Place name of the week

Fortaugustus~cillechuimein Fort Augustus gets its English name from the garrison built here after the Jacobite Rising of 1715, coined after Prince William Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland. Its pre-existing Gaelic name is Cille Chuimein ‘the church of (Saint) Cuimean’; Cuimean is considered to have been an Abbot of Iona. Cuimean is also celebrated in two other names nearby. Fuaran Chuimein or St Cummin’s Well was where Glendoe Lodge was built. He is also named in a parish boundary marker called Suidhe Chuimein, ‘Cuimean’s seat’.

Local tradition preserves two older names for the area now known as Fort Augustus. The first is Peit Mhathain or Pitmain possibly meaning ‘bear farm-stead’. The other name is Lios na h-oich supposedly meaning ‘the garden of the (River) Oich’. lfor more information visit www.ainmean-aite.scot