You might want to read G.R. Isaac, “A note on the name of Ireland in Irish and Welsh”, Ériu 59 (2009): 49-55. It supports what Nicolaisen wrote about the river names in his 1993 article.
Hi Bernard, thanks very much for that recommendation. I'm not a historical linguist (as you can tell!) but I think you're saying that Isaac's identification of PIE *h2uer- '(flowing) water' supports Nicolaisen's identification of a Celtic root meaning 'flowing water' underlying the -horn, -earn and -eron of Findhorn, Auldearn and Deveron. I instinctively agree with Nicolaisen that the Findhorn and the Deveron have this common PIE root and are not in any sense named after Ireland. I'm also now not sure I buy Watson's suggestion that there was a 'district' named 'Earn' or 'Eren' around the Findhorn. I think the 'Earn' names all refer to the river itself, apart from Auldearn, which is a completely separate case. I'm personally quite persuaded by Thomas Clancy's argument that it was a castle that was consciously named 'Eren' after Ireland, probably in the twelfth century, as it formed part of a chain of castles that also included Elgin (Elg) and Banff (Banba). Whether they were all named at the same time, I'm unsure. There's a possibility that Elgin got its name earlier, in the eleventh or even late tenth century, when it seems to have become the base of the Gaelic-speaking dynasty of Ruaidri, which eventually produced Macbethad mac Findláech, king of Alba. But that's a lot of speculation on my part! One issue that occurs to me though is that Watson identified Ptolemy's Loxa with the Findhorn (CPNS pp. 48-49), and it can't have been both Eren and Loxa. So perhaps the Loxa was the Lossie after all.
Here is an alternative possible translation of Auldearn based upon the graphemic Pictish Language Research Parts 1-3, specifically; Ogham inscriptions (1), Royal and Ecclesiastical Names (2), Toponyms (3).
Through simple word recognition (Adelman J.S. 2012. Visual Word Recognition Vols. 1&2, London & New York. The Psychology Press) a regular linguistic patterning (Kornai A. (2008) Linguistic pattern recognition. In: Mathematical Linguistics. Advanced Information and Knowledge Processing. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-986-6_8) within the language of the inscriptions is demonstrated to be in accordance with the Five Components of Language, whereby ;
1. The graphemes form
2. Morphemes in a regular
3. Syntax demonstrating
4. Semantic logic creative of
5. Pragmatic contexts relevant to the culture of composition.
All translation is made with referenced to eDil.
The graphemes form morphemes of the Old Irish lexicon but in a partially different syntax that is devoid of any Old Irish morphology. The morpheme to meaning relationship, 1:1, is characteristic of the typology associated with a creole (advanced pidgin) which utilised the Old Irish lexicon as its lexifier. Its use is dated to the 1st. Century A.D. with reference to the toponyms named in De Vita Agricolae.
The linguistic pattern is evidenced subsequently in Pictish personal, royal and ecclesiastical names and in toponyms.
Given this work demonstrates that the Picts employed the Old Irish lexicon in their language, doubt is cast upon the hypothesised Gaelicisation of Scotland post the accession of Kenneth MacAlpin. Based upon a Pictish- Old Irish - Gaelic - Welsh Concordance, I am currently considering a paper, working title; Linguistic Chronology. Pictish Creole Old Irish lexifier or Gaelic? Gaelic may have assumed something of a role as the lingua franca amongst the educated and administrative classes but Pictish Old Irish appears to be present as the ventricular language of eastern Scotland until the 12th. century.
Employing this methodology, the name Auldearn may be understood;
Elements: Auld ear ən
Old Irish aulad see ailad 2 aire 2 án
English penitential station load, burden splendid, glorious
Thus, Glorious Penitential Burden.
Ref: Romans 2:4; Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Acts 17-20 And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.
Whilst this translation of itself may seem incongruous, the translation is in entirely keeping with a large group of Pictish ecclesiastical toponyms. It may be compared with Meigel ('Bleat' ref: Psalms 23 and 100), Bogindollo ('Creation Pillar' ref: Job 9:6, "Who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble." Psalm 75:3 "The earth and all its inhabitants are melting away; I set firm its pillars." Samuel 2:8, "For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s and he had set the world upon them."), Aboyne ('One Lord' ref: Ephesians 4:5-6, John 17:3).
I suggest all the Ab- and Aber- place names are also ecclesiastical (eDil 2 ab see 1 ap Lord (noun) + 2 ér (adj) noble, great, hence ; Great Lord) as these are all followed invariably by morphemes representative of ecclesiastical epithets (Aberbothrie = ab er both rie = ab er bud rí = Lord Great Creation King. Abercrombie = ab erc rom bie = Lord Heaven Preeminent shall be).
Note that Jesus (Great Lord) is associated with water (John 19:34; Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.). Rivers are associated with the bountifulness of god (Bervie, Ythan, Ness (from Neas). It's also likely Christian Picts would not wish to be baptised in a river associated with a pagan God.
A morpheme associated with Penitence is also found in the King Lists. Nechton Mac der ilei translates, Splendid Purity son [of] Daughter [of] (His?) Penitential Stations. The morpheme, ile, is one of many exhibiting a Pictish orthographic characteristic whereby what was heard was what was spoken.
Thus, all -aidh, -aid endings, pronounced as é, are either written as such or as phonetic variations such as /y/ or /ie/. Thus;
ipe ipaid Spell, charm, (Drosten Stone inscription)
ile ilaidh Penitential Staions (Nechton’s mother, Der Ilei)
Aberlady Aber - láided / láidid Great Lord act of celebrating, reciting in a lay, sings of
Abergeldie Aber - geltaid Great Lord grazes, pastures, shepherd, herdsman
(Psalm 23, John 10:1-21)
Aberdalgie Aber- dálaghadh Great Lord assigns, appoints, giving
(John 20:23, John 14:15-31)
Abercattie Aber - cattaid Great Lord dignity, honour, esteem, sanctity.
