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Nicolaisen: a partial index to In the Beginning was the Name
Scottish Society for Northern Studies, Day Conference, Glasgow, 11 February 2012

Tobar an Dualchais

Westray place-names study now on-line
Peter McNiven's PhD thesis now online
Tiree Place-name project website goes live
In the Beginning was the Name
Cultural Contacts Fund
Gaelic place-names research continues with support from Bòrd na Gàidhlig
Scottish Place-Name News
Conference Announcements
Place-Name Notes (Spring 2010, sample newsletter)
New Publications
The Journal of Scottish Name Studies


Tobar an Dualchais ('Kist o Riches') website contains over 24,000 oral recordings in Scots and Gaelic recorded in Scotland and further afield, from the 1930s onwards.  Items include stories, songs, music, poetry and information about place-names.



Guy Puzey has pointed us to the late Thomas Huser's dissertation on Westray place-names:
Huser, Thomas Marcus (2008): Fra 'Færevåg' til 'Pier of Wall'?
This is in Norwegian, but a detailed English summary is provided on pp. 110-116 of the second volume (first PDF link on the web page). There is also a good write-up here:
http://www.nordic.uhi.ac.uk/?q=node/70



McNiven, Peter Edward (2011) Gaelic place-names and the social history of Gaelic speakers in medieval Menteith. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.


The Tiree Place-name Project website is now live here



In the Beginning was the Name: Selected Essays by Prof. W.F.H. Nicolaisen
click here for details and order form



Scottish Society for Northern Studies

with the Viking Society for Northern Research: Day Conference, 11 February 2012, Glasgow.
'LANGUAGE: CONTACT AND CHANGE'




Cultural Contacts Fund


The proceedings of a conference held in Shetland in April 2003 by the Nordic Cooperative Committee for Onomastic Research (NORNA), the Scottish Place-Name Society (SPNS) and the Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland (SNSBI) were published as:

Cultural Contacts in the North Atlantic Region: The Evidence of Names, edited by Peder Gammeltoft, Carole Hough and Doreen Waugh (Lerwick, 2005; ISBN 0-9551838-0-4)

The volume is available at £10.00 per copy, plus £2.50 postage and packing (UK only). Please send a cheque payable to SCOTTISH PLACE-NAME SOCIETY to:
Professor Carole Hough, English Language, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ

Profits from the sale of the volume are used to fund grants of up to £125 to enable students of onomastics to attend conferences. The grants are administered by a small steering committee representing the three societies. Students who wish to apply should contact the convener of the committee at the above address, or by email at carole.hough@glasgow.ac.uk.

Applications should be made at least two months before the conference is scheduled to take place, and should include the following information:

•    Student’s name, contact details, institution and degree programme
•    Name and contact details of Supervisor or Director of Studies
•    Conference title, organising body, date and location
•    Title of paper or poster to be presented
•    Approximate costs (travel, registration, accommodation etc.)

A decision will normally be made within six weeks.



Gaelic place-names research continues with support from Bòrd na Gàidhlig

Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba ~ Gaelic Place-names of Scotland, the national advisory board for researching Gaelic forms of place-names in Scotland is delighted to announce that its work will continue to be funded by Bòrd na Gàidhlig over 2011 and 2012. Highland and Argyll and Bute Councils will also continue their contributions to the project.
AÀA evolved from the Gaelic Names Liaison Committee in 2006 to meet the growing demand for Gaelic place-name research. Since then the project has researched over 3,200 Gaelic place-names throughout Scotland including names for trunk roads, settlements, core paths networks for the Highland Council and the Forestry Commission, SNH’s National Nature Reserves, ScotRail’s stations, bus and ferry depots,  street names in Inverness, Fort William and Glasgow and the Gaelic names for Scotland’s electoral constituencies. Alongside on-going work for clients and partners, AÀA is also preparing a book on the Gaelic place-names of Islay and Jura in partnership with SNH, with funding from SOILLSE and Iomairt Ghàidhlig Ìle agus Diùra. The publication is due out later this year.
AÀA’s research is being uploaded to the National Gazetteer of Gaelic Place-names, a free online database available on www.ainmean-aite.org. There are over 1,000 entries at present, with links to digital maps and sound files to aid pronunciation. With funding secured for another year, AÀA can confirm that they will continue to expand and develop this invaluable resource for Scotland’s cultural and linguistic heritage.
Chair of AÀA, Donald Morris welcomed the continuing support from Bòrd na Gàidhlig and the other partners of AÀA adding that he was delighted to be able to welcome new clients to the organisation each year.  "Place-names are of great importance to Scotland and demonstrate the value of Gaelic to the nation.  It can only be good that more Gaelic is made available to all and the high standard of work is testament to the exceptional team we have."
Head of Gaelic Usage at Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Daibhaidh Boag said:  “Bòrd na Gàidhlig works in partnership with a wide range of public bodies across the spectrum of Scottish life in implementing their Gaelic language plans.  The service which AÀA provides to these bodies plays a vital part in ensuring that the visibility of Gaelic, through signage in particular, is increasing in communities and routes across Scotland.  Over and above this, we know that there is significant interest amongst the wider public in finding out more about the Gaelic forms of the places in their locality and further afield.   We are delighted with the success of the project to date and look forward to growing the service in the years to come, assisting in our efforts to re-vitalise Gaelic.”

(Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba is responsible for researching and recommending the correct and appropriate Gaelic forms of place-names for maps, signage and general use. The project, which employs two full-time staff, is run by a partnership of organisations including Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Argyll and Bute Council, Highland Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Comunn na Gàidhlig, the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament, Ordnance Survey, Scottish Natural Heritage, the University of the Highlands and Islands, the Scottish Place-Name Society and  Highlands and Islands Enterprise. )

For more information please contact:
(Dr.) Michelle Cotter, Project Manager
Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba
Fàs, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Isle of Skye
IV44 8RQ
+44 (0) 1471 888 120
+44 (0) 7511 541 687
mcotter@ainmean-aite.org
www.ainmean-aite.org


Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba ~ Gaelic Place-names of Scotland is delighted to announce the launch of the National Gazetteer of Gaelic Place-names.

Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba, the national advisory partnership to research and establish Gaelic place-names has been developing the National Gazetteer of Gaelic Place-names since 2000. This Gazetteer is referred to in the National Plan for Gaelic (date) and to date there has been a growing demand for accurate and reliable information about Gaelic place-names.
The National Gazetteer is a database freely available to the public. It will provide a single source of authoritative information on Gaelic forms of place-names, including the research by which names have been determined, links to bibliographical information and a six figure grid reference which links to a map to locate each name. At present there are 1,000 entries covering places throughout Scotland. Work will continue to add further research and sound files to assist with pronunciation, and to expand the number of entries.
AÀA is proud to announce that the Gazetteer is now available at www.ainmean-aite.org. It is hoped that this database will be an invaluable educational tool and a treasure trove for Scotland’s historical, environmental and linguistic heritage. AÀA is very grateful for the support, advice and funding from Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the Highland Council, Argyll and Bute Council and all of our partners, associates and clients in making this possible.



John Reid: Material for a place-name survey of East Stirlingshire download
now available (zipped .doc file 1.7MB. Covers the parishes of Airth AIH, Denny DNY, Dunipace DPC, Falkirk FAL, Grangemouth GRM including Bothkennar BKX, Kilsyth KSY, Larbet



Scottish Place-Name News Autumn 2012 includes

'Place names in and around the lands of Troup, Banffshire' - Jennifer McKay,
'Place-names around the mosses of Menteith' - Peter McNiven,
'Hill-terms in the place-names of Northumberland' - Terhi Nurminen,
'At St Meddan's Convenience: the place-names of Troon and environs' - Thomas Clancy,
and much, much more!

For a sample of material from a recent newsletter see here: Scottish Place-Name Notes, Spring 2010
To receive a copy of the Society's Scottish Place-Name News, published twice a year, become a member of the Society:
Annual membership (April-March) £6 (£7 for overseas members because of higher postage costs),
or £15 for a three-year subscription, to be sent to:-
Peter Drummond, 8 Academy Place, Coatbridge ML5 3AX.
If you want to check your membership status, email peter.drummond@btinternet.com



The Shetland ForWirds web site is now online. The Shetland ForWirds group promotes and celebrates Shetland dialect.


