Note 94 — THE BOOK OF THE DEAN OF LISMORE.

The chase of the boar was a favourite employment among the ancient Celts. It is celebrated in many of their tales. Besides this, the sow enters largely into their ancient mythology. Even in this case the boar was possessed of magical properties, as will be seen in the subsequent portion of this poem. It is not unlikely that at an early period the Celts worshipped the sow like the Egyptians, whose worship of it might have been one reason why it was pronounced unclean. Whether the Celts worshipped it or not, it is manifest that it was held in high esteem, for its figure is engraved on most of the ancient sculptured stones of Scotland. Among the Welsh it is a national emblem, and hence one argument for the ancient Picts being British, as these stones are found confined to the ancient Pictish territory. The word “muc,” a sow, enters largely into Scottish topography. We have “Eilean nam muc,” the Isle of muck, or Sow island. The ancient name of St. Andrews was “Muc ros,” the Sow’s headland, and we know that the sow is associated with the memory of St. Regulus. There is a “Bridge of Turk,” or the Boar’s bridge, near the Trosachs. There is a “Slochd muice,” or the Sow’s hollow, near Inverness, on the Highland road, a name derived from a hillock shaped like a sow’s back, in the bottom of the chasm a little to the west of where the coach road crosses; and there is “Sròn muice,” The Sow’s snout, on the north side of Loch Ness, derived from the resemblance of a hill-face to that part of the animal. These two latter names are manifestly derived from natural resemblances, and have nothing to do with mythology.