Pedestrianism

210 SKETCHES OF CAPT. BARCLAY'S Capt. Barclay's partialityto the exercise of walking, induces himto prefer it to any other mode of travelling j and, except when hunt­ ing, he is seldom on horseback. "While he * Alearned antiquary has obligingly commtfnicated t* the author thefollowing etymon of thneame Barclay: " Barclay is a compound word, and pure Gaelic. Bm is borrowed from the Gaelic, and adopted into the English language. In both, the signification is the same, i. e. the bar or bolt of a door, gate, &tri 0 Clay is the Gaelic Cladh, pronounced clay, and signifying a sword. Every one knows that Cladh Mor, pronounced Claymore, signifies the great or broad sword. As C and G are commutable letters in the Gaelic, it is generally written Cladh, though, some­ times Gladh. Gladh is the radix of the Latin Gladins; and Cladh, perhaps, of the Latin Cladet. The name Bar­ clay, then, literally imports, ' The BarSword,' or ' Sword of Defence.' " Previous to the use of gunpowder, when every thing depended on personal strength and individual exertion, the single arm of a hero often decidedthe fate of the bat­ tle. Many of our ancient families derived their names from feats of prowess; and there is no doubt that the Bar­ clays receivedtheir name fromsome singular act of hero* ism performed with the sword." carried