Tha an t-ainm seo ga chur fhathast air ceàrn ann an ceann an ear Ghlaschu. Tha fianais am broinn seann riochdan an ainm gun robh dàimh aig tè aig an robh a’ Ghàidhlig ri baile sa cheàrn seo ann an 1170. Chithear an t-ainm ann an riochd Laidinneach ann an 1170 ach nuair a chaidh an t-ainm a chlàradh ann an 1173, is ann an riochd Ghàidhealach a chithear co-dhiù mìr den ainm. Ann an Gàidhlig an latha an-diugh, is e Baile Nighean Sheadna a tha againn air villa inineschadin, mar a chaidh a chlàradh ann an 1173. Bho shean, is e ‘Baile Ingne Seadna’ no mar sin a bha aig Gàidheil ionadach air an àite. Is e ainm fear a tha ann an Seadna agus is cinnteach gum b’ e bana-Ghàidheal a bha san nighinn aige.

Chan eil iomradh air nighean Sheadna san ainm a tha aig luchd-labhairt na Beurla agus na Beurla Gallta air an àite san latha an-diugh. Ann an ‘Shettleston’, is e am facal ‘toun’ sa Bheurla Ghallta a tha air facal Laidinneach, ‘villa’, ionadachadh. Leis gur h-e ainm Gàidhealach a tha ann an Seadna agus leis gu bheil am facal ‘nighean’ air a chlàradh san ainm ann an 1173, cha bhiodh e idir na iongantas mas e is gun do stèidhicheadh an t-ainm seo bho thùs le Gàidheil agus gu bheil am facal ‘villa’ air ‘baile’ ionadachadh sna riochdan as sine a tha againn.

Mar sin, is e ainm air leth cudromach a tha ann am Baile Nighean Sheadna air iomadach adhbhar. Mar thoiseach, is gann gun lorgar ainmeanan bhan ann an ainmeanan-àite na h-Alba sna meadhan-aoisean. A bhàrr air seo, tha na seann riochdan a tha againn aig deireadh an 12ra linn a’ nochdadh gun robh a’ Ghàidhlig aig sgrìobhaichean eaglaise ionadach san linn sin. Chan eil seo na iongantas a bharrachd: chaidh ainmeanan pearsanta den leithid Gillemachoi — GilleMoChotha ann an Gàidhlig an latha an-diugh — a chlàradh mu 1180 faisg air Baile Nighean Sheadna ann an Ceann Chluaidh. Aig an àm sin, is cinnteach gum b’ i a’ Ghàidhlig prìomh chànain na sgìreachd-easbaig. Chaidh na riochdan as sine a tha againn de Bhaile Nighean Sheadna a chlàradh nuair a bha a’ Ghàidhlig agus a’ Bheurla Ghallta aig muinntir an àite agus nuair a bha Laideann aig na h-uaislean. Is gann gu bheil tùs a bheir seachad fianais air a’ choimhearsnachd ioma-chànainich seo nas fheàrr na seann riochdan Baile Nighean Sheadna.

“Tha fianais am broinn seann riochdan an ainm gun robh dàimh aig tè aig an robh a’ Ghàidhlig ri baile sa cheàrn seo ann an 1170.”

Baile Nighean Sheadna

Shettleston

villa filie Sadin (1170); villa inineschadin (1173); villam filie Sedin (1179); Schedenestun (1182)

baile + nighean + Seadna

‘Seadna’s daughter’s farm’

Shettleston applies to an area in the east end of the modern city. The earliest forms of Shettleston provide evidence for a farm here associated with a Gaelic-speaking woman at least as early as 1170. The 1170 form villa filie Sadin is in Latin and means ‘(the) vill or farm of Seadna’s daughter’; filie is from the Latin word filia ‘daughter’. In the 1173 form, inine is from the Gaelic word ingen ‘daughter’ (nighean in modern Gaelic). Seadna is a Gaelic male personal name and it is very likely that Seadna’s daughter was a Gaelic-speaker.

The later Scots form of the place-name, Shettleston, which is first recorded in 1182 as Schedenest’ (probably an abbreviation of Schedenestun), does not include the word daughter but does preserve the personal name Seadna. It also translates the Latin word villa as Scots toun ‘farm, landholding, settlement’. Given that Seadna is a Gaelic name and considering ‘inine’ in the 1173 form villa inineschadin, the Latin word villa in these earliest forms of Shettleston could be a translation of an original Gaelic word: baile ‘farm, settlement’.

