ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2299 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2299 ************************************ 23 May 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help constructing a clan name appropriate for a Scottish Gaelic clan in the 13th or 14th century. You want to derive your clan name from a hypothetical ancestor known as "black wolf", and you had previously come up with based on a translation of "black wolf" as . (The slash in the clan name represents an acute accent mark on the preceding letter.) You wrote that you want your clan name to be as authentic as possible, and that the meaning is more important to you than the pronunciation. You asked if we could also provide correct forms to use as part of the name of an individual member of the clan. Here is what we have found. Both Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic clan names were commonly constructed from the name of a supposed ancestor of the clan. Some modern Scottish clans claim mythological ancestors, but medieval clans appear to have based their names on real people. The namesakes of Scottish clans lived in the 12th, 13th, or 14th centuries [1, 2]. Our research suggests that the namesakes of Irish clans were often people who lived a century or two earlier. For example, the Scottish MacDonalds were known in Gaelic as ; they took their clan name from Domhnall (Donald) son of Ranald (Reginald) son of Somerled, the 12th century Lord of Isles. In Gaelic, the Scottish Campbells were called "children of the son of Duibhne", from an important ancestor of their founder. Their English name derives from the epithet of another ancestor, "crooked mouth" [3, 4, 5]. Although the two Gaelic cultures spoke the same language in our period, their usage of clan names and clan affiliation bynames was quite different. In Ireland, it was common for both men's and women's Gaelic names to include clan affiliation. Many period Irish men's names, for example, have the general form . This name literally means "Domhnall, male descendent of Conall"; but by the late 10th century it was understood as "Domhnall of Clan O/ Conaill" [6]. By contrast, Scottish Gaels almost never included a clan identifier in an individual's Gaelic name. The Scottish practice of using surnames in Gaelic to indicate clan membership is a modern development [7]. A Scottish Gael in our period was almost always identified solely as his father's child: Domhnall, son of Aodh mac Uilliam, was known simply as , conveying no information at all about his clan. He may have belonged to any clan or none. So if you want to re-create a Scottish Gaelic clan, then most individual members of the clan should not include a clan identifier in their own names. The exception was the clan chief and his immediate family. Both in Scotland and Ireland, clan chiefs had titles, often in the same form as a patronymic in . These titles were sometimes closely related to the clan name and sometimes unrelated. The chief of Clann Mhic Dhuibhne was titled after yet another ancestor, Cailen Mor [3, 5]. The chief of the Clann Domhnaill was more simply titled [9]. The chief was identified sometimes by his given name and patronymic, sometimes by his title; but the title was never incorporated into his personal name. It was an alternate identifier, not a part of his name. Here are a few examples illustrating how Scottish Gaelic chiefly titles were actually used in period documents: Ataimse Mac Domhnaill ag bronnagh... (15th century) "I Mac Domhnaill grant.." [9] Mac Cailin .i. Cailin mac Gilla Espuic (16th century) "Mac Cailin, that is, Cailin son of Gilla Espuic" [8] Gillaescoib Iarrla Errghaodheal .i. Maccalin (16th century) "Gilla Escoib Earl of Argyll, that is, Mac Cailin" [3] Mac Ailin .i. Giolla Epscoip mac Giolla Epscoip (16th century) "Mac Cailin, that is, Giolla Epscoip mac Giolla Epscoip [10] The children of the clan chief were sometimes identified using their father's title as part of their own names [11]. Seonaid the daughter of Mac Cailin could have been called as well as . The two names identify her as "daughter of Mac Cailin" and "daughter of Gille Escoib". Her brother Conn could have been called or , "son of Gille Escoib" or "son of Mac Cailin". The differences in spelling of the father's name and title in his daughter's and son's names are artifacts of Gaelic grammar; we'll go into the details later. The particular clan name you want to use is problematic: We have found no evidence that there was ever a Gaelic given name . Indeed, we have found no period Gaelic name in which <-chiar> is used as the second element. You explained that you'd constructed to mean "dark wolf", and indeed that is the original meaning of pair of elements you've combined. However, we've found no example of a clan name constructed from a compound description like this one. There were clan names built from the combination of a man's given name and his epithet, e.g. the Scottish "Black John's clan" [12, 13]. Irish examples include "Yellow Aodh's clan" [14]. These compound clan names seem to be composed from an epithet used by the clan's namesake. Unfortunately, it takes a bit of a stretch to use these examples as the basis for : We have not found good evidence that was used as a given name [15], and was at best an extremely unusual epithet. It's not impossible, but we recommend you choose a different clan name. We can suggest two approaches that might appeal to you: a name that sounds similar or a name that has a similar etymology. There was an Irish Gaelic given name that appears as in early records [16, 17]; in your period it would have been spelled and pronounced \FEHL-khahr\. However, note that is just a name; it doesn't mean anything, although the first element does derive from the Gaelic word for "wolf". We don't know whether this name was by Gaels in 12th-14th century Scotland (when it could have been the basis of a clan name), so this choice also isn't the best re-creation, but it is more plausible than your original choice. A clan in your period claiming descent from a man named would have been called , and the chief could have been known as . The additional in is required by Gaelic grammar. It puts into its possessive (genitive) form, just as <'s> is added to English names to create possessives. The shift from to in the clan name is also required by Gaelic grammar: It represents a softening of the initial consonant that occurs in some grammatical circumstances. In this case, the \F\ become silent [18]. The clan name would have been pronounced \CLAHN AIL-khahr~\, the chiefly title \mahk FEHL-khahr~\. \kh\ represents the rasping sound in the Scottish word and the German . The symbol \r~\ represents a palatalized \r\, i.e. an \r\ pronounced with the tongue arched to touch the upper palate. It's sort of like an \r\ combined with a softly pronounced consonantal \y\. If the