Burghead as the most suitable place on the south coast of the Moray Firth for the erection of a safe and commodious harbour, the want of which was greatly felt; and it was to supply this want that the scheme of joint-ownership was framed. The harbour was completed according to the original contract in the summer of 1809.

Unfortunately the improvements thus carried out led to the destruction of the greater part of the ancient fortifications. The property comprised only the promontory itself. Materials were required for making up the ground along the shore, and more space was needed on the headland for building purposes. In the year 1819, Mr. William Young, who had been throughout the leading spirit of the whole undertaking, purchased the shares of the other proprietors, and made further improvements on the harbour. Dying in 1842, he was succeeded by a nephew, at whose decease the present proprietor, Mr. H. W. Young, inherited Burghead.*

*Much that is interesting regarding modern Burghead will be found in Notes on Burghead, Ancient and Modern, containing Notices of Families connected with the Place at different Periods: By Robert Young. (Printed for Private Circulation), Elgin, 1868. Mr. Young refers very briefly to its ancient history, and, sharing the common belief in the spurious "Richard,” accepts, without any hesitation, the conclusions of General Roy. But his account of its modern history, and especially of the families who have possessed it, in whole or in part, from the beginning of the twelfth century to the year 1805-the Moravias, the Cheynes, the Fedderets, the Douglasses of Pittendreich, the Keiths, the Sutherlands of Duffus, the Gordons of Gordonstown, and the Dunbars, all of whom were descended from, or collaterally connected with, the great family of De Moravia—is full and trustworthy. Here Mr. Young, who was a nephew of the first Mr. Wm. Young of Burghead, handled materials with which his wide knowledge of the genealogy of those who had owned the soil of Moray during many generations, made him quite familiar. Nor was this his only contribution to the historical antiquities of his native province. In 1871 he published a History of the Parish of Spynie; and in 1879, Annals of the Parish and Burgh of Elgin, a work of great labour and value.

NOTE ON THE MEANING AND ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORDS CLAVIE, DOURIE, CHURLS, STRUTS.

Regarding Clavie Sir Arthur Mitchell writes :-"In the church records the word Clavie 66 appears to be used as the equivalent of torch. It is not probable, however, that these two "words are really synonymous. The most likely meaning of clavie is that suggested to me "by Mr. Joseph Anderson. He thinks that it is an old or altered form of clivvie, which "Jamieson gives as a Banffshire word, meaning a cleft stick for holding a rush-light. In "Shetland the same word takes the form of clivin, the tongs; and Mr. Laurenson states that "it is still in use among the fishermen. This makes the etymology of the word plain; and "clavie would not be the torch, but the thing which carried either the torch or fire in any "case." He adds, "It has been suggested to me by that great Celtic scholar, Iain Camp"bell of Islay, that clavie may come from the word cliabh, a basket; and certainly the "basket-looking instrument, in which the fire is now carried at Burghead, gives some "support to this view of the origin of the word." (Pro. Soc. of Antiq. of Scotland, Vol. X., p. 629, Note).

Since the preceding pages were in type Mr. David Donaldson, F. E.I.S., editor of the last edition of Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary, has sent me, in reply to a letter, the following interesting remarks, which I have his permission to append. He says:-" For the origin of "the Burning of the Clavie we must search far back in the records of our native tribes; and as these are mostly mere traditions, any answer we may get can at best be little more than "a happy guess or a probability. Certainly, however, the ceremony is connected with the "ancient fire-worship, and seems to be of the nature of a sacrifice. The purpose of the "sacrifice is also clear; but the thing originally sacrificed is not so evident.

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"That it was a barrel cannot readily be accepted: but whatever it was at first, its having come latterly to be a barrel is easily accounted for as soon as fishing became a trade, and transport of fish an important matter. The remote origin of the rite and the circumstances "of the people suggest that the article devoted to the fire-god was probably that which was "used for capturing or carrying the fish, or in which they were stored or kept. If the former, "it was in all likelihood some kind of wicker-work vessel; and if the latter, a simple box or "chest. And whichever it was it would be called by its native Celtic name, and that name "would be known and used wherever there were such native fishermen and such fire-worship. "On turning to our native Celtic language for the root of this term Clavie, we find cliabh "(pronounced kleav), a creel, hamper, basket; and from this comes cibbe or cliffe, the name given to the rough basket or creel with a rope attached, in which the Highland "crofters to this day carry manure a-field on their back. Now, if the original clavie was "some such creel or basket, the burning of it would be a rite similar in its nature to that of 'burning the new cart that brought home the ark from the country of the Philistines-a "solemn devotional act or prayer for good luck.

