Iterum in ipso oceano occidentali ponuntur diuerse insule. Ex quibus aliquantas nominare uolumus. Id est:
|
Corsula Mona |
Anglesey |
1099 |
|
Regaina |
Colonsay? |
10910 |
|
Minerue |
Islay? |
10910 |
|
Cunis |
Jura? |
10911 |
|
Manna |
Arran |
10911 |
|
Botis |
Bute |
10912 |
|
Vinion |
Luing? |
10912 |
|
Saponis |
Seil? |
10913 |
|
Susura |
Kerrera? |
10913 |
|
Birila |
Lismore? |
10914 |
|
Elauiana |
River & Loch Awe? |
10914 |
|
Sobrica |
Rum? |
10915 |
|
Scetis |
Skye |
10915 |
|
Linnonsa |
Raasay? |
10912 |
The island list is obscure in the extreme, although there are occasional names which can be identified with some certainty, such as the *Insula Mona which begins the list, and which is undoubtedly Anglesey, the Welsh Môn, and Scetis, Skye. The next name after Mona is the same as Ptolemy’s Ρικινα (Geography II.2, 10), usually, but by no means certainly, identified with Rathlin (Rivet & Smith 1979, 132). Rathlin occurs in Adomnan’s Vita Columbae as ‘insula quae uocatur Rechru’, but there is no linguistic connection between the two forms (Watson 1926, 37).
Rivet and Smith (1979, 253) identify Mineruae with Aquae Sulis, Bath, which is a little fanciful as we are dealing with islands in the northern part of the Irish Sea. The identification was perhaps made in order to justify their connection of <Cunis> with the Κενιωνος ποταμου εκβολαι of Ptolemy (II.3, 2), the River Kenwyn in Cornwall, another very dubious attribution. These two may be Islay and Jura on the basis of their position between Ricina, an island of the Atlantic Ocean, and the following name, *Mananna, which was equated with Arran by Richmond and Crawford (1949, 39), probably correctly. In this case, Ricina might be Colonsay. Botis must be Bute, the Gaelic Bód (Watson 1926, 37), an identification which Rivet and Smith (1979, 273) uncharacteristically accept.
Between Bute and Scitis, Skye, are six obscure names. The last two, <Elauiana> and <Sobrica>, are identified by Rivet and Smith (1979, 239 & 450) with the Rivers Avon and Severn, not altogether convincingly. The former is probably a river-name, although from its position in the list it is unlikely to be the River Annan, which has already been named anyway, at 10831. It is possible that the name is related to Loch Awe, the Gaelic Loch Abha (Watson 1926, 477), in which case an earlier *Abaua might be the name garbled by the Cosmographer. If accepted, it suggests that the entire system of Loch Awe-River Awe-Loch Etive was known by a single name. *Sabobriga (which would mean something like ‘water hill’, likely enough for a Western Isle) is a possible emendation for the latter name. Next, Scetis is clearly Skye, and <Linnonsa> may be an error for *Limnus insula, although it is not necessarily the same as the Λιμνος [νησος] ερημος of Ptolemy (II.2, 10), which is identified with Lambay.
Working backwards from Scitis, Skye, *Sabobriga could be Rum; *Fl Abaua I have already equated with Loch Awe and the River Awe, the suggestion being that the name was also applied to Loch Etive, a purely Gaelic name (derived from Étig, a female proper name: Watson 1926, 46). <Birila> could then be Lismore, again a purely Gaelic name, although no emendation can be suggested, and *Susurra, Kerrera; Saponis might then be Seil, the Gaelic Saoil (Watson 1926, 76), and <Vinion> Luing, another Gaelic name meaning ‘Ship Island’ (Watson 1926, 91). The name which follows Skye, *Limnus Insula, could be the island of Raasay, to the north. With so obscure a list, the can be no certainty.