PER Perthshire

The Atholl Experience
Along an Atholl Boundary
Sancta Crux Well
Some thoughts on place-names in West Perthshire.
Differentiating the Gaelic landscape of the Perthshire Highlands.

Bibliography

THE ATHOLL EXPERIENCE

Simon Taylor writes: On 1 August this year, at a splendid and well-attended event at Old Blair, John Kerr launched the Atholl Experience, the result of forty years’ painstaking research on the history of Blair Atholl. Along with Steve Connelly, the Archivist at the A.K. Bell Library in Perth, and John himself, I made a short speech at the launch, extracts of which are reproduced below. From a specifically toponymic perspective, the wealth of original and unpublished material which the Atholl Experience contains has prepared the way for a full-scale place-name survey of northern Atholl.[1]

It is a great honour to have been asked by the Trustees of The Atholl Experience to speak at this celebration which sees the completion of this magnificent and important work. I am here in various capacities, both official and personal: official in that I am representing the University of Glasgow, where John Kerr holds a well-deserved honorary research fellowship at the Centre for Celtic and Scottish Studies. Also I am here in my official capacity as the convener of the Scottish Place-Name Society, of which John and Patricia, his wife, are amongst the earliest members. [2]

The work which we are here today to celebrate is important on many levels. Firstly, of course, it is important for the people of north Atholl, the area chiefly defined by the medieval parishes of Blair itself, Kilmaveonaig, Lude and Struan. John, so ably and tirelessly assisted by Patricia, has created a resource which will underpin and enrich local studies in this area for many decades if not centuries to come. However, the Atholl Experience is also important for all those who care about the history of Scotland in general - for example about the history of ordinary people and their relationship with the land: how they survived in and moved around the landscape, and how they articulated this relationship through their place-names. The Scotland-wide importance of the Atholl Experience is that it provides an inspirational model for local studies throughout the country. There can be very few areas of Scotland which are now, thanks to the Atholl Experience, so well provided for in terms of local history - I am not meaning in the survival of archival material, but rather in the careful and intelligent collecting and ordering of that material, and in making it accessible and available to researchers, both lay and academic, throughout the world. Today we are celebrating not only the end of a 40-year long Project, but also the beginning of the many new projects which will use the Atholl Experience as a foundation, a quarry, a launching-pad, and an inspiration.

As we all know, it is not that John has been sitting on all this information for decades and today is releasing it on the world for the first time. He has explored and made publicly available many aspects of Atholl history in a series of attractively produced books, such as Life in the Atholl Glens (1993), The Living Wilderness: Atholl Deer Forests (1996), and Church and Social History of Atholl (1998). But the Atholl Experience takes these local histories to a new level by presenting in a systematic, comprehensive and user-friendly way all the documentation and sources which he has drawn on for these more popular works.

There are so many aspects to the Atholl Experience that you would be here till sunset were I to enumerate them all - I can only urge you to dip in and sample for yourselves some of the richness and variety. And as you do you will immediately appreciate not only the content but also how skilfully and beautifully these 42 Volumes in 93 archival boxes have been assembled and presented. The whole assemblage is an eloquent testimony to the fantastic team that is John and Patricia Kerr. And the vision and scholarship which have informed this enterprise from the very start is now harnessing technologies which were hardly even dreamt of when John began his work on Atholl in the 1960s: while these physical volumes will be housed in the A. K. Bell Library in Perth, the material is all digitised and plans are already afoot to put the whole thing on the world-wide web.”

[1] The event received full-spread coverage in The Times of 2 August, under the head-line in broadest journalese ‘Meet John Kerr, Scotland’s walking Domesday Book’! Mention is made therein of a temporary hunting palace in Glen Tilt associated with Mary Queen of Scots in 1564. It was in fact associated with James V’s hunting expedition of 1529 (see John Kerr Life in the Atholl Glens (Perth, 1993), 75). I am sorry to say that I was the source of this error.
[2] John delivered a paper to the SPNS Conference in May 1999 entitled ‘Along an Atholl Boundary’, a summary of which can be found in SPNNews 7 (Autumn 1999), 3-4 (and, of course, also on the SPNS website). A more detailed study of this boundary appeared in his article with the same title in Nomina 13 (1990), 73-89.

