But though our Norse fathers could not impose their Norse tongue on
their children, they gave them Norse names, and to the island they
gave Norse place-names. Hence we find that though Manx names show
a preponderance of the Celtic, yet that the Norse are numerous and
important. Thus we have many _dales, fells, garths_, and _ghylls_.
Indeed, we have many pure Scandinavian surnames and place-names. When
I was in Iceland I sometimes found myself face to face with names which
almost persuaded me that I was at home in our little island of the Irish
Sea. There is, for example, a Snaefell in Man as well as in Iceland.
Then, our Norwegian surnames often took Celtic prefixes, such as _Mac_,
and thus became Scandio-Gaelic. But this is a subject on which I have
no right to speak with authority. You will find it written down with
learning and judgment in the good book of my friend Mr. A. W. Moore,
of Cronkbourne. What concerns me more than the scientific aspect of the
language is its literary character. I seem to realise that it was the
language of a poetic race. The early generations of a people are often
poetic. They are child-like, and to be like a child is the best half of
being like a poet. They name their places by help of their observatory
powers. These are fresh and full of wonder, and Nature herself is
beautiful or strange until man tampers with her.
So when an untaught and uncorrupted mind looks upon a new scene and
bethinks itself of a name to fit it, the name is almost certainly full
of charm or rugged power. Thus we find in Man such mixed Norse and
Celtic names as: _Booildooholly_ (Black fold of the wood), _Douglas_
(Black stream), _Soderick_ (South creek), _Trollaby_ (Troll's farm),
_Gansy_ (Magic isle), _Cronk-y-Clagh Bane_ (Hill of the white stone),
_Cronk-ny-hey_ (Hill of the grave), _Cronk-ny-arrey-lhaa_ (Hill of the
day watch).