English / Map Form: Auchnagatt
Gaelic Form: Achadh nan Cat
County: Aberdeenshire
Local Authority: Aberdeenshire
English / Map Form: Auchnagatt
Gaelic Form: Achadh nan Cat
Prepositional Form: Achadh nan Cat
Language Notes
"Ach nan gad, field of the withes, sauchs. This is the best meaning that has been offered. But cat, cat or cat, sheep-cot, would either of them in the genitive plural with the article give, by reason of eclipsis a sound like 'nagatt'.": Alexander 1954, 11Element Meaning
Sources
terciam partem de Aldyngat’ 1328 RRS v no. 347
Myll of Achnagat 1544 Aberdeen-Banff Illustrations iv, 22
Sayhock & Achnagat 1544 Aberdeen-Banff Illustrations iv, 22
Additional Information
Thanks to Simon Taylor for the early forms. It would appear the earliest version was Allt nan Cat ‘the burn of the cats’. Alexander’s second derivation is more likely.
