" McAlpine
defines _Samk_ as a "bad smell arising from a sick person, or a dirty
hot place"; and he further gives the definition "a savage" (quoting
Mackenzie). The word _Samhanach_ itself is defined by McAlpine as "a
savage," and he cites the Islay saying:--"_chuireadh tu cagal air na
samhanaich_," "you would frighten the very savages." From these
definitions it will be seen that a word translated "giant" by one is
rendered "savage" by another (though neither of these terms expresses
the literal meaning). Mr. J.G. Campbell also practically regards it as
signifying "cave-dweller," or perhaps a certain special caste of
cave-dwellers. With this may be compared McAlpine's "_uamh_, _n.f._, a
cave, den; _n.m._, a chief of savages, terrible fellow ... '_cha'n'eil
ann ach uamh dhuine_,' 'he is only a savage of a fellow.'" Islay has
also another word to denote a Hebridean savage. This is _ciuthach_, "pr.
_kewach_, described in the Long Island as naked wild men living in
caves" (J.F. Campbell, Tales, iii. 55, _n._). One of these "kewachs"
figures in the story of Diarmaid and Grainne, and one version says that
he "came in from the western ocean in a coracle with two oars
(_curachan_)" (_The Fians_, p.
Pages:
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61