Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1964, Side 40

48
Postscript to The Faroese Bird Names
Orkney Norn hiblin. The earliest datable attestations in
Faroese are from the 17th and 18th centuries: Resen ‘hib»
linger vel hyblinger’ and Leem ‘Høbling’ which points to
hyplingur. The Faroese evidence thus lends support to the
etymology proposed by H. Marwick, Orkney, 1951, p. 205,
where hiblin is interpreted as the ‘hipped one’; we can
postulate on *hyplingr from -huppr ‘hip’ with the suffix
-lingr. The motivation for such a name would derive from
the conspicuous white patch on the bird’s flanks; it has
parallels in Orkney Norn lairblade, lairblading from on
lær ‘thigh’, blettr ‘patch’ and in Shetland Norn white lorin,
i. e. hwjtlorin, the same word as Norw. kvitláring lit.
‘white»thighed one’. Against this, however, an Icelandic
name for the cormorant had to be taken into account.
This is hnuplungur (known since the 18th century), which
can hardly be anything else than a derivative of hnupla
‘seize’ — an allusion to the bird’s voraciousness. Having
now a satisfactory etymology for the Icelandic name and
in view of the conservative character of the Icelandic langu»
age, one might be inclined to consider that the Faroe*
Orkney form could possibly be a secondary corruption.
But the nature of the information available precluded any
firm decision.
I now see that I overlooked a piece of evidence very
material to the case. A. W. Moore et. al., A Vocabulary
of the Anglo=Manx Dialect, 1924, record huplin ‘cormorant’
and quote from an unnamed source: »Some we call hiplen
and others we call shags. I think the huplies are shags
in English, they are larger than the cormorants and in the
breeding season have a white spot on their sides under
their wings in the shape of an egg. The bird we are calling
‘shag’ at Peel they are calling ‘huplin’ at the south»side.«
This entry is not entirely satisfactory as it stands, for
beside huplin, the forms »hiplen« and »huplies« are used.
Fortunately, the ms. from which the Vocabulary was printed
is available at the Manx Museum, Douglas (M. 2267/8A H),