This page gives details on some of the research projects we’ve been involved in. It is hoped that in the future this may include some of the raw fieldwork data from community place-name projects which other researchers may find useful.
Forgotten Woodlands (2024)
The Forgotten Woodland dataset aims to catalogue all Scottish place-names indicative of woodland coverage. The extensive research, undertaken by Dr Jake King of Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba, focuses on Gaelic, though names from Scots, English, Old Norse and British are also included. Over 15,000 names have been gathered. Many appear in areas of ancient woodland, but others lie in open ground. Could these be the locations of long-forgotten woodlands?
See the project report here.
The project was funded by Future Woodlands Scotland, University of Edinburgh, and NatureScot.
Gaelic in the Landscape Series
in partnership with NatureScot
Place-names of Eriskay (2019)
Place-names of Colonsay and Oronsay (2017)
Place-names of Strath, Isle of Skye (2015)
The Rough Bounds of Lochaber (2013)
Place-names in Islay and Jura (2011)
This series of booklets were written in partnership with NatureScot and are a celebration of people and our natural environment. By drawing on local knowledge, a wealth of place-names – including many that had not been recorded in print before – were collected by local fieldworkers.
Project funders and partners included: NatureScot, Soillse, CnaG and Ceòlas.
It is intended that the raw material from the fieldwork will be made available to other researchers in the near future. In the meantime, you can download a PDF copy of each booklet from our shop where some hard copies are still available for a postage fee.
Scotsman Shorts 2016-17
by Dr Jacob King
From March 2016 to December 2017 our senior researcher, Dr Jacob King, produced short weekly pieces about Gaelic place-names which were published in the Gaelic section of the Scotsman’s Saturday publication. These shorts had a strict word count, so detail was concise, but interesting none the less.
The purpose of this document is to collate all of these shorts in one place as an archive, with the contents in date order of publication. All the place-names discussed here can be found in our database and are linked directly throughout the document found here.
