ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1635 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1635 ************************************ From: 24 Apr 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked us about as a formal name and for an informal name of an early 16th century Scottish woman. You also wanted to find a translation for 'apprentice of' or 'servant of' to indicate occupation. Starting in the late 14th century, there were two main languages spoken in Scotland: Gaelic, spoken in the Highlands, and Scots, spoken in the Lowlands, including the royal court and towns. Gaelic is the same language spoken in Ireland at this time; Scots is closely related to contemporary English. Names were formed quite differently in the two languages, and the two styles of naming did not mix. Therefore, the culture you choose will determine how your name should be constructed. We know that was in use in your period; it is recorded in Scots documents as or in 1540 [1]. The name is a Scots spelling of the Gaelic masculine given name , which is pronounced \GILL-yeh EE-sa\ [2]. This name is recorded in various spellings in Scots documents [1]: Gilise 1160 Gylis 1264 Gelyse 1376 Gylleis 1492 Gelis 1526, 1576 Gilleis 1538, 1596 A 16th century Gaelic name is possible, where the '/' represents an accent over the preceeding letter. In your period, this would have been pronounced \SHEE-@k NEE-y@n YILL-yEE-s@\. The Scots form would be ; we have provided this form since most formal documents were written in Scots, rather than Gaelic. You also asked us about , which we interpret as "Sitheag from Black Corrie", where a is a circular hollow or dell surrounded by hills [3]. A place named "Black Corrie" would be in Gaelic, rather than [4]. However, it is very unlikely that such a place name would be used as part of a person's name. Such constructions, called "locatives" are common in English and many other European languages, but are exceedingly rare in Gaelic. The standard Gaelic byname is one that identifies the person's father, so meaning "Sitheag, daughter of Gille Iosa" is the most likely name for a 16th century Gaelic Scotswoman. We're not sure how to indicate apprenticeship for an occupation. We did find the term , or "maidservant", but only as a word. If you need this information for a specific purpose or use, it would help our research to know more about your needs. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Brian M. Scott and Sara L. Friedemann contributed much to this letter. In service, --Brian R. Speer Academy of S. Gabriel [1] George F. Black, _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_ (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986) s.nn. Mackail, Sitheag [2] Symon Freser of Lovat, _13th & 14th Century Scottish Names_ (WWW: J. Mittleman) http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/symonFreser/scottish14/ [3] Edward Dwelly, _The Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary_ (Glasgow: Gairm Publications, 1988) s.v. coire. [4] Mike Darton, _The Dictionary of Scottish Place Names_ (Moffat, Scotland: Lochar Publishing, 1990) [5] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language_ (Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1983) s.v. ben