(John 17:17, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Acts 26:18)
If you would like, I can send my translations of the ecclesiastical toponyms Restenneth, Reswallie and Rescobie to you. They are, so it appears, related to the Augustine monastic concept of the three visions (Ref: Ps.-Hilary, In Epistolas Catholicas, 64 (to Jas. 2:8): quoted from Keskiaho J. (2015) Dreams and Visions in the Early Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press, p. 182.).
I am currently writing up my blog on this research and have recently had it accepted into the Angus Archive.
Thanks John for this comment. I am not sure how many historical linguists would agree with you! Your interpretation of Auldearn seems to suffer from the same defect as Watson's (and my original one!) - that the original name was 'Eren' and the 'Auld' was only added in the fourteenth century. Surely you don't see 'Pictish Old Irish' in productive use that late?
congratulations on being accepted for a PhD. I admire your courage in tackling Nairnshire (which is poorly represented in early sources and scarcely subjected to serious archaeological investigation. And tackling Nairnshire at a distance is quite a challenge! Certainly it is a landscape that needs to be walked over - and over and over again.
On Auldearn: I am not sure I now what is meant by 'Irish' in the twelfth century. What are the nuances and similarities among the Gaelic spoken in Moray at that time and the Gaelic spoken in Ireland at that time? I guess that the book of Deer entries might reveal something of the differences and similarities ... I wonder what the linguists have to say about it. Certainly it would be necessary to understand completely the subtleties of both Moravian and Irish Gaelic before beginning to tackle even a single placename.
I wonder what is the significance of the HERYN form of the name.
Similarly both for the particular understanding of the place-name - and especially for a PhD on Nairnshire it would be necessary to somehow develop a map of the place as it was. It is god to see the former course of the Nairn - and how different that estuary was even a bare couple of centuries ago. At Auldearn, of course we need to map in a Loch Loy that was open to the sea, and probably one reason for the placing of the burgh ( a trading community) at Auldearn.
The placing of the twelfth century burgh at Heryn, can be best understood within wider landscapes and strategies of conquest and lordship, especially under David I.
We need to be careful with the tempting generalization of regarding one place having been apparently important in the past. Of course there are bronze age remains at Kinsteary and also on the edge of the present village. But there is a long time between the high bronze age and the early middle ages - and no particular connection between the two eras and their very different societies.. Having said which, it is probably true that there were people everywhere at all times in history and prehistory. And so a churlish question would be 'so what?
But it is good to have made a start. I look forward to hearing more as the research progresses.
Many thanks John for these comments. I agree on all points - there's definitely a reason that early medieval historians have never tacked Nairnshire (although that name is of course an anachronism for the period); no written sources whatsoever. So it's going to be fully interdisciplinary (or as fully interdisciplinary as the PhD will allow - archaeology is off the table).
And yes, the first task is to map the area as it was through the early Middle Ages. I'm taking a course in GIS to help me to do that, and Alasdair Ross's PhD will be a good initial guide. I'm also taking a course in Old Irish/Early Gaelic, so I can stop embarrassing myself quite so much with my amateur attempts at interpreting place-names! There will certainly be field work in Nairnshire, and it is a landscape that I already know well (one reason for choosing it).
It would be great to discuss the burghs at Auldearn and Nairn with you some time - it's not clear to me to what extent Auldearn had developed into a burgh before it was abandoned, or really the circumstances under which it was abandoned. As I look at the street plan I don't see the classic signs of a burgh layout but I may be missing something.
Good point on the lapse of time between the Bronze Age and the early medieval period - that was more a reminder to myself that history doesn't begin with the arrival of Christianity, and that an early medieval place-name might have displaced an even older one.
You've made my day sending that link - thank you! I'll have to leave it till this evening to read and respond. In the meantime these are the Gaelic references to the river name, from www.ainmean-aite.scot s.n. Findhorn:
English Form: Findhorn
Gaelic Form: Inbhir Èire
Language Notes
Sources
Forms for the settlement
Inbhir Éir Lower Findhorn Diack in CW67
Forms for the river:
At Aviemore I noticed Uisg’ Èir (Findhorn): Diack in letter to Robertson
Abhainn èire (=Findhorn) rises at Clach Sgoilte: Watson CW9
Uisge Éire: Watson in Dwelly
Éire gen. Éireann: Robertson
Invereren is the lower part of the river Findhorn. It was also the name of the old village of Findhorn, at the mouth of the river, which was swept away by the storm of 1701.: Watson 1926, 229 [likely Inveren in error for Invereren]
-----
PM: The key reference here are the forms collected by Francis Diack (1865-1939). Jacob King has been looking in depth at Diack's field notes - I'll ask him if he can add a date or any other detail to these.
Jake has kindly come back with details from Diack's manuscript notes, which he has been working on, and is happy for me to share the gist. Which is that Diack had several oral sources in the early C20 for the Gaelic for Strathdearn (Srath h-Èir'nn [in notes, stra-hèrnn]) and the Findhorn (Uisg(e) Èir); also Inbhir Èir for the low country at the river mouth. Some sources were in Strathspey, others further east; the only actual date given for any is 1920. (A shame that the farm/house Invererne where river enters bay seems to be a late name, or it would help - with Srath (h-)Èireann - to show that Èir is a shortening of Èireann, genitive of Èirinn, the suggested district name. Or is Invererne recorded as the name of the estate or area there before being applied to the building, do you know?)
PS I wonder where Watson got his information that Inbhir Èir(ann) also applied to Old Findhorn - or was this an assumption on his part?