Conference Announcements

Viking Society for Northern Research with Scottish Society for Northern Studies
Day Conference, 11 February 2012, Glasgow.
LANGUAGE: CONTACT AND CHANGE




NEW PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT

The Historical Thesaurus of English project at the University of Glasgow presents the vocabulary of English from Old English to the present arranged in semantic categories. It will be published in two volumes as the Historical Thesaurus of the OED by Oxford University Press on October 22, 2009. Further details (including a special introductory price) are available at http://www.oup.com/online/ht/


Placename Notes, Spring 2010

Scottish Gaelic Sannda and its aliases.
Gaelic farm names between Campsies and Clyde.
Abercarf 

Scottish Gaelic Sannda and its aliases.

The Scottish Gaelic names Àbhainn, Sannda and An Spàin all denote the small island that lies off the southern tip of the Mull of Kintyre, within the parish of Southend.

Robert Gordon 'Cantyre'

From Robert Gordon‘s manuscript map of 'Cantyre', c 1636-1652

Blaeu - Sanda

Sanda as shown on the Atlas of 1654, published by Johan Blaeu
(thanks to National Library of Scotland)

Sanda - 1st OS


From Ordnance Survey First Edition 6 inches to 1 mile, surveyed 1864-5. It is notable that Yl. na Gerac (Eilean nan Caorach) has been translated to Sheep Island. (Thanks to National Library of Scotland for online maps)

It is likely that both Àbhainn and Sannda are loan-names from Old Norse: one originally applying to the island itself (ON Sandey 'sand-isle'), and the other to the natural harbour in the north-facing bay (ON Hǫfn 'haven, harbour'). The latter probably held greater significance for shipping as, in times of need, boats would have set course for the haven, Àbhainn, rather than the island, Sannda, and this may explain why Àbhainn, as opposed to Sannda, survives in Arran Gaelic.

Cox - overhead view

Overhead satellite view of the island; the obvious 'haven' is the sandy bay on the north coast. (Google Earth)

While the onomastic meaning of Àbhainn transfers to the island in Gaelic usage, it is the original island name that is borrowed into Scots/English (Sanda), a fact which presumably reflects administrative usage.

The shape of the island as seen from the sea gives rise to the third name, An Spàin (the spoon).

Sanda - elevation

 The shape of an upside-down spoon is evident in views over the water. (Google Earth)

In the early part of the 20th century, it is likely that the names Sannda, Àbhainn and An Spàin belonged to different user groups: Sannda to the islanders themselves and to the people of Kintyre – although English Sanda to officialdom; Àbhainn to the fishing communities of Kintyre and Arran; and An Spàin or Spoon Island to the people of south Arran and to a principally non-fishing, boating community.

Prof Richard A.V. Cox, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (outlining his talk to the November 2009 conference in Glasgow).

Gaelic farm names between Campsies and Clyde.

Distribution1

Map of distribution of
baile (bal) and achadh (auchen) names in the area. The lone baile in the south is now Bargeddie, the question-marked one in the centre is now Bedlay.

Arising from my initial Ph.D. work on place-names in the Kelvin basin, covering 8 parishes north and east of Glasgow, I presented some findings on the Gaelic farm or settlement names in the area, with a view to establishing some patterns. I began by showing some pictures of the landscape, most of which is characterised by rolling drumlins with badly-drained marshy ground or lochs in the dips, and in the north by the broad flood plain of the Kelvin, and from which the Campsie Fells rise steeply.

drumlincountry

The rolling drumlin country, with badly-drained marshes or lochs in the dips, and in the distance beyond the Kelvin, the wall of the Campsie Fells.

Campsie parish, abutting these Fells, is rich in Gaelic names [see my note on allt- names, Newsletter 26, p.11], and from Campsie Glen down to the Kelvin there is a fine collection of Gaelic elements on display, including several baile (township, farmstead) names. But before plotting the baile names on a map of the area, it's important to recognise that some come with false ID on them. For instance Baldernock, hamlet and parish name, was originally Buthernock (1200x1225, and 1504) or Bothernock (1532) – i.e. from both or buth, meaning, in this context, a church – and first appearing in the form Baldernok only in 1644.

