Scottish island names

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Undeciphered ogham inscription on the Lunnasting stone found near Vidlin, Shetland Lunnasting stone.jpg
Undeciphered ogham inscription on the Lunnasting stone found near Vidlin, Shetland

The modern names of Scottish islands stem from two main influences. There are many names that derive from the Scottish Gaelic language in the Hebrides and Firth of Clyde. In the Northern Isles most place names have a Norse origin. There are also some island place names that originate from three other influences, including a limited number that are essentially English language names, a few that are of Brittonic origin and some of an unknown origin that may represent a pre-Celtic language. These islands have all been occupied by the speakers of at least three and in many cases four or more languages since the Iron Age, and many of the names of these islands have more than one possible meaning as a result. [Note 1]

Contents

Scotland has over 790 offshore islands, most of which are to be found in four main groups: Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, sub-divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. There are also clusters of islands in the Firth of Clyde, Firth of Forth, and Solway Firth, and numerous small islands within the many bodies of fresh water in Scotland including Loch Lomond and Loch Maree.

The earliest written references to Scottish islands were made by authors in Classical antiquity. Many of the names for larger islands show some continuity although few of the names they identified for the smaller ones are cognate with the modern ones. Later writers such as Adomnán and the authors of the Irish annals also contributed to our understanding of these early toponyms.

Main languages

Early languages

Rodney's stone Rodney's Stone 20080430.jpg
Rodney's stone

As humans have lived on the islands of Scotland since at least Mesolithic times, it is clear that pre-modern languages must have been used, and by extension names for the islands, that have been lost to history. Proto-Celtic is the presumed ancestor language of all the known Celtic languages. Proponents of the controversial Vasconic substratum theory suggest that many western European languages contain remnants of an even older language family of "Vasconic languages", of which Basque is the only surviving member. This proposal was originally made by the German linguist Theo Vennemann, but has been rejected by other linguists.

A small number of island names may contain elements of such an early Celtic or pre-Celtic language, but no certain knowledge of any pre-Pictish language exists anywhere in Scotland. [2]

Celtic languages

British or Brythonic was an ancient P-Celtic language spoken in Britain. It is a form of Insular Celtic, which is descended from Proto-Celtic, the hypothetical parent language that many linguistics belief had already begun to diverge into separate dialects or languages in the first half of the first millennium BC. [3] [4] [5] [6] By the sixth century AD, scholars of early Insular history often begin to talk about four geographically separate forms of British: Welsh, Breton, Cornish, and the now extinct Cumbric language. These are collectively known as the Brythonic languages. It is clear that whenever place names are recorded at an early date as having been transposed from a form of P-Celtic into Gaelic that this occurred prior to the transformation from "Old British" into modern Welsh. [7] There are numerous Scottish place names with Brythonic roots although the number of island names involved is relatively small.

Linguistic division in early twelfth century Scotland.
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Gaelic speaking
Norse-Gaelic zone, use of either or both languages
English-speaking zone
Cumbric speaking zone Scots lang-en.svg
Linguistic division in early twelfth century Scotland.
   Gaelic speaking
   Norse-Gaelic zone, use of either or both languages
  English-speaking zone
   Cumbric speaking zone

The Pictish language offers considerable difficulties. It is a term used for the language(s) thought to have been spoken by the Picts, the people of northern and central Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It may have been a fifth branch of Brythonic; Kenneth H. Jackson thought that the evidence is weak, [8] but Katherine Forsyth disagreed with his argument. [9] The idea that a distinct Pictish language was perceived at some point is attested clearly in Bede's early 8th-century Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum , which names it as distinct from both Old Welsh and Old Gaelic. [10] However, there is virtually no direct attestation of Pictish short of the names of people found on monuments in the lands controlled by the Picts - the area north of the Forth-Clyde line in the Early Middle Ages. [11] Many of these monuments include elaborate carved symbols, but an understanding of their significance has so far proved as elusive as interpretation of the few written fragments, which have been described as resembling an "odd sort of gibberish". [12] Nonetheless, there is significant indirect place-name evidence for the Picts use of Brythonic or P-Celtic. [11] The term "Pritennic" is sometimes used to refer to the proto-Pictish language spoken in this area during the Iron Age.

Given the paucity of knowledge about the Pictish language it may be assumed that islands names with P-Celtic affiliations in the southern Hebrides, and Firths of Clyde and Forth are Brythonic and those to the north and west are of Pictish origin.

Old Gaelic is a Goidelic language that arrived via Ireland due to the growing influence of the kingdom of Dalriada from the 6th century onwards. [13] It was formerly spoken over a far wider area than today. Scottish Gaelic, along with modern Manx and Irish, are descended from Middle Irish, a derivative of Old Gaelic, which is descended in turn from Primitive Irish. This the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages, which is known only from fragments, mostly personal names, inscribed on stone in the Ogham alphabet in Ireland and western Britain up to about the 6th century. Its modern form is still spoken in parts of the Scottish Highlands and the Hebrides, and in Scottish cities by some communities. The Beurla-reagaird is a Gaelic-based cant of the Scottish travelling community. [14]

Norse and Norn

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300. Its influence on Scots island names is considerable due to the development of both the Earldom of Orkney and the Kingdom of the Isles which resulted in almost all of the inhabitable islands of Scotland (except those in the Firth of Forth) coming under Norse control from the 9th to 13th centuries.