Simon Taylor

(from the May 1999 Conference)

ALONG AN ATHOLL BOUNDARY

The first paper was by John Kerr, of Calvine, Atholl. This had been held over from the November 1998 Conference due to illness. Beautifully illustrated, with two projectors, the speaker followed an 18th-century boundary between the estates of Lude and Blair Atholl.
The Commonty of Glen Tilt and Glen Fender in the south-east corner of Blair Atholl parish and its extent, within a defined boundary, was drawn in the ‘Plan of the Common of Glen Tilt' in 1808 by a land surveyor, David Buist. By using this plan and its accompanying boundary charter, many of the place-names along it can be interpreted to reveal information about the topography and land usage of the area.
Mon a Clarach (mòine na chlàraich: ‘moss or bog of the plain') and Fea Garroe na Clarach (fèith gharbh na clàraich: ‘rough bog-burn of the plain') define the type of terrain found on a wide expanse of upland over 200m above the glen floor. In contrast Fuaran Raon Dui (fuaran raoin duibhe ‘spring of the field in shadow') highlights another glen feature. Because of its steep sides, rentals in the glen sometimes showed differences according to whether the farm was in the ‘sunny' or ‘shadow' part. Fuaran means ‘spring' and sometimes a ‘pool where cattle stood to cool themselves'.
Many of the names here relate to cattle and sheep and their grazing areas, and also milk and butter, indicating their once vital role in the economy of the glens. For example Aldnaba (allt na bà: ‘burn of the cow'), Slocht Vuilt (sloc a' mhuilt: ‘hollow of the wedder'), with sloc meaning a den or place of shelter, and Drumnabeachan (druim nam beachan: ‘ridge of the beasts') indicate livestock usage. Named boundary stones are at Beallach Righ nan Uan (‘pass [bealach] of the sheiling of the lambs'), Beallach na Daorre (bealach na doire: ‘pass of the thicket'), Clach Lude (‘Ludes's stone') and Tom Chlarich (‘knowe of the plain'). The boundary crosses two fords: first Aan [àthan] na Hecrabeg: ‘little ford of the enclosure') and second Aan n' Lui (àthan nan laogh: ‘little ford of the calves' [or an laoigh ‘of the calf']). Fasscarie (fas carrach: ‘rough or rocky stance') indicates a location where livestock were penned, and there are two named head dykes, one on Drumnabeachan (‘ridge of the beasts') and the other at Drumchat (druim a' chait ‘ridge of the cat'). At its northernmost point the boundary turns sharply at Lurg na Cloich Ban (lurg na cloiche bàine or nan clach bàna ‘shank of the white stone or stones'), a ridge of quartz high on the hillside.
Boundaries are an integral part of the landscape and some of these names have lingered for centuries. There is little romance in the names on the commonty boundary, rather they are the naming of human purpose and endeavour.

John Kerr.

(from SPNS Newsletter 7, Autumn 1999)

SANCTA CRUX WELL

John Wilkinson's piece ‘A Pictish Healing Well in Perthshire?' (see below) has generated several responses. The name in question is the well which appears as Sancta Crux Well (OS Pathfinder Sheet 324 NO 049487), Dunkeld and Dowally parish, immediately east of the house or croft called Grewshill (OS Pathfinder Sheet 324 NO 048487). The well appears in 1657 as Gruis Well, and is known locally as Grews Well. Before summarising the different arguments and contributions, it is necessary to see what the Ordnance Survey Original Name-Books record about this name. These are the valuable and often illuminating notes taken about each name by the OS surveyors when making the OS first edition 6 inch maps in the mid 19th century. Microfilm copies of them are kept at West Register House, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh and in the library at the RCAHMS, John Sinclair House, 16 Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh (accessible to the public).
It may also be relevant to find out what lies behind the place-name Coire a' Chaibeil (‘corrie of the chapel') which lies less than a kilometre south-west of the Sancta Crux Well (NO044478). Again the OS Name Books should help here.

