Clues found in ancient map
Bridge of Allan
So what is the connection between this map and Bridge of Allan? This is called the Ptolemaic map and is the first ever made of Scotland.
It was produced by Greek geographers on behalf of the Roman Empire in the second century AD, based on information from traders, spies and invasion.
It’s a bit inaccurate and has been bent in the middle at Stirling - note to anyone not overly familiar with our wee country’s shape, Aberdeenshire is not normally considered to be south of Galloway!
This happened because the Greeks couldn’t believe that anyone lived that far north and so rather than change their theories they tried to change Scotland - a foolhardy attempt that many others have tried and failed!
Anyway this map shows a series of forts and settlements to the north of the Forth, one of which is called Alauna. Now some people argue that is Ardoch, which is one of the best preserved Roman timber forts in the world and well worth a visit. Other people suggest it may be a lost native fort from which the Keir estate was named -“keir”is based on the older pre-gaelic word“caer”which means“fort”. I think it’s more likely that the Romans named their own fort.
To return to my original question, while
Bridge of Allan is not on the map, Aluana is probably Allan after 2000 years of change. The river rises in the Ochils near Blackford so it may be that the fort and river were named after the same thing, perhaps the area or a feature in the Ochils or perhaps the fort was named after the river?
Certainly, Alauna is a common enough name across Roman Britain so perhaps it’s a forgotten god or goddess?