Report of Meetings. By the President. 449 



The nearest point to the mainland is Monksliouse, near 

 Bambro' ; but North Sunderland, though half a mile further 

 distant, is the natural and most convenient, and for more reasons 

 than one, the recognised port of embarkation. 



Being aware of the rarity of the earlier volumes of our Pro- 

 ceedings, with all their valuable contents, no complete series of 

 them being accessible for the use of members in any central 

 place (the Berwick Museum for instance) ; so that in all 

 probability, not one member out of twenty would have been 

 able to consult Mr Tate's Paper, and desiring that to no one of 

 our party should they be entirely a terra incognita, I had pre- 

 pared for the occasion, and had the pleasure of reading on the 

 deck of the steamer during the voyage, an outline Sketch of the 

 Fames and of the chief points of interest which they present. 



We often notice that the islands are erroneously designated 

 the " Femes" or the " Fern Islands" — indeed as such they appear 

 on a recently published map of Northumberland. If this 

 appellation is connected with the supposed abundance of ferns, 

 it is singularly inapplicable ; for as a matter of fact there are no 

 ferns whatever on any of the islands. 



The etymology of the title "Fame" is still rather obscure. 

 There are several explanations. The popular one, derived 

 from Grose and perpetuated by Eaine (North Durham, p. 50, 

 note), is that it is derived from the Celtic fahren, signifying 

 a place of retreat, and that the appellation was bestowed when 

 St. Cuthbert and other saints and hermits of old utilised it as 

 their place of retreat. Mr Eaine, elsewhere, forgetting (I.e. p. 340) 

 his original reference, makes the word fahre German, adopting 

 Grose's explanation of the supposed Celtic term. 



But however ungenial it may be to interfere with long- 

 accepted popular beliefs, especially with one so pretty and 

 natural as this, it is necessary to state that no such word as 

 fahren can be found in Celtic, nor has Mr Rhys, Professor of 

 Gaelic in the University of Oxford, any knowledge of such a 

 word ; which, too, has been sought for in two modern Gaelic 

 dictionaries, and is not recorded. The word that approximates 

 nearest to the meaning attached to it by Grose, and with some- 

 thing of sound, is fraon, shelter in a hill. 



In German, it is true, the v^ordi fahren does exist, but certainly 

 does not mean a retreat. It means to move, go, &c., is used a 

 great deal idiomatically, but always with the idea of movement. 



2d 



