 word that occurs in the Mull of Kintyre, and in Malin Head 

 (Maolan), in the north of Ireland. Galloway is Galway in Ireland, 

 and is a compound of gall, a stranger, taobh or thaobh, a side or 

 direction. Tairbeart, the Gaelic word for Isthmus, which is of 

 frequent occurrence in the Topography of Scotland, is found near the 

 Mull of Galloway. There are in Wigtonshire such additional Gaelic 

 names as Glenluce, gleaan au luis, the glen of the iiltmt : Druuimore, 

 Bruim trior, the large ridge : Blairbowie, blar buidhe, the yellow 

 plain : Loch Ryan, reidh an, the loch of the smooth river : 

 Machriemor, the large field : Stranraer, srath an rogha fheoir, the 

 Strath of the good pasture. 



In Ayrshire are Ballantrae, Baile 'n traighe town or hamlet of the 

 shore : Maybole, magh, a plain, baile, a town, the plain of the town : 

 Mauchline, magh linne, the plain of the pool. Magh is a common 

 word in the Topography of Ireland, e.g., Armagh, Mayo, Omagh. 

 In Ayrshire are also Dairy, Dal-righ, the field of the king : Dunlop, 

 Dun Luibe, the foot of the corner or angle : Largs, Learga, a plain, 

 and a word of constant occurrence in the phrase Learga Ghallda, 

 the Lowland Largs. 



In the Yalley of the Clyde are Strathaven, Straven, the strath or 

 valley of the river ) and Inbhiravon, the confluence of the river. 

 Melrose is compounded of meall, a heap, and rois, ros a promontory, 

 the projecting hill. Eildon is eile, another, and dun, a fort, the 

 other fort or hillock. Linlithgow is compounded of linne Hath, 

 dhubh, and accordingly means the grey-dark pool. The examples 

 which have now been given from the Topography of Strathclyde 

 may suffice to substantiate the conclusion, that the Gaels gave names 

 to the rivers and prominent places of that region before the 

 Cumbrians obtained possession of it. 



From that portion of Scotland which has always been inhabited 

 by Gaels, it will be well to take a few topographical names merely, 

 if for no other purpose than to show how strong and unmistakable 

 the correspondence is between the names of the rivers and streams 

 of England and of Ireland (as will subsequently be seen), and between 

 those names which are acknowledged alike by friendly and unfriendly 

 critics to be purely Gaelic. 



Achadh, the Gaelic word for field, is of frequent occurrence in the 