Thanks Peadar, that's really interesting and opens a bit of a can of worms! Invererne was not historically the name of that estate; it was always 'Tannachy' (as it is on Pont). Pont also has 'Straherinn' for Strathdearn and 'Inner'inn' for what I think is now Invereen near Ruthven. I don't know if that's a reference to the river, though, as technically the 'Inver' should prefix the name of the smaller water course. But there is the fort of Dunearn near Dulsie Bridge, which surely attests to a Gaelic Èireann? Watson's thoughts seem confused, as he seems to attribute 'Eren' both to the lost village of Findhorn and to Auldearn. I don't know where he got the idea that the old village of Findhorn was called Invereren. On Pont it's called 'Findorn' and as far as I'm aware the only references to an 'Invereren' in the charters are to a 'terra' and a 'prepositura' which both refer to agricultural land, not a settlement. But having looked at Watson's argument again I think there are still some things to untangle here.
A can of worms indeed; so much so that I reckon Frank Herbet got his inspiration for Dune from Culbin. But if Invereren is in the charters (possibly in the vicinity of the present name, not Findhorn) then perhaps it is more than antiquarianism. Which would be good for the present proposition :) Old Findhorn by the way I take as being the Seytoun de Kinlos 1532, as does Canmore I think; and An Atlas of Scottish History (1975) is in error by placing it a mile NW of Kinloss (recte "of Findhorn"?). Inner'inn doesn't support a clipping of Èireann, I would say, but as you suggest it is probably containing something else, presumably an earlier name for the Funtack Burn. We can't really bring Dùn Èireann ~ Dunearn into play, as the issue is really whether the recorded Uisge Èir hides an earlier hydronym or also had the district name. (Hopefully not something entirely different!)
... over how this relates to the Gaelic for the Findhorn River. It is known and was recorded from oral sources as Èir', presumed for Èire - with Èirinn/Èireann as the derived form. Cf. Scots Gaelic Èirinn, but Irish Èire as the national name. Which wouldn't fit with what you and Thomas are suggesting. (Does Thomas mention this in his paper? I'm ashamed to say I don't have access to it.) But maybe then the clipping is from Èirinn/Èireann, not Èire. And this explains Eren as a simplex - it is a later, Scottish form of Èire, rather than a genetive looking for a lost generic. Fascinating, and of implications too for an ongoing discussion on the Gaelic form of Findhorn the settlement (part of my cosmos).
Hi Peadar, thanks very much for these thoughts. Hopefully you can download Thomas's paper here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I3Q-zuL0pHUtrtiXYAgNzapDRgPtrzVU/view?usp=sharing. He does look at the river name, alongside the Deveron and Perthshire Earn. As I understand it, his thinking is that all three shared the same early Celtic hydronym, and this name was re-analysed by medieval scholars as containing the name Èire, which in turn inspired all the Irish mythological names around them. That is interesting about recent (?) Gaelic-speakers calling the river Èir. Does the 'aqua de Eren' that appears in two c. 1187 charters of Kinloss Abbey support your proposal, i.e. is this a Latinisation of the Scots name rather than the Gaelic name?
If I've picked up Thomas's thoughts correctly in a late night single read, we're talking of a hydronym being scholastically (and politically) reinterpreted and applied as a regional 'Ireland' name, with the hydronym then going with the flow (so to speak). It seems highly unlikely that the earliest form could have survived in speech through these changes, so I'm happy to stick with last night's proposal that modern era Èir is not a shortening of Èire as previously presumed (not least by me), but rather - despite the strong <nn> - a later shortening of Èirinn, or rather the genitive Èireann. Findhorn itself, like Eren/Eryn apparently, doesn't appear in a genitival example that I can think of to otherwise explain the terminal <n>. And so (I'm convincing myself) the river is properly Uisge Èireann from the district name and thè settlement can be said to inherit the form Fionn-Èirinn.
Congratulations on getting accepted for the PhD, Fiona. And as a lifelong supporter of Nairn County FC I can but congratulate you on the excellent topic choice. Since reading this last night I've been pondering
So good to see an update to your studying journey - I had been wondering! I can't believe you've already finished the MA - it seems only last month that you started. But the PhD is very exciting! I am very jealous! And as for this actual post, as ever I found it very interesting, even though I don't know enough background to contribute anything beyond my usual "ooh, Findhorn!"
Many thanks Jocelyn - yes it has been a bit of a whirlwind, and I'm essentially starting the PhD before the MA is quite finished (as I haven't had my grade yet). Rest assured there will be plenty more Findhorn :)
A really fascinating discussion. I wondered if you were aware of the placename Erinffald which appears on Timothy Pont's map of 1583–1614. It is located near the mouth of the Findhorn River on the Culbin Sands, now forest. Presumably one of several settlements inundated by the sand blow of c 1700. The map can be found at: https://maps.nls.uk/view/00002297. By the way, I am an archaeologist based at Findhorn.
Hi Michael, thanks for commenting! I do know that name (and map) - surely another 'Earn/Eren' name along the Findhorn, like Earnhill, Cullerne, Dunearn, etc. Interestingly the map on p. 195 here has it as 'Aittenfold', and shows it in 1680 on the carse land along the old course of the river: https://www.ssns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/10_Ross_Moray_1993_pp_187-204.pdf
Seemingly place name spelling was a moveable feast back then. The mapmakers often seemed to borrow detail fom each other for their maps, and I suspect the variation in spelling, at least some of the time, arose from trying to read bad handwriting by candle light.
A very thought-provoking blog Fiona - and let's hope your PhD work turns up more of the same!
That’s interesting finding ‘Eren’ as the name of a Norman castle perhaps. But, my concern would be that this doesn’t mean that all the other names across this inner Moray coast are of the same period. In fact, I’d really doubt it. It’s more likely that the Normans either mashed an original name, or just gave their castle what they thought was an important name locally.
