Language Notes

Element Meaning

Sources

“Candida Casa… The Irish style it Teach Martain, ‘Martin’s House’; Rosnat, which is a diminutive from ross and means ‘Little Cape’; Magnum Monasterium, ‘ the great Monastery’; and Futerna, the latinized Gaelic form of the old English Hwiterne, ‘White House’.” Watson 1926, 158-9

“The church built by St Ninian in Galloway was called candida casa because of its being the first stone building in the district. The phrase was translated Hwitherne into Saxon, and, as Whithorn it now gives name to a burgh and parish.” MacKinnon

There have been a number of proposals for this name:

Taigh Mhàrtainn originates in one mention in the Lebor Bretnach as taig Martain. Watson overstepped the mark when he says: “The Irish style it Teach Martain, ‘Martin’s House’.” Later scholars point out that there is nothing really to link this with the site of Whithorn, and it is only mentioned once. The modern Taigh Mhàrtainn has no historical authenticity.

The Latin terms Magnum Monasterium and Candida Casa are now generally believed to denote current Whithorn in some fashion, but they are indefinite and apparently are then-current names used to denote the places in the time of the authors (Bede) rather than at the time of the events described in his works. It is possible therefore they are later guesses as to the location of the place, or even deliberate altering for political purposes

Futarna seems to be a latinisation of Whitherne which is the OE form of modern Whithorn.

Rosnat is another seeming Gaelic name, meaning as it does ‘little cape or wood’ but again as it is mentioned a handful of times in early sources is hardly fit for current usage. It most likely denotes a somewhat different place than the actual monastery.

Thus it would appear there is no Gaelic form which can reliably be traditionally said to relate to thw settlement or monastery of Whithorn as we understand it now. No Manx form has yet been uncovered.

Additional Information

Alternative Forms