Areas where the Scots language was spoken in the twentieth century. ScotsLanguageMap.png
Areas where the Scots language was spoken in the twentieth century.

Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that developed from Old Norse and was spoken in Shetland, Orkney and possibly Caithness. Together with Faroese, Icelandic and Norwegian it belongs to the West Scandinavian group. Very little written evidence of the language has survived and as a result it is not possible to distinguish any island names that may be Norn rather than Old Norse. After the Northern Isles were pledged to Scotland by Norway in the 15th century, the early Scottish Earls spoke Gaelic when the majority of their subjects spoke Norn and both of these languages were then replaced by Insular Scots. [17]

English and Scots

English is a West Germanic language, the modern variant of which is generally dated from about 1550. The related Scots language, sometimes regarded as a variety of English, has regional and historic importance in Scotland. It is officially recognised as autochthonous language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. [18] It is a language variety historically spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster.

Although they are the dominant languages in modern Scotland the presence of both Scots and English in island names is limited.

Earliest names

Blaeu's 1654 map of Orkney and Shetland. Map makers at this time continued to use the original Latin name Orcades
. Blaeu - Atlas of Scotland 1654 - ORCADVM ET SCHETLANDIAE - Orkney and Shetland.jpg
Blaeu's 1654 map of Orkney and Shetland. Map makers at this time continued to use the original Latin name Orcades.

The earliest written references to Scottish islands were made by classical authors in Latin and Ancient Greek. At a much later date the Ravenna Cosmography , which was compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around AD 700, mentions various Scottish island names. This document frequently used maps as a source of information and it has been possible to speculate about their modern equivalents based on assumptions about voyages made by early travellers 300–400 years prior to its creation. [Note 2] The presence of the monastery on Iona led to life in this part of Scotland in the Early Middle Ages being relatively well recorded from the mid-6th to the mid-9th century. Norse settlers in Scotland had a significant influence on toponyms from the 9th century onwards although there is little contemporary documentation of this period of Scottish history by those who lived there. From 849 on, when Columba's relics were removed in the face of Viking incursions, written evidence from local sources all but vanishes for three hundred years. [20] Some modern island names appear to have ancient pre-Celtic roots as identified below.

Pytheas of Massilia visited Britain – probably sometime between 322 and 285 BC – and described it as triangular in shape, with a northern tip called Orcas. [21] This may have referred to Dunnet Head on mainland Scotland, from which Orkney is visible. [22] Writing in the 1st century AD, the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela called the islands of Orkney Orcades, as did Tacitus in 98 AD, claiming that his father-in-law Agricola had "discovered and subjugated the Orcades hitherto unknown" [22] [23] (although both Mela and Pliny the Elder had previously referred to the islands [21] ).

In AD 43 and circa AD 77 respectively Pomponius Mela and Pliny (in his Natural History) also referred to seven islands they respectively called Haemodae and Acmodae, both of which are assumed to be Shetland. The earliest written references that have survived relating to the Hebrides also appear in the Natural History, where Pliny states that there are 30 Hebudes, and makes a separate reference to Dumna, which Watson concludes is unequivocally the Outer Hebrides. Writing about 80 years later, in 140-150 AD, Ptolemy, drawing on the earlier naval expeditions of Agricola, wrote that there were only five Ebudes (possibly meaning the Inner Hebrides) and Dumna. [21] [24] [25] [Note 3] Later texts in Latin, by writers such as Solinus, use the forms Hebudes and Hæbudes. [26]

Location of the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles at the end of the 11th century Kingdom of Mann and the Isles-en.svg
Location of the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles at the end of the 11th century

For the individual Hebridean islands, Islay is Ptolemy's Epidion, Malaios is Mull and his Scetis is presumed to be Skye (although it is not listed as one of the Ebudes). [19] [27] [28]

Adomnán, the 7th century abbot of Iona, recorded the names of various islands in the Hebrides. Unlike the unnamed monk of Ravenna and his classical forebears, Adomnán was clearly writing about places with which he was familiar. [29] It is therefore possible that some of these records indicate for the first time names used by the islands' inhabitants.There are also various early references from texts written in Ireland and Scotland - 'Celtic' in the list below.