I’ve gone round and round in my head about these ‘Irish’ names in the region, but so far without hitting on a solid solution. First, if later people were trying to ‘Irishify’ the region, or if early Irish were (re-)naming places for their own goddesses, then they wouldn’t just use Eriu and Banba without the third Fodla. It just wouldn’t happen. All over the Celtic lands the mother/land goddess comes in a triplicate. As for Ealga, without modern encyclopedias and wikipedias I would seriously doubt how many people would even know of her ‘Irish’ existence, the name is so rare and peculiar. Then we also have Ness, the loch and river attested at least by Adomnan, who is the mother of the Ulster king Conchubar, Caren (IIRR) who is the mother of Niall of the Hostages, and Boand>Boann who is attested on the continent, then men, Taranis, Brendan, Brannan, Nectan – and that’s just off the top of my head, there’s probably as many again. Even the river Nairn is suspicious, modern Narann, although WP says it may originally be *Naverna, but Nar is a name I’ve seen at least twice in Irish texts. The main problem here is that these are Celtic deities/heroes/ancestors, most of them are pan-Celtic, so it may not be that this region is being renamed at all, it’s just that the names here have stuck. And there are plenty of other instances all over Pictland with so-called ‘Irish’ deity names too, the prevalence of which suggest pan-Celtic names rather than ‘Irish’.
Alternatively, it could betray a significant western immigration pattern followed by renaming. But then the question is ‘when’? (No.1 Pictish mantra – Its all about the dating!). For me, I suspect that this happened during the later Roman period, because the archaeology tends to show this region as different from the rest of Pictland, and that may be the case right up until the 700s (and yes I do include Burghead here). The region shows a coastal strip without any CI stones that I can happily date to after 200 AD. And the CI (ie pagan) stones sit in an outer ring around this void Moray coastal region, void until it gets quite late CII stones. From 200 – 700 AD is half a millenium – a looong time for lots of things to happen. This whole period is such a ‘dark age’.
Thanks Helen for these thoughts. We took the discussion to Facebook in the end! But there is one thing I'd pick up on here - the "it’s more likely that the Normans either mashed an original name, or just gave their castle what they thought was an important name locally." We can't really think of the Canmore kings of Scots as Normans, even though they were influenced by Norman culture and moved in the same circles. They were Gaelic-speaking kings with learned, Gaelic-speaking entourages. Renaming places is entirely consistent with colonial strategy - displace the locals, their culture and place-names, and stamp your own authority on the place. If I'd thought to do it in this blog, I would have compared Banff, Elgin and Eren with Fort George, Fort William and Fort Augustus - places that were similarly set up in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to exert control over the local Highlanders. I think the best argument against Banff, Elgin and Eren all being named in this way is that the other twelfth-century burghs - Cullen, Forres and Inverness - didn't get 'Ireland' names.
Many thanks Alastair - I'm hoping one day to write a book on early medieval Moray, as the lack of written sources means nobody has really had a go at it. I think it's possible to produce something by drawing all of the evidence (archaeology, sculpture, place-names, landscape, inscriptions, texts and material culture) together and examining it as a whole. But that will be after the PhD!
I’ve never bought the Watson/Skene early Gaelicisation of the Findhorn valley. And there’s been a number of card houses built on those foundations. A new, better explanation is long due. I look forward to it!
I think your instincts are right. My MA diss (which wasn't on Sueno's Stone in the end) tentatively proposed that lowland Moray between the Hardmuir and the Spey remained Pictish in elite self-identity, and possibly language, for longer than is generally thought. Maybe into the tenth century. I'll definitely be looking into it more for the PhD.
Congratulations on finishing your MA, a huge accomplishment in itself, and being accepted into the PhD program! Holy cow, I'm in awe. Way to go, Fiona! 🎉🥳🎊
For what it's worth I have a suspicion (yet to be properly researched and backed up with sources) that Boath may have been the "New Eren". There doesn't appear to have been anything "new" built on the motte but the name Auldearn continues to appear in charters. As a relatively significant place I'd expect there to have been a seat of some sorts, but moved away from the motte (as was common on other properties). Boath is marked as a castle on Pont which makes me think that it may have been the new seat, the New Eren, but later split off and renamed.
Nicholas Bogdan believed Vlerin / Ulerin was the same place as Auldearn, which might make more sense etymologically (Ul / Aul Eren), however both Aldhen' and Vlerin appear in a charter of 1238 suggesting that they're different places. There's a reference in Archie Duncan's Scotland: the Making of the Kingdom on p190 of the paperback version which states that Vlerin was in the bailiwick of Forres rather than Nairn in 1238, but I haven't looked into this either yet.
Thanks very much for this, Andy. Yes, Auldearn definitely continues - it was a large parish throughout the Middle Ages and its church had quite a cachet as it was the seat of the deacon of the cathedral of Moray, with the chapel of Nairn dependent on it. For whatever reason, Auldearn didn't take off as a trading burgh, though. The street layout doesn't look like the other burghs (Inverness, Nairn, Forres, Elgin) and I wonder if it ever really got off the ground.
I agree, Boath could have become the site of a new lord's residence, and thus plausibly the 'new Eren' if the 'old Eren' referred simply to the castle and not the settlement. I do think Boath is an older name, though, referring to the church (which surely has seventh or eighth-century origins, if not older). But there are other candidates around - the thanage of Moyness was in Auldearn parish and may have been the local seat of lordship in the central Middle Ages.
Re. Ulern/Vlerin, charter #5 in the Records of the Monastery of Kinloss shows without a doubt that 'Ulern' was adjacent to Burgie and is therefore Blervie not Auldearn. Duncan was referring to charter #40 in the Moray Registrum, which indeed lists 'Vlerin' in the bailiwick of Forres, so Ulern and Vlerin are surely the same place (i.e. Blervie) and Auldearn is a red herring.
You might want to read G.R. Isaac, “A note on the name of Ireland in Irish and Welsh”, Ériu 59 (2009): 49-55. It supports what Nicolaisen wrote about the river names in his 1993 article.
