Is ann an ceann an ear-thuath Ghlaschu a tha Bàrr Lannraig agus tha an t-ainm seo glèidhte ann an corra ainm sràide sa cheàrn seo den bhaile. Chaidh taigh-mòr le lios is fearann na chois dom b’ ainm ‘Barlanark House’ a chlàradh ann am meadhan an 19mh linn leis an t-Suirbhidh Òrdanais. Tha cunntas na Suirbhidh Òrdanais a’ nochdadh gun deach an taigh-mòr seo a thogail air làrach baile-beag agus gun robh lorg a’ bhaile-bhig seo fhathast ri faicinn aig an àm sin. Tha làrach an taighe-mhòir an-diugh ann am Pàirc Bàrr Lannraig, air cùl nan taighean ùra ann an Ceàrn Blyth.

Tha am facal Briothannach lanerc, mar a tha e ga litreachadh san àbhaist, bitheanta gu leòr ann an ainmeanan-àite ann an Alba; tha Lannraig fhèin, mar eisimpleir. Tha dlùth-dhàimh eadar lanerc agus am facal Cuimreach llannerch. Tha co-dhàimh de chiad mhìr an fhacail seo againn sa Ghàidhlig: lann. Tha e coltach gur h-e meanbhan a tha ann an lanerc agus gun robh am facal Briothannach seo ga chur ann an ainmeannan-àite air pìos beag talmhainn a bha air a lomadh agus a sgioblachadh agus a bha cuideachd, dh’fhaoidteadh, cuairtichte.

Is e facal Briothannach aig a bheil dlùth-dhàimh ris an fhacal Chuimreach baedd a tha a’ freagairt air ciad mhìr an riochda as sine a tha againn den ainm a tha seo: Pathelanerhc. Sa Chuimris, tha baedd ga chur air torc (fiadhaich) agus air mìlidh garg. Tha e coltach gun robh am facal Briothannach ga chur air torc ach san àbhaist air muic challaidh. Tha am facal Briothannach seo ann an ainmeanan den leithid Bathgate ann an Lodainn an Iar.

Mar sin, is coltach gu bheil facal Briothannach aig bun an ainm Bàrr Lannraig ach tha riochdan den leithid Barlannark agus Barlannarc a’ nochdadh gun deach am facal Briothannach seo ionadachadh leis an fhacal bàrr. Tha bàrr bitheanta gu leòr ann an ainmeanan-àite Ghlaschu (seallaibh air Blàr Lèanach ann an Ainmeanan-Àite: Talamh Fliuch)

“Is coltach gu bheil facal Briothannach aig bun an ainm ach tha riochdan den leithid Barlannark a’ nochdadh gun deach am facal Briothannach seo ionadachadh leis an fhacal bàrr.”

Bàrr Lannraig

Barlanark

Pathelanerhc (1113–1124); Barlannark (1173); Barlannarc (1186)

Br baedd (=‘torc’) (?) + Br lanerc (=‘lann bheag’) (Br = Briothannais | Brittonic)

‘boar-clearing’ (?)

This name survives in modern street-names like Barlanark Road, Barlanark Crescent, Barlanark Drive, Barlanark Close and Barlanark Place in the north-east of the city. Barlanark House was described by the Ordnance Survey in the mid 19th century as a large mansion with a garden and “good ornamented grounds”. The Ordnance Survey also records that the mansion was built on the site of a village which was still tracable at that time near surrounding trees which were said to have been placed in regular rows. The site of the mansion is in Barlanark Park, behind the modern houses on Blyth Place.

The Brittonic word lanerc is relatively common in Scottish place-names. It is often found in the form ‘lanark’ in modern place-name forms, as in the place-name Lanark. It is best translated as ‘(small) clearing’ and it probably referred to cleared land which had not been used for farming before. It is closely related to the modern Welsh word llannerch ‘clearing, glade, oasis, pasture etc.’.

The earliest form of Barlanark (Pathelanerhc, recorded sometime between 1113 and 1124) suggests that its first word is a Brittonic word related to the modern Welsh word baedd. The Welsh word means ‘(wild) boar’ and it is also used figuratively to describe a fierce warrior. There is evidence to suggest that the Brittonic word was mainly used to refer to domesticated pigs. Double d in Welsh is pronounced like th- in the English word the and therefore –th– in the historical form Pathelanerhc would not be surprising. This explains Bath- in Bathgate, a place-name meaning ‘boar-wood’.

