The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1883-12-15


pletely lost In so-called translation.
This applies to christian names as well
as to surnames, The traveller in either
of the two Gaelic countries cannot fail
to have noticed the great number of
persons whom he comes across bearing
Greek and Latin names. In Scotland
lie encounters at every corner of street
a Hector, an Alexander or an Eneas.
In Ireland he hobnobs with Festus,
Lucius and Cornelius. He will, how
ever, fall into a great mistake if he
allows himself to suppose that these
people were really Intentionally chris
tened out of the examples in the Greek
or Latin Grammar. In truth they
were called after, or intended to be
called after, old Gaelic ancestors who
had possibly as little Latin and proba-
bly, far less Greek, than Shakespeare
himself, but whose Irish names looked
or sounded something like the classical
names, of which accordingly they were,
and are to this day, by thoughtless
people, supposed to be translations.
Occasionally, no doubt, something like
real translation was attempted. The
only instance at all in point which at
present occurs to me is the name long
hereditary in the Mccarthy family,
S@rbrethach, which O'Donovan trans
lates "noble judge,' and which is now
taI hxy If,otiY, tut N a1a
the ear or the eye was the only guide to
the metamerphosis. Thus Conor (Con-
chobhar), was, and is, by the generality
of Irishmen, supposed to be the irish
of Cornelius, and Laoiseac the Irish of
Lucius, and Feidhlim the Irish of
Felix. So in Scotland, Angus
(Aonghus) is invariably translated
-Eneas and Eachan, Hector. Even
Walter Scott, who ought to have
known better, falls into this mistake.
In the "Falr Maid of PERTH" in des-
cribing the famous encounter in which
Harry Cow "fought for his own
hand" he makes the old Highland
foster father exclaim, death TOR Hec-
tor.n Now, "bas" undoubtedly does
mean death, but Eashan has not even
so much connection with Hector as
Monmouth has with Macedon. How
ever this may be, the fact is undoubted
that the vast majority Of the christian
names of foreign origin now borne by
the Irish are supposed by the people
who bear them and use them to be
merely "t the English" Ia term which Of
course includes Greek, Latin and
French) of old Gaelic names which are
invariably substituted for them wher
those people are speaking Irish. II
would be tedious to give list Of these
names. But few may be noticed.
In the reign of Charles III it first
came to be discovered, and has since
been universally believed in Ireland
that Calbhach, Cormac and Cathal are
strange to say. all three of them. tht
undoubted Irish for Charles. From
Tarlough (Toirdhealbach) has beer
naturally derived the now familiar
Terence. Teige (Tadhg) has beer
translated to Timothy. Jeremiah, com
monty shortened to Jerry, and Darby
are both understood to be good Eng
Ilish for Diarmuid. Brian has become
Bernard and Barney. Aodh has fol
centuries al ways been translated Hugh
, as a christian name and when it forms
part of surname is now to be foun6
variously corrupted, as, for example
Magee, Mckay, Hughes, hewson. s.
much for these old Gaelic christian
| names. But the translation of sur
names is a serious affair. When, TO
example, O'Mulligan (O'Maolagain
translates himself to Baldwin (Maol
bald), he lays mighty dangerous tral
for the aftercoming ethnologist, VIII
will be very apt to mistake this shame
faced Gael for bluff saxon. Now
!, this sort of thing has for centuries bee
d going on in Ireland, and is still to a
s almost incredible extent. Sometime
lit is done in perfect good faith, an
Q with no thought of deceit or misrep re
+. sentation. The present writer wa
a lately told by miller in the county G
Kilkenny, where the Irish languag
a d)retty nearly extinct now) was yer
:, Icommonly spoken forty or fifty yeaI
i ago, that he had on one occasion to pa
o and take a receipt from mechani
whom he had known all his life by som
Il Irish name, let us say MacGowan. Til
d man wrote out his receipt but signe
Ibis name Smith. How is this ?
), asked the miller "I thought the
o called you MacGowan ?" $50 they, d.
sir" replied the man," "but al
1t writing English now." So here was
IL perfectly innocent change of name. I'll
IT man had no intention to deceive. Il
II had merely meant to translate his nan
:, from Irish to English, as he had tran
II lated the other words which he en-
3, ployed in writing out the receipt. Th;
g mans descendants probably all go |
le the name of Smith at the present da
It when Irish has died out of the distric
le So in like manner we may reasonab
le infer that the majority of the 9th,
1T English trade names, as we may ca
sr them, now existingin Ireland-the Ca
a. Ipenters, Coopers, Chapmep, etc.-a
ID mere translations from the Gaelic. S
e. too, with the color names-the Black
IN the Browns this name Is, howeye
n sometimes merely corruption of Ma
le Brehon, son of the judge), the White
Or the Greens, etc. remember, indee
ed to have come across a ." Green
Greenan,' or, as it is more common
uttered, Grennan. This appositio
" however, did not wiegh very much wi
It's me, for 1 remembered that Grenna
be the Anglicized form of Grianan, is
iiyy very common name as applied to CT
VI flo in TraIand and has no cOnnacti,