DOUGLASS

(origin: Gaelic. Local) The dark green river, from Dhu, black, dark, and glass, green. A river of Scotland which flows into the Clyde. A town of Lanarkshire. The tradition of the origin of the name is this: in the year 770, a man of rank and figure came seasonably to the assistance of Solvatius, King of Scotland, whose territory was then invaded by Donald Bain, of the Western Isles. The victory being obtained, the King was desirous to see the man who had done him so signal a service, and he was pointed out to him in these words, in the Gaelic, "Sholto Dhuglass," "behold that dark, or swarthy, man."

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.