Simon Taylor

A short footnote (March 2000) to the discussion of this name: I had a quick look for it in the Ordnance Survey Original Name-Books (held on microfilm in the library of the RCAHM, Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh: public access), but could find neither this name nor 'Grews Well' (nor 'Grews Hill') in the Name Book for Dunkeld and Dowally parish. It was a very perfunctory search, and perhaps I missed it. Can anyone help? S.T.
Also, more on this well can be found on http://www.heartlander.scotland.net/gallery/..\dac\book_Story_22.htm

(from SPNS Newsletter 6, Spring 1999)

A PICTISH CHRISTIAN HEALING WELL?
In The Ghost o' Mauseand other Tales and Traditions of East Perthshire (Edinburgh 1995), Maurice Fleming tells of a holy well a few miles north of Butterstone by Dunkeld in the heart of Old Pictland, to which folk from all the airts used to resort for cures into the 19th century (against the Reformation and 17th century persecution), on the first Sabbath in May. While the date hints at pagan Beltane, the well itself is firmly lidded against malign influences by its Christian label of Sancta Crux Well ‘The Well of the Holy Cross', although in Scots it goes by the aguish-sounding name of Grews Well, a title which, as Fleming notes, ‘strips it of all its glamour.'
Aye. But the name is not Scots.
Fleming (and modern folk-etymology) may have confused it with Scots grew/grue ‘to shiver' and ‘horrible' (cf gruesome), but the true name is doubtless as old as the cross which used to sanctify the well (whatever its date). In 1657, again according to Fleming, one Christiane Reat was accused of travelling to gruis well ‘and ascriving more vertew to that well upon that (the first Sabbath in May) or to any other well upon any other day.' [sic] She was ordered never to use the well again after public repentance the next Sunday.
The name of the holy spring actually preserves the Pictish equivalent of Welsh crwys ‘cross' (< Latin crux) in its lenited or mutated form grwys (which would indeed have been spelt gruis at a much earlier date). The ‘Pictish' treatment of crux is in fact identical to the Welsh: compare Welsh Y Crwys (Three Crosses) near Swansea, Pant-y-Crwys ‘Cross-dell', and grwys itself, a form dating from the 14th century at least [Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru: The Welsh University Dictionary]. Our name survives on the 1:50000 OS map as Grewshill PER NO 048488.
Katherine Forsyth has already laid the spectre of non-Indo-European Pictish's late survival (to c.9th century), which had haunted the corridors of academe for almost half a century in its final tortuous form [Language in Pictland (Utrecht 1997)]. Might this old Pictish cross mark the last resting-place of the scholarly notion that ‘Pictish' P-Celtic was anything other than a dialectal form of the tongue spoken all over Britain when the Romans arrived, which became ‘Cumbric' besouth Forth, itself no different from the oldest Welsh?
John Wilkinson, West Lothian

(from Newsletter 5, Autumn 1998)

SOME THOUGHTS ON PLACE-NAMES IN WEST PERTHSHIRE

A. McGregor (Greg) Hutcheson, Collace, Perthshire gave a paper with this title, which included a recording of one of the last native speakers of Gaelic from Balquhidder. The full text of his paper will appear in the next issue of Cothrom (no.17) entitled 'Dusan Dlòcan sa Chàrn / A Dozen Dlòcans in the Sledge' (pp11-14). In the same issue is also an article by Neil MacGregor on Strathspey, 'Fo Sgàil a' Chàirn Ghuirm / In the Shadow of Cairngorm' (pp.28-32), which includes much toponymic material.
Individual issues of Cothrom cost £3, and are available from CLI, 62 High Street, Invergordon, Ross-shire IV18 0DH Tel./Fax 01349 854848.

(from Newsletter 3, Autumn 1997)

John Stuart-Murray of the School of Landscape Architecture, Edinburgh College of Art, opened proceedings with an illustrated talk titled Differentiating the Gaelic landscape of the Perthshire Highlands. This presented the interim results of his important study relating language and landscape in the mountain names of Highland Perthshire, defined for the purpose of the study as extending from Rannoch in the North, to the Trossachs in the South and from Breadalbane in the West to Strathbraan in the East. This area was chosen because its toponymy is ahnost wholly Gaelic, with a significant diversity of topographic terms.

Names studied were as follows: Beinn (76), Bioran (8), Caisteal (11), Carn (23), Cnap (5), Cnoc (34), Cruach (6), Dun (33), Maol (10), Meall (193), Sgiath (22), Sgorr (8), Sithean (13), Sliabh (4), Sron (54), Stob(38), Stuc (16), Tom (89), and Torr (7) - 650 in total. This large sample size should compensate for cartographic inaccuracies, omissions and inconsistencies.

