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    Glasgow's Gaelic Place-names
    Glasgow's Gaelic Place-names
    Glasgow's Gaelic Place-names
    Ebook149 pages1 hour

    Glasgow's Gaelic Place-names

    By Alasdair C. Whyte, Katherine Forsyth and Simon Taylor

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    It is time to bin – once and for all – the nonsense that Gaelic was never spoken in Glasgow. In fact, Glasgow's place-names tell us that Gaelic has been spoken in Glasgow for around a thousand years. Showcasing new research from the University of Glasgow, this illustrated guide to Glasgow's Gaelic namescape reveals how place-names are a key to unlocking Glasgow's hidden past and takes the reader on a journey of discovery the length and breadth of this great modern city – from Yoker in the west to Daldowie in the east, via Boclair, Carmunnock and many other places in between.

    The truth about Glasgow's past, present and future dispels myths and throws up countless surprises about Glasgow's deep Gaelic roots.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrigin
    Release dateNov 21, 2023
    ISBN9781788856492
    Glasgow's Gaelic Place-names
    Author

    Alasdair C. Whyte

    Dr Alasdair C. Whyte is a Lord Kelvin/Adam Smith Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow. He was named Tosgaire na Gaidhlig/ Gaelic Ambassador of the Year by The Scottish Government at the Royal National Mod in Glasgow in October 2019.

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      Book preview

      Glasgow's Gaelic Place-names - Alasdair C. Whyte

      Illustration

      The Authors | Na h-Ùghdaran

      Dr Alasdair C. Whyte is a Lord Kelvin/Adam Smith Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow. He was named Tosgaire na Gàidhlig/Gaelic Ambassador of the Year by The Scottish Government at the Royal National Mòd in Glasgow in October 2019.

      Professor Katherine Forsyth researches and teaches at the University of Glasgow with a focus on the Celtic early Middle Ages. Like many Glaswegians, her Gaelic-speaking ancestors migrated to the city in the 19th century, and she is a learner of the language.

      Dr Simon Taylor of the University of Glasgow is the foremost expert on Scottish place-names. He has published extensively on Scotland’s place-names, including the five-volume series The Place-Names of Fife. He is General Editor of the Survey of Scottish Place-Names.

      First published in 2023 by

      Origin, an imprint of

      Birlinn Limited

      West Newington House

      10 Newington Road

      Edinburgh

      EH9 1QS

      www.birlinn.co.uk

      Copyright © Alasdair C. Whyte, Katherine Forsyth and Simon Taylor 2023

      Copyright for images as per List of Figures

      The right of Alasdair C. Whyte, Katherine Forsyth and Simon Taylor to be identified as Authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the express written permission of the publisher and Alasdair C. Whyte at the University of Glasgow

      ISBN: 978 1 83983 046 4

      British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      Designed and typeset by Dress for the Weather

      Printed and Bound in Great Britain by Ashford Colour Press, Hampshire

      Contents

      Preface

      Introduction

      Urban Myths

      Chapter One. Sources

      Early Sources

      Early Sources: A Timeline

      Maps

      Chapter Two. The Language of Place-Names

      The Place-Name Lab

      The Structure of Place-Names

      Changing Namescapes

      Place-Name Elements Revealed

      Chapter Three. Place-Names, Environment and Society

      Roots, Fruits and Natural Resources

      Land Forms

      Waterways

      People

      Industry

      The Church

      Archaeology

      Chapter Four. Glasgow's Gaelic Place-Names

      The List: Glasgow’s Gaelic Place-Names

      Glasgow's Gaelic Place-Name Elements

      Further Reading

      List of Figures

      Map of Glasgow

      Acknowledgements | Buidheachas

      The authors would like to thank Dr Kenny Brophy, Rona Dhòmhnallach, Dr Peter Drummond, Sacha Ferguson, Brittnee Leysen, Matt McKenna, Erin Park, Massimo Sannino, Hazel Wallace, Professor Stephen Driscoll, Dr Joanna Tucker, Professor Thomas Owen Clancy and Comhairle nan Leabhraichean (The Gaelic Books Council).

      This book received financial support from the University of Glasgow’s Glasgow Knowledge Exchange Fund.

      Preface

      Ro-ràdh

      by Dr. Alasdair C. Whyte

      I am a Gaelic-learner from the island of Muile~Mull in the Hebrides. I came to Glasgow at the age of eighteen to study Arts at the University of Glasgow. Initially, I studied History, French and Gaelic but it was not long before I was enticed into a degree specialising in Gaelic as part of the wider subject of Celtic Civilisation – the study of the shared languages, culture and history of Celtic peoples past and present across Europe.

      During my upbringing in Muile and my time in Glasgow, I have become increasingly aware of the profound depth and wealth of Gaelic language and culture (one branch of the Celtic family tree of languages) in our country – not only on my native island but in almost every corner of Scotland, including here in Glasgow. Our best witnesses for this are Scotland’s place-names. It is these place-names more than any other source that reveal Glasgow’s (and Scotland’s) long, rich Gaelic story; that add colour to our pictures of Glasgow’s past; that give names to our otherwise anonymous forebears.

      In 2023, the city of Glasgow leads the way in the provision of Gaelic-medium education as Scotland embraces an inclusive, progressive, multilingual, multicultural future. However, Gaelic isn’t new to Glasgow. Glasgow’s Gaelic story doesn’t begin in the nineteenth century with Highlanders and Islanders evicted from their homes during the age of the Clearances. It doesn’t begin in the 21st century with Highlanders and Islanders taking up employment opportunities in the modern city. It doesn’t begin with BBC ALBA or with Glasgow’s new Gaelic schools. The vitality of Gaelic language and culture has ebbed and flowed in Glasgow across the centuries, as it has everywhere, but Glasgow has not suddenly ‘gone Gaelic’. Gaelic has been part of this city’s story for around a thousand years or more. This is the hidden story of Gaelic in Glasgow – so far – through its place-names.

      Introduction

      A Millennium of Gaelic in Glasgow

      Before we begin this story, let’s define Glasgow. For the purposes of this book, Glasgow is the area within the modern Glasgow City Council boundary: from Yoker in the west to Gartloch in the east; from Millichen in the north to Carmunnock in the south (with a couple of references to places on the outskirts here and there for context). You will immediately recognise some of these place-names as the names of modern districts within the city. Others you will recognise as destinations lit up on Glasgow’s buses. Some survive only in the names of streets. Some refer to wee farms and you might have to find them using the map. Others have fallen out of use and off the modern map altogether.

      Talking of farms, one of the things that immediately hits you when researching Glasgow’s place-names is how rural this area was until relatively recently. Until the nineteenth century, large parts of what is now Glasgow were home to farms and open countryside. We can see this on old maps (a hugely important source for place-names, as we’ll see shortly) but it is the place-names on these maps that give us a unique insight into Glasgow’s rural past and its development from a rural area into a modern city, as well as a unique insight into the minds and lives of Glasgow’s people and how they saw their surroundings.

      In 1601, Glasgow’s population was around 7,000. In 1801, it was just over 75,000. By 1901, it was over 750,000.

      Quite simply, Glasgow’s place-names are our single most important source for understanding Glasgow’s linguistic story. They tell us that Gaelic was the predominant language here for centuries – from at least as early as the eleventh century. Glasgow’s Gaelic place-names bring

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