The daily gazette., 1877-10-09

b.oh IL nOJ Iurnlsneu Dy bhe GothenDurg
+ =, -----------.m,-s- ~>~-- .ta "
The origin of the Names of
.g the British Islands.
We copy the following letter written
by our City Treasurer, Francis Vincent,
from the Philadelphia Press. AS our
readers will perceive it gives the origin
land, Scotland and Wales. It will no
doubt be read with iaterest by a large
portion of our citizens. He says ]: .Ir' J'
L see statement in your paper of the
first of October last that "The name of
Caledonia Is believed to be derived from
Gael, OF Guetrad1, or Gael Donie, corrup-
ted by the Romans" This is different
derivation from that usually given by
histoi .ans, amongst whom the most re-
ceived oplnionis Is that 1t derives its name
from two words. "CaP' hazel and "Dun"
hill in other words hills of hazel. to
which the Romans added the termina-
ton onld, for the sake of euphony, or to
give 1t more pleasant sound, thus max
ing "Cdtedon,G." the name by which
the opinion, however, that the term son
IA" is from "tdnia," a Grecian and Ro-
manized word, meaning region or coun-
try .Suehl changes are common in the
Greek and Latin (and in fact in alD lam
guages when two or more words are
united together to make one. The cor
rTect version of Caledonia, therefore |
Deiieye is 'cd" hazed "dun" hill and
"ontd' country that is, the coun.rg of the
hills ofhdzeI. The hills that gave Scot
land this ancient name were situated in
the northeastern part of that Kingdom.
THE DERIVATION OF SCOTLAND .v
Is from scutte, wanderer with the land
added, thus forming Scotland, or the land
of the Scots. There was another tribe or
division inhabiting ancient Scotland (Cal-
edonia) called the Pict' plunderer.-
Another version Is given of this word,
and that is Picti or Peithic meaning a
people resident without. But, as we de-
rive the name from Roman sources, and
as the Plots and Scots constantly made
plundering excursions into the Roman
territories of Britain, 1t is more than
probable that plttnderer is the most cor
rect meaning of the term. But in this
case both would be applicable, as the
Picts resided outside of the Roman terri
tories and made excursions into them in
company with the, Scots, for the purpose
of plunder, whenever they could. As
have never seen published together, in
any newspaper or periodical the deriva-
ton of the names OF tn moJher countries
OOhpooOA Vi IInRtduu1 1Ioldhuy GDObAduu
and Wales, and thinking il might be of
some interest to your readers, will give
you what consider the most reliable de-
hnitions.
a. THE ISLAND OF GREAT BRITAIN
derives its name from the words Birth
Inted, and Td.aid, region or country.
The original inhabitants painted their
naked bodies blue. The Romans changed
Ea.i1L 10 ptsf Ii D.,;4
try of the painted, or painted people.
There are other versions in relation to
the naming of this our mother island.
Some allege it was frpm Brutus, called
Br1to, who was the fifth in descent from
Anees, who fed from the siege of Troy.
Some from Prydhdnl, name which the
ancient Britons called themselves, and
which the Romans changed to Britannia
Others again from the PhRnieians, who
called it Bardt Anerack, or country of
tin, afterwards contracted Brat,adc, and
| from this by the Romans changed to
Britannia. There are also some other
versions. But think the first, Birth and
Tdaia, the land of the painted people,
the most likely to be correct.
IL. TEE NAME OF ENGLAND #
is derived from Angle (the name of the
/ most numerous tribe of the Saxons, WHO
conquered and drove out the ancient
Britons and land In other words, 4nule-
land, or the land of the Angles. After
wards it was changed to England. The
French still call it Angle-terre (terre be-
ing French for land). The Spanish call
it Inglaterra- But thei in Spanish has the
sound of ein English, and in both lam
guages it has therefore the same signifi-
cation, as they are both founded on the
Latin, the speech of the ancient Romans
and Itahans, The first-known name of
| England was Albion, or the While Is
land, from the white chalk cliffs that
were seen from the sea and the Gaulish
| or French coast. The name white, wri-
ters derive from various words of similar
sound, but all meaning the same. Albus,
| Atphus, and -4tb, or dip. white. These
are Celtic words. The Alps Mountains
| white Mountains), from their tops of
snow, have the same derivationsfor their
name. Some have applied it to their
steepness, or height, but think this was
because the Alps and the Chalk Cliffs OF
| England were steep and high, as well as
white. They have applied the name in
tended for one characteristic to another
| THE NAME OF IRELAND sti-
is derived fsom Il e Celtic word lie,
now changed to Ire which means wes
tern, and the Saxon addition of land
Hence ireland. The first part of thi.
word has been spelled different ways
viz, Ira, Tar, Err and also Erie and
Erin. The ancient natives called il
Erin. It was alse called Hibernia
derived from Iberne, which means
means furthest habitaGion, "a nothing
il was then known beyond it In the
Atlantic Ocean. Some derived q tht
term from the Latin word Hlberna
winter, but, undoubtedly, the first il
the most correct signiflcation. A