The following table lists island names that are either recorded prior to AD 1200 or, in the case of the Norse names for the Suðreyjar, were probably recorded at a slightly later date but are likely to have been in use by then. The rulers of the Kingdom of the Isles, which comprised the Hebrides, the islands of the Firth of Clyde and the Isle of Man were of Norse origin from the mid-9th century. [Note 4]

These Scandinavian settlers were "past masters in the art of analogical reformation" [30] meaning that when they heard the names of islands from the native population they amended the sounds so that they became "known words or phrases in their own language" in a way that did not reflect the original meaning. [31] Thus Ljoðhús means "song-house" (an unlikely name for an island) and Orcades (probably "islands of the boar people" [32] ) became Orkneyar meaning "seal islands". [31]

Island or ArchipelagoClassical [Note 5] Ravenna [33] Adomnán Old Norse [34] CelticNotes
Shetland Haemodae/Acmodae [21] Hetlandensis [35] Insi Catt [36] The location of "Thule", first recorded by Pytheas, is not known for certain. When Tacitus mentioned it in AD 98 it is likely he was referring to Shetland. [Note 6]
Orkney Orcades insulae [21] Orkneyar [32] Insi Orc [38] [39] The Anglo-Saxon monk Bede also referred to the Orcades insulae in Ecclesiastical History of the English People . [40]
Outer Hebrides Dumna [21] [24] Domon/Doman [41] Possibly references to Lewis and Harris rather than the entire archipelago. [21]
Inner Hebrides Hebudes/Ebudes [21] Suðureyjar/Suðreyiar etc.Erdomon/Iardomon [42] The Old Irish Erdomon means "near" or "east of" Domon. [42]
Lewis LinnonsaLjoðhúsLeodus, Lyodus [43]
Uists ÍvistThe original meaning of the name is uncertain but appears to "correspond with that of Lewis". [44] [Note 7]
Shiant Isles Exosades
Skye Scetis [46] Scitis/Scetis [47] Scia [29] SkíðSceth, Scii etc. [48]
Canna ElvaniaElena [49] Kanna in Old Norse. [50]
Rùm ErimonRuim, Ruiminn [51] [52]
Eigg SobricaEgea [29] Ega, [53] [54] Ego [55]
Coll Colossus [54] [29] Kolbeinsey [54] Also Kollr in Old Norse. [56]
Tiree BirilaEthica Terra [54] [29] TyrvistTir iath [54] "Tir iath" is 6th century. [57]
Mull Malaios [27] MaionaMale(a) [29] MýlMuile [58]
Iona EsseI [29] Eyin helgaIae, [59] Ioua, [60] Hiona-Columcille [61] etc.The Norse name means "Holy Isle" - see also Eynhallow. [62]
Colonsay Hinba? [63] Hinba's location is uncertain and controversial. [Note 8]
Oronsay Hinbina? [63] Eilean Orain? [64] Hinbina may mean simply "little Hinba". [Note 9]
Islay Epidion [27] EleteIlea [54] [29] ÍlIli, Ilea, Ile [66] [42] [67]
Texa AtinaOidech/Aithche [29]
Jura SaponisSaine/Sainea [29] Doiread Eilinn [68] Youngson is "quite convinced by MacEachern's reasoning about Saine/Sainea". [29] [Note 10]
Gigha CannaGuðeyThe Ravenna name may refer to Cara, off Gigha. [29]
Bute BotisBótBot, Bote [70]
Arran MannaHerray/HerseyAru, Arann, [71] [72] Arran [73]
Great Cumbrae MagnanciaKumreyarThe Norse is a collective noun for both Cumbraes
Little Cumbrae Anas
Ailsa Craig Cunis
Rathlin Rhicina/Eggarikenna/Rignea/Ricnea etc. [27] RegainaRechrea [29] Rachra, Ragharee, Reachrainn [74] & Rechru [71] Watson suggests that the linguistic connection between Rhicina and Rechru is "not obvious". [27]
Man Mona/Monopia/Mevania etc. [75] MonaMönManau/Mano [76] Old Welsh records use the name Manaw. [76]

Youngson offers suggestions for the other Scottish islands mentioned in the Ravenna Cosmography. He believes Sasura is the modern Scarba, Minerve is Holy Island and Vinion is Sanda [19] and that Daroeda, Gradena and Longis may be Lunga, The Garvellachs and Muck respectively. [19] See below for further interpretations of the Ravenna list which is "obscure in the extreme". [47]

Watson (1926) concluded that Adomnán's Airtraig is Shona but Geona and Ommon are unexplained and Longa could refer to several islands. [29] It has also been suggested that Nave Island off Islay could be the identity of Elena. [77]

For details of the first recorded Norse names for the individual islands of Orkney and Shetland, many of which will also have been in use prior to their being written down in the Norse sagas circa 1300, see Northern Isles. Gammeltoft also lists the Norse saga names of Kjarbarey (Kerrera), Rauney (Rona) and Sandey (Sanday) in the Hebrides and Saltíri, Satíri etc. referring to the peninsula of Kintyre. The Norse Barreyarfjorder is probably the Sound of Barra [66] and Máeyar is the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth. [78]

There are few other recorded names for these islands from early dates. Hudson suggests the Innisib Solian found in the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba refers to the island of Seil [Note 11] and the Book of Leinster refers to the island as Sóil for AD 568. [42] Hirta was recorded as "Hirt" in 1202. [80]

In the above table there is some linguistic continuity between the earliest and modern names for almost all of the fifteen largest islands surrounding Scotland. [Note 12] However, the derivations of many of these early names are obscure "suggesting that they were coined very early on, some perhaps by the earliest settlers after the Ice Age. We do not know what languages the people spoke who may have coined some of these names." [81] It therefore seems possible that the early Gaels were just as fond of "analogical reformation" as the Norse. Perhaps then we should think these island names "as pre-Celtic and also as pre-Indo-European, a solution ‒ if it solves anything - that leaves us with the thought that practically all the major islands in the Northern and Western Isles have very old names, so old and so linguistically and lexically opaque that we do not have any plausible referents for them elsewhere. They are linguistic fossils, perhaps some three thousand years old or even older." [82]

