KELTIC. | +-----------------+----------------+ | | GADHELIC. KYMRIC. | | +--------+----------+ +-----------+----------+ | | | | | | =Erse.= =Gaelic.= =Manx.= =‘Welsh.’= =Breton.= =Cornish.= (dead) 20. =THE KELTIC ELEMENT.=--The words given to the English language by the Kelts are of two kinds: (i) Names of mountains, rivers, lakes, and other natural features; (ii) Names of common things, which the English picked up in their daily intercourse with the British or Welsh. (i) The Keltic name for a mountain is _Pen_--a word which we find in _Pennine_ and _Apennine_. The Gaelic or Scotch Keltic form of the word is _Ben_. Thus we have _Ben More_--which means the _Big Mountain_--_Ben Nevis_, and many others. The commonest Keltic word for a river is _Avon_. There are fourteen Avons in Great Britain. _Esk_ is another common Keltic name for a river; and there are eight _Esks_ in Scotland alone. In England the name takes the form of _Ex_ or _Exe_ (the consonants having changed places, _Ex_ = _Eks_). The name appears as _Ex_ in _Exeter_ (the old form was _Exanceaster_)--that is, _the camp on the Ex_; as _Ax_ in _Axminster_; as _Ox_ in _Oxford_; as _Ux_ in _Uxbridge_; as _Usk_, in Wales; and even as _Ouse_, in Yorkshire and other counties.--_Aber_ is a Keltic word which means _the mouth of a river_; and we find it in _Aberdeen_ (the town at the mouth of the Dee); _Arbroath_, which is = _Aberbrothock_; _Aberystwith_; _Berwick_--the old form of which was _Aberwick_. _Berwick_ accordingly means the _wick_ or town at the mouth of the Tweed. _Car_ or _Caer_ is the Keltic word for _castle_ or _stronghold_; and we find this name in _Carlisle_, _Cardiff_, _Caernarvon_, and others. (ii) The names of common things which we have received from the Kelts are--_basket_, _bran_, _cradle_, _crockery_, _clout_, _cuts_ (= _lots_), _darn_. Such words as _button_, _ribbon_, _barrel_, _car_, and _cart_, are also Keltic, but have come into the English language through the Norman-French, who received them from the descendants of the ancient Gauls. Some Keltic words have come to us from Scotland--such as _pony_, _clan_, _whisky_, _claymore_ (a kind of sword), _pibroch_, and _plaid_; and it is chiefly to Sir Walter Scott’s writings that we owe the common use of these words. Ireland has also sent us a few Keltic words, such as _Tory_, _brogue_, and _shamrock_.