240 



to be violated, that is, in which words are corrupted by the addition of 

 anomalous letters. In English, for instance, a d is often added after n, 

 and in Greek, after both n and /; as in Eng. thunder from A.-Sax. 

 thunor ; cinder from Lat. (cinis) cineris, &c. ; and in Greek, aner, gen. 

 andros, &c. This tendency in English is also noticed by Lhuyd in his 

 "Archseologia," (p. 9). Another corruption similar to this, which is found 

 in several languages, is the addition of b after m ; as in Eng. slumber 

 from A.-Sax. slumerian ; Er. nombre from numerus ; Lat. comburo, from 

 com, (con), and uro ; Gr. gambros for gamros, &c. Max Miiller shows, 

 however, that the insertion of these letters is due to the same laziness 

 in pronunciation, that causes omission in other cases.* 



These corruptions are very frequent in Irish names, viz. : — the letter 

 d is often placed after n and /, and sometimes after r ; and the letter b 

 after m. In Oneilland, the name of a barony in Armagh, the d is a 

 mere excrescence, for the Irish name is Ua "Niallain, i. e. the territory 

 of the Hy Niallain, a tribe descended and named from Niallan, fourth 

 in descent from Colla Da Chrioch. The same corruption is found in 

 the following, as well as in many other names : Terryland, near Gal- 

 way (<Cip-oil6m, the district of the island) ; Killeshandra, in Cavan 

 (Cill-a-c-pecuvpdca, the church of the old rath, because the original 

 church was built within the inclosure of an ancient rath) ; Tandragee, 

 the name of a town in Armagh, and of several townlands, chiefly in the 

 northern counties (Coin-pe-gaoic, podex ad ventum) ; Eathfryland, in 

 Down (Rac-ppaoileann, Ereelan's rath) ; Tullyland in parish of Bal- 

 linadee, Cork (Culaig-Giledm, Helena's hill). 



D is added after I in the word " field," when this word is an angli- 

 cised form of coill, a wood, as in Longfield, Cloncrameld, &c, which 

 names have been already examined. The same corruption is found in 

 the ancient "Welsh personal name, Gildas, and in the Irish name 

 Mc Donald, which are more correctly written Gillas and Macdonnell. 

 Sometimes the hard dental t, instead of the soft d, is placed after I, as 

 in Carrigaholt in Clare, in Irish Cappai^-an-coblotig, the rock of the 

 fleet. This name has been correctly anglicised in Carrigahooly in 

 Newport Bay, Mayo, the residence of the celebrated Grace O'Malley. 



Lastly, d is placed after r in LifFord, which is in Irish Leicbeapp ; 

 this is a comparatively modern corruption ; for Spenser, in his " View of 

 the State of Ireland," calls it Castle-liffer. It is to be observed that this 

 adventitious d is placed after n, much oftener than after the other two 

 letters, I and r. 



The addition of b to m occurs, as far as I know, only in the word 

 Cumber or Comber, which is the name of a town in county Down, and 

 of several townlands in different counties, both singly and in com- 

 position. It is the Irish Comap, the confluence of two waters, 

 and it is correctly Anglicised Cummer and Comer in many names, 



* See MaxMiiller's " Lectures," 2nd Series, p. 178. 