River Kelvin

The River Kelvin, now tightly embanked to protect its wide flood plain

On the other hand, Barrachnie (in modern Glasgow city) was recorded in 1559 and 1587 as Balrauchny or Balrachany, but research (since the conference!) has shown the earliest form to be Barrachnie (1520, 1522 et seq.), so it really is a bàrr not a baile. Bargeddie's earliest forms from 1513 on were of the type Balgade, and whilst there was a brief flash of Bargady in 1541 (amongst a dozen baile forms in the 16th century), the shift to the modern bàrr form only really took place in the early 19th century. Another name appears to be a lost baile, in that Bedlay (near Stepps), has early forms Ballain (12th century, which Durkan says was pronounced buthlane), but the pronunciation might indicate an origin like that of Baldernock in bùth. And both Bedlay and Bargeddie share the geographic peculiarity of being very isolated from the baile grouping, as the map shows. Banton village and Bencloich farm were both baile bairns, christened respectively as Ballintoun (1511) and Ballyncloich (1421).

Names with achadh (field) invariably, in this area, appear in the form auchen or auchin. Unlike baile, the names have been little changed over the years, the only one adopting a misleading modern form being perhaps Auchenkilns (famous as a road bottleneck on the A80 until recently) which was Auchenkil in 1553, and has thus to do with a church rather than a pottery. [Since the conference, Bob Henery has directed me to sources which show that the earliest recorded form of Auchengeich (in the news recently for the commemoration of the Auchengeich pit disaster of 1959) was Edengeyth or Edingeych in the 1520s.]

But what is striking about the achadh names, when plotted on a map, is their almost complete separation from the baile names. The former lie mainly north of the Kelvin (on what was probably better farmland), the latter overwhelmingly lie on the drumlin-and-marshy ground south of that river.

Ditribution2

Map of the distribution of the baile (bal) and gart names in the area

Now Nicolaisen has argued in his Scottish Place-Names that baile was the earlier form of the two, indicating longer-established settlement, achadh being literally fields which were cultivated perhaps before permanent settlement. In this area, is it possible that in summer, there was a form of transhumance by the baile settlers of Campsie parish, across the flood plain of the Kelvin, to set up temporary huts and pasture animals or grow crops at the achadh, retreating in autumn back to Campsie parish before the winter floods effectively cut the parish off from the south (as happened regularly until the 19th century)? Certainly, the accompanying table would seem to indicate that the baile names were at least recorded on average considerably earlier than the achadh names – although of course the names may have existed long before they were first recorded in surviving documents.

I also looked briefly at the gart (garden, yard, enclosure) names, of which there is a typical lowlands cluster here, in the Cadder / Monklands areas. Some of the old forms derive from gart an (yard of / at), as in Gartynkirk or Gartangaber, and in modern forms this is sometimes shortened to garn, as in Garnqueen from Gartinwyne 1520, and there are about a score in the cluster. As the map shows they are quite distinct from the territory of the baile names, and indeed they barely overlap with the achadh names, lying mainly to the east and south of these latter. In terms of when they were first recorded, the vast bulk first appear in the 16th century, at about the same time that achadh names first appear, and like these latter their first notification post-dates all but a handful of the baile names.
 
Century Bal- Auchen-
12th ? Ballain c.1175
13th Ballencleroch c.1200
Balecorrach mid-13th
Auchynboll (for Auchinvole?)1365
14th Ballyncloich 1421
Balgrochane 1458
Balcastel 1459
Baldorane 1464
Balmoloch 1470
Balglas 1486
Ballenkeir 1487
Auchenrewach 1451 x 1458
1500-1549 Balindrocht 1504
Balcharrage 1504
Ballintoun 1511
Balgade 1513
Balmore 1543
Auchinnarne 1515
Achloch 1526
Auchinhoway1526
Auchingeich (as Edingeych) 1522
1550-1599 Balmyldie 1560s Auchenkil 1553
Auchinstarri 1553
Auchingray 1560s
Achnairn 1590s
Achincloch 1590s
17th Baldou 1613
18th Auchenlech 1755
Achentiber 1755
Auchendevi 1777
Auchenvalley1767
Achengree 1755
Auchinrevoch1767
19th Auchendale 1860

Earliest recorded forms and dates of bal and auchen names

This last fact appears to rule out a different era of settlement establishment, compared to baile places. What might be the case then is that the contemporaneous choice of gart or achadh as a place-name had more to do with cultural factors, to put it crudely linguistic fashion? I stressed right at the start of my talk that my research is at an early stage, and if I'm spared will conclude in 2013 – I will let you know then the definitive answer to the whys and wherefores of the baile, achadh and gart choices!

