Jake King

Originally published in the Scotsman on 16 July 2016 Altimarlach Farm is a place in Caithness situated by a small watercourse now called ... Continue Reading about Altimarlach ~ Allt nam Mèirleach

Originally published in the Scotsman on 9 July 2016 Our earliest recorded mention of Iona comes from the Latin Vita Columbae, a book ... Continue Reading about Iona ~ Eilean Ì

Originally published in the Scotsman on 2 July 2016 This rock was an important strategic site in late antiquity and it is perhaps no ... Continue Reading about Dumbarton Rock ~ Ail Chluaidh / Creag Chluaidh

Originally published in the Scotsman on 25 June 2016 This name has a complicated history. The name of the current settlement takes its ... Continue Reading about Bannockburn ~ Allt a’ Bhonnaich

Originally published in the Scotsman on 18 June 2016 This river, which flows through Buchan and enters the sea near Peterhead, rises as ... Continue Reading about River Ugie ~ Uige

Originally published in the Scotsman on 11 June 2016 It is not only places in Scotland that have Gaelic names.  The town of Penrith in ... Continue Reading about Penrith ~ Pìorait

Originally published in the Scotsman on 28 May 2016 This odd-looking Banffshire name has given rise to a number of fanciful derivations, ... Continue Reading about Maggieknockater ~ Magh an Fhùcadair

Originally published in the Scotsman on 16 April 2016 For obvious reasons Culloden (Cullodyn in 1238) was a very well-known name in ... Continue Reading about Culloden ~ Cùil Lodair

Originally published in the Scotsman on 14 May 2016 There are two places with this name. The better-known one is in Gaelic Taigh an Droma ... Continue Reading about Tyndrum ~ Taigh an Droma

Originally published in the Scotsman on 7 May 2016 Càrn Eighe (as it appears on modern maps) is a mountain in Strathglass to the west of ... Continue Reading about Càrn Eighe ~ Càrn Èite

Originally published in the Scotsman on 30 April 2016 Birnam (Brannan in 1345) most likely reflects braonan, ‘little wet place’. The same ... Continue Reading about Birnam ~ Braonan

Originally published in the Scotsman on 23 April 2016 The name of Lamlash (Helantmlaysche late 14th Century) on the Isle of Arran has a ... Continue Reading about Lamlash ~ Eilean MoLaise

Originally published in the Scotsman on 21 May 2016 The Irish Annals record a battle in 685 between the Picts and the Northumbrians at a ... Continue Reading about Dunnichen ~ Dùn Eachain

The habit of tying a piece of rag or cloth to a tree so that people might be cured was once a more commonplace practice in Scotland but has ... Continue Reading about Hill o’ Hirdie, the Clootie Well at Munlochy and Saint Curitan