Ravenna Cosmography interpretations

The main difference between Youngson/MacEeachern and Fitzpatrick-Matthews is that the former assumes two different routes for the relevant Ravenna listings whereas the latter assumes the second list is further north and west. Fitzpatrick-Matthews describes Rivet and Smith's identification of Bath in south-west England as "a little fanciful as we are dealing with islands in the northern part of the Irish Sea" and is sceptical about some of their other suggestions for similar reasons. [47] Fitzpatrick-Matthews follows Rivet and Smith's suggestion for Erimon but as noted above Rùm is "Ruiminn" in the Félire Óengusso . [52] Fitzpatrick-Matthews chooses Colonsay for Regaina although his reasoning for not preferring the "usual" identification of Rathlin may exaggerate Watson's remark on the topic. [Note 13]

Map based on the Ravenna Cosmography Karte Ravennat.jpg
Map based on the Ravenna Cosmography
Ravenna Name [33] Youngson [33] Fitzpatrick-Matthews [47] Rivet and Smith [47]
LinnonsaLewis Raasay?
ExosadesShiant Isles Barra, Sandray, Pabbay
ScetisSkyeSkye
ErimonRùmDesert Island?Desert Island
SobricaEiggRùm? River Severn
ElvaniaCanna Loch Awe and River Awe?River Avon
Birila Tiree Lismore?
MaionaMullMull
EleteIslayLoch Ailort?
AtinaTexaEigg?River Eden
SaponisJuraSeil?
CannaGighaCanna
Sasura Scarba Kerrera?
Minerve Holy Island Islay? Aquae Sulis
Vinion Sanda Luing?
Daroeda Lunga Muck?
EsseIonaColl?
Gra(n)denaThe Garvellachs Tiree?
LongisMuck Loch Linnhe
BotisButeButeBute
MannaArranArran
MagnanciaGreat Cumbrae North Uist?
AnasLittle Cumbrae South Uist?
CunisAilsa CraigJura? River Kenwyn
RegainaRathlinColonsay?Rathlin
MonaIsle of Man Anglesey

The designation "desert island" may seem odd for a part of the world that experiences frequent rain, but the Celtic monastic system called their isolated retreat centres deserts [83] and the implication is that a retreat of some kind existed there.

Modern names

The earliest comprehensive written list of Hebridean island names was undertaken by Donald Monro in his Description of 1549, which in some cases also provides the earliest written form of the modern island name.

Pre-Celtic remnants

Shetland with Fetlar, Unst, and Yell highlighted in red Northisles.PNG
Shetland with Fetlar, Unst, and Yell highlighted in red

There are three island names in Shetland of unknown and possibly pre-Celtic origin: Fetlar, Unst and Yell. The earliest recorded forms of these three names do carry Norse meanings: Fetlar is the plural of fetill and means "shoulder-straps" Omstr is "corn-stack" and í Ála is from ál meaning "deep furrow". However these descriptions are hardly obvious ones as island names and are probably adaptations of a pre-Norse language. [84] [85] This may have been Pictish but there is no clear evidence for this. [86] [87]

The roots of several of the Hebrides may also have a pre-Celtic origin. Indeed, the name comes from Ebudae recorded by Ptolemy, via the mis-reading "Hebudes" and may itself have a pre-Celtic root. [25]

Brythonic & Pictish names

Several of the islands of the Clyde have possible Brythonic roots. In addition to Arran (see above) Bute may have a British root and Great and Little Cumbrae both certainly have (see below).

Inchkeith in the Firth of Forth is recorded as "Insula Keth" in the 12th century Life of Saint Serf. The name may derive from Innis Cheith or Innis Coit and both Mac an Tàilleir (2003) and Watson (1926) suggest that the root is the Brthyonic coed. The derivation would appear to be assumed rather than attested and the modern form is Innis Cheith. [98] [99] Caer in Welsh means a "stone-girt fort" and was especially applied to Roman camp sites. This is the root of Cramond Island in the Forth, with Caramond meaning "the fort on the Almond river". [100] The island of Threave on the River Dee in Dumfries and Galloway takes its name from P-Celtic tref, meaning "homestead". [101]

The islands of the Clyde. The largest are Arran, Bute, and Great and Little Cumbrae, all of which names may have a Brittonic root. Islands of the Clyde.png
The islands of the Clyde. The largest are Arran, Bute, and Great and Little Cumbrae, all of which names may have a Brittonic root.