etymology of your clan name is more important than its sound, then we can suggest a couple possibilities. While was an extremely rare given name, the related name was common in Ireland from the Middle Ages on [19] and was also used in Scotland, probably in the 12th-14th century timeframe when clan names were formed [22]. A clan descended from a man known as "Black Faola/n" would have been called and its chief could have been titled . ( was a common descriptive byname meaning "black".) These would have been pronounced \CLAHN EHL-ahn~ DOOV\ and \mahk FEHL-ahn~ DOOV\. \n~\ represents the sound of n-tilde in Spanish words like or of in Italian or French . \OO\ here should be pronounced as in . Another option is to base your clan name on the masculine given name , of which we have found a single example in Ireland in 1053 [20]. We don't have an example of this name in Scotland, though, but at least we know it was used within the period when Scottish clan names were being formed. is a form of the Gaelic word meaning "hound, wolf", and a number of medieval Gaelic masculine given names were formed from plus another word [21]. (Unfortunately, there was not a comparable pattern of forming names from "wolf".) This one literally means "dark hound", and its meaning was probably apparent to Gaelic speakers in your period in much the same way that the modern English name is recognizably identical to the word . was pronounced \KOO CHEE-@r\. \CH\ here represents the hissy sound of the in German words like , and \@\ stands for the sound of the in . \OO\ stands for the sound in here, too. A clan claiming descent from an ancestor named would have been called , pronounced \CLAHN KOHN CHEE-@r\; is the genitive form of . Its chief might have been called \mahk KOHN CHEER-@r\. As we noted earlier, Scottish clans of your period were named for people who lived in the 12th, 13th or 14th century. Of the possibilities we've discussed, is the best supported since we know that was used in Scotland in the right period. isn't quite as good a choice, but is still plausible since we know it was used in Ireland in the right period and therefore might have been used in Scotland. The third choice, , requires more speculation than either of the others to justify it as a Scottish clan name. All three options are plausible for late medieval Ireland. If you're interested in shifting your clan to Ireland, write us again and we'll explain how clan names were used there. 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 Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Mari neyn Brian, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 23 May 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Macinnes, Allan, "Clanship: A Historical Perspective" in Way of Plean and Squire, _Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia_, (Glasgow: HarperCollins Publishers, 1994), p. 13. [2] Sellar, David, "Clans, Origins of" in Thomson, Derick S., ed. _The Companion to Gaelic Scotland_ (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1983). [3] Mackechnie, John, "Treaty Between Argyll and O'Donnell", _Scottish Gaelic Studies_ Vol. VII, Part I, May 1951. [4] Skene, William F., "Genealogies of the Highland Clans, Extracted from Ancient Gaelic MSS.: 1. Gaelic MS. Written circa A.D. 1450, with a Translation,", pp 50-62, and "Genealogies of the Highland Clans, Extracted from Ancient Gaelic MSS.: 2. Gaelic MS. Written circa A.D. 1450, continued," pp. 357-60, _Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis consisting of Original Papers and Documents Relating to the History of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_, ed. The Iona Club (Edinburgh: Thomas G. Stevenson, 1847). [5] Way of Plean, George, and Romilly Squire, _Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia_, (Glasgow: HarperCollins Publishers, 1994). [6] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983), s.v. u/a. [7] Our research has shown that this practice developed after our period and possibly long after: The use of fixed, inherited family names in Gaelic names may not have become prevalent in the Highlands until the 19th century. [8] Cournane, Mavis, Vibeke Dijkman, and Ivonne Tummers, "Annals of Connacht" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997), entry 1529.11. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100011 [9] Munro, Jean and R. W. Munro, eds., _Acts of the Lords of the Isles 1336-1493_; Scottish History Society, Fourth Series, Volume 22 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, Pillans & Wilson, 1986), in the Islay Charter of 1408. [10] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "Annals of the Four Masters", six volumes (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997-98), vol.5, entry M1573.2. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005E [11] Krossa, Sharon L. (Effric neyn Kenyeoch vs Ralte), unpublished research. An example of a chief's son identified by his father's title appears in reference [9]: "The Son of Mac Domhnaill of Scotland, that is Giolla Espuicc son of Domhnaill". [12] Dwelly, Edward, _The Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary_ (Glasgow: Gairm Publications, 1988), p.1021. He records for . [13] Skene. The transcription includes , an unusual spelling of a name that would normally be . [14] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation), p.688. [15] We have found only one possible example, and it is uncertain. O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh, "Genealogies from Rawlinson B 502" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997), http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G105003.html. recorded 1194. However, another researcher interprets this entry as a single name rather than a given name plus byname. O'Brien, M. A., ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976). [16] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh, ed., "Annals of Tigernach" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1996), entries T693.4, T735.3. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100002/ [17] Annals of the Four Masters, vol.1, entries M730.4, M764.6, M869.10. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005A [18] Dwelly, s.v. clann. is a feminine noun, and therefore causes lenition of the following consonant in the nominative case (except when that consonant is d, t, l, n, or r). [19] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), Fa/ela/n. [20] Annals of Tigernach, entry T1053.1. [21] O/ Corra/in and Maguire, s.nn. Cu/ Chaille, Cu/ Choigchi/che, Cu/ Chonnacht, Cu/ Dub, Cu/ Faifne, Cu/ Maige, Cu/ Mara, Cu/ Meda, Cu/ Roi/, Cu/ Ulad. See s.n. Cuan for the etymology. [22] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Macfillan, Faelan. He has 1316, 1499, 1537, and 1613. The first could be a Latin reduced form of , but the others are probably Scots forms of .