Roddy Maclean looks at place-name evidence for agriculture in locations which are uncultivated today
Leugh ann an Gàidhlig / Read in Gaelic
If you’ve travelled through the Scottish Highlands, you might well have seen evidence of a population that worked the land heavily in places which are almost, or completely, devoid of inhabitants or crop husbandry today. One might mention the abandoned upland farms of the north-east, such as in Aberdeenshire and Moray, or the feannagan of the west and islands – ribs of raised soil, often some distance from the nearest habitation, and known in English as ‘lazy beds’ (although the people that created and maintained them were anything but lazy). Our maps and place-name heritage can also indicate where land was once worked, which can complement our reading of the physical landscape – and can help to dispel the erroneous notion that the Highlands are some sort of ‘wilderness’.
The Gaelic word baile is an important one in Scottish toponymy. It means a place of permanent settlement and can be as large as a town and as small as a single house or steading. It sometimes appears in places considered remote today in the form seann-bhaile or seana-bhaile ‘old settlement’, sometimes anglicised Shenaval or similar on maps (dialectally, the terminal ‘e’ in baile is often dropped in speech). An example is to be found in Wester Ross in Srath na Sealg ‘the strath of the hunting’ – where the area name and the wildness of the situation today might lead one to suppose that no farming was ever done there. However, the well-known walkers’ ‘bothy’ at Shenavall was once home to a family that made a living from the land.
‘Shenval’ is an even more common anglicised form, with examples in Glen Gairn (Aberdeenshire) and Glen Urqhart near Loch Ness, among many other places. Close to the Glenlivet Distillery in Moray are both Shenval and the nearby Newtown of Shenval, showing the persistence of the old name in the toponymic landscape. Also in Moray are the Shenval south of Charlestown of Aberlour and others of the same name in Glen Fiddich and Strath Avon, with a Shenvault in Braemoray representing an earlier Shinval (the second element here perhaps being confused with allt ‘burn’ because of an adjacent watercourse). Shinvall in the eastern Flow Country of Caithness is still farmed but it is clear that, without human intervention, the area would be raw bogland. It is a very old settlement, already being shown on Roy’s mid-18th century military map as Shenvall. There is also a Shenval near Tullybelton in Perthshire, and the same name is represented by Shambellie near Dumfries.
Facing Shenavall in Wester Ross, across two rivers, is Larachantivore which in the original Gaelic is Làrach an Taigh Mhòir ‘the site of the big house’ which once boasted a large farmhouse. The use of làrach can represent knowledge of an ancient settlement that had, or has, become lost through time. The ancient hillfort at Craig Phadrig (Creag Phàdraig) in Inverness, uninhabited for centuries, was also known to local Gaelic speakers as Làrach an Taigh Mhòir. There are several examples of old farms represented by Ardlarach (Àrd-làrach ‘high dwelling site’) – near Tain in Easter Ross, and a few in Argyll, on the islands of Luing and Islay, and on the mainland near Ardfern.
Achadh, often shortened to Ach, is another important naming element. It means a ‘field’ and can still represent such, but in many instances a place named in Ach- was developed as a place of permanent settlement. It is a clear indication of agricultural activity in the past, regardless of how the place might appear today. Achadh nan Each ‘the field of the horses’ in Glen Aros on Mull, for example, is today smothered in plantation forestry but old maps show that it boasted a large enclosure (presumably where horses were kept). Achadh an Eas ‘the field of the waterfall’ is in Strath Naver in Sutherland (and named for a waterfall on the Mallart River). While seemingly remote and largely dependent on sheep-raising today, Roy’s map shows us that in the mid-18th century it was a thriving agricultural community.
Achadh an t-Seilich near Glenelg is a particularly fascinating name as it means ‘the field of the willow’ and is given on the maps as representing a broad swathe of hill country with green patches among the heather moorland. Why was achadh chosen here? Does it represent a place where the hill was managed for the growth of willow which was heavily used for domestic purposes such as the manufacture of creels and baskets? A similar explanation might obtain for Achadh Beithe ‘birch field’ north of Campbeltown in Kintyre but in this case old maps do show the lower part of the hill to be enclosed (with the birch trees perhaps beyond the wall on the higher slopes). Still in Argyll, there is an intriguing Garbh Achadh ‘rough field’ at nearly 500 metres altitude in uninhabited hill country between Loch Fyne and Loch Awe. Aerial photographs do not afford us a clue to its toponymic significance. Perhaps local historians will have an explanation.
In many parts of Scotland, a very large number of Ach– or Achadh– names have become anglicised (or, more accurately, rendered into Scots) as Auch-. Most of these names are applied to places that have remained inhabited and are very often still farmed today, so they are not particularly useful in determining locations that are no longer agriculturally productive. However, modern urban Auch- names can reflect a largely lost rurality and productivity, as in Auchinairn Achadh nan Àirne ‘the field or farm of the sloes’, Auchenshuggle Achadh an t-Seagail ‘the field or farm of the rye’ and Auchinleck Achadh nan Leac ‘field or farm of the slabs’, all of which are in Glasgow.
