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Article: Some Scottish names, including Vacomagi, Boresti, Iudanbyrig, Aberlessic and Dubuice.
- Article from:
- Scottish Language
- Article date:
- January 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Association for Scottish Literary Studies. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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AN EMENDATION TO PTOLEMY'S VACOMAGI
The 'Vacomagi' were a people of North Britain, whom Ptolemy called the Ouakomagoi, and who have been identified with the Ravenna Cosmography's Maromago (Rivet and Smith 1979: 484-5). Their location and name have been problematic. Watson (1926: 22) put them east of the Caledonians (hence on Speyside and in east Perthshire), and thought the form Celtic. But he doubted Sir John Rhys's explanation of them as 'men of the empty plains' (on the basis of Welsh gwag 'empty' and Common Celtic * magos). He described the first element as unknown, and the second as the plural of magos 'great'. Jackson (1955a: 136) was more sceptical. He ...