It is assumed that Pictish names must once have predominated in the northern Inner Hebrides, Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland although the historical record is sparse. For example, Hunter (2000) states that in relation to King Bridei I of the Picts in the sixth century: "As for Shetland, Orkney, Skye and the Western Isles, their inhabitants, most of whom appear to have been Pictish in culture and speech at this time, are likely to have regarded Bridei as a fairly distant presence.” [102] [103] However, the place names that existed prior to the 9th century have been all but obliterated by the incoming Norse-speaking Gall-Ghaeils. [104]

Orkney is pre-Norse in origin and Pictish, as may be the uninhabited Orkney island name Damsay, meaning "lady's isle". [32] Remarkably few Pictish placenames of any kind can be identified in Orkney and Shetland, although some apparently Norse names may be adaptations of earlier Pictish ones. [105] [106] There are various ogham inscriptions such as on the Lunnasting stone found in Shetland that have been claimed as representing Pictish, or perhaps even a precursor language.

In the 14th century John of Fordun also records the name of Inchcolm as "Eumonia" (referring to the monasterium Sancti Columbe in insula Euomonia) a name of likely Brythonic origin. [107]

Norse names

From some point before 900 until the 14th century both Shetland and Orkney became Norse societies. [108] The Norse also dominated the Hebrides and the islands of the Clyde for much of the same period, although their influence was much weaker there from the 13th century onwards. According to Ó Corráin (1998) "when and how the Vikings conquered and occupied the Isles is unknown, perhaps unknowable" [109] although from 793 onwards repeated raids by Vikings on the British Isles are recorded. "All the islands of Britain" were devastated in 794 [110] with Iona being sacked in 802 and 806. [111]

As a result, most of the island names in Orkney and Shetland have Norse names and many in the Hebrides are Gaelic transformations of the original Norse, with the Norse ending -øy or -ey for "island" becoming -aigh in Gaelic and then -ay in modern Scots/English.

Gaelic influence

Geographic Distribution of Gaelic speakers in Scotland (2011) Scots Gaelic speakers in the 2011 census.png
Geographic Distribution of Gaelic speakers in Scotland (2011)

Perhaps surprisingly Shetland may have a Gaelic root—the name Innse Chat is referred to in early Irish literature and it is just possible that this forms part of the later Norn name Hjaltland [32] [112] — but the influence of this language in the toponymy of the Northern Isles is slight. No Gaelic-derived island names and indeed only two Q-Celtic words exist in the language of modern Orcadians - "iper" from eabhar, meaning a midden slurry, and "keero" from caora - used to describe a small sheep in the North Isles. [113]

The Hebrides remain the stronghold of the modern Gàidhealtachd and unsurprisingly this language has had a significant influence on the islands there. It has been argued that the Norse impact on the onomasticon only applied to the islands north of Ardnamurchan and that original Gaelic place names predominate to the south. [104] However, recent research suggests that the obliteration of pre-Norse names throughout the Hebrides was almost total and Gaelic derived place names on the southern islands are of post-Norse origin. [114] [115]

There are also examples of island names that were originally Gaelic but have become completely replaced. For example, Adomnán records Sainea, Elena, Ommon and Oideacha in the Inner Hebrides, which are of unknown location and these names must have passed out of usage in the Norse era. [116] One of the complexities is that an island such as Rona may have had a Celtic name, that was replaced by a similar-sounding Norse name, but then reverted to an essentially Gaelic name with a Norse ending. [117]

Scots and English names

In the context of the Northern Isles it should be borne in mind that Old Norse is a dead language and that as a result names of Old Norse origin exist only as loan words in the Scots language. [112] Nonetheless if we distinguish between names of obviously Norse origin and those with a significant Scots element the great majority are in the former camp. "Muckle", meaning large or big, is one of few Scots words in the island names of the Nordreyar and appears in Muckle Roe and Muckle Flugga in Shetland and Muckle Green Holm and Muckle Skerry in Orkney.

Many small islets and skerries have Scots or Insular Scots names such as Da Skerries o da Rokness and Da Buddle Stane in Shetland, and Kirk Rocks in Orkney.

Horse of Copinsay from the north west Horseofcopinsay2.jpg
Horse of Copinsay from the north west

Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae are English/Brythonic in derivation and there are other examples of the use of "great" and "little" such as Great Bernera and Rysa Little which are English/Gaelic and Norse/English respectively. The informal use of "Isle of" is commonplace, although only the Isle of Ewe, the Isle of May and Isle Martin of the larger Scottish islands use this nomenclature in a formal sense. [118] [Note 14] "Island" also occurs, as in Island Macaskin and Mealista Island although both islands are also known by their Gaelic names of Eilean Macaskin and Eilean Mhealasta. Holy Island off Arran is an entirely English name as is the collective Small Isles. Ailsa Craig is also known as "Paddy's Milestone". [129] Big Scare in the Solway Firth is an English/Norse combination, the second word coming from sker, a skerry.

Some smaller islets and skerries have English names such as Barrel of Butter and the Old Man of Hoy in Orkney and Maiden Island and Bottle Island in the Inner Hebrides.

The Norse often gave animal names to islands and these have been transferred into English in for example, the Calf of Flotta and Horse of Copinsay. Brother Isle is an anglicisation of breiðare-øy meaning "broad beach island". The Norse holmr, meaning "a small and rounded islet" has become "Holm" in English and there are numerous examples of this use including Corn Holm, Thieves Holm and Little Holm.

Summary of inhabited islands

Etymological details for all inhabited islands and some larger uninhabited ones are provided at Hebrides, Northern Isles, Islands of the Clyde and Islands of the Forth.