Near Fishnish on Mull is a feature known as the Achadh Fada ‘long field’. The name suggests a more intensive agricultural usage than is evident in the landscape today. Close by, on the edge of Fishnish Bay, is a feature labelled Goirtean Driseach which means ‘brambly enclosure’. Goirtean (sometimes Gortan) is a ‘small enclosure for growing crops or fruit trees’ and is an important naming element that can throw light on past agricultural activity. In most cases, the original productive enclosure, as in this example, has long since disappeared. Goirtean can also be found on maps in the forms Gort- or Gart- and in the anglicised form Gorstan (reflecting the pronunciation in most dialects). The word is not particularly active in the modern language except in compound nouns such as ubhal-ghort ‘orchard, particularly apple orchard’ and meas-ghort ‘fruit garden or orchard’.
Gorstanvorran (Goirtean Mhoirein in Gaelic) on the southern shore of Loch Shiel is a classic example of an old Goirtean- name, being situated in a sparsely inhabited location where agriculture is today notable for its general absence. And in an equally remote location, also in Lochaber, is Lochan Lòn a’ Ghairt ‘the lochan of the damp meadow of the agricultural enclosure’ near Loch Beoraid, which on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (surveyed 1873) is shown as uninhabited, with the nearest population being to the north in Meoble. Baligortan Baile a’ Ghoirtein ‘the settlement of the agricultural enclosure’ in the north-west of the island of Ulva, off the coast of Mull, is another example of a Goirtean- name in a location that is currently entirely uninhabited. And, without the place-name, it would hardly be obvious today that grain was once grown in Gorteneorn Goirtean Eòrna ‘barley enclosure’ near Kentra Bay in Ardnamurchan. In a future blog, I’ll look at where specific grain crops are named in the Gaelic landscape.
As with some urban Auch- names mentioned earlier, the City of Glasgow boasts a considerable number of Gart- place-names which speak to us of a rural and agriculturally productive past. Examples are Gartnavel Gart an Abhaill ‘the enclosure or farm of the apple trees or orchard’, Gartgad Gart nan Gad ‘the enclosure or farm of the wooden rods’, Garscube Gart Sguab ‘enclosure or farm of corn sheaves’, Garnkirk Gart nan Cearc ‘the enclosure or farm of the hens’ and the fascinating Gartscadden Gart Sgadain ‘enclosure of herring’ (the earliest record of which is in 1369 and likely referred to a place where herring was sold). If the reader is interested in the city’s place-name heritage, I can recommend the recently published Glasgow’s Gaelic Place-Names by Alasdair C Whyte (published by Birlinn). In the Central Belt outside Glasgow, we also have urban examples in places like Gartsherrie Gart Searraich ‘foal enclosure’ in Coatbridge and nearby Gartcosh Gart Còis ‘enclosure or farm by the hollow’.
I’m going to conclude with the element ceapach (sometimes ceapaich) ‘tilled plot’ – the word indicating likely working of the ground for crops or vegetables (to the exclusion of pastoral pursuits). As might be expected, most Ceapach places, often anglicised as Keppoch, remain inhabited today and do not throw light on locations that have lost their population or agricultural usage. However, in the hills south of Strathcarron in Easter Ross, well furth of a population centre, there is Creag na Ceapaich ‘the rocky hill of the tillage plot’. On the modern OS 1:25,000 map what appears to be an enclosure is marked a short distance from the hill. Was this a plot that was worked to serve the people at nearby Ruigh na Mèinne ‘the slope of the mine or ore’? Was there actually a mine there or is W.J. Watson correct when he states that the descriptor can refer to a place where the water shows signs of containing iron oxides? Whatever the answer, its exposed situation would suggest that it was unlikely to have been inhabited for a long period.
And, finally, uninhabited Keppoch A’ Cheapaich ‘the tillage plot’ near the head of Little Loch Broom in Wester Ross (see map above) is in danger of being lost to view within an expanding native woodland. The place-name (along with nearby Creag na Ceapaich and Sròn Creag na Ceapaich ‘the steeply sloping end of the rocky hill of Keppoch’) reminds us that here was once a settled population who made their living, at least in part, from cultivating and harvesting crops.
This blog was written by Inverness-based writer, broadcaster and storyteller Roddy (Ruairidh) Maclean, whose work highlights the connections between the Gaelic language and Scotland’s environment.
Discover more about the Gaelic language, culture and heritage in this 2021 Ecosystems and Gaelic research report written by Roddy Maclean.
Scotland's Nature 
You must be logged in to post a comment.