Hi Bernard, thanks very much for that recommendation. I'm not a historical linguist (as you can tell!) but I think you're saying that Isaac's identification of PIE *h2uer- '(flowing) water' supports Nicolaisen's identification of a Celtic root meaning 'flowing water' underlying the -horn, -earn and -eron of Findhorn, Auldearn and Deveron. I instinctively agree with Nicolaisen that the Findhorn and the Deveron have this common PIE root and are not in any sense named after Ireland. I'm also now not sure I buy Watson's suggestion that there was a 'district' named 'Earn' or 'Eren' around the Findhorn. I think the 'Earn' names all refer to the river itself, apart from Auldearn, which is a completely separate case. I'm personally quite persuaded by Thomas Clancy's argument that it was a castle that was consciously named 'Eren' after Ireland, probably in the twelfth century, as it formed part of a chain of castles that also included Elgin (Elg) and Banff (Banba). Whether they were all named at the same time, I'm unsure. There's a possibility that Elgin got its name earlier, in the eleventh or even late tenth century, when it seems to have become the base of the Gaelic-speaking dynasty of Ruaidri, which eventually produced Macbethad mac Findláech, king of Alba. But that's a lot of speculation on my part! One issue that occurs to me though is that Watson identified Ptolemy's Loxa with the Findhorn (CPNS pp. 48-49), and it can't have been both Eren and Loxa. So perhaps the Loxa was the Lossie after all.
How old is Scottish Gaelic Èirinn? (as opposed to Middle Irish Ériu?)
Oof, I don't know. I've got no knowledge (yet) of when and how Irish and Scottish Gaelic diverged.
Dear Fiona,
Here is an alternative possible translation of Auldearn based upon the graphemic Pictish Language Research Parts 1-3, specifically; Ogham inscriptions (1), Royal and Ecclesiastical Names (2), Toponyms (3).
Through simple word recognition (Adelman J.S. 2012. Visual Word Recognition Vols. 1&2, London & New York. The Psychology Press) a regular linguistic patterning (Kornai A. (2008) Linguistic pattern recognition. In: Mathematical Linguistics. Advanced Information and Knowledge Processing. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-986-6_8) within the language of the inscriptions is demonstrated to be in accordance with the Five Components of Language, whereby ;
1. The graphemes form
2. Morphemes in a regular
3. Syntax demonstrating
4. Semantic logic creative of
5. Pragmatic contexts relevant to the culture of composition.
All translation is made with referenced to eDil.
The graphemes form morphemes of the Old Irish lexicon but in a partially different syntax that is devoid of any Old Irish morphology. The morpheme to meaning relationship, 1:1, is characteristic of the typology associated with a creole (advanced pidgin) which utilised the Old Irish lexicon as its lexifier. Its use is dated to the 1st. Century A.D. with reference to the toponyms named in De Vita Agricolae.
The linguistic pattern is evidenced subsequently in Pictish personal, royal and ecclesiastical names and in toponyms.
Given this work demonstrates that the Picts employed the Old Irish lexicon in their language, doubt is cast upon the hypothesised Gaelicisation of Scotland post the accession of Kenneth MacAlpin. Based upon a Pictish- Old Irish - Gaelic - Welsh Concordance, I am currently considering a paper, working title; Linguistic Chronology. Pictish Creole Old Irish lexifier or Gaelic? Gaelic may have assumed something of a role as the lingua franca amongst the educated and administrative classes but Pictish Old Irish appears to be present as the ventricular language of eastern Scotland until the 12th. century.
Employing this methodology, the name Auldearn may be understood;
Elements: Auld ear ən
Old Irish aulad see ailad 2 aire 2 án
English penitential station load, burden splendid, glorious
Thus, Glorious Penitential Burden.
Ref: Romans 2:4; Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Acts 17-20 And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.
Whilst this translation of itself may seem incongruous, the translation is in entirely keeping with a large group of Pictish ecclesiastical toponyms. It may be compared with Meigel ('Bleat' ref: Psalms 23 and 100), Bogindollo ('Creation Pillar' ref: Job 9:6, "Who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble." Psalm 75:3 "The earth and all its inhabitants are melting away; I set firm its pillars." Samuel 2:8, "For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s and he had set the world upon them."), Aboyne ('One Lord' ref: Ephesians 4:5-6, John 17:3).
I suggest all the Ab- and Aber- place names are also ecclesiastical (eDil 2 ab see 1 ap Lord (noun) + 2 ér (adj) noble, great, hence ; Great Lord) as these are all followed invariably by morphemes representative of ecclesiastical epithets (Aberbothrie = ab er both rie = ab er bud rí = Lord Great Creation King. Abercrombie = ab erc rom bie = Lord Heaven Preeminent shall be).
Note that Jesus (Great Lord) is associated with water (John 19:34; Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.). Rivers are associated with the bountifulness of god (Bervie, Ythan, Ness (from Neas). It's also likely Christian Picts would not wish to be baptised in a river associated with a pagan God.
A morpheme associated with Penitence is also found in the King Lists. Nechton Mac der ilei translates, Splendid Purity son [of] Daughter [of] (His?) Penitential Stations. The morpheme, ile, is one of many exhibiting a Pictish orthographic characteristic whereby what was heard was what was spoken.
Thus, all -aidh, -aid endings, pronounced as é, are either written as such or as phonetic variations such as /y/ or /ie/. Thus;
ipe ipaid Spell, charm, (Drosten Stone inscription)
ile ilaidh Penitential Staions (Nechton’s mother, Der Ilei)
Aberlady Aber - láided / láidid Great Lord act of celebrating, reciting in a lay, sings of
(Psalm 104:33. Psalm 90:2, Psalm 150. Ephesians 5:18-20)
Abergeldie Aber - geltaid Great Lord grazes, pastures, shepherd, herdsman
(Psalm 23, John 10:1-21)
Aberdalgie Aber- dálaghadh Great Lord assigns, appoints, giving
(John 20:23, John 14:15-31)
Abercattie Aber - cattaid Great Lord dignity, honour, esteem, sanctity.
