Note 1024 — Chapter X · MOTTE-CASTLES IN SCOTLAND

The name Tom-a-mhoid is derived by some writers from the Gaelic Tom, a tumulus (Welsh Tomen) and moid, a meeting. Is there such a word for a meeting in Gaelic? If there is, it must be derived from Anglo-Saxon mot or gemot. But there is no need to go to Gaelic for this word, as it is clear from the Registrum Magni Sigilli that moit was a common version of mote, and meant a castle hill, the mota or mons castri, as it is often called.