Pete Drummond (text summarising his talk at the Glasgow conference; also maps and photos)



Abercarf

My talk at the Glasgow conference investigated the whereabouts and derivation of an aber- name which has hitherto gone largely unnoticed. This name is Aberkarf, not to be confused with Abercarf (now Wiston) in the Borders. This place-name is mentioned only once, in a document from 1336 called Ferrerii Historia Abbatum de Kynlos (Cotton MS Vespasian FVII f. 12). To my knowledge only Professor G. W. Barrow has discussed this name, identifying it tentatively as Cromdale in a footnote (Kingdom of the Scots 2003 p.48).
MS Abercarf

The mention of Abercarf in the manuscript of 1336
Aber- as an element means a confluence and derives from a P-Celtic stratum in Scotland (and Wales). Since other existing Scottish aber- names have as their second element a river-name, and the names themselves are located at the confluence of that watercourse, it is reasonable to assume that we are looking for a place at the foot of a sizeable watercourse. Ideally the river name should be etymologically related to the term karf, or if not, then belong to a later stratum than P-Celtic.

The derivation is fairly straight forward and relates to:

Proto-Celtic: karwo- 'deer'; Old Welsh: caru, Middle Welsh: carw; Middle Breton: caru; Cornish: caruu; Gaulish: Caruus [place name]; Proto-Indo-European: k'erh2- 'horn' (see www.spns.org.uk/bliton forthcoming). Compare River and Glen Carvie in Aberdeenshire.

The manuscript is a Latin document describing the movements of Edward II on a military excursion to Scotland. It is a relatively detailed itinerary of places and distances. The actual context for Aberkarf is:

Sed die Martis sequente idem dominus noster unam modicam dietam videlicet octo leucarum usque ad Aberkarf
On the following Tuesday our lord (went) eight miles, a moderate day's ride to Aberkarf.

The earlier context makes it clear the starting point is Kincardine Kirk in Badenoch (map ref. NH 938 155) (ecclesiam de Kynkardyn in Badenau) and that they are travelling north. The term 'mile' here however needs some attention. This is a translation of the latin term leuga (league) which meant different things at different times and places. To find the length intended in this manuscript, I measured all the other distances mentioned where the beginning and end points were known and compared them to modern miles. The ratio ranged from 1 to 1.4.

This would suggest that Aberkarf is between 8 and 11.2 modern miles north of Kincardine Kirk. Since we also believe that the name will be at a confluence of a sizeable watercourse, presumably on the Spey, the possible sites are narrowed down to six watercourses: Allt an Fhithich, Allt a' Choire Odhar, Kylintra Burn, Glenbeg Burn, Auchernack Burn and the River Dulnain. Of these, two can be removed since they have appropriate places at their foot which are on record from before 1336. These are Allt a' Choire Odhar which has at its foot Congash (Cuneneges 1226 Moray Reg. 70), and Glenbeg Burn, which has at its foot Inverallan (Inueraldeny 1124-1242 Moray Reg. 62). It is the proposal here that the River Dulnain is the river in question. On modern maps this has at its foot two places: Ballintomb and Curr (divided into a number of places). By its position on Pont maps, Ballintomb was probably once *Inverdulnan:

Innerqulden or Innergulden c. 1591 Pont map 6r

Innertulnan c. 1591 Pont text 137r

River Dulnain

The River Dulnain, a major tributary of the Spey (J King)

It is possible that Curr, on the south side of the Dulnain, represents Aberkarf:

?Aberkarf 1336 Ferrerii Historia Abbatum de Kynlos

Curre 1379 RMS no. 674 vol I

Corroo 1491 Chiefs of Grant Vol II no. 47

Cur 1532 Chiefs of Grant Vol II no. 82

Kurr or Karr 1591 Pont Map 6v

To claim this was the same place as Aberkarf, we have to first posit the loss of aber in placenames; an equivalent can be seen in present day Cawdor, which is mentioned in:

Abbircaledouer 1238 Moray Reg. no. 40

Caldor x2 1380 Moray Reg. no. 159

Caldore 1421 Moray Reg. no. 188

Caldor 1455 Moray Reg. no. 195

The name Curr itself almost certainly comes from Gaelic cùrr, 'corner', 'end', representing a strip of land, often near confluences. It could however, have derived from an earlier *karf, of particular interest here is the 1491 form Corroo. Following the derivation offered above, the term would be, if adopted into Gaelic, *carbh. Taking the existing term tarbh, 'bull' as an analogy, in this area this is pronounced [tharu], and therefore *carbh may have been pronounced [kharu] this could have been changed to [khu:ru] on analogy with the term cùrr (perhaps via the dative plural cùrraibh).

Dulnain map

Extract from John Thomson‘s Atlas of Scotland (1820) showing the confluence of the Dulnain with the Spey at 'E. Cur'.
(NLS maps)

Another possibility exists: that aberkarf is a MS error for *aberkar(ny). This is proposed because the course of the Dulnain was known once as Glencarnie:

Glantarnin c. 1206 RRS II no. 474

?Kyncarny 1232 Chiefs of Grant no. 5

Glenkerny 1280 Chiefs of Grant no. 10

Glenkerny 1306 Chiefs of Grant no.12

Glencharny 1362 Chiefs of Grant no.17

This would mean that the river Dulnain was once known as the *carnie, running through Glencarnie with *Abercarnie at its confluence. The meaning may be a metaphorical one from Gaelic ceatharnach, 'hero, soldier'.

Whilst these two arguments are the most likely, there is a third option: that Aberkarf relates to a different watercourse entirely. Whilst there is little solid evidence to place it at any other site, it is noteworthy that, given that the name of the a river called *karf would mean 'deer', there is a Pictish standing stone by the banks of Allt an Fhithich which contains the following image:

Grantown stone

This Pictish standing stone is known as the Grantown stone and was found at NJ 045 301. It is currently at the National Museum in Edinburgh. (Mack, A Field Guide to the Pictish Standing Stones 1997 Balgavies, p. 33)

Jake King (summarising his talk at the Glasgow conference)



New Publications

(Spring 2010)

Compiled by Simon Taylor, with help from Richard Cox, Carole Hough, Guy Puzey and Doreen Waugh.
Note that all the papers from The International Congress of Onomastic Sciences (ICOS) publication mentioned below will shortly be available free of charge online at:
http://pi.library.yorku.ca/dspace/handle/10315/2901