Considering all this, Shettleston is an important place-name for several reasons. Firstly, it is one of only a handful of medieval Scottish place-names which refer to a woman. Secondly, fluctuation between Latin filia and Gaelic nighean in the historical forms of the place-name shows that the scribes of the church of Glasgow writing down these forms in the 1170s were familiar with Gaelic. This is hardly surprising given that tenants with Gaelic names like GilleMoChotha were being recorded in nearby Kinclaith (in the area of Glasgow Green) in the same period. At that time, Gaelic was no doubt the dominant language in the local diocese (the district under the care of the bishop of Glasgow). The earliest forms of Shettleston were recorded at a time when locals were familiar with Gaelic and Scots, and the people recording these names, people who were at the highest level of society, were familiar with Latin. There is probably no better source for tracing the languages spoken in Glasgow in the medieval period than Shettleston’s earliest forms.

Is ann an ceann an iar-dheas Ghlaschu a tha Cair Dhòmhnaill. Is e ainm Gàidhealach air neo ainm Briothannach a tha seo.

Tha am facal Briothannach ‘cair’, mar a tha e ga litreachadh san àbhaist, bitheanta sna h-ainmeanan-àite. Tha dlùth-dhàimh aig ‘cair’ ris an fhacal Chuimreach ‘caer’ a lorgar ann an ainmeanan den leithid Caerdydd. Tha ainmeanan-àite a’ nochdadh gun robh am facal Briothannach ga chur air dùin agus ionadan mìlidheach Ròmanach, a thuilleadh air dùin-chnoic agus daingnichean ro-eachdraidheil.

Chaidh am facal Briothannach a ghabhail a-steach don Ghàidhlig gu h-ionadach is mar sin dh’fhaoidteadh gur h-e ainm Briothannach a chaidh a thogail an uair sin le Gàidheil ionadach a tha ann an Cair Dhòmhnaill; air an làimh eile, dh’fhaoidteadh gun deach an t-ainm-àite seo a stèidheachadh le Gàidheil bho thùs. Mas e ainm Briothannach a tha seo, is e ‘Cair Dhòmhnaill’ no mar sin a bha aig Gàidheil ionadach air an àite nuair a chaidh a chlàradh an toiseach ann an 1413.

Is e ainm fear a tha anns an dara mìr den ainm-àite. Dh’fhreumhaich an dà chuid Dòmhnall agus Dyfnwal, riochd Briothannach den aon ainm, san aon cho-fhillteach bho shean: *Dumno-u̯alos (tha * an seo a’ comharrachadh co-fhillteach air a cho-dhealbhadh as ùr bho na tùsan a tha againn). Is follaiseach an dàimh eadar ciad mhìr a’ cho-fhilltich seo agus am facal domhan ann an Gàidhlig an latha an-diugh. Bha mòran daoine don ainm Dòmhnall agus Dyfnwal sna meadhan-aoisean; mar eisimpleir, tha ainm Rìgh Srath Chluaidh eadar 962 is 975 clàraichte ann an tùsan Briothannach mar ‘Dyfnwal ab Owain’ agus ann an tùsan Gàidhealach mar ‘Domnall mac Eogain’. Air sgàth thùsan loma, chan eil sinn cinnteach cò an Dòmhnall a tha comharraichte san ainm-àite seo. Air uairean, is e gaisgich nan làithean a dh’aom a bha air an comharrachadh ann an ùr-ainmeanan anns an robh ‘cair’ ach air uairean eile is e daoine co-aimsireil a bha air an comharrachadh.

Is e tùs anns a bheil Iain Norwald, tighearna Chair Dhòmhnaill, ainmichte ann an 1413 a tha air an riochd as sine den ainm-àite seo a thoirt dhuinn. Ann an 1562, chaidh dùn (‘fortalice’) a chlàradh sa cheàrn seo agus is coltach gun robh an dùn seo agus an ‘cair’ anns a bheil iomradh san ainm-àite air an aon làraich. Dh’fhaoidteadh gu bheil am facal ‘cair’ aig bun ainm ionadaich eile: Kerr Hill. Tha e glè choltach gun do dh’fhreumhaich am facal ‘keir’ sa Bheurla Ghallta ann an ainmeanan-àite Gàidhealach, Briothannach no Cruithneach anns an robh ‘cair’ neo co-dhàimhean. Ge-tà, dh’fhaodadh an sloinneadh ‘Kerr’ a bhith aig bun an ainm Kerr Hill.

