The affinity between the Hebrew language and the Celtic : being a comparison between Hebrew and the Gaelic language, or the Celtic of Scotland

1872·2.8 MB·English

by  Stratton, Thomas

:
THE AFFINITY
THE HEBREW LANGUAGE
THE CELTIC:
A COMPARISON BETWEEN HEBREW AND THE GAELIC LANGUAGE,
OR THE CELTIC OF SCOTLAND.
THOMAS STEATTON, M.D. Edin.
E.iV.
Third Edition.
EDINBURGH
MACLACHAN AND STEWART, SOUTH BRIDGE.
LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO.
PLYMOUTH: W. BRENDON AND SON.
1872.
Price Two Shillings.

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THE AFFINITY
BETWEEN
THE HEBREW LANGUAGE
AND
THE CELTIC:
BEINO
A COMPARISON BETWEEN HEBREW AND THE GAELIC LANGUAGE,
OR THE CELTIC OF SCOTLAND.
THOMAS STKATTON, M.D. Edin.,
Dep.Inspector-Gen.,R.N.
Third Edition.
EDINBURGH:
MACLACHAN AND STEWART, SOUTH BRIDGE.
LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO.
PLYMOUTH: W. BR.ENDON AND SON.
1872.
;
SIR ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG, K.C.B.,
M.D. Edin.,
HONORARYPHYSICIANTOTHEQUEEN,
Sir,
As that branch ofMedicine called Physiology includes
anaccountofthedifferentracesofmankind,andasadescriptionof
thevariousdivisionsofthehumanfamilyhastoheillustratedchiefly
byreferringto thelanguagesspokenbythem,thereis some reason
forsayingthatthe affinityoflanguagesisasubjectwithin thewide
areaofMedicalInquiry.
In1833IdrewupashortComparativeVocabularyofHebrewand
Gaelic. In 1810 this was printed at the end of my Comparative
VocabularyofGreekand Gaelic. In 1870 itwasreprintedwithout
any alteration. After1833or 1840I did not look into the subject
againtillNovember,1871,when,afterafewdays,Imadethediscovery
that bytaking awaythefirstpartofmanyHebrewwords thenext
syllable,orthenexttwosyllables,resembledinsoundandmeaninga
wordinGaelic. Thewordswhich,treatedinthisway,givethisresult
numberaboutfourhundredandfifty.
AtfirstIintendedwaitingtillIhadtimetore-arrangethematter
ofmyotheressaysrelatingtoGaelic{CelticOriginofGreekandLatin
andofClassicalProperNames),butonsecondthoughts,itseemedto
me that the subject was ofso much interest and novelty, that the
Essay was worthy of being published at once, and also of being
inscribedtoonewho,some yearsago,wasselectedtobethe Headof
animportantDepartmentofthePublicService.
Iam,Sir,yourobedientServant,
THOMAS ST11ATTON, M.D.,
IÌ.X.
May, 1S72.