Bramwell, Ellen, 2009, 'Names in Multicultural Scotland', in Names in Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural and Multi-Ethnic Contact: Proceedings of the 23rd ICOS, ed. Wolfgang Ahrens, Sheila Embleton and André Lapierre (York University, Toronto), 158–63. [Deals with personal naming practices of Pakistani Muslim migrants in Glasgow; not place-names as such, but will be of great interest to SPNS members.]
Breeze, Andrew, 2009, 'The name of Bernicia', Antiquaries Journal 89, 73–9.
Coates, Richard, 2009, 'A Glimpse through a Dirty Window into an Unlit House: Names of Some North-West European Islands', in Names in Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural and Multi-Ethnic Contact: Proceedings of the 23rd ICOS, ed. Wolfgang Ahrens, Sheila Embleton and André Lapierre (York University, Toronto), 228–42. [Includes e.g. Arran, Uist, Iona, Seil, Islay, Mull, Hebrides, Bass Rock, Coll]
Colville, Duncan and Martin, Angus, 2009, The Place-Names of the Parish of Campbeltown, Kintyre Antiquarian & Natural History Society, Campbeltown. [First published 1943 by the Kintyre Antiquarian Society; original list compiled by Duncan Colville; this version revised and supplemented by Angus Martin.]
Colville, Duncan and Martin, Angus, 2009, The Place-Names of the Parish of Southend, Kintyre Antiquarian & Natural History Society, Campbeltown. [First published 1938 by the Kintyre Antiquarian Society; original list compiled by Duncan Colville; this version revised and supplemented by Angus Martin.]
Cox, Richard A.V., 'Old Norse words for “boat” in Scottish Gaelic: Revisiting Henderson's list', Scottish Gaelic Studies XXIV, 2008, 169–80.
Cox, Richard A.V., 'Review Article: George Broderick, Placenames of the Isle of Man', Nomina 31, 2008, 99–119.
Cox, Richard A.V., 'Indicators of Ecclesiastical and Norse Settlement and History in the Toponymic Material in Appendixes H1–H8 of the Papar Project', The Papar Project, Dr Barbara E. Crawford, University of St Andrews, et al., 2008, 17pp.
http://www.paparproject.org.uk/hebrides.html.
Cox, Richard A.V., 'Goatfell, Gaoitbheinn, Gaoth Bheinn', Scottish Gaelic Studies XXV, 2009, 303–29.
Dixon, Norman, 1947, The Place Names of Midlothian, unpublished PhD, Edinburgh University. Published 2009 in digital form on SPNS website with introductory notes by S. Taylor,
http://www.spns.org.uk.
Hough, Carole, 2009, '"Find the Lady": The Term lady in English and Scottish Place-Names', in Names in Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural and Multi-Ethnic Contact: Proceedings of the 23rd ICOS, ed. Wolfgang Ahrens, Sheila Embleton and André Lapierre (York University, Toronto), 511–18.
Jennings, Andrew, and Kruse, Arne, 2009, 'One coast – three peoples: names and ethnicity in the Scottish west during the early Viking period', in Scandinavian Scotland — Twenty Years After (The Proceedings of a Day Conference held on 19 February 2007), ed. Alex Woolf, St John's House Papers No. 12, Committee for
Dark Age Studies, University of St Andrews: St Andrews, 75–102.
Jesch, Judith, 2009, 'The Norse gods in Scotland', in Scandinavian Scotland — Twenty Years After (The Proceedings of a Day Conference held on 19 February 2007), ed. Alex Woolf, St John's House Papers No. 12, Committee for Dark Age Studies, University of St Andrews: St Andrews, 49–73.
McKay, Patrick, 2009, 'Scots Influence on Ulster Townland Names', Ainm: A Journal of Name Studies 10, 1–26.
Puzey, Guy, 2009, 'Opportunity or Threat? The Role of Minority Toponyms in the Linguistic Landscape', in Names in Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural and Multi-Ethnic Contact: Proceedings of the 23rd ICOS, ed. Wolfgang Ahrens, Sheila Embleton and André Lapierre (York University, Toronto), 821–27. [Deals with cases from northern Norway, northern Italy, Ticino (Switzerland), Caithness and Dingle (Ireland).]
Reid, John, 2009, The Place Names of Falkirk and East Stirlingshire (Falkirk Local History Society: Falkirk).
Sharples, Niall, and Smith, Rachel, 2009, 'Norse Settlement in the Western Isles' in Scandinavian Scotland — Twenty Years After (The Proceedings of a Day Conference held on 19 February 2007), ed. Alex Woolf, St John's House Papers No. 12, Committee for Dark Age Studies, University of St Andrews: St Andrews, 103–30.
Taylor, Simon, 2009, 'Ayrshire Place-Names: a rich seam still to mine', Ayrshire Notes 38 (Autumn 2009), 4–18 [with an attempt at a complete bibliography of articles on individual Ayrshire place-names].
Taylor, Simon, with Gilbert Márkus, 2009, Place-Names of Fife Vol. 3 (St Andrews and the East Neuk) (Shaun Tyas: Donington) [volume 3 of a 5-volume series].
Waugh, Doreen, 2009, 'Caithness: another dip in the Sweerag Well', in Scandinavian Scotland – Twenty Years After (The Proceedings of a Day Conference held on 19 February 2007), ed. Alex Woolf, St John's House Papers No. 12, Committee for Dark Age Studies, University of St Andrews: St Andrews, 31-48.
Waugh, Doreen 2009, 'Neglected Topographic Names: ness-names in Orkney and Shetland', New Orkney Antiquarian Journal 4. [This also appeared in The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 3 (2009), 107–20; see below for more details.]

(Autumn 2009)
Compiled by Simon Taylor, with help from Carole Hough.

