But the language was Gaelic with a difference. As already stated, it
contained, especially in connection with the sea, and ships, gear, and
tackle, many old Norse words,[5] and, in the Gaelic of Sutherland, as
in the English of Orkney and Shetland and of Caithness and Moray
the Old Norse roots remain. Nor need we believe that every Magnus or
Sweyn, or Ragnvald was a pure Norseman. For their Celtic mothers often
preferred to give their children Old Norse names.
The Norse place-names,[6] too, have been faithfully preserved by
Gaelic inhabitants, and are still with us; and despite their varying
spellings in documents of title and maps of different dates, these
names generally yield up the secret of their original meanings when
they can be traced back to the earliest charters, especially if they
can be compared with the corresponding Gaelic versions of them in use
at the present time. For Gaelic was ever a trustworthy vehicle of the
original Norse. The Norse place-names too are found in the same spots
on which the remains of brochs exist, that is, on the best land at the
lowest levels which the Picts had already cultivated, and which the
Norse invaders seized.
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