The Gaelic Landscape of Jura: Place Names and Landscape Photography
This is the entire landscape of Jura in browse image format with translations of the place names from Gaelic using Dwelly and any local speakers/interpeters. There are 985 place names at the 1:25,000 scale OS map which are all listed here.
(from SPNS Newsletter 7, Autumn 1999)
SÙIL-SITES ON LUING
The Isle of Luing lies to the south of Oban in Argyll. A small well on the island called Tobair-na-Suil [OS Pathfiinder form NM75 11] has traditionally been associated with medicinal properties for eyesight. This association may be mistaken and the original purpose of the well could be more interesting and more ancient.
On Luing there are two Celtic fortifications, Ballycastle fort and Dun Leccamore. At the time of the forts (between 200 BC and 300 AD) the island had apparently had an early-warning defence-related communication system with fortified lookouts at strategic places. Lookout duty would have required individuals with responsibility and good eyesight, precisely those young adults a community would have been least able to spare for a non-productive function. In the interests of minimum use of manpower the communication system had to be efficient and relay stations avoided.
Modern practice with a radio ‘net' is to have all signals routing through a central HQ. Applying this principle to the situation of Ballycastle fort yielded the requirements for a theoretical communications HQ. This position had to have line of sight with two (possibly three) fortified coastal earthworks, an observation post covering a short section of coast blind to the lookout posts, a view of the S.E. sea approaches to the island and, of course, sight of Ballycastle fort itself. Only one small area on a ridge fulfils all these criteria. In this area is a pit cut into the bedrock of the ridge. A radar survey earlier this year confirmed the pit was an artifact and that it originally was not very deep. After this discovery it was realised that not far to the north lay Tobair-na-Suil. Instead of an ‘eye well' might this not have been the ‘watcher's well'? The alternative meaning of sùil is 'cast of the eye in any direction'. It is easy to imagine how, over the years, knowledge of the original purpose of the well might have been lost and its association with eyesight arisen. After all, those whom it was for would have had the best eyesight in the community. The second Luing fortification, Dun Leccamore, lies to the south of Ballycastle fort. This new position was not suitable for direct observation of all the supposed lookouts. In particular a western observation post would have required an intermediate relay. Near to one of the few suitable relay positions is Biennein Furachail meaning "watchfulness, watchman's, or lookout hill". Are there other sùil-placenames? Yes, there are and some at least may be associated with other iron-age communications - but that's another story!
Peter Lamont
Luing
The Luing Newsletter has more about Peter Lamont's work on sùil-sites in Luing, as well as a general article on Luing place-names. Copies of all the Newsletters have been deposited in the National Library of Scotland. The relevant articles are:
King, H., ‘What's in a (Gaelic) Name?', Luing Newsletter vol.3 no. 8 (1983)
Lamont, P., ‘Luing Hillforts and the Missing Earthwork or Luing's Early, Early Warning System!', Luing Newsletter no.35 (winter 1997/98)
Lamont, P., ‘Luing's Early Defences Part II: Ancient Names?', Luing Newsletter no.36 (summer 1998)
(from SPNS Newsletter 6, Spring 1999)
ISLAY
As a by-product of the Finlaggan Archaeological Project, a database on Islay has been developed for the Finlaggan Trust by Roger McWee, David Caldwell and Nigel Ruckley, and is now installed on a computer in the Finlaggan Visitor Centre. It has information and images of people, places and traditions on Islay. It is hoped to license other versions of this ISLAY CULTURAL DATABASE to run in other research centres in the near future.
The database includes the 6000 place names recorded in the Ordnance Survey name books, with grid references. The modern day spellings are also given, as well as earlier variations recorded in a remarkable series of rentals and other documents extending back to the 15th century. The database is in MSAccess, is fully searchable, and can be used to produce distribution maps.
The authors would be happy to make this place name material available to a serious researcher or student prepared to work on it, and make a written contribution on their research to the Finlaggan publication. For more information please contact Dr David H Caldwell, National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF. Tel 0131 247 4068 < dhc@nms.ac.uk>
ISLE OF MULL: Placenames, Meanings and Stories
This is the title of a book by the late Charles Maclean. It is well-produced, with excellent black-and-white photographs, representing a long
labour of love on the part of the author, whose family roots run deep into the Island. It claims to
be a comprehensive list of all Mull place-names, both mapped and unmapped, and I defy anyone
to disprove this, since it contains literally thousands of names, each one usefully provided with a
6-figure O.S. grid reference. To quote from Mr Maclean himself:
"This book contains all the mapped and many unmapped placenames throughout the Island of
Mull, together with their meanings. There are also many stories of why some of these places were
given their names. It consists of 170 pages, size A4, packed with these names...
It is divided into five chapters, each dealing with a different aspect of the countryside e.g.
Settlement Names and Hydronymy, plus an additional chapter on unmapped names."
ISLE OF MULL: Placenames, Meanings and Stories, C. Maclean (Dumfries 1997) can be ordered from www.mullplacenames.co.uk .
Bibliography (to see the full bibliography, click here)
Fraser, I. A., 1984-6, 'The Place-Names of Argyll: an historical perspective', Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 54, 174-207.
Western Isles
Fellows-Jensen, G., 1984, 'Viking Settlement in the Northern and Western Isles', in The Northern and Western Isles in the Viking World, eds A. Fenton & H. Pálsson (Edinburgh), 148-68.
Fraser, I. A., 1976-8 'Gaelic and Norse elements in coastal place names in the Western Isles', Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 50, 237-55.
MacAulay, D., 1971-2 'Studying the place names of Bernera', Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 47, 313-37.
McKillop, D. (for John Ferguson), 1982-4 'The place-names of Bernera', Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 53, 115-64. Read after and alongside D. MacAulay's 1971 article, this is instructive - the work of an amateur collector, there is much of folklore interest here, but linguistically and methodologically it has many problems. Comparing this with MacAulay's article will give some insight into problems of methodology.
McKillop, D. 1988-90 'Rocks, shoals and islands in the Sounds of Harris and Uist and around the Island of Berneray', Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 56, 428-502.
Unpublished
Jennings, A., 1994, 'An Historical Study of the Gael and Norse in Western Scotland from c.795 to c.1000', unpublished PhD, University of Edinburgh.