Place name of the week

Gizzen Briggs ~ Drochaid an Fhaoibh

The Gizzen Briggs (Droit neuf in c. 1591) is a sandy bank across the Dornoch Firth, a notoriously dangerous area for navigation. Although the name sounds Scots, it seems to derive from Old Norse gisnar bryggjur ‘leaky bridge’. The Scots word gizzened can be applied to barrels that have become leaky from drying in the sun.

The Gaelic form of the name is not well understood. The first part is certainly drochaid ‘bridge’. The final element has been ascribed a number of meanings and spellings; most likely, the name was originally aobh meaning a sort of kelpie or mermaid, later reanalysed toas( an t-) agh ‘(the) heifer’. This is the form used in a poem: Is thèid sinn ruaig do Dhòrnach, is chì sinn Droit an Agh ‘and we will go on a hunt to Dornoch, and see the Gizzen Briggs’. lfor more information visit www.ainmean-aite.org