Note 41 — THE BOOK OF THE DEAN OF LISMORE.
Thomas Maclauchlan translation
The Dean’s Finn is the Fingal of some writers. “Fionn,” pronounced “Fiŭghn,” genitive, “Fhinn,” pronounced “Ighn,” is the present Scottish and Irish form of the word, and we have preserved this in M’Gregor’s own orthography. Scottish writers have, however, been unjustly accused of manufacturing the term “Fingal.” It is not, as some Irish scholars have maintained, a modern corruption of Fin mac Cùil, but a word known and in use for centuries. John Barbour, who wrote his metrical life of King Robert Bruce in 1375, uses it as a familiar term:—
“He said, Methinks Martheoke’s son Right as Gow-mac-Morn was won, To have from Fingal his menzie.”
It would appear, from the analogies of the Gaelic language, to be the complete form of the word. “Fionn” means fair, being in reality an adjective noun; “Gal” is a common termination of Celtic proper names. Hence, “Fionn Ghal,” or “Fingal,” means the “fair-haired one.“ In like manner, we have “Dubh,“ black, “Ghal,” “Dubhghal,” or “Dugald;” “Donn,” brown, “Ghal,” “Donnghal,” Dungal, Donald, the brown-haired one. Hence, Fionn is a contraction of the name. It is remarkable as an instance of the changes which take place in the use of words, that in modern times “Fionnghal” is the name of a woman, and is usually translated “Flora.“