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Callanish

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Kammer K
Kammer Aug 18, 2004 17:24:39
Replying to baza

The name 'Calanais' is the correct Gaelic equivilant for the English name 'Callanish'. It is derived from the Norse, and is not used as often as the anglicised name (also derived from the Norse) but it <i>is</i> correct.

I must admit I've never come across the term <i>Calanais I</i> before. The site is sometimes known as Callanish I, but this name is usually (but not exclusively) used by first language English speakers.

As I understand it both 'Callanish' and 'Calanais' are pronounced in similar ways anyway. It's a bit like the Welsh word for 'taxi' (tacsi).

:-)#

K x

B baza
baza Aug 18, 2004 18:42:56
Replying to Kammer

Sorry Kammer, I disagree. 'Callanish' isn't an Anglicised name. As I (and you) say, its from Norse.

Here's what Aubrey Burl says about it:

"....... the 'Gaelic' Calanais never existed. In The Standing Stones of Callanish, 1977, Gerald and Margaret Ponting wrote that 'The name, like most village names in Lewis, is Norse, not Gaelic in origin'. Place-name experts believe Callanish to be derived from the Viking Kalladarnes, 'the promontory from which a ferry could be hailed', and the interpretation is persuasive. There is a short stretch of water across Loch Roag from Callanish to Linshader. On nearby North Uist another Callernish looks across the narrow sound to Vallay Island. Ferries are probable.
The unlucky Calanais should be ignored as a whimsicality. Fortunately, the meaning of its true name, Callanish, gives this protest a ferry-tale ending."
- British Archaeology, No.17, Sept. 1996.

Okay, you could say:"But he's English", but the point is, 'Callanish' isn't.