DEFAYES MICHEL wrote:
> Here is the logical explanation:
>
> Gaelic Scotland.- capar-coille, caper-coiller,
> cabar-coille, capull-coile; capperkayle Selkirk,
> caper-coille Inverness; other spellings in
> literature: capercaillie, capercailles,
> capercaile, capercayllie, capercailzie,
> capercaly, capercally, capercali, caperkally,
> cobber-kelly, capircalyeane, capricalca (!),
> from caper "to frisk, dance, walk affectedly,
> move the head up and down with a stately air",
> definitions that apply precisely to the bird's
> characteristic dance-display; other etymologies
> such as "horse of the wood", "branch", "old" or
> "clumsy" are not applicable.
The problem with this is that English words, in
this case "caper", and Gaelic words (coille =
forest, woods) rarely miscegenate. The word
"capall-coille" is attested in Gaelic from the
17-18th century, as in this line from a poem by
Sìleas na Ceapaich (c. 1660 - c. 1729):
"Capall-coille bhàrr na giùthsaich"
(the capercaillie at the top of the pine forest)
While "caper" did make its way into Irish, as
"ceáfar", I have never seen any sign of it in
Scottish Gaelic, so despite the apparent logic
of "caper", I am not yet convinced.
Now to segue back from "caper" to the Irish horse:
"caper" comes ultimately from the Latin word for
"goat". The Old Irish cognate word for "goat" is
"gabor". Used as a feminine noun, "gabor" also
meant "horse" or "white horse", especially in poetic
language. The Lexique étymologique de l'irlandais
ancien suggests "qu'on a pu avoir contamination de
lat. 'caballus' avec 'capellus' "bouc" en Irlande".
The relation/interaction of "caballus" and OI "capall"
is in any case a bit murky.
Dennis King