BEWILDERED BY MACS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 58, Issue 4190, 29 May 1939, Page 6

BEWILDERED BY MACS

MULTIPLICITY OF CLAN NAMES OVERSEAS. (By K.M. in the Scotsman.) * And you are not buying a new plough ? ” inquired the salesman. “No. You must have the wrong Rory MacLeod,” came the gruff plyThe salesman rang the telephone again. “Hello, Central. You gave me the wrong number. I want Rory MacLeod at Dunvegan,” he said. ‘Well, which Rory MacLeod is it— Norman Big Rory, Johnnie Alex. Rory William, or Alex. Norman Peter Rory ? ” the operator asked. “I don’t know which it is,” admitted the salesman as he hung up the receiver. These things happen almost daily at Dunvegan, Laggan, or Skye, because of the similarity of Scottish names. No, not Dunvegan, Scotland, b"t Dunvegan, Canada, in the old Scots county of Glengarry. The whole district for miles around is inhabited by MacLeods, MacDonalds, MacDonnells, and_ Stewarts. Think of seeing about nine hundred MacLeods in a group. That’s what happened at Dunvegan when all the MacLeods in the vicinity scurried to the rally of this clan at the sound of the bagpipes. Most of these anyway live near Dunvegan. Quite a few of

the same name live around a town at the cross-roads which contains only a couple of stores, a post office, and a church. STICKING TO THE OLD NAMES. What -makes things so complicated is that they all stick to the old Scots names of Angus, John, Norman, Rory, Murdoch, and such like; so as the population multiplied and multiplied it was found that there were a dozen or so Rory MacLeods, another dozen Sandy MacDonalds, perhaps a halfdozen Murdoch Stewarts, and so on, all within a few miles of each other. Thus, as these names began to be known to the world, something had to be done to distinguish the owners, or when you hailed one of them he would be followed by a few more. Through time each was given a nickname or nicknames. To form these everything was taken into con-; sideration—age, complexion, size, an- 1 cestral names, and any peculiarity. That is why there are so many Little Alecs, Big Alecs, Black Alecs, Old Alecs, and Young Alecs. If this did not distinguish them enough, a few more names were added—like Little Alec the Beaver, because there was some of that low, marshy land on his farm, or Big Alec Peter Rory Sandy William. What a name ! —yet just notice how you can rhyme them off. Credit should be given for choosing names that blend so harmoniously with each other. Yet the real music of these names can be given only by a real Scotsman who rolls the r, cuts

the t, and holds the o for a full note. THE MANY ANGIE’D ANGUS. One family near Dunvegan is distinguished by the use of their father’s name Angus. There is Bella Angi, Sarah Angi, and Johnnie Angi Angus. If there were another brother he would likely be called Johnnie Angi Angi Angi Angus. That woulc bring out the real clannish spirit, and would also reflect back to the father. There is also a profusion of Gaelic names, but none can spell them, and few but the Scots can pronounce them, but here is one anyway. Roddie “ Cassey Veitch ” is a man with a wooden leg. What an ideal source for a nick-name, thought his friends ! “Cassey Veitch” is what they struck on, and in Gaelic it means beechwood. His leg might not be made of becch-wood at all,- but it sounded pretty good, so that sufficed. The postman has about the most tedious job with the names. If he has to deliver a letter to John MacDonald, and it is not distinguished by his nick-name or box number—well, he just looks at it with haughty indignation. He might try half a dozen John MacDonalds before he discovered a home for the letter. One thing a postman hatjs is to see the same old, tattered letter on his route every day for a week. And who knows, the name might be spelled wrong; perhaps it should be Mac Do-

nel. Then the postman swears. It must be amusing, too, to see on a letter a name such as Mr Johnnie Murdoch Peter Alex Rory MacLeod, but that is the way it is done at Dunvegan, and the initials alone cannot be used, either.