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The study of place names is called Toponomy. Etymology is the study of the roots of words. Onomastics is the study of the formation of proper names, in this instance, place names with regards to the totality of its physical, historical and functional origin. I try to avoid using these terms.
There is no one book covering all Scots place names. In other words, no Scots dictionary of place names. And there never will be, as long as the Anglo-Saxon Heresy (A.S.H.) persists.
There is an excellent book by Prof. W.J.Watson, ‘Celtic Placenames of Scotland’, latest edition, 1993, published by Birlinn, which is the most authoritative book on the Celtic (Gaelic/Brythonic)source of names, but it is mostly silent on the great number of non-Celtic names. He wrote this book in the 1920s when he was Prof. of Celtic Studies at Edinburgh University.
Prof. Nicolaisen, wrote ‘Scottish Place- Names’ in 1976 and did attempt the non-Celtic place names, but since he attributes many to an Anglo-Saxon background that I do not accept, I cannot sanction his conclusions. For example, he gives the town of Hawick in the Scots Borders as coming from Anglo-Sazon, Haga wic, ‘hedge farm’. I give it in my forthcoming book, ‘Place Names of Scotland’, as Old Norse, Haga, vík, ‘pasture or grazing land at a confluence of waters’. I also mention a dozen and more Old Norse (Norwegian variety) names in the town and surrounding area, and also the fact that Hawick was settled at the confluence of the Slitrig Water and the River Teviot, in other words at a ‘wick’. Now that’s onomastics for you.
David Dorward produced a popular and well written book in 1995, ‘Scotland’s Place Names’, which unfortunately is blighted by the aforementioned heresy. One example. He talks of Sound in Scotland as in Sound of Bute, Mull and Jura, and concludes it is from the Old English word sund, ‘swimming’, and is only found on Scottish maps. Sound comes from the Old Norse, Sund, ‘strait, channel, a narrow passage’ which is exactly what we find in these places and the other Sounds in Scotland-and Plymouth Sound in England. I have found little original in his work-apart from his pleasing style, which makes it preferable to the ‘Tourist Board’ offerings.
Rev. James Johnston first brought out his book, ‘Place-Names of Scotland’ in 1892, and the last edition in 1934. I think it is out of print now, a great pity. It is an excellent work, educational and entertaining despite some dubious and wrong etymologies. His work of course suffers from the heresy, but reluctantly it seems to me. I have found his work a constant source of pleasure and a goldmine of old spellings. I have learnt even from his wrong etymologies. An example. He gives the meaning of Kelvinside in Glasgow as perhaps coming from the Gaelic, Caol Abhainn, ‘narrow water’. The river flows into the Clyde. There is a Kelvinhaugh nearby, which suggested it was Norse because of the ‘haugh’ element. A little investigation reinforced this opinion, with Norse names like the Luggie Water and Glazert Water flowing into the Kelvin. Also note that ‘haugh’ a very Scots word, which is what I call a ‘Problem Word’, because the Anglo-Saxon Heresy (Scottish National Dictionary) says it comes from Old English, Heal, healh, which means a ‘secret place, nook, corner’. How can an alluvial grazing field (which is what a ‘haugh’ is) be a secret? Or a nook or corner? How would the cows know where to go? But more importantly, how long would it be a secret unless they stopped them mooing? If this haugh/nook nonsense were true then Scotland would have hundreds of secret fields-and secret coos and they would talk with an English accent!...not that you would know of course. Because of this misleading etymology, hundreds of place names in Scotland with ‘haugh’ in it, are written off as Old English. This is A.S.H. in action.
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