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The 1467 manuscript, a collection of genealogies of Scottish Gaelic families written in Ireland by a Scottish Gael and dated 1467 A.D., gives "Ealusaid" as the mother of the third man named (i.e., the third generation) in the genealogy of Mac Lachlan oig.[1467 MS]
The Book of the Dean of Lismore, a collection of Gaelic poetry collected in the early 16th century and recorded in Gaelic but using Scots language style spelling rather than standard Gaelic spelling, includes a poem that names a woman as "Allissaid". Watson's and M'Lauchlan's modern Gaelic versions of the poem render this name as "Ealasaid".[Watson, p. 146; M'Lauchlan, OG pp. 88-9] Another poem refers to the same woman twice as "Ellissait", which is likewise rendered in Watson's modern Gaelic version as "Ealasaid".[Watson, p. 156; Quiggin, p. 51]
Entries in the late 16th century Burgh Court Books for Inverness record the names of a number of women who, based on their full names, were apparently Gaels (although, since they appear in a burgh/town, at least some of them may have been bi-cultural). Examples include:
But these names are being recorded in Scots, not Gaelic.
So while this shows that late 16th century Scottish Gaels were using a name that was recorded in Scots language documents as <Elspet>, it does not tell us what the medieval Gaelic form of that name was.
"Ealasaid ... Common and biblical. Derived from the Hebrew Elishêba, meaning oath of God, and cognate with Elizabeth. First adopted as a personal name in the Eastern Church before spreading to th eWest. See Beitidh, Iseabail, Lili, Lìosaidh, Lìsidh."[Morgan, s.n. Ealasaid]
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