I also notice that in danish 'marsvin' is a guinea pig which may be
close??patrick
-----Original Message-----
From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and
poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Robin Hamilton
Sent: 23 April 2005 09:20
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Subject: Freemartins (continued)
... if anyone is still remotely interested.
My Gaelic dictionary gives a slightly fuller spin on this than the OED:
"MART, n. m. a cow, cow to kill. Early Irish mart, a beef. Scottish mart,
a cow or ox killed for winter provisions."
{Obviously related -- Scots from Irish, or independent usages? RH.}
Then there's the Dictionary of the Scottish Language (non-Gaelic) --
http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/
DSL - SND1 WHILIN, n. Also kwillin (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)). An imperfect
or anorchous ram, one whose testicles have not descended into the scrotum
(Sh. 1974). ['??l?n]
[? Variant of Norw. dial. tvilling, a twin, twin animals being sometimes
sexually imperfect or sterile. Cf. freemartin.]
Make of this what you'all will -- me, I'm even more enamored of the idea
that the element "martin" in the term derived from either Irish or Gaelic.
The Ruptured Vulture
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