English / Map Form: Blairvadach
Gaelic Form: Blàr a' Bhadaich
Location: Helensburgh, Argyll
Post Town: HELENSBURGH
County: Argyll & Bute
Local Authority: Argyll & Bute
English / Map Form: Blairvadach
Gaelic Form: Blàr a' Bhadaich
Language Notes
G nom. sg. blàr, ‘plain’ + gen. sg. masc. def. art a’ (leniting and slenderising) + G nom. sg. adj.badach ‘abounding in groves’ = ‘plain of the place abounding in groves’Element Meaning
G blàr ~ plain; badach ~ abounding in groves
Sources
| Blarvotych | c. 1240 Cartularium comitatus de Levenax p. 45 |
| Blairvaddich | c. 1240 Cartularium comitatus de Levenax p. 45 |
| Blairwaddich | 1545 RMS no. 3140 vol. III |
| Blairwaddicht | 1565 RMS no. 1623 vol. IV |
| Blairfoddag | c. 1591 Pont map16 |
| Blairvaddoich | 1625 Retours (Dumbarton) no. 25 |
| Blairfodacg | 1654 Blaeu map Lennox |
| Blairvadoch | 1655 Retours (Dumbarton) no. 53 |
| Blairvaddoiche | 1661 Retours (Dumbarton) no. 57 |
| Blairwadick | 1676 Retours (Dumbarton) no. 69 |
| Blairvaddich | 1680 Retours (Dumbarton) no. 71 |
| Blairivadick | 1685 Retours (Dumbarton) no. 78 |
| Blairvadick | 1747-1755 Roy’s Military Survey of Scotland |
| Blarvadaig | 1777 Ross’s map of the Shire of Dumbarton. |
| Blarvadig, ? Blairvatan | 1814 Rentals of the Parish of Row |
| ? Blairvaddan | 1832 Thomson’s Map of Scotland |
| Blairvadock | 1865 OS 6 inch edn. |
| Blairvaddick | 1895 Annals of Garelochside p. 74 |
| Blairvadock | 1912 Bartholomew’s Map |
Additional Information
This name is not clear, the adjectival proposal would give *Blàr Badach, but lenition is consistently represented in the old forms. The genitival form would give *Blàr Bhadaig, which best fits with the later old forms, although the older forms show the final syllable as -(a)ich in most instances. The earliest form might suggest Blàr a’ Bhodaich, ‘plain of the old man’. The two forms from 1814 and 1832 ending in an may represent a separate settlement, since the name mentioned in the Rentals is in the same list as the Blarvadig form and the Thompson name is some distance from the site of present day Blairvadach. A possibility exists that the specific represents lenited gen. sg. mhadaidh,
of nom. sg. madadh, ‘wolf ’, but the old forms suggest a final syllable in -aig or -ach rather than
-aidh.
