Argyll Placenames

Ailsa Craig: Craig is derived from Gaelic creag, a rock, but the derivation of Ailsa is not clear. It is referred to in old documents as Alastair and also as Elizabeth.

Ardentinny: Ard, high, headland or promontory; an, of the; teine, fire. The headland of the fire. At one time the Dukes of Argyll used a ferry from Ardentinny to Coulport (which itself means 'back ferry') on the opposite shore. It is not clear for how long the name has been in existence, but if earlier than the ferry, the name refers to where fires were lit to the god Bel or Baal.

Arran: The descriptive nature of Gaelic place names suggests a meaning derived from old Gaelic aran, a high place. This is more preferable than the popular meaning of 'kidney shape' derived from the Gaelic ara, a kidney, for although the shape of the island may resemble a kidney it is hardly credible that the early voyagers had no name for Arran until they saw its shape on a map.

Auchamore: Achadh, a field, mor, large. The big field.

Auchindrain: Achadh, a field; an, of the; droighean (pronounced closely to 'drain'), a thorn. the field of the thorns.

Benmore: Beinn, a mountain; mor, big, large. The big mountain. Bute: Meaning not definite. Probably old Gaelic bot, a hut or bothy, supported by Welsh bod, a dwelling place, and Cornish bod and but.

Cairndow: Carn, heap or pile of stones loosely thrown together; dubh, black. The black cairn.

Carrick: Carraig, rock. The old castle was built on a rock.

Clyde: Referred to by early writers as Clota, which is said to be the meaning of a river goddess meaning 'the washer,' 'the strongly flowing one,' or such. But the Welsh also have a word clyd, meaning warm.

Colintraive: Caol, strait, narrows; an, of the; snaimh, swimming. The swimming narrows. Refers to the fact that cattle and horses used to swim across the Kyles of Bute at this, the narrowest point. An adjoining farm is Ardentraive, the swimming place.

Cumbrae: The island of the cymry - the Brittonic speaking inhabitants of old Strathclyde. See also the Welsh cymri. Reputed to be so independent minded in olden days that the local minister used to pray for 'the islands of the Great Cumbrae and the Little Cumbrae and the adjoining island of Great Britain.'

Dunoon: Dun, a fort; amhuin, stream, river, water. The fort or hilltop by the water. There are 43 different spellings of the name in old documents. Glendaruel: Gleann, glen; ruadhail, red. The glen of the red river. The red probably refers to the colour of the soil, but the more romantic would prefer that the red refers to a battle in the 11th century, when Scandinavian invaders were defeated and the river ran red with their blood.

Glen Lean: Gleann, glen; leathen, broad. The broad glen. The anglicised spelling 'lean' produces a superficial meaning opposite to the true one.

Glenmassan: Gleann, glen; massan, a personal name. Said to be the place to which Deirdre and her lover fled from Ireland, and is where the Glenmassan Manuscript describing her adventures was found. The manuscript is now in the National Library of Scotland is Edinburgh.

Glen Shira: Gleann, glen; sir or sor, long. The long glen.

Glen Tarsan: Gleann, glen; tarsan, acrosss, oblique. This glen cuts across or lies across or obliquely to the others, i.e. Glen Lean and Glen Massan.

Gourock: guirloc, a pinple, so a hillock.

Greenock: Grianaig, diminutive of grianag, a sunny knoll. The name bears no relation to 'green oak', erroneously adopted by some as an emblem.

Hafton: Formerly called Halfton. Hafton was the general name adopted and given to all the lands purchased at the beginning of the 19th century by James Hunter, who gave his name to Hunter's Quay, previously known as Cammesreinach, bay of the ferns.

Holy Loch: Gaelic an Loch Seanta. There are traditional tales fostered by early writers to explain the meaning, but it does not need a traditional tale to explain the word 'holy' being applied to a loch which has on one side an early site of religious significance at Ardnadam and on the other side such an early Christian church as Kilmun.

