ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2014 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2014 ************************************ 18 Apr 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether any form of <Mark> was used in Scottish Gaelic; you were interested in combining it with your patronymic byname <mac Beatha/in> [1]. Here is what we have found. The New Testament name <Marcus> was adopted into Gaelic by the 14th century in Scotland, when it was used by the Galwegian bishop <Mark> of Man and the Hebrides and by <Marcus MacDonald>, a son of the Lord of the Isles. These examples are recorded in non-Gaelic records, in non-Gaelic spellings, but they do prove that the name was used by Gaels in Scotland. Similar examples appear in later non-Gaelic Scottish records: <Cristinus MacMarkys> 1428, <Gilnow McMarkische> or <McMarcus> 1541, <Gilmonale McMark> 1541 [2]. We found other examples of <Marcus> in Irish Gaelic documents, and these allow us to suggest a Gaelic spelling of the name. These examples we found include the genitive (possessive) form of the name, spelled <Marcusa> in 1398, <Marcuis> in 1492 [3]. These spellings suggest that the basic (nominative) Gaelic form of the name was <Marcus>. Therefore, we can recommend <Marcus mac Beatha/in> as an appropriate name for a Scottish Gael in the 14th century or later. <Marc mac Beatha/in> is probably also an appropriate name. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Mari inghean mhic Bhriain. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 18 Apr 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] We discussed <mac Beatha/in> in our previous letter to you, Academy report 1879. You can find that letter on the web: http://www.panix.com/~gabriel/public-bin/showfinal.cgi?1879 [2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. MacMark, MacMarcus, Mark. [3] Cournane, Mavis, Vibeke Dijkman, Ivonne Tummers, ed., "Anna/la Connacht" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland., 1997). http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100011/