(John 17:17, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Acts 26:18)
If you would like, I can send my translations of the ecclesiastical toponyms Restenneth, Reswallie and Rescobie to you. They are, so it appears, related to the Augustine monastic concept of the three visions (Ref: Ps.-Hilary, In Epistolas Catholicas, 64 (to Jas. 2:8): quoted from Keskiaho J. (2015) Dreams and Visions in the Early Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press, p. 182.).
I am currently writing up my blog on this research and have recently had it accepted into the Angus Archive.
Best wishes,
John Bruce
Thanks John for this comment. I am not sure how many historical linguists would agree with you! Your interpretation of Auldearn seems to suffer from the same defect as Watson's (and my original one!) - that the original name was 'Eren' and the 'Auld' was only added in the fourteenth century. Surely you don't see 'Pictish Old Irish' in productive use that late?
congratulations on being accepted for a PhD. I admire your courage in tackling Nairnshire (which is poorly represented in early sources and scarcely subjected to serious archaeological investigation. And tackling Nairnshire at a distance is quite a challenge! Certainly it is a landscape that needs to be walked over - and over and over again.
On Auldearn: I am not sure I now what is meant by 'Irish' in the twelfth century. What are the nuances and similarities among the Gaelic spoken in Moray at that time and the Gaelic spoken in Ireland at that time? I guess that the book of Deer entries might reveal something of the differences and similarities ... I wonder what the linguists have to say about it. Certainly it would be necessary to understand completely the subtleties of both Moravian and Irish Gaelic before beginning to tackle even a single placename.
I wonder what is the significance of the HERYN form of the name.
Similarly both for the particular understanding of the place-name - and especially for a PhD on Nairnshire it would be necessary to somehow develop a map of the place as it was. It is god to see the former course of the Nairn - and how different that estuary was even a bare couple of centuries ago. At Auldearn, of course we need to map in a Loch Loy that was open to the sea, and probably one reason for the placing of the burgh ( a trading community) at Auldearn.
The placing of the twelfth century burgh at Heryn, can be best understood within wider landscapes and strategies of conquest and lordship, especially under David I.
We need to be careful with the tempting generalization of regarding one place having been apparently important in the past. Of course there are bronze age remains at Kinsteary and also on the edge of the present village. But there is a long time between the high bronze age and the early middle ages - and no particular connection between the two eras and their very different societies.. Having said which, it is probably true that there were people everywhere at all times in history and prehistory. And so a churlish question would be 'so what?
But it is good to have made a start. I look forward to hearing more as the research progresses.
Many thanks John for these comments. I agree on all points - there's definitely a reason that early medieval historians have never tacked Nairnshire (although that name is of course an anachronism for the period); no written sources whatsoever. So it's going to be fully interdisciplinary (or as fully interdisciplinary as the PhD will allow - archaeology is off the table).
And yes, the first task is to map the area as it was through the early Middle Ages. I'm taking a course in GIS to help me to do that, and Alasdair Ross's PhD will be a good initial guide. I'm also taking a course in Old Irish/Early Gaelic, so I can stop embarrassing myself quite so much with my amateur attempts at interpreting place-names! There will certainly be field work in Nairnshire, and it is a landscape that I already know well (one reason for choosing it).
It would be great to discuss the burghs at Auldearn and Nairn with you some time - it's not clear to me to what extent Auldearn had developed into a burgh before it was abandoned, or really the circumstances under which it was abandoned. As I look at the street plan I don't see the classic signs of a burgh layout but I may be missing something.
Good point on the lapse of time between the Bronze Age and the early medieval period - that was more a reminder to myself that history doesn't begin with the arrival of Christianity, and that an early medieval place-name might have displaced an even older one.
You've made my day sending that link - thank you! I'll have to leave it till this evening to read and respond. In the meantime these are the Gaelic references to the river name, from www.ainmean-aite.scot s.n. Findhorn:
English Form: Findhorn
Gaelic Form: Inbhir Èire
Language Notes
Sources
Forms for the settlement
Inbhir Éir Lower Findhorn Diack in CW67
Forms for the river:
At Aviemore I noticed Uisg’ Èir (Findhorn): Diack in letter to Robertson
Abhainn èire (=Findhorn) rises at Clach Sgoilte: Watson CW9
Uisge Éire: Watson in Dwelly
Éire gen. Éireann: Robertson
Invereren is the lower part of the river Findhorn. It was also the name of the old village of Findhorn, at the mouth of the river, which was swept away by the storm of 1701.: Watson 1926, 229 [likely Inveren in error for Invereren]
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PM: The key reference here are the forms collected by Francis Diack (1865-1939). Jacob King has been looking in depth at Diack's field notes - I'll ask him if he can add a date or any other detail to these.
Jake has kindly come back with details from Diack's manuscript notes, which he has been working on, and is happy for me to share the gist. Which is that Diack had several oral sources in the early C20 for the Gaelic for Strathdearn (Srath h-Èir'nn [in notes, stra-hèrnn]) and the Findhorn (Uisg(e) Èir); also Inbhir Èir for the low country at the river mouth. Some sources were in Strathspey, others further east; the only actual date given for any is 1920. (A shame that the farm/house Invererne where river enters bay seems to be a late name, or it would help - with Srath (h-)Èireann - to show that Èir is a shortening of Èireann, genitive of Èirinn, the suggested district name. Or is Invererne recorded as the name of the estate or area there before being applied to the building, do you know?)
PS I wonder where Watson got his information that Inbhir Èir(ann) also applied to Old Findhorn - or was this an assumption on his part?