Based on these tables, for the inhabited off-shore islands of Scotland (and counting Lewis and Harris as two islands for this purpose) the following results apply, excluding Scots/English qualifiers such as "muckle" "east", "little" etc.

ArchipelagoPre-Celtic Old Norse Scots Gaelic Scots/EnglishOtherNotesTotal
Shetland 312100There are two islands with names of joint Norse/Celtic origin, Papa Stour and the Shetland Mainland.16
Orkney 020011 Shapinsay is of unknown derivation, the Orkney mainland itself is probably Pictish in origin. South Walls is a Scots name based in part on a Norse root.22
Outer Hebrides 5740016
Inner Hebrides 8171201The derivation of Easdale is not clear.38
Islands of the Clyde 01113 Bute is of uncertain origin and could be Norse, Gaelic or Brythonic. Arran probably has, and Great Cumbrae does have, a Brythonic root.6
Islands of the Forth 001001
Totals1657192599

See also

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The Hebrides are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Picts</span> Medieval tribal confederation in northern Britain

The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pictish stones. The name Picti appears in written records as an exonym from the late third century AD. They are assumed to have been descendants of the Caledonii and other northern Iron Age tribes. Their territory is referred to as "Pictland" by modern historians. Initially made up of several chiefdoms, it came to be dominated by the Pictish kingdom of Fortriu from the seventh century. During this Verturian hegemony, Picti was adopted as an endonym. This lasted around 160 years until the Pictish kingdom merged with that of Dál Riata to form the Kingdom of Alba, ruled by the House of Alpin. The concept of "Pictish kingship" continued for a few decades until it was abandoned during the reign of Caustantín mac Áeda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dál Riata</span> Gaelic kingdom that included parts of western Scotland and northeastern Ulster in Ireland

Dál Riata or Dál Riada was a Gaelic kingdom that encompassed the western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel. At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries, it covered what is now Argyll in Scotland and part of County Antrim in Northern Ireland. After a period of expansion, Dál Riata eventually became associated with the Gaelic Kingdom of Alba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of the Isles</span> 9th – 13th century kingdom in British Isles

The Kingdom of the Isles was a Norse-Gaelic kingdom comprising the Isle of Man, the Hebrides and the islands of the Clyde from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD. The islands were known to the Norsemen as the Suðreyjar, or "Southern Isles" as distinct from the Norðreyjar or Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland. In Scottish Gaelic, the kingdom is known as Rìoghachd nan Eilean. The territory is sometimes called the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, although only some of the later rulers claimed that title. The historical record is incomplete, and the kingdom was not a continuous entity throughout the entire period. At times the rulers were independent of external control, although for much of the period they had overlords in Norway, Ireland, England, Scotland or Orkney. At times there also appear to have been competing claims for all or parts of the territory. The islands have a total land area of over 8,300 square kilometres (3,205 sq mi) and extend for more than 500 kilometres (310 mi) from north to south.

Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographical and personal names found on monuments and early medieval records in the area controlled by the kingdoms of the Picts. Such evidence, however, shows the language to be an Insular Celtic language related to the Brittonic language then spoken in most of the rest of Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fetlar</span> One of the North Isles of Shetland, Scotland

Fetlar is one of the North Isles of Shetland, Scotland, with a usually resident population of 61 at the time of the 2011 census. Its main settlement is Houbie on the south coast, home to the Fetlar Interpretive Centre. Other settlements include Aith, Funzie, Herra and Tresta. Fetlar is the fourth-largest island of Shetland and has an area of just over 4,000 ha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Isles</span> Pair of archipelagos near Scotland

The Northern Isles are a chain of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The climate is cool and temperate and highly influenced by the surrounding seas. There are two main island groups: Shetland and Orkney. There are a total of 36 inhabited islands, with the fertile agricultural islands of Orkney contrasting with the more rugged Shetland islands to the north, where the economy is more dependent on fishing and the oil wealth of the surrounding seas. Both archipelagos have a developing renewable energy industry. They share a common Pictish and Norse history, and were part of the Kingdom of Norway before being absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland in the 15th century. The islands played a significant naval role during the world wars of the 20th century.

The Papar were Irish monks who took eremitic residence in parts of Iceland before that island's habitation by the Norsemen of Scandinavia. Their existence is attested by the early Icelandic sagas and recent archaeological findings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earldom of Orkney</span> Medieval Norse earldom

The Earldom of Orkney was a Norse territory ruled by the earls of Orkney from the ninth century until 1472. It was founded during the Viking Age by Viking raiders and settlers from Scandinavia. In the ninth and tenth centuries it covered the Northern Isles (Norðreyjar) of Orkney and Shetland, as well as Caithness and Sutherland on the mainland. It was a dependent territory of the Kingdom of Norway until 1472, when it was absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland. Originally, the title of Jarl or Earl of Orkney was heritable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scotland in the High Middle Ages</span> Scotland between about 900 and 1286 CE

The High Middle Ages of Scotland encompass Scotland in the era between the death of Domnall II in 900 AD and the death of King Alexander III in 1286, which was an indirect cause of the Wars of Scottish Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Cat</span> Pictish kingdom

