Argyll place names’ place in our history

Place names are so much part of everyday surroundings it can sometimes be forgotten what they say about local history.

These names could give a clue to former occupations or work practices, to a person closely associated with the location or simply be a perfect, shortform description of that place in physical or topographical terms.

Looking into the wide diversity of names to be found on the maps of West Dunbartonshire and Argyll, place-name enthusiasts are meeting shortly in Arrochar for the autumn conference of the Scottish Place-Name Society, in the Three Villages Hall on Saturday November 2. Arrochar was an obvious choice as a venue for this all-day gathering, which is also open to non-members, as two of the main subjects under discussion have links with the district.

Hundreds of place names from Argyll, Arran, West Dunbartonshire, West Perthshire and Lochaber were recorded by Arrochar man John Dewar (1802-1872), who was paid by the Duke of Argyll to travel around west Scotland recording oral history. When written up in Gaelic, this resulted in the 7,000-page Dewar manuscripts which contain numerous place names (settlements, rocks, caves, fords and other natural features), including many not known from other sources.

The place names of Arrochar parish itself take up another section of the conference. A group of village people were so inspired during a place-name workshop held as part of a Hidden Heritage project that they got engaged in a spin-off study of names within the parish, which stretches from the top of Loch Long across to the northern half of Loch Lomond and beyond Ardlui. The end result is a publication entitled Gaelic Place Names of Arrochar Parish, a guide to the meaning behind the names.

Anyone interested in attending can visit the website of the Scottish PlaceName Society (www.spns.org.uk) where more details can be found.