Thanks Peadar, that's really interesting and opens a bit of a can of worms! Invererne was not historically the name of that estate; it was always 'Tannachy' (as it is on Pont). Pont also has 'Straherinn' for Strathdearn and 'Inner'inn' for what I think is now Invereen near Ruthven. I don't know if that's a reference to the river, though, as technically the 'Inver' should prefix the name of the smaller water course. But there is the fort of Dunearn near Dulsie Bridge, which surely attests to a Gaelic Èireann? Watson's thoughts seem confused, as he seems to attribute 'Eren' both to the lost village of Findhorn and to Auldearn. I don't know where he got the idea that the old village of Findhorn was called Invereren. On Pont it's called 'Findorn' and as far as I'm aware the only references to an 'Invereren' in the charters are to a 'terra' and a 'prepositura' which both refer to agricultural land, not a settlement. But having looked at Watson's argument again I think there are still some things to untangle here.
A can of worms indeed; so much so that I reckon Frank Herbet got his inspiration for Dune from Culbin. But if Invereren is in the charters (possibly in the vicinity of the present name, not Findhorn) then perhaps it is more than antiquarianism. Which would be good for the present proposition :) Old Findhorn by the way I take as being the Seytoun de Kinlos 1532, as does Canmore I think; and An Atlas of Scottish History (1975) is in error by placing it a mile NW of Kinloss (recte "of Findhorn"?). Inner'inn doesn't support a clipping of Èireann, I would say, but as you suggest it is probably containing something else, presumably an earlier name for the Funtack Burn. We can't really bring Dùn Èireann ~ Dunearn into play, as the issue is really whether the recorded Uisge Èir hides an earlier hydronym or also had the district name. (Hopefully not something entirely different!)
... over how this relates to the Gaelic for the Findhorn River. It is known and was recorded from oral sources as Èir', presumed for Èire - with Èirinn/Èireann as the derived form. Cf. Scots Gaelic Èirinn, but Irish Èire as the national name. Which wouldn't fit with what you and Thomas are suggesting. (Does Thomas mention this in his paper? I'm ashamed to say I don't have access to it.) But maybe then the clipping is from Èirinn/Èireann, not Èire. And this explains Eren as a simplex - it is a later, Scottish form of Èire, rather than a genetive looking for a lost generic. Fascinating, and of implications too for an ongoing discussion on the Gaelic form of Findhorn the settlement (part of my cosmos).
Hi Peadar, thanks very much for these thoughts. Hopefully you can download Thomas's paper here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I3Q-zuL0pHUtrtiXYAgNzapDRgPtrzVU/view?usp=sharing. He does look at the river name, alongside the Deveron and Perthshire Earn. As I understand it, his thinking is that all three shared the same early Celtic hydronym, and this name was re-analysed by medieval scholars as containing the name Èire, which in turn inspired all the Irish mythological names around them. That is interesting about recent (?) Gaelic-speakers calling the river Èir. Does the 'aqua de Eren' that appears in two c. 1187 charters of Kinloss Abbey support your proposal, i.e. is this a Latinisation of the Scots name rather than the Gaelic name?
If I've picked up Thomas's thoughts correctly in a late night single read, we're talking of a hydronym being scholastically (and politically) reinterpreted and applied as a regional 'Ireland' name, with the hydronym then going with the flow (so to speak). It seems highly unlikely that the earliest form could have survived in speech through these changes, so I'm happy to stick with last night's proposal that modern era Èir is not a shortening of Èire as previously presumed (not least by me), but rather - despite the strong <nn> - a later shortening of Èirinn, or rather the genitive Èireann. Findhorn itself, like Eren/Eryn apparently, doesn't appear in a genitival example that I can think of to otherwise explain the terminal <n>. And so (I'm convincing myself) the river is properly Uisge Èireann from the district name and thè settlement can be said to inherit the form Fionn-Èirinn.
Congratulations on getting accepted for the PhD, Fiona. And as a lifelong supporter of Nairn County FC I can but congratulate you on the excellent topic choice. Since reading this last night I've been pondering
So good to see an update to your studying journey - I had been wondering! I can't believe you've already finished the MA - it seems only last month that you started. But the PhD is very exciting! I am very jealous! And as for this actual post, as ever I found it very interesting, even though I don't know enough background to contribute anything beyond my usual "ooh, Findhorn!"
Many thanks Jocelyn - yes it has been a bit of a whirlwind, and I'm essentially starting the PhD before the MA is quite finished (as I haven't had my grade yet). Rest assured there will be plenty more Findhorn :)
A really fascinating discussion. I wondered if you were aware of the placename Erinffald which appears on Timothy Pont's map of 1583–1614. It is located near the mouth of the Findhorn River on the Culbin Sands, now forest. Presumably one of several settlements inundated by the sand blow of c 1700. The map can be found at: https://maps.nls.uk/view/00002297. By the way, I am an archaeologist based at Findhorn.
Hi Michael, thanks for commenting! I do know that name (and map) - surely another 'Earn/Eren' name along the Findhorn, like Earnhill, Cullerne, Dunearn, etc. Interestingly the map on p. 195 here has it as 'Aittenfold', and shows it in 1680 on the carse land along the old course of the river: https://www.ssns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/10_Ross_Moray_1993_pp_187-204.pdf
Seemingly place name spelling was a moveable feast back then. The mapmakers often seemed to borrow detail fom each other for their maps, and I suspect the variation in spelling, at least some of the time, arose from trying to read bad handwriting by candle light.
A very thought-provoking blog Fiona - and let's hope your PhD work turns up more of the same!
That’s interesting finding ‘Eren’ as the name of a Norman castle perhaps. But, my concern would be that this doesn’t mean that all the other names across this inner Moray coast are of the same period. In fact, I’d really doubt it. It’s more likely that the Normans either mashed an original name, or just gave their castle what they thought was an important name locally.
