Logan Rock - Name

Name

The original Cornish language name for the rock, recorded in 1870 as Men Amber, is Men Omborth, meaning balanced stone.

The word "logan" (properly pronounced "logg-un") is probably derived from the word "log", which in an English dialect means "to rock". In fact, in some parts of the UK, rocking stones or logan stones are called logging stones. Bray, writing in 1832, notes the expression 'to log the child's cradle' in relation to logan stone as an example of ancient British dialect recorded on Dartmoor in Devon.

Some have suggested that it comes from a Cornish expression for the movement that someone makes when drunk. Davies Gilbert writes:

It may be observed that I have always used the words Loging Rock for the celebrated stone at Trereen Dinas. Much learned research seems to have been idly expended on the supposed name, "Logan Rock." To log is a verb in general use throughout Cornwall for vibrating or rolling like a drunken man; and an is frequently heard in provincial pronunciation for tug, characteristic of the modem present participle. The Loging Rock is, therefore, strictly descriptive of its peculiar motion.

The Cornish word Leghen means "a thin flat stone", whilst its root word, Legh, can also mean "rickets", a disease, caused by deficiency of vitamin D and calcium which can lead to bone deformity.

It should also be noted that the name for rocking stones could be a modified form of the Danish word "logre," which means 'to wag the tail,' and this suggests possible Norse origin. Danes in particular established a kingdom in Great Britain before 1000 A.D., Norway maintained nominal control over the Hebrides in northern Scotland until the late Middle Ages, and Vikings frequently raided along the British coastal areas between 800 and 1000 A.D. Thus, a Norse origin for the word Logan, while speculative, cannot be ruled out.