If baedd was originally the first word in Barlanark, forms such as Barlannark (1173) and Barlannarc (1186) tell us that Gaelic-speakers were using the Gaelic word bàrr ‘hill-top’ in the place-name from the 12th century. This explains Bar- in the modern form of the name. Bàrr is quite popular in Glasgow place-names see Barlinnie in ‘Talamh Fliuch | Wetlands’.

Is ann an ceann an iar-thuath Ghlaschu a tha an t-àite seo. Tha an t-ainm glèidhte ann an ainmeanan sràide den leithid Rathad Blàr Dartach agus Slighe Blàr Dartach. Ann an meadhan an 19mh linn, bha an t-ainm ga chur air mòr-thuathanas. Is ann air Keal Crescent eadar Great Western Road agus an canàl a tha làrach an t-seann tuathanais seo a-nis.

Is coltach gur h-e dartach dara mìr an ainm seo agus tha an dà chuid Dwelly agus Alexander Forbes ga mhìneachadh mar dà-bhliadhnach tairbh, ged nach eil am facal idir bitheanta ann an ainmeanan-àite air neo ann an Gàidhlig an latha an-diugh, a rèir choltais.

Tha blàr ioma-sheaghach ach, mas e is gur h-e dartach a tha aig bun an ainm, bha blàr ga chur an seo air àite-feuraich do thairbh òga gu sònraichte. Lorgar blàr tric ann an ainmeanan-àite air feadh Alba agus ann an ceàrnan eile de Ghlaschu; mar eisimpleir, ann am Blàr Càirn/Blàr Chàrn agus Blàr Lèanach. Tha -ie na iar-riochd bitheanta de -ach ann an ainmeanan Gàidhealach am measg luchd-labhairt na Beurla is na Beurla Gallta.

“mas e is gur h-e dartach a tha aig bun an ainm seo, bha blàr ga chur an seo air àite-feuraich do thairbh òga gu sònraichte”

Blàr Dartach

Blairdardie

Blair Dairdy (1755); Blardardy (1788 & 1789)

blàr + dartach (=‘dà-bhliadhnach tairbh’)

‘plain/muir of two-year-old bulls’

Blairdardie lies in north-west Glasgow. The name survives in modern street-names like Blairdardie Road and Blairdardie Drive. In the mid 19th century, the Ordnance Survey tells us that Blairdardie was the name of a large farm steading. The site of this old farm is on what is now Keal Crescent between Great Western Road and the Forth and Clyde Canal.

The Gaelic word blàr has a range of meanings but in Blairdardie it probably refers to land used as rough grazing for cattle and specifically for young bulls. Blàr is very common in Scottish place-names generally and it is found elsewhere in Glasgow in Blochairn and Barlinnie. ie and y are very common at the end of modern place-names when –ach is in the original Gaelic place-name.

Tha an t-ainm-àite seo glèidhte ann an grunn ainmeanan ann an ceann an ear-dheas Ghlaschu. Ann am meadhan an 19mh linn, is ann gu sònraichte air Taigh Choitchinn a bha an t-ainm ga chur leis an t-Suirbhidh Òrdanais, taigh-mòr a bha an uair sin air oighreachd Choitchinn. Tha an taigh-mòr seo ann fhathast air sràid don ainm Geata Choitchinn.

Tha am facal coitcheann san ainm seo an Glaschu aig bun corra ainm eile air a’ Ghalldachd: Catcune ann an Lodainn Mheadhanaich agus, dh’fhaoidteadh, ann an dà ainm Fìobhach: Kitchen Green agus Kitchen Wood.

“Tha am facal coitcheann san ainm-àite seo aig bun corra ainm eile air a’ Ghalldachd”

Coitcheann

Cathkin

Carth Kin (?) (1596); Caskin (1755); Cathkin (1773)

coitcheann

‘common grazing/land’

Glaswegians will be familiar with this place-name in the likes of Cathkin Road, Cathkin Bypass, Cathkin Braes Country Park and Cathkin Braes Golf Club in south-east Glasgow. In the mid 19th century, the name Cathkin is used by the Ordnance Survey to refer specifically to Cathkin House, a mansion which was at that time on the estate of Cathkin. Cathkin House still stands on the modern street Cathkin Gate.

The Gaelic word coitcheann ‘common grazing’ or ‘common land’ is the same word which lies behind the place-name Catcune in Midlothian and which probably gives us ‘Kitchen’ in the Fife place-names Kitchen Green and Kitchen Wood.