Cait or Cat was a Pictish kingdom originating c. AD 800 during the Early Middle Ages. It was centered in what is now Caithness in northern Scotland. It was, according to Pictish legend, founded by Caitt, one of the seven sons of the ancestor figure Cruithne. The territory of Cait covered not only modern Caithness, but also southeast Sutherland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Scotland</span>

The languages of Scotland belong predominantly to the Germanic and Celtic language families. The main language now spoken in Scotland is English, while Scots and Scottish Gaelic are minority languages. The dialect of English spoken in Scotland is referred to as Scottish English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scotland in the early Middle Ages</span> Overview of Scotland in the Early Middle Ages

Scotland was divided into a series of kingdoms in the early Middle Ages, i.e. between the end of Roman authority in southern and central Britain from around 400 AD and the rise of the kingdom of Alba in 900 AD. Of these, the four most important to emerge were the Picts, the Gaels of Dál Riata, the Britons of Alt Clut, and the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia. After the arrival of the Vikings in the late 8th century, Scandinavian rulers and colonies were established on the islands and along parts of the coasts. In the 9th century, the House of Alpin combined the lands of the Scots and Picts to form a single kingdom which constituted the basis of the Kingdom of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinba</span>

Hinba is an island in Scotland of uncertain location that was the site of a small monastery associated with the Columban church on Iona. Although a number of details are known about the monastery and its early superiors, and various anecdotes dating from the time of Columba of a mystical nature have survived, modern scholars are divided as to its whereabouts. The source of information about the island is Adomnán's late 7th-century Vita Columbae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scandinavian Scotland</span> 8th- to 15th-century historical period

Scandinavian Scotland was the period from the 8th to the 15th centuries during which Vikings and Norse settlers, mainly Norwegians and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, and their descendants colonised parts of what is now the periphery of modern Scotland. Viking influence in the area commenced in the late 8th century, and hostility between the Scandinavian earls of Orkney and the emerging thalassocracy of the Kingdom of the Isles, the rulers of Ireland, Dál Riata and Alba, and intervention by the crown of Norway were recurring themes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Scotland in the Middle Ages</span>

The geography of Scotland in the Middle Ages covers all aspects of the land that is now Scotland, including physical and human, between the departure of the Romans in the early fifth century from what are now the southern borders of the country, to the adoption of the major aspects of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. Scotland was defined by its physical geography, with its long coastline of inlets, islands and inland lochs, high proportion of land over 60 metres above sea level and heavy rainfall. It is divided between the Highlands and Islands and Lowland regions, which were subdivided by geological features including fault lines, mountains, hills, bogs and marshes. This made communications by land problematic and raised difficulties for political unification, but also for invading armies.

<i>Description of the Western Isles of Scotland</i> 16th-century Scottish manuscript

Description of the Western Isles of Scotland is the oldest known account of the Hebrides and the Islands of the Clyde, two chains of islands off the west coast of Scotland. The author was Donald Monro, a clergyman who used the title of "Dean of the Isles" and who lived through the Scottish Reformation. Monro wrote the original manuscript in 1549, although it was not published in any form until 1582 and was not widely available to the public in its original form until 1774. A more complete version, based on a late 17th-century manuscript written by Sir Robert Sibbald, was first published as late as 1961. Monro wrote in Scots and some of the descriptions are difficult for modern readers to render into English. Although Monro was criticised for publishing folklore and for omitting detail about the affairs of the churches in his diocese, Monro's Description is a valuable historical account and has reappeared in part or in whole in numerous publications, remaining one of the most widely quoted publications about the western islands of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianisation of Scotland</span> Historical process bringing Christianity to Scotland

The Christianisation of Scotland was the process by which Christianity spread in what is now Scotland, which took place principally between the fifth and tenth centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish literature in the Middle Ages</span>

Scottish literature in the Middle Ages is literature written in Scotland, or by Scottish writers, between the departure of the Romans from Britain in the fifth century, until the establishment of the Renaissance in the late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century. It includes literature written in Brythonic, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, French and Latin.

