Place name of the week

Balquhidder - Both Chuidir/ Both Phuidir

Balquhidder (Bouquidder in 1540) has two Gaelic forms: Both Chuidir and Both Phuidir. The first element is both ‘bothy’. The modern English form looks as if it may be from Gaelic baile ‘farm’ but the name was never spelt or pronounced with an l until recent times, being pronounced Bo- locally.

The second element likely denotes the name of the area, but its meaning is obscure. The variation can be accounted for by the fact that in some dialects p and c are interchangeable. A Balquhidder man was known asa Puidreach.

A short distance to the east of Balquhidder is a place called Broomfield or in Gaelic Tom na Croiche ‘the hill of the gallows’. There is a stone here known in English as the Puidrac Stone, or in Gaelic Puidreag.

It is unclear if this stone is also named after the area, or if Balquhidder was named after the stone. lfor more information visit Ainmean-àite na h-alba at www.ainmean-aite.org