SCOTTISH PLACE NAMES (WAVERLEY) (PB)

A fascinating book about the names and origins of names of towns, villages, islands, mountains, lochs and rivers of Scotland, with their derivation - some curious, some extraordinary - explained throughout. It reveals Pictish, Celtic, Nordic and Anglo-Saxon influences and then with the arrival of the Scots in the 6th century, Gaelic names began to appear, followed a century later by Anglian names from the south. These were followed by French and Dutch, all influencing the 'Scots' tongue of the Middle Ages. The advent of the Norsemen in the 9th century produced Norse names in the North, the Northern and Western Isles and the South-West while many names are Scots transliterations of Gaelic. You will also learn how, over successive generations with political, economic and cultural changes, while Scots as a language became accepted and established, place names were not renewed or translated - they were merely 'Scotticised'.