66

"Again, if the vessel used was the store-vessel of the family, or of the chief of the com"munity, then it was probably a simple box or chest, without the lid-a fish-ark, it might "be called, as the meal-store was, and is still called the meal-ark. And just as in the case "of tea, the chest containing it came to be used as a term of measure or quantity-a chest of

"tea-though the chests are of various sizes, so also the store-ark of old, at least those for "grain and meal, came to be the measure for sale or purchase, as in our boll, chalder, clevin, "etc. Besides, the earliest measures used were made of wicker or wattle work; and the "oldest measure of which we know anything-the clevin, was literally and originally a creel, "though latterly it became a chest or box. So clevin, a measure, might have been used as "a term for store-chest or ark, and said ark would still retain the name even when it had "become a barrel or tub. All this is very probable perhaps, but still only a probability. "With the other terms to which you refer there is much less difficulty.

"1. Dourie or Doorie. If the term means the pillar with socket for the barrel-spoke or "stick, or the pile of stones in which said spoke used to be set, then the name is simply a "corruption of tour, a tower, in its Old French form tur; turie being the diminutive. But it "might also apply to the socket itself, as being the entrance or seat of the spoke. In that "case dourie or doorie may be the diminutive of door, in the sense of entrance way, passage "for, and then hold for; and this is the more probable since the seat or passage had "originally to be made each time the rite was gone through. Door is from the Anglo-Saxon. "duru; in Dutch deur, in Icel. dyrr and Dan. dör.

"The term door is still used in this sense both in building and machinery, as in vent-door, “ smoke-door in the construction of houses, and shaft-door, valve-door and various other forms,

66

of openings for the insertion or fixing of particular parts in the construction of machines. "Each of these when spoken of specially is simply called the door. In this connection the "term bore may be cited when applied to the socket for a flag-post, as in the Bore-stone that "is, or at least used to be, on the field of Bannockburn.

"2. Churls.-About this word there can be no doubt. It is just a form of curl as applied "to a chip, splint or shaving; and is so used in reference to chips of wood and bits of coal "suitable for ready use and rapid kindling-in short, to handy bits; and such bits are called "chirlie or churly or curly bits to this day, Curl, which even later than Chaucer's day was "crul, is from Old Dutch crul, a curl, krullen to curl; and krullen, as Prof. Skeat rightly suggests, is from an older and fuller form kreukelen, to crimp, crumple, crumble, break

" up.

"3 Struts.-The meaning of this word is also a certainty; for it is still used in architec"ture and mechanics. A strut is a piece of wood or metal used for keeping the ends of "beams apart, or is fixed to the side of the stretcher in order to stiffen or strengthen it. "And this is just what the struts of the clavie are meant to do when they are securely fixed "to the bottom of the barrel. The term, in fact, is simply our English word strut, meaning "to stiffen up, to stretch out, or both combined. Thus when a pompous person is said to "strut about, every bit of him is braced up, and every motion is a stretching out of stiffened "limbs. It comes from our M. Eng. strouten, to stretch out, which again may be from the "Icel. strutr, projection, or Low Ger. strutt, rigid.”

No. V

ANNUAL EXCURSION OF THE SOCIETY FOR 1890.

FAVOURED by fine weather, the Members of the Society paid a visit on Tuesday, 9th September, to St. Andrews. Among those present were Mr. John Honeyman, F.R.I.B.A., President, Dr. Mackinlay, ex-Preceptor Wilson, F.S.A. Scot., J. O. Mitchell, F.S.A. Scot., Alex. M. Scott, F.S.A. Scot., J. Dalrymple Duncan, F.S.A. Lond. and Scot., F.R.S.E., and William George Black, F.S.A. Scot., Hon. Secretaries, Principal Dyer, P. Sturrock of Baltersan, late M.P. for the Kilmarnock Burghs, Colonel Stirling of Gargunnock, John Coubrough of Blanefield, Archibald Brownlie of Monkcastle, J. B. Wingate, Alexander Drew, R. Hunter Dunn, Duncan Keith, John Brand, A. N. Bertram, Henry B. Fyfe, George W. Burnet, Advocate, Campbell Douglas, F.R.I.B.A., David Robertson, William Stevenson, W. R. M. Church, C.A., James A. Petrie, Alexander Roberts, F.S.A. Scot., Thomas Adam, T. B. Henderson, M.D., James Howatt, W. E. Wingate, Colonel Menzies, Hew Mackenzie, R. Cooper Rundell, Robert Frame, James Caldwell, F.S.A. Scot., William Johnstone, &c.

Leaving Glasgow at 9 a.m., the visitors arrived, via the Forth Bridge route, at Leuchars Junction about 11.15, and proceeded in brakes to the old church of Leuchars, which was described in detail by Mr. Honeyman and by the Rev. R. Johnston, parish minister. Mr. Honeyman pointed out that this church is one of the most interesting of the few Norman buildings remaining in Scotland. The ancient work still standing consists of the chancel with its apsidal east end, and a small portion of the north wall of the nave. The present parish church is built on the old site of the nave, but is wider than the former building, and is of a plain unpretending character. The chancel arch between it and the old building is closed, and the pulpit stands in the centre. Indeed, the arrangements at the east end are quite behind the age, and no advantage is taken of the beautiful relic which sadly wants a little more attention. The chief peculiarity of Leuchars church is the richness of its detail. Both the chancel and the apse have superimposed arcading. In the