SCOTS PLACE NAMES

One of Scotland’s three native languages, Scots, groups together a few different dialects and is spoken throughout the south and east of the country, all the way north to the Shetland Isles. Clocking these on the map can help you get a sense of what you’ll find on the ground. brae - hill slope or uplands brig - bridge

burn - mountain stream

cairn - pile of stones, often marking the route or a hilltop causey - causeway comb - rounded side of a hill, or cwm corrie - cwm, the hollow on the side of a mountain craig - rocky place dod or dodd - bare hill with rounded top firth - estuary or sea loch

flow - peat bog

kyle - sound or strait

law - a conical, rounded hill links - grassy dunes mire - peat-bog

muckle/mickle/meikle - great or big linn - waterfall or deep, narrow gorge nether - lower muir - rough grazing mull - headland spout - waterfall or spring shiel - bothy or shepherd’s hut sauchie - willow woodland