The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

394 THE HIGHLANDERS [excursus
Ullie (z7, go), Varar, Tvesis (Spesis? now Spey); and Loxa.
Tina and Boderia or Bodotria (Forth), are doubtful. The town
names are less satisfactory. Alauna, really the river Allan,
a good Celtic river name (W. Aliin, Cornish Alan, root pal) ;
Lindum, G. linne, loch, water, possibly Linlithgow ; Victoria,
a translated name, in West Fife ; Devana, " goddess," Gaulish
Divona, " fons additus divis," gets
its name from the river as
usual, viz., the Don, old Gaelic Deon, now Dian, being in spite
of its inland bearings, really Aberdeen ; Orrea, Bannatia, and
Tamia arc not immediately explicable, though, as far as mere
roots are concerned, they can be Celtic. Alata Castra, or
Winged Camp, is supposed to be Burghead. It is a translated
name. So, too, is High Bank, between the Ullie or Helmsdale,
and the Varar or Moray Firth. This has recently been happily
equated with the Oykel, whose "
High Banks" the Norse usually
made the southern boundary of their conquests, and which they
called Ekkjals-bakki, or Ekkjal's Bank. The name Oykel goes
along with the Oichil Hills and Ochiltree, and is from Celtic
uxellos, high, Welsh 7ichel, Gaelic uasal. The Pictish here shows
decidedly Brittonic phonetics. The island names prove nothing:
Ebouda, perhaps for Boud-da, now Bute ; Malaios, now Mull
{^mal, mel, brow, hill) ; Epidium {ech, horse) ; Ricina ; Dumna
(compare Dumnoni) ; and Skitis, now possibly Skye (not sk'i,
cut, " indented isle.")
The historians of Severus's campaign (208-1 1) record but i&w
names. The Maiatai and Caledoni are the only tribes mentioned^
seemingly having the north of Scotland between them, the
Maiatai being next the northern wall. Adamnan calls them
Miathi ; the name is still unexplained. Argento-coxos was a
Caledonian chief of the time ; the name means " Silver-leg." A
tablet found some years ago at Colchester gives us the war
god's name as Medocius (G. and Irish Miadhach) and the
devotee's name was Lossio Veda Nepos Vepogeni Caledo. The
date of the inscription is from 232-235. Prof Rhys has suggested
that Lossio '^Brittonic gen. Lossion-os, Gadelic Lossen-as) is
related to the Welsh personal name Lleision. Vepogenos, the
name of the Caledonian's grandfather or uncle (possibly), is
thoroughly of the P variety of Celtic, and it appears in a shorter
root form {vip) in the Pictish list of Kings (Vip, Vipoig), Gaelic