Re: [tied] Re: Cymerians?

Christopher Gwinn says in part:
O-: It is quite impossible that an
O-:archaic, Proto Irish form beginning with *Qu- could have survived
O-:into the medieval period to become a surname - otherwise we would
O-:still see medieval surnames like Maqu-XXX instead of Mac. It can't be
O-:Pictish (they spoke Brittonic, which had no Qu-s) and no other
O-:language shows any evidence of having been spoken in Ireland or
O-:Scotland in the Middle Ages, so I don't see how such an archaic form
O-:could have survived. The Qu- in (Mac) Quarrie is pretty clearly an
O-:Anglicization of a purely Gaelic name.

I'm questioning, short of challenging :-): This seems to assign a uniform
definition to Pict, and a common language as "Pictish", from a view that
does not seem to be standard. I doubt they were one people, and doubt one
language can be so boldly applied with such certainty. I have read
arguments spanning Non-IE to already Celtic for Pictish regions, long
before Dal Riada..and challenge a totally intrusive all transforming Gaelic,
so "purely Gaelic" to my mind has no real meaning. And: "no other language
was spoken in Ireland and Scotland in the middle ages"? Surely you jest?
Forces marshalled at Bannockburn on the Scottish local side alone used five
languages, and that followed a millenium of balancing consolidations with
assorted intrusions, while some cultural elements span 5 millennia. I don't
think it washes out quite so neatly.

Slàinte mhath;
Rex H. McTyeire
Bucharest