References

Notes
  1. Writing in the 1880s, Rev. Thomas McLauchlan urged caution, noting that it "is necessary to ensure a historical, and hence an accurate instead of a fanciful, account of our topographical terms. Any one acquainted with Highland etymologies, knows to what an extent our imaginative countrymen have gone in attaching meanings altogether fanciful to such terms; but nothing is more likely to mislead the inquirer than elevating our ancient and irregular orthography to a position which it is altogether unfit to occupy". [1]
  2. Youngson (2001) draws heavily on the work of the Gaelic scholar Donald MacEachern for his identifications. [19]
  3. Breeze (2002) quotes J.J. Tierney who believed that Ptolemy's information about Scotland "was extremely poor". [21]
  4. After the dissolution of the Kingdom of the Isles Mann was then under intermittent Scots rule from 1266 to 1346. Mann continued to play a significant role in the ecclesiastical affairs of Scotland for several centuries thereafter - see Bishop of the Isles.
  5. There are numerous variants - Broderick (2013) provides a comprehensive listing for these and other early names.
  6. In Agricola of AD 98 Tacitus describes the discovery and conquest of Orkney and records that the Roman fleet had seen "Thule, too". Watson (1926) is sure that Tacitus was referring to Shetland, although Breeze (2002) is more sceptical. Thule is first mentioned by Pytheas but it is unlikely he meant Shetland as he believed it was six days sail north of Britain and one day from the frozen sea. [21] [37]
  7. A meaning of "lush island" from the Phonenician has been suggested. [45]
  8. Youngson (2001) records MacEachern's view that Hinba insula and Hinbina insula are Colonsay and the nearby tidal islet of Oronsay [63] but there are several other candidates.
  9. Youngson writes that "MacEachern is the only scholar to write on the subject who pays any attention at all to the fact that in extract XXI Adomnán refers to an island called Hinbina - presumably "Little Hinba". Only Colonsay and Oronsay provide a large and little island". [65]
  10. Dyrøy from the Norse for "deer island" is the generally accepted derivation of the modern name. [69]
  11. The entry records a victory of the Scots over the Danes during the time of Donald II in the 9th century. [79]
  12. See Scottish islands by area for a list of these islands. Including those assumed to have a pre-Norse root the only outright exception may be Hoy. (Although not immediately obvious, it is possible that the Pictish "cat" sound forms part of the Old Norse name for Shetland and may thus have informed the modern name. [32] )
  13. Per the above, Watson suggests that the linguistic connection between Rhicina and Rechru is "not obvious" [27] whereas Fitzpatrick-Matthews suggests he implied "there is no linguistic connection between the two forms".
  14. Usage is not always consistent. For example, the Ordnance Survey uses "Isle of" for Arran, [119] Bute [120] Gigha, [121] Mull, [122] Noss, [123] Skye [124] and Raasay [125] as do the Royal Mail for some larger islands in their database of addresses. [126] However, authorities that consider Scotland's islands as a whole set tend to avoid this inconsistency e.g. Haswell-Smith, [118] W.H. Murray, [127] and the census. [128]
Footnotes
  1. M'Lauchlan, Rev. Thomas (Jan 1866) "On the Kymric Element in the Celtic Topography of Scotland". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . Edinburgh, VI Part 2, p. 318
  2. Clarkson (2008) pp. 30-34
  3. Henderson, Jon C. (2007). The Atlantic Iron Age: Settlement and Identity in the First Millennium BC . Routledge. pp.  292–95. ISBN   9780415436427.
  4. Sims-Williams, Patrick (2007). Studies on Celtic Languages before the Year 1000. CMCS. p. 1.
  5. Koch, John (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO. p.  1455.
  6. Eska, Joseph (2008). "Continental Celtic". In Roger Woodard (ed.). The Ancient Languages of Europe. Cambridge.
  7. Watson (1994) p. 71
  8. Jackson, Kenneth (1955). "The Pictish Language". In F.T. Wainwright (ed.). The Problem of the Picts. Edinburgh: Nelson. pp. 129–66.
  9. Forsyth, Katherine (1997). Language in Pictland: the case against 'non-Indo-European Pictish' (PDF). Utrecht: Stichting Uitgeverij de Keltische Draak. ISBN   90-802785-5-6 . Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  10. Bede (731) Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum.
  11. 1 2 Clarkson (2008) p. 31
  12. Clarkson (2008) p. 10
  13. Armit, Ian "The Iron Age" in Omand (2006) p. 57 - but see Campbell critique
  14. Neat, Timothy (2002) The Summer Walkers. Edinburgh. Birlinn. pp. 225-29
  15. Grant, William (1931) Scottish National Dictionary Archived 2012-01-21 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Gregg R.J. (1972) The Scotch-Irish Dialect Boundaries in Ulster in Wakelin M.F., Patterns in the Folk Speech of The British Isles, London
  17. Lamb, Gregor "The Orkney Tongue" in Omand (2003) pp. 248-49.
  18. "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages" Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Youngson (2001) pp. 63-67
  20. Woolf (2006) p. 94
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Breeze, David J. "The ancient geography of Scotland" in Smith and Banks (2002) pp. 11–13.
  22. 1 2 "Early Historical References to Orkney" Orkneyjar.com. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  23. Tacitus. Agricola. Chapter 10. ac simul incognitas ad id tempus insulas, quas Orcadas vocant, invenit domuitque.
  24. 1 2 Watson (1994) pp. 40–41
  25. 1 2 3 Watson (1994) p. 38
  26. Louis Deroy & Marianne Mulon (1992) Dictionnaire de noms de lieux, Paris: Le Robert, article "Hébrides".
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Watson (1994) p. 37
  28. Thayer, Bill Ptolemy: the Geography. University of Chicago. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Youngson (2001) pp. 65-67
  30. Broderick (2013) p. 6 quoting Coates (1988) p.22
  31. 1 2 Broderick (2013) p.6
  32. 1 2 3 4 5 Gammeltoft (2010) p. 21
  33. 1 2 3 Youngson (2001) p. 62 and as otherwise stated
  34. Gammeltoft, Peder "Scandinavian Naming-Systems in the Hebrides—A Way of Understