From Gaelic, Pictish, British
and Scots - A list of meanings of some of the towns, villages and other place
names of Strathearn.
Place names tend to be used
long after their meaning is understood by the people who live in an area.
Most inhabitants of Strathearn today are not Gaelic speakers while most place
names are derived from Gaelic. Some words, especially the names of rivers,
are often so old that nobody even knows which language they come from! Strathearn
is no exception.
This is a compilation by an
interested amateur who is not a Gaelic speaker. Most of the meanings came
from a book by James B Johnston "Place-Names of Scotland" published in 1892.
I hope you will find it interesting, or even useful.
| Languages also see Local History |
| British - Brit., 'P' Celtic language related to modern Welsh or Breton.
Spoken by the Britons of Strathclyde. |
| Gaelic - G., 'Q' Celtic language. Oldest form (3000 +years old) of Celtic,
spoken today in NW Scotland, much more widespread in the past. Similar to
modern Irish. Once spoken in all Scotland (except the Borders) and in the
Lake District and Isle of Man. Brought from Ireland by the Scots. |
| Pictish - Pict.. Mixture of ancient pre-Celtic language, possibly related
to Basque, and 'P' Celtic from Gauls who appear to have gone to Scotland
to avoid the Roman advance on continental Europe. In the first few centuries
AD, it may have been a society where the common people spoke the more ancient
tongue and the nobility spoke Celtic. By 4-5thC. , Celtic had dominated. |
| Scots - Sc.. Modern English is a dialect of the Scots language as it has
become spoken in England. Well, that's one interpretation. |
|
| . . . located near to . . . |
| Au. - Auchterarder, Co. - Comrie, Cr. - Crieff, L.E. - Loch Earn, Mu. -
Muthill |
|
|
Places
|
Meaning
|
 |
|
| Aberuthven
(Au.) |
Brit./Pict. aber
- mouth or confluence & Brit./Pict. rhudd faen - red rock. Ruthven
Water, 'red rock water', joins the R. Earn here. |
| Amulree (Cr.) |
G. Ath Maolruibhe - Ford of Maolrubha, one of St Columba's monks around 650AD |
| Artney, Glen
(L.E.) |
G. airtein - pebble, 'Glen of the Pebbles' |
| Auchelchanzie
(Cr.) |
Brit. uchil - height & Chanice - Kenneth, 'Height of King Kenneth', see
Local History |
| Auchterarder |
G. uachdar ard dodhar - 'upland of the high stream'. See
Auchterarder |
| Auchtertyre
(Cr.) |
G. uachdar tire - 'upper section of the land', sometimes as Ochtertyre |
| Balloch (Cr.) |
G. bealach - 'a gap, a pass' |
| Chonzie, Ben |
G. beinn - mountain & Choinneach - Kenneth, 'King Kenneth's Mountain' |
| Comrie |
G. comar - 'confluence'. See Comrie &
Earthquake House |
| Crieff |
G. craobh - 'among trees'. See Crieff &
Macrosty Park |
| Culcrieff |
G. cul - back of, 'back of the trees' |
| Cultoquhey
(Cr.) |
G. coillte a' Che - 'woods of Ce', Ce was one of the seven sons from whom the Pictish race
was said to descend. |
| Dollerie (Cr.) |
G. doilleir - 'at the dark (place)' |
| Drummond (Cr.) |
G. dromainn - 'ridge', Strathearn family name, Drummond Castle. The family probably took their name
from Drymen in Stirlingshire. |
| Dundurn (L.E.) |
G. dun - hill & duirn - fist, 'hill of the fist' |
| Dunning |
G. dunan - 'little fort' |
| Earn |
In any area river place names are the oldest often outdating any known language. Earn is pre-Celtic.
Possibly the name of an ancient godessess. Could have same root as Eireann
- Ireland. See Lady Mary's Walk
& Loch Earn |
| Fillan's, St. |
Abbot on Holy Loch. Died 777. See St Fillans |
| Fowlis Wester
(Cr.) |
G. folais - 'small stream' - See St Bean's Church |
| Gask (Dunning) |
G. gasc - 'nook or hollow'. |
| Gilmerton (Cr.) |
G. gille - servant & Mhaire - Mary, 'servants of Mary's town' |
| Gleneagles |
G. gleann n' eaglaise - 'glen of the church'. |
| Greenloaning (Au.) |
Sc. loaning - lane, 'green lane' |
| Highlandman's Loan (Cr.) |
Sc. loan - 'Highlandman's lane', on the road the Highlanders took south. |
| Hosh (Cr.) |
G. cois - 'the
foot', at the foot of Glen Turret. |
| Innerpeffray (Cr.) |
Peffer is an ancient word associated with rivers(see Earn). G. inbhir - confluence. See
Innerpeffray Library |
| Kinkell Bridge (Au.) |
G. ceann - promontory
or seat & G. ceall - church. |
| Madderty (Cr.) |
G. meadair - wooden bowl, 'wooden bowl of Ethernan', a saint to whom a chucrch was dedicated.
Died among the Picts in 669. |
| Monzie (Cr.) |
G. moine - moor & iodh - corn, 'moor of the corn', upland arable farmland. |
| Muthill |
Old Sc. mot - meeting, 'meeting hill' OR G. maothail - 'soft ground'. See
Muthill &
Muthill Church |
| Pitkellony
(Mu.) |
Pict. pit - farm, possible because to newcomers these were the sites of Pictish farms.
G. Coilinne - plenty, 'Good Pict farm' |
| Strathearn |
'Valley of the River Earn', see Earn. See Strathearn |
| Strowan (Co.) |
G. sruthan - 'small stream' |
| Tippertreoch
(Cr.) |
G. tiobar - well & G. treabhach - ploughman, 'the ploughman's well' |
| Tullibardine
(Au.) |
G. tulach - hill & G. bardainn - warning, 'look out hill'. |
| Turret, Glen & Burn |
Unknown and probably ancient. See Earn. |
| Vorlich,Ben |
Uncertain, possibly G. mhuirlaich - kingfisher, 'Ben of the kingfisher', possible ancient and
unknown. |
Auchterarder