Innellan: The latter part of the name is definitely eileann, an island, which in Gaelic referred to every size from a rock upon which vegetation grew up to the largest tract of land. The island referred to was probably the Perch, with the name being transferred to the village. Early travellers coming by sea would name their landmarks from the sea, and there are suggestions that the Perch was at one time much larger. The prefix in may be an, meaning 'the', or more probably eon, a bird, giving a full meaning of 'bird island,' the Perch being a favourite place for seabirds.

Inveraray: Inbhir, the mouth of a river. The mouth of the River Aray. Aray may mean 'the sandy banked river.' The town dates from 1742.

Inverchaolain: Inbhir, mouth of; chaolain, a narrow stream or channel. Kames: Camus, a bay.

Kilfinan: The church (or cell) of St. Finan. This may be St. Finan of Lindisfarne about 650, or Finn (otherwise Finnan), a saint of Irish birth. Previous to the Reformation the church belonged to the Abbey of Paisley.

Kilmun: The church (or cell) or burial place of St. Mun. The great saint of this name was Fintan Macumoi, son of Tolchan, to whom Adamnan devoted a section of the life of St. Columba. The churchyard is the burial place of the Argyll family, inc Earl Archibald who died at Flodden.

Kirn: Place where stones for querns or millstones (churns) were quarried. There are quarries behind the village at the top of Dalfauld Brae and at Cowal Golf Course. The name would appear to be comparatively modern, there being no trace of it before the 18th century.

Kyles of Bute: Caol, narrow, strait.

Loch Eck: Eck, ach, a horse. The horse loch. A map of 1571 refers to Loch Heke, an obvious attempt at a phonetic rendering of the name. This supports the meaning derived from the word for horse, as do the nearby 'horsey' names of Echaig and Inverchapel (from capull, a mare), and by the importance horses had in the life of older communities, so this meaning is more likely than another suggested meaning derived from airc (a calamity), based on an old tale.

Loch Fyne: Gaelic fionn, white pure, holy.

Loch Goil: Gobhail, a fork (with Loch Long).

Loch Striven: The meaning is not clear, as older forms of the name do not suggest affinities with any Gaelic word; although sraibhthine (lightning) has been suggested.

Ormidale: Ormr, a Norse word meaning a snake, serpent or worm; dale, a valley. The valley of the snake.

Otter Ferry: Oitir, a sandbank, referring to the prominent sandbank clearly visible at low tide. This place was the eastward landing place for the ferry from Mid Argyll, and was at one time the main route from there to Dunoon and the ferry from there to the Cloch for Glasgow and the south.

Paisley: Gaelic paislig, meaning church, churchyard, but there is an old British name which is reflected in Welsh - pasgill, pasture.

Rashfield: The field of rushes. A literal translation of its old name of Ardluachruach.

Rhubaan: Rudha, a point, promontory; bhan, fair, white.

Rothesay: The prefix probably refers to Ruari (Roderick), the second son of Reginald son of Somerled, the progenitor of the MacDonalds. The second part is Norse a, ay, an island.

Sandbank: Named after the sandy beach at the head of the Holy Loch.

Strachur: srath, a valley; cur is the river which flows through the valley, and it probably takes its name from curra, a heron.

Strone: Sron, a nose. As in 'strath' a 't' has been inserted for ease of pronunciation. Sron is given to any headland jutting out into the sea.

Tighnabruaich: Tigh, a house; an, of the; bruaich, brae, bank. The house on the brae.

Tom-an-mhoid: Tom, round hillock, rising ground; an, of the; mhoid, court, meeting place. The hill of the court of justice. The place where in older times the local barons meted out justice.

Toward: Dubh (pronounced 'doo'), black or dark; ard, place, height promontory. The black point or place.

Uig: Uig, a nook, hollow or cliff.

Wemyss Bay: Gaelic uamh (pronounced 'weem'), cave.

Whistlefield: Tigh-na-fead, the house of the whistle. This is an old wayside tavern, so called from the custom of blowing a whistle by travellers or by a lookout to signal the impending arrival of the mail coach, or to summon a ferry.

Further reading - History of Argyll by Dr. C. M. Macdonald. Celtic Place Names of Scotland by W. J. Watson. Scottish Place Names by W. F. H. Nicolaisen. Place Names of Cowal by A. McLean.

Return To Scottish Placenames