Читать книгу Reading the Gaelic Landscape - John Murray - Страница 6

To Gaenor, whose many MacDougall and MacLucas ancestors were Gaelic speakers from the islands of Mull and Coll.

In my early wanderings over Skye,I used to be astonished to find that every little hummock and hollow had a recognised name, not to be found on any map, yet well-known to the inhabitants, who by means of these names could indicate precisely the route to be followed across a trackless moorland or a rough mountain range. Even if no attempt may be made to speak the language, enough acquaintance with it may easily be acquired for the purpose of interpreting a large number of place-names. The same descriptive term will be found continually recurring, with endless varying suffixes and affixes of local significance.

(Geekie 1904 269-70)

‘... I know every corner of this land, every little burn and stream, and even the boulders in the stream. And I know the moors and every little lochan on them. And I know the hills, and the passes, and the ruins, and I know of things that happened here on our land long, long ago … Every little place, every hillock, every hill and slope, has its own name.’

(Gunn 1976 250)