I’ve gone round and round in my head about these ‘Irish’ names in the region, but so far without hitting on a solid solution. First, if later people were trying to ‘Irishify’ the region, or if early Irish were (re-)naming places for their own goddesses, then they wouldn’t just use Eriu and Banba without the third Fodla. It just wouldn’t happen. All over the Celtic lands the mother/land goddess comes in a triplicate. As for Ealga, without modern encyclopedias and wikipedias I would seriously doubt how many people would even know of her ‘Irish’ existence, the name is so rare and peculiar. Then we also have Ness, the loch and river attested at least by Adomnan, who is the mother of the Ulster king Conchubar, Caren (IIRR) who is the mother of Niall of the Hostages, and Boand>Boann who is attested on the continent, then men, Taranis, Brendan, Brannan, Nectan – and that’s just off the top of my head, there’s probably as many again. Even the river Nairn is suspicious, modern Narann, although WP says it may originally be *Naverna, but Nar is a name I’ve seen at least twice in Irish texts. The main problem here is that these are Celtic deities/heroes/ancestors, most of them are pan-Celtic, so it may not be that this region is being renamed at all, it’s just that the names here have stuck. And there are plenty of other instances all over Pictland with so-called ‘Irish’ deity names too, the prevalence of which suggest pan-Celtic names rather than ‘Irish’.
Alternatively, it could betray a significant western immigration pattern followed by renaming. But then the question is ‘when’? (No.1 Pictish mantra – Its all about the dating!). For me, I suspect that this happened during the later Roman period, because the archaeology tends to show this region as different from the rest of Pictland, and that may be the case right up until the 700s (and yes I do include Burghead here). The region shows a coastal strip without any CI stones that I can happily date to after 200 AD. And the CI (ie pagan) stones sit in an outer ring around this void Moray coastal region, void until it gets quite late CII stones. From 200 – 700 AD is half a millenium – a looong time for lots of things to happen. This whole period is such a ‘dark age’.
Thanks Helen for these thoughts. We took the discussion to Facebook in the end! But there is one thing I'd pick up on here - the "it’s more likely that the Normans either mashed an original name, or just gave their castle what they thought was an important name locally." We can't really think of the Canmore kings of Scots as Normans, even though they were influenced by Norman culture and moved in the same circles. They were Gaelic-speaking kings with learned, Gaelic-speaking entourages. Renaming places is entirely consistent with colonial strategy - displace the locals, their culture and place-names, and stamp your own authority on the place. If I'd thought to do it in this blog, I would have compared Banff, Elgin and Eren with Fort George, Fort William and Fort Augustus - places that were similarly set up in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to exert control over the local Highlanders. I think the best argument against Banff, Elgin and Eren all being named in this way is that the other twelfth-century burghs - Cullen, Forres and Inverness - didn't get 'Ireland' names.
Congrats on the PhD. Well deserved as you are already adding valuable scholarship to your period and to Moray 👏👏👏
Many thanks Alastair - I'm hoping one day to write a book on early medieval Moray, as the lack of written sources means nobody has really had a go at it. I think it's possible to produce something by drawing all of the evidence (archaeology, sculpture, place-names, landscape, inscriptions, texts and material culture) together and examining it as a whole. But that will be after the PhD!
I’ve never bought the Watson/Skene early Gaelicisation of the Findhorn valley. And there’s been a number of card houses built on those foundations. A new, better explanation is long due. I look forward to it!
I think your instincts are right. My MA diss (which wasn't on Sueno's Stone in the end) tentatively proposed that lowland Moray between the Hardmuir and the Spey remained Pictish in elite self-identity, and possibly language, for longer than is generally thought. Maybe into the tenth century. I'll definitely be looking into it more for the PhD.
Congratulations on finishing your MA, a huge accomplishment in itself, and being accepted into the PhD program! Holy cow, I'm in awe. Way to go, Fiona! 🎉🥳🎊
Awwww, thanks Rebecca! I'm absolutely over the moon, as you might imagine!
Fascinating as ever Fiona - and congratulations on the PhD acceptance!
Many thanks Anton, and thanks for reading my ramblings!
For what it's worth I have a suspicion (yet to be properly researched and backed up with sources) that Boath may have been the "New Eren". There doesn't appear to have been anything "new" built on the motte but the name Auldearn continues to appear in charters. As a relatively significant place I'd expect there to have been a seat of some sorts, but moved away from the motte (as was common on other properties). Boath is marked as a castle on Pont which makes me think that it may have been the new seat, the New Eren, but later split off and renamed.
Nicholas Bogdan believed Vlerin / Ulerin was the same place as Auldearn, which might make more sense etymologically (Ul / Aul Eren), however both Aldhen' and Vlerin appear in a charter of 1238 suggesting that they're different places. There's a reference in Archie Duncan's Scotland: the Making of the Kingdom on p190 of the paperback version which states that Vlerin was in the bailiwick of Forres rather than Nairn in 1238, but I haven't looked into this either yet.
Thanks very much for this, Andy. Yes, Auldearn definitely continues - it was a large parish throughout the Middle Ages and its church had quite a cachet as it was the seat of the deacon of the cathedral of Moray, with the chapel of Nairn dependent on it. For whatever reason, Auldearn didn't take off as a trading burgh, though. The street layout doesn't look like the other burghs (Inverness, Nairn, Forres, Elgin) and I wonder if it ever really got off the ground.
I agree, Boath could have become the site of a new lord's residence, and thus plausibly the 'new Eren' if the 'old Eren' referred simply to the castle and not the settlement. I do think Boath is an older name, though, referring to the church (which surely has seventh or eighth-century origins, if not older). But there are other candidates around - the thanage of Moyness was in Auldearn parish and may have been the local seat of lordship in the central Middle Ages.
Re. Ulern/Vlerin, charter #5 in the Records of the Monastery of Kinloss shows without a doubt that 'Ulern' was adjacent to Burgie and is therefore Blervie not Auldearn. Duncan was referring to charter #40 in the Moray Registrum, which indeed lists 'Vlerin' in the bailiwick of Forres, so Ulern and Vlerin are surely the same place (i.e. Blervie) and Auldearn is a red herring.