Place-Names on Record
Dr Alison Grant of Scottish Language Dictionaries explores the origins of Scotland's place names.
The place-names of Scotland were formed in many different languages, including Pictish, Cumbric, Gaelic, Old English, Old Norse and Scots. The latter three are part of the Germanic family of languages, whose presence in Scotland began with the northward expansion of the kingdom of Northumbria in the sixth and seventh centuries, which was characterised by place-names in ham, -wic and -burh such as Birgham, Hawick and Roxburgh. Later reinforcement was found in an Anglo-Scandinavian dialect of northern Middle English, and by the twelfth century, what was to become known as the Scottis Tung began to flourish as the language of the burghs and the monasteries, and subsequently as the language of poets such as John Barbour and Gavin Douglas.
Scots co-existed beside several other languages in medieval Scotland, and place-names often existed in parallel forms in different languages. Falkirk was recorded in the Gaelic form Egglesbreth in 1080, the Latin form Varia Capella in 1166 and the Scots form Faukirk in 1298, all meaning a speckled or multi-coloured church. Even within the Scots language, the spelling of an individual place-name could vary greatly, and historical documents, charters and early maps reveal a wide variety of place-name forms. For example, the place-name Steenhive (from Older Scots stane stone and hive haven, harbour) was recorded as Stanehiffe in 1506, Stanehive in 1540, Stainhevin in 1637, Stane-Haven in 1654, Stonhyve in 1688 and had become Stonehaven by 1715. These exemplify not just considerable variation within the Scots language itself, but also a gradual process of Anglicisation in the period following the Union of the Crowns. This trend was mirrored across Scotland, with Coatbridge being recorded as Cottbrig Roys 1755 military survey, but as Coatbridge in Forrests map of Lanarkshire of 1816, and Bridgeton in Glasgow recorded as Brigton on Flemings map of 1807, but Bridge Town on Thomsons Atlas of 1832.
Despite the general move towards English spelling, the recording of official forms of Scottish place-names remained fairly fluid until the first Ordnance Survey maps of the mid-nineteenth century. This comprehensive series of government-funded maps meant that place-names were fixed in a single, often Anglicised form, in a definitive manner which was to influence all subsequent mapping and road signs. This was often at odds with local pronunciations of such names, with Coatbridge remaining Coatbrig, Bridgeton as Brigton and Stonehaven as Steenhive.
In a few rare cases, however, this process has been reversed. Brig o Turk was recorded as Bridge of Turk on Roys 1755 military survey, and in the same form on the Ordnance Survey six-inch first edition map of 1866, but by the time that the one-inch third edition Ordnance Survey map was published in 1907, the name had been restored to Brig o Turk. In the case of this particular name, the reversal may be due to cultural influences including Sir Walter Scotts 1810 poem The Lady of the Lake, which was very popular throughout the nineteenth century, and included the spelling Brigg of Turk. Similarly, the Glasgow Boys painter George Henry composed a piece entitled Brig o Turk in 1882, and his contemporary Arthur Melville produced a painting of the same title in 1893.
Aside from such instances, it is more usually the Anglicised form of a name which appears on the maps and road signs. Yet in recent years the dominance of English has been challenged by the addition of Gaelic forms to many of Scotlands road signs, a policy which is now being extended to railway station names. This has allowed Gaelic place-name forms to be restored to equal status alongside their Anglicised counterparts.
The difficulty is deciding how to proceed with Scots forms of place-names. In the case of names originally coined in the Scots language, such as Steenhive, it is not always recognised or acknowledged that these forms represent the original names of such towns rather than being merely local nicknames, and dual signage is one option which might help to address this imbalance. The situation is less clear regarding Scots forms of Celtic place-names, such as Aiberdeen and Glesca, particularly where dual signage is already in place. A sign welcoming people to Aberdeen / Obar Dheathain / Aiberdeen would appear undeniably crowded. Further consideration is required regarding what sort of information should be included on road signs, and what role Scots place-name forms should play in this process.