PREFACE.
Of those who may take up this short Essay relating to Gaelic, it
occurs to methatsomemaywishto knowwhat local opportunities
thewriterhashadofbeingpracticallyacquaintedwiththatlanguage.
As, every ten ortwenty years, the numberofthose who speak
Gaelicissomewhatless,itisaswelltomakesomereferencetodates.
Althoughitissaidthategotismshouldbeavoided,letmemention
that,borninthetownofPerth (1816), I remainedthere for about
eightyears.
Ithenlived, foraboutfive years, fifteen miles north-west from
Perth,atDunkeld,whichisontheGaelicborder,andhasbeencalled
themouthoftheHighlands. BeingthemouthoftheHighlands,it
hasbeensaidofitthatitoughttospeakGaelic. EverydayIheard
agooddealofGaelicspoken,butIdidnotpayanyattentiontoit.
Thenextfouryears,from1829to1833,1spentinNorthumberland.
In1831astrongfeelingofnationality—which Ihavealwayshadon
all subjects—tooktheparticularbentofawishtolearn Gaelic. At
theageoffifteenIprocuredStewart's GaelicGrammar,Macleodand
Dewar's GaelicDictionary,andafewotherbooks; andinthe course
oftwoorthreemonths,withoutanyhelp,taughtmyselfthelanguage.
Thenextfouryears,fromNovember,1833,toAugust,1837,Iwas
inScotland, attendingmedicalclassesatcollege,andhadnotimefor
anyexceptprofessionalstudies.
InJuly,1840,theAffinityofLatintothe Celticwaspublished; in
September,1810, the Celtic Origin ofGreek (at the endofthis was
givenashortComparativeVocabularyof Hebrewand Gaelic); and,
in1815,theCelticOriginofClassicalProperNames.
In1870asecondeditionwasissuedofalltheabove.
Ihavebeenabout twenty-six yearsin full-payinthe Navy, of
which aboutten years in different parts ofCanada, and after that
a—bouttenyearsandahalfinPrinceEdwardIsland,nearNovaScotia
inthe winter atPrince EdwardIsland,andinthesummerabout
—
6 PREFACE.
CapeBreton, NovaScotia, Newfoundland, &c. Invariouslocalities
inNova Scotia,Cape Breton,andPrince EdwardIsland,thereisa
gooddealofGaelicspoken; butIwasnotintheseparticulardistricts.
Foreighteen years (1849to1867) Iwas not once in Scotland. To
Dunkeldanditsvicinityfourorfivevisitsofa fewweeks eachhave
oflatebeenalltheopportunityIhavehadofhearingGaelicspoken.
As tothearea overwhich Gaelicisorhasbeenspoken,andthe-
degreeofitsusetherein,someinformationmaybefoundinthethree
followingpublications:
The StatisticalAccountofScotland,intwenty-onevolumes, pub-
lishedbetween1791and1799,wasdrawnupfromthecommunications
oftheministersofthedifferentparishes.
TheNctrStatisticalAccountofScotland,infifteenvolumes,octavo,
published about1817. Thisisonabetterplan thanthe former,as
eachcountyisinaseparatevolume,andmaybepurchasedseparately.
Foragreat manyyears Messrs.Oliverand Boydhavepublished
the Edinburgh Almanac, a yearly volume containing copiousinfor-
mation on mostsubjectsrelatingto Scotland: itnotesthechurches
wherethe service iseither whollyorpartiallyin Gaelic. Theyear
181J wastheonewhenitbegantodenotethis. Itistobehopedthat
itwillevercontinuetodoso.
Everytimethatthe decennialcensusistaken,i—twould bevery
desirableintheHighlandsandHebridestoascertain 1. Thenumber
c-fpersonswhospeakGaeliconly. 2. NumberwhospeakGaelicand
English. 3. TotalnumberspeakingGaelic. 4. Numberabletoread
Gaelic, o. Proportionpercent,ofGaelic-speakingpersons,and the
totalpopulationofeachparishandcounty. Thesefewcolumnsbeing
added to the tables would not be much additional trouble to the
enumerators. It wasin 1801 thattheybegantheregularsystemof
taking the census every ten years. Foreigners will hardly believe
thatamattersoimportantandinterestinghasalwa}rsbeenneglected.
During the year 1870, from various bodies and individuals, letters
weresenturgingthattheresultsofthecensusof1871shouldcontain
this information; but Highlanders and enthusiastic Gaelic scholars
were againdisappointed. Ifateachcensustheselanguage-statistics
wereascertained andpublished,theywouldinaftertimesbolooked
uponasavaluablehistoricalrecord. Itisverysadthatthecensusof
1871 should have this defect or omission: perhaps the General
Assembly ofthe Church ofScotland might request the minister of
eachparishintheHighlandsandHebridestodrawupthenumberof
theGaelic-speakinginhabitants,&c.