What's In a Name?

I choose my characters’ names very carefully, after doing quite a bit of research.

Before I started writing THE GALLANT, I knew I wanted to name my main character, James Dwelly, after Edward Dwelly (1864-1939), who compiled the authoritative dictionary of the Scottish Gaelic language. He was an Englishman but married a Scots woman and fell in love with everything Scottish. Fearing his work wouldn’t be respected when published under an obviously English name, he took the pen name Eoghann MacDhòmhnaill. With 70,000-plus entries, it is still widely regarded as the most comprehensive Scottish Gaelic dictionary compiled to date.

The character of the pirate, the Seoniadh (pronounced SHO-nay), is based on a mythic figure that was said to inhabit the Hebrides isles. Every year, the Seonaidh was given an offering of ale, which was brewed from malt provided by each village family. One village man was chosen to wade into the sea with the cup of ale; when he reached waist-deep, he cried aloud: “Seonaidh, I give thee this cup of ale, hoping that thou wilt be so good as to send us plenty of seaware [seaweed, used as fertilizer] for enriching our ground during the coming year.” He then flung the ale into the sea, hoping for a year’s good harvest. In THE GALLANT, I recast the Seonaidh as antagonist.

Jacquotte, the Seonaidh’s lover, is based on the legend of Jacquotte Delahaye, one of the very few 17th-century female pirates purported to haunt the Caribbean. Tales of her misdeeds were passed down orally, sometimes making it to print, but there is no evidence that she actually existed.

Other characters took Scots Gaelic names according to their traits — sometimes good, sometimes bad.

Maeve (“intoxicating woman”) is Dwelly’s tragic wife.

Mr Kellagh (“battle suffering”) is the Seonaidh’s treacherous quartermaster.

The chatty Mr Calder (“harsh and cold waters”) meets a violent death at sea.

The kind and wise Kenna (“pretty”) MacTammas is the blinded cook at the lighthouse.

Mr Mackinney (“God has heard me”) is the village minister.

Eithne (“little seed, kernel”) is a dulse (seaweed) thrasher.

Grizel (“fighting in darkness”) is the village midwife.

Leith (“damp, moist”) is drowned in the first chapter.

Dwelly’s sister, Anne, marries Mr Murdoch (“seaman, mariner”), who abandons her for a life at sea.

And lastly, the fir ghorma (pronounced feer GOR-muh) existed in Scottish myth; they were believed to be storm kelpies that inhabited the stretch of water between the northern Outer Hebrides and mainland Scotland. They have the power to create storms, and they seek out sailors to drown and stricken boats to sink and pillage. These mythical creatures looked much like humans except for their blue colouring.

So that’s what’s in a name!