(_For the Mirror._)
_Hibernia_.--Ireland is called by the Latin writers, _Hibernia,
Ivernia--Ierne_[1]--and _Verna_--names differing but little in sound,
and all, merely Latinizations of the Irish words _Ibh Eirin_--that is,
the Land of Erié--for _Ibh_, in Irish, signifies a land, or country, and
_Eirin_ is the genitive case of _Eire_, the name of Ireland in the Irish
tongue--from _Ibh Eirin_ the Romans formed Hibernia, &c. the termination
only being Latin--and from _Eire_, by adding _land_, the Saxons formed
_Eireland_ or _Ireland_. This Eire was a very ancient queen who gave her
name to the country, as in modern times _Virginia_ was called after
Queen Elizabeth, _Maryland_ after the queen of Charles I., &c.
[1] Scotorum cumulos flevit glacialis _Ierne_. CLAUDIAN.
_Tory_.--A robber, an outlaw, literally, _one hunted_--a name originally
given to the outlawed Irish chiefs of Ulster, in the reign of James I.,
who after the seizure of their lands, had a price set upon their heads,
and were _hunted_ by the soldiery like wild beasts; hence the name of
_Tories_, meaning the _hunted_ people, for _Toriacht_ in Irish signifies
a pursuit or hunting, and _Torihe_, hunted. In the reign of Charles II.
it began to be used to designate a party in the state favourable to
absolute monarchy; many of these "Tories" having followed the fortunes
of that prince in exile, returned with him, and being his most devoted
partisans when reseated on his throne.
_Admiral_.--This word, which appears to have sadly puzzled the
etymologists, having been derived from the Phoenician, the Coptic, and
half a dozen languages besides, is pure Celtic, but little altered too,
in its transit from one language to another. _Ard_, high or chief,
_Muir_, the sea, and _Fear_, (in composition pronounced _ar_) a man, so
that _Ardmurar_, or _Admiral_, signifies literally the _Chief Seaman_.
There is nothing of torture in this derivation, as may be seen by
referring to any Irish dictionary, and it is a curious fact, that the
Irish seamen in the navy very generally call the Admiral "_the
Ardmurar_." In Irish it is frequently written in two words, thus--_Ard
muirfhear_.
_Beltin day_.--The first of May is so called in many places in the North
of England. It was a custom in the days of Druidism to light large fires
on the tops of hills on the evening of the first of May, in honour of
_Bel_ or the Sun, and hence that day is still called in Irish, _La
Bheltine_, or the day of Bel's fire, from _La_, a day, _Bel_, the god
Bel, and _teine_, fire. The same ceremony was practised in Britain,
being a Druidical rite, and the name (_Beltin day_) remains, although
the custom from which it originated, has in England, at least, been long
forgotten.
Guthrie, in his "Geographical Grammar," tells us, that the English
language is a compound of the Saxon, the French, and the _Celtic_. As
far as this latter is concerned, the assertion appears to me to have
been made without due consideration; I do not believe that there are
twenty words of _genuine Celtic_ in the English language; there are, it
is true, a very few Irish words, which have become as it were, English
denizens, and of these I have sent you a specimen above; but I do not
believe it possible to increase their number to twenty, even in broad
Scotch, in which dialect of the Saxon (from the neighbourhood of the
Highlanders who use the Irish language) some Celtic words might be
expected, but very few occur;[2] there is, however, one very curious
exception to this rule, and for which, I confess, I am unable to
account, (though perhaps your correspondent, _Rupert C._ in No. 342,
might,) it is this--that in Grose's _Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, or
Cant Language_, if the words which are evidently figurative be thrown
out, nearly the whole of what remain are pure Irish.
[2] As _Oe_ a grandson--Irish _O_ or _Ux byre_, a
cowhouse--Irish boyach (boi-theach.)