English / Map Form: Erray
Gaelic Form: An Eirbhe
Location: Isle of Mull
Post Town: ISLE OF MULL
County: Argyll & Bute
Local Authority: Argyll & Bute
English / Map Form: Erray
Gaelic Form: An Eirbhe
Language Notes
G fem. sg. def. art an + nom. sg. eirbhe, fem. `fence, wall'Element Meaning
G eirbhe ~ fence, wall
Sources
| Eray | 1775 Mackenzie: The sound of Mull |
| Erra | 1801 Langland’s map of Argyleshire |
| Eray | 1804 Heather |
| Errai | 1820 Thomson |
| Erie House | 1851 Admiralty Chart 1256 |
| Erray, Coille nan Erray | 1881 OS 6 inch 1st edn. |
Additional Information
Erray Rd leads to Erray House to the North and Druim Erray (Druim nan Erray 1881 OS 6 inch edn.) further North; there is also Coille nan Erray.
Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland says: “At Erray (an Eirbhe, the outlying part of a farm)… In olden times a wall (or turf) was commonly built to separate the crop land from the hill ground, and was known as Gàradh bràgh’d or upper wall. The ground above the Gàradh bràgh’d was known as the Eirbhe.”
The neighbouring names above containing the genitive plural article suggests the original name might have been plural, however the single has been used given the absence of any evidence of a nominative plural form and any corroborating evidence from non OS forms.
See Place Names of Mull, 157 and Watson 1926, 479-480 for other examples.