Names of places and highland attire

**Hamish** · 12th November 07, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by Panache

I believe sgian dubh simply means "black knife" in Gallic.

sgian = knife

dubh = black

Cheers

Jamie

Now, Jamie, I always believed Gallic to be the language of the Gauls, and Gaelic to be that of the Celts!

**slohairt** · 13th November 07, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by Hamish

Now, Jamie, I always believed Gallic to be the language of the Gauls, and Gaelic to be that of the Celts!

You are correct, Hamish. Gallic always refer to the Gauls and the French, to a lesser extent. I've seen other members here use "Gallic" in place of "Gaelic" (specifically for Scottish Gaelic), and I can only guess that it is being used as a phonetic rendering of Gàidhlig.

**macwilkin** · 13th November 07, 11:01 AM

Usage determines spelling.

It may well develop that we will have things something like this:

Argyle = Jacket and hose
Argyll = the town

Not necessarily. My great-great grandmother's tombstone in Iowa lists her birth place as "Argyle, Scotland".

Regards,

Todd

**McClef** · 13th November 07, 12:59 PM

It is spelt that way when it refers to Plymouth Argyle Football Club

Wiki states it is an archaic form - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyll .

**macwilkin** · 13th November 07, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by McClef

It is spelt that way when it refers to Plymouth Argyle Football Club

Wiki states it is an archaic form - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyll .

Hence, my point -- she was born in the mid 19th century after all.

T.

**Abax** · 13th November 07, 06:58 PM

Originally Posted by cajunscot

Not necessarily. My great-great grandmother's tombstone in Iowa lists her birth place as "Argyle, Scotland".

Stone masons (carvers), however, have been historically poor at spelling.

Abax

**macwilkin** · 13th November 07, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by Abax

Stone masons (carvers), however, have been historically poor at spelling.

Abax

That's speculation, of course. Many people in the 19th century were poor spellers.

T.

**James MacMillan** · 13th November 07, 10:27 PM

Originally Posted by cajunscot

That's speculation, of course. Many people in the 19th century were poor spellers.

T.

Und hiw abut de 21nd Sentery? Cen doz folkz spill?

**gilmore** · 13th November 07, 10:46 PM

Originally Posted by cajunscot

That's speculation, of course. Many people in the 19th century were poor spellers.

T.

It's not that they were poor spellers, it was that there was no correct way to spell things until Noah Webster and the other dictionarists in the early 1800's. Until then, everyone spelled words as they sounded to them.

**macwilkin** · 14th November 07, 04:20 AM

Originally Posted by gilmore

It's not that they were poor spellers, it was that there was no correct way to spell things until Noah Webster and the other dictionarists in the early 1800's. Until then, everyone spelled words as they sounded to them.

Noah Webster, though, wrote his dictionary to create a distinctly American language which was distinctive from "British English" as well as uniform across the nation.

That's why Americans spell "honour", "colour", etc. incorrectly.

T.