Reading the Gaelic Landscape. John Murray

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      Published by

      Whittles Publishing Ltd.,

      Dunbeath,

      Caithness, KW6 6EG,

      Scotland, UK

       www.whittlespublishing.com

      © 2019 John Murray/ Iain Moireach

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this publication may be reproduced,

      stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

      in any form or by any means, electronic,

      mechanical, recording or otherwise

      without prior permission of the publishers.

      ISBN 978-184995-439-8

      Cover image: Buachaille Etive [Èite] Mòr from Glen Etive.

      Contents

       Acknowledgements

       Preface to Second Edition

       Preface to First Edition

       1: Introduction

       2: A Brief History of Gaelic in Scotland

       3: Mapping the Scottish Highlands

       4: A Brief Guide to Gaelic Grammar and Pronunciation

       5: Place-name Classifications - Revealing Layers in the Landscape

       6: Landform and Hydrology

       7: Landcover and Ecology

       8: Land Use

       9: Climate, Season, Sound and Time

       10: The Cultural Landscape

       11: Adjectives

       12: Reading the Landscape through Place-names

       Further Reading

       Selected Bibliography

       Index of Specific Place-names

       Index of Generic Nouns found in Place-names

       Index of Adjectives and Adjectival Nouns

       Bibliographical note

      Plate 1: ‘A Little Place’ - Creagan nam Plaoisg – Little Rock of the Husks, Brig o’ Turk, Trossachs

       Acknowledgements

      To Gaenor, whose many MacDougall and MacLucas ancestors were Gaelic speakers from the islands of Mull and Coll.

      In my early wanderings over Skye,I used to be astonished to find that every little hummock and hollow had a recognised name, not to be found on any map, yet well-known to the inhabitants, who by means of these names could indicate precisely the route to be followed across a trackless moorland or a rough mountain range. Even if no attempt may be made to speak the language, enough acquaintance with it may easily be acquired for the purpose of interpreting a large number of place-names. The same descriptive term will be found continually recurring, with endless varying suffixes and affixes of local significance.

      (Geekie 1904 269-70)

      ‘... I know every corner of this land, every little burn and stream, and even the boulders in the stream. And I know the moors and every little lochan on them. And I know the hills, and the passes, and the ruins, and I know of things that happened here on our land long, long ago … Every little place, every hillock, every hill and slope, has its own name.’

      (Gunn 1976 250)

       Preface to Second Edition

      Though place-names are usually unchanging, their study always changes. After four years, a revision was due. Some photographs and drawings have been improved. Some new ones have been added. All photographs are now in colour. The text has been redrafted. Amongst many additions, especially to the chapter on grammar and pronunciation, there are examples of how Gaelic personal names and the human body are used in place-names, with a new diagram. There is another new drawing analysing Gaelic valley form. I have modified my thinking about the Glen Dochart topomnemonic or songline, which now has a map. And I have found the real reason behind Allt a’ Bhealach Gliogarsnaiche - Burn of the Tinkling Pass, in Glen Vorlich. Some etymological sources have been added to place-name tables as well as some proverbs to chapter and subject headings. There is more to say about hares, bears and boars.

       Preface to First Edition

      Fishing below Quinag or A’ Chuinneag – The Milking Pail (NC203283) in Sutherland, I met an English angler. Pointing west into the heart of the mountain (plates 2 & 27), he said that he had given up fishing at the black loch, since gusts of wind in the corrie made casting impossible. I said: ‘But the black loch lies to the east, on the other side of the glen on Glas Bheinn - Grey Mountain (NO254265)? What the fisherman wrongly named was Lochan Bealach a’(n) C[h]òrnaidh - Lochan of the Pass of Cloth Folding (NO207282). Two thoughts came to mind. My fellow angler was not sure where large features were in the landscape, since he could neither read nor understand what was mapped. This prompted him to invent his own private place-name in English. He then confused his name with Gaelic ones on the map.

Plate 2: A’ Chuinneag - Sàil Gharbh, Bealach Cuinneige and Sàil Ghorm

      Later that week on a visit to a shop near Drumbeg or An Druim Beag - The Small Ridge (NO125267 ), I noticed a sign at a road end saying that the family had stayed on the croft for over 150 years. I talked with