Alexander Macbain

Place Names of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland Alexander Macbain

"MacBain's work on Names of Places deals with the Celtic names of pre-Gaelic origin which he calls 'Pictish', with Gaelic names, and with names of Norse origin which have been transmitted through Gaelic. The area from which he took his materials was chiefly Inverness-shire, Sutherland, and Lewis. By his treatment of Norse names, Macbain laid a firm foundation for further Investigators to build on. He was the first to recognize in practice that the changes undergone by these names in the mouths of Gaelic speakers are not arbitrary, but are capable of classification. From the original introduction, by W. J. Watson