"Crínán", Abbot of Dunkeld
Marshall Whitlock
While researching Crínán, I noticed that his name is spelled in a
variety of ways and was wondering which of them would have been
closest to the original pronounciation during his lifetime. In the
Scottish regnal list "D", he is called "Crau" while in list "F", he is
called "Trini", both of which are apparantly Latin forms. In another
Latin list, "I", he is called "Crini". This information was obtained
from Marjorie O. Anderson's 1973 work, Kings and Kingship in Early
Scotland. The Annals of Ulster (CELT online text using Seán Mac Airt
and Gearóid Mac Niocaill's 1983 edition) give his name as "Crónán" in
his 1045 obituary. The only source I've seen that gives his name
specifically as "Crínán" is the Annals of Tigernach. Does anybody
have an opinion on which form should be used? I know "Crínán" is used
the most often, but I want to understand why it is used instead of the
others.
On another note, would Dunkeld or Dún Caillen be more appropriate to
be use when describing his abbacy? Again, I'm itching to know which
form would have been used during Crínán's lifetime. Thank you,
-Marshall
Hovite
Saxons after 1066.
In medieval manuscripts the letter C looks like T, so one could easily
be mistaken for the other. The minuscule forms of letters such as i,
m, n, and u are likewise extraordinarily difficult to read, as they
consist of simply series of short vertical strokes. So confusion
between n and u is commonplace.
The name is usually read as Crinan, allegedly a diminutive of Crin,
supposedly from an Irish word meaning dry. But this is extremely
improbable. Celts regarded water as sacred, so a name incorporating a
word for dry would be exceptionally impious. One of their gods was
Neblos, the mist, which in modern Irish is nel, hence O’Neal, the
people of Neblos.
Around the time of the fall of the Roman empire, the Celtic language
underwent a violent transformation. This usually involved the loss of
the final syllable, and often other changes as well. So, the modern
Welsh name Morgan is derived from a British name Moricantos.
No Celtic name commencing with the letters cri- is known from the
classical period. This makes Tri- seem more probable. Tri-, meaning
three, occurs in some placenames, such as Trimontium (three hills),
Tripontium (three bridges). But, more likely, tri- can also have the
meaning strong, and occurs in a number of personal names: Trenaccatus,
Trenagusus, Trenico, Trenus, and Trinnus or Trinnius (from a curse
tablet found in Bath).
Dun means hill fort, and Dunkeld was the fortress of the Calidonii.
The form Dunkeld occurs in 1150, but earlier forms include Duncalden,
Duincaillen, and Dunicallenn.