Breeze, Andrew, 2009, 'Bede‘s castella and the journeys of St Chad', Northern History 46, 137–9. Breeze, Andrew, 2009, 'Where was Historia Brittonum's Mare Frenessicum?' Northern History 46, 133–6.
Broderick, George, 2009, 'The names for Britain and Ireland revisited', Beiträge zur Namenforschung 44, 151–72.
Caldwell, David, 2008, Islay: The Land of the Lordship (Edinburgh) [with much toponymic input from Alan Macniven; Macniven contributed Chapter 2 'Prehistory and Early History'; while Chapter 8, 'Continuity and Change – Place-Names and Extents' draws heavily on Macniven 2006 ('The Norse in Islay: A Settlement Historical Case-Study for Medieval Scandinavian Activity in Western Maritime Scotland', unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Edinburgh); Appendix 1 is a useful compilation and examination of Islay surnames; while Appendix 2, entitled 'Islay Lands, Recorded Prior to 1722' is also drawn from Macniven 2006, giving suggested etymologies, as well as sources, but sadly no early forms]
Drummond, Peter, and Tempan, Paul, 2009, 'Close Compound Place-names in Ireland and Scotland', in A Land that Lies Westward: Language and Culture in Islay and Argyll, ed. J. Derrick McClure, John M. Kirk and Margaret Storrie (John Donald, Edinburgh), 48–9; see also below under Drummond and Tempan.
Drummond, Peter, 2009, 'Close Compound Mountain Toponyms in Islay and Jura', in A Land that Lies Westward: Language and Culture in Islay and Argyll, ed. J. Derrick McClure, John M. Kirk and Margaret Storrie (John Donald, Edinburgh), 50–61.
Hough, Carole, 2009, 'Eccles in English and Scottish Place-Names', in The Church in Place-Names, ed. E. Quinton (English Place-Name Society, Nottingham), 109–24.
James, Alan, 2009, *Eglēs / Eclēs and the formation of Northumbria', in The Church in Place-Names, ed. E. Quinton (English Place-Name Society, Nottingham), 125–50.
Márkus, Gilbert, 2008a, 'Reading the Place-Names of a Monastic Landscape: Balmerino Abbey', Cîteaux: Commentarii cistercienses, t. 59, fasc. 1–2 (Life on the Edge: The Cistercian Abbey of Balmerino (Scotland), 119–62.
Muhr, Kay, 2009, 'Place-names and Scottish Clan Traditions in North-East County Antrim', in A Land that Lies Westward: Language and Culture in Islay and Argyll, ed. J. Derrick McClure, John M. Kirk and Margaret Storrie (John Donald, Edinburgh), 79–102.
Oftedal, Magne, 1954, 'The Village Names of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides', Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap 17 (Oslo), 363–409, reproduced 2009 in booklet form with the title The Village Names of Lewis, The Islands Book Trust, Kershader, Lewis, with Foreword by John Randall, price £6.
Storrie, Margaret, 2009, 'Settlement and Naming in the Southern Hebridean Isle of Islay', in A Land that Lies Westward: Language and Culture in Islay and Argyll, ed. J. Derrick McClure, John M. Kirk and Margaret Storrie (John Donald, Edinburgh), 17–47.
Taylor, Simon, 2009, 'The Trenches at Falkland, Fife: a Legacy of Royal Deer-management?', in Carmarthenshire & Beyond: Studies in History and Archaeology in Memory of Terry James, ed. Heather James and Patricia Moore (Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society, Carmarthen), 235–44.
Tempan, Paul, 2009, 'Close Compounds in Irish Place-names‘, in A Land that Lies Westward: Language and Culture in Islay and Argyll, ed. J. Derrick McClure, John M. Kirk and Margaret Storrie (John Donald, Edinburgh), 62–78.
Williamson, May G., 1942, 'The Non-Celtic Place-Names of the Scottish Border Counties', unpublished PhD, Edinburgh University. Published 2009 in digital form on SPNS website with introductory notes by W. Patterson,
http://www.spns.org.uk/MayWilliamsonComplete.pdf


The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 4
now available.

Contents:
'A Grammar of Manx Place-names'
George Broderick

'Memories, Meids and Maps: the Shetland Place Names Project'
Eileen Brooke-Freeman

'Scottish Gaelic Sannda and Its Aliases'
Richard A.V. Cox

'Scotland’s -ham and -ingham Names: a reconsideration'
Alan G. James

'The Shadow of ‘Onomastic Graffiti’'
Denis Rixson

Varia

'Aberkarf'
Jacob King

Review

Terry Kinder, ed., Life on the Edge. The Cistercian Abbey of Balmerino, Fife (Scotland)
Henry Gough-Cooper

Bibliography for 2006–2009
Simon Taylor


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