“dh’fhaoidteadh gur h-e ainm Briothannach a chaidh a thogail an uair sin le Gàidheil ionadach a tha ann an Cair Dhòmhnaill; air an làimh eile, dh’fhaoidteadh gun deach an t-ainm-àite seo a stèidheachadh le Gàidheil bho thùs”

Cair Dhòmhnaill

Cardonald

Cardownalde (1413); Cardonald (1562)

Br cair (=‘dùn’) / cair (= ‘dùn’) + Dyfnwal / Dòmhnall (Br = Briothannais | Brittonic)

‘Donald’s enclosed, defensible site’

Cardonald is in south-west Glasgow. We can’t be sure if it is a Gaelic name or a Brittonic name.

The Brittonic word cair (as it is usually spelt) is common in place-names. It is related to the modern Welsh word caer ‘fort, fortress, enclosed stronghold etc.’ which is very common in Welsh place-names (for example, Cardiff). Place-name evidence tells us that the Brittonic word referred to Roman forts and other Roman military works, as well as hill-forts and other prehistoric defences.

The Brittonic word cair was borrowed into local Gaelic and so it is possible that Gaelic-speakers used it here to create a new name in Gaelic, as opposed to Gaelic-speakers adopting an existing Brittonic place-name. Even if the name was originally created by Brittonic-speakers rather than Gaelic-speakers, Gaels would certainly have been referring to this place as Cair Dhòmhnaill or something very similar around the time the name was first recorded in 1413.

As the English and Gaelic forms of Cardonald suggest, the second part of Cardonald is very likely to be a personal name. The personal names Dyfnwal (Brittonic) and Dòmhnall (modern Gaelic) are from the same old Celtic compound meaning ‘world-ruler’, borrowed into English as Donald. Dyfnwal and Dòmhnall were popular names in Brittonic- and Gaelic-speaking societies in the medieval period; for example, the king of Strathclyde from around the year 962 to 975 was known to Brittonic-speakers of the time as Dyfnwal ab Owain (‘Dyfnwal son of Owain’) and to Gaelic-speakers of the time as Domnall mac Eogain (‘Domnall son of Eogan’). The historical record is too patchy for us to say with which Donald lies behind the place-name. Sometimes cair-names were given to legendary heroes of the distant past, rather than figures of the time, and this may be the case here.

John Norwald, lord of Cardonald is recorded in 1413 (Johannes Norwald dominus de Cardownalde). The document which records the name Cardonald in 1562 also records a ‘fortalice’ (a fortress) here. The likelihood is that the site of the fortalice referred to in 1562 was also the site of the feature described as a cair when the name Cardonald was first created. It is also possible that the feature described as a cair in Cardonald lies behind Kerr in the local name Kerr Hill. Kerr Hill is in the area of what is now known as Hartlaw Crescent. The Scots word keir, which refers to fortified places, is almost certainly a loan-word into Scots which developed as a result of Scots-speakers using Gaelic, Brittonic or Pictish place-names containing cair or similar words in these closely-related Celtic languages. However, the modern form of Kerr Hill suggests that this name instead contains the popular surname Kerr.

Stèidhicheadh an t-ainm seo le luchd-labhairt na Beurla Gallta agus chan eil Rob Ruadh MacGriogair ga chomharrachadh ann: chaidh an t-ainm a chlàradh ann an 1522. Is coltach gur h-e cuideigin don ainm Rae no Raa a tha ga chomharrachadh an seo.

“Stèidhicheadh an t-ainm seo le luchd-labhairt na Beurla Gallta agus chan eil Rob Ruadh MacGriogair ga chomharrachadh ann.”

Robroyston

Rob Raystone (1522); Robraistoun (1538); Robristoun (1557)

This is a place-name created by Scots-speakers. Despite claims that it commemorates the famous hero Rob Roy Macgregor, it is first recorded in 1522, 150 years before Rob Roy’s birth. Early forms instead suggest a connection with someone surnamed Rae or Raa.