A map search of the terms was carried out at 1:25000 (Pathfinder) scale. Geology has been omitted from the study, as it appears that there is little relationship between the distribution of name and rock type as evidenced by the 1:250,000 geological map.

Unfortunately space does not permit a full summary of results for each of the above names, but here is a sample. Definitions are from Dwelly's Gaelic to English dictionary. Absolute and relative heights are averages.

Beinn - mountain, hill, pinnacle, high place.
These are frequent (76), of the highest elevation (749m) and concentrated in the mountainous areas of Mamlorn, West Balquhidder and South Loch Earnside. Although only moderately rugged (290m), they are very likely to be dominant summits possessing outcrops and corries. They are always qualified and if coloured most likely to be grey (liath), red (dearg), greygreen (glas) or dun coloured (odhar).
Bioran - stick, staff, any sharp pointed thing.
These are rare (8), of medium height (562m), but very rugged (339m). They are very likely to be lesser summits with corries and outcrops. They are seldom qualified, implying a very specific form.
Carn - heap or pile of stones loosely thrown together. Cairn. These are infrequent (23), yet widespread, high (656m) and moderately rugged (239m). They are reasonably likely to be a lesser summit with outcrops and corries. They are always qualified, usually by colour.
Dun - heap, hill, hillock, mound. Fortified house or hill.
These are frequent (33), and sometimes paired, in the low, rolling country found in the valley floors of upper Glen Dochart and Strathearn (328m). They are likely to be rocky, outlying summits (197m) without corries, and to be qualified by size or biotically.
Sgiath - wing, portion of land jutting into sea, shield.
These are infrequent (22), of moderate height (462m) and ruggedness (276m) and, like maol, concentrated between Lochs Katrine and Lomond. Their physical similarity to sron types, and the latters' absence from the same area suggest a dialectic substitution. They are more likely to be outliers than summits, with both corries and outcrops. They are always qualified, usually by colour (blue - gorm, the commonest) or biotically.
Sliabh - mountain of the first magnitude, extended heath, alpine plain, moorish ground.
Extensive tract of dry moorland, Mountain grass, moor bent grass.
Face of a hill.
These are very rare (4), of medium height (464m) and moderately rugged (253m). They are usually rocky with 50% being outlying summits with corries. All are qualified.

Further work
In the future the study will look at associations between name types, so that typical landform profiles can be established and drawn. Iconic sketches will also be made of certain specific types, where these have a distinctive form, eg bioran, caisteal, cruach, sidhean & stuc.

During the course of the study, it had become apparent that there was no clear relationship between toponymic density and landscape complexity. This may have been due to cartographic error and omission. A search of larger scale and historic maps of selected areas, such as upper Glen Almond, may lead to some resolution of this problem.

With digitised maps toponymic distributions can be related to other data sets such as soil and vegetation, using GIS (geographical information systems) technology. It is also proposed to map the incidence of Gaelic colours and textures directly, and relate these to the latter, and relative relief maps.

For more details of this study, please write to John Stuart-Murray at the School of Landscape Architecture, Edinburgh College of Art, or contact him on e-mail .

Bibliography (to see full bibliography, click here)

Fraser, Ian A., 1999, 'Place-Names [of Perthshire]', in D Omand (ed.) The Perthshire Book (Edinburgh), 199-210.
Kerr, John., 1990, 'Along an Atholl Boundary', Nomina vol.13 pp.73-89 [also by same author: 1992-4 'An Atholl boundary', Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 58, 136-70.]
Taylor, Simon, 2002, 'Stormont, the name and the place', History Scotland vol.2 no.5 (September/October), 44-7.
Taylor, Simon, 2005, 'The Abernethy Foundation Account & its Place-Names', History Scotland vol. 5 no. 4 (July/August), 14-16.
Watson, W.J. 1928, 'The Place-Names of Breadalbane', Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 34 (1927-28), 248-79.
Watson, W.J. 1930, 'Place-Names of Perthshire: The Lyon Basin', Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 35, 277-96 [printed in 1939].
Unpublished:
Watson, Angus, 2002, 'Place-Names, Land and Lordship in the Medieval Earldom of Strathearn', unpublished Ph.D., University of St Andrews.

The Ochils
Watson, A., 1995, The Ochils, Placenames, History, Tradition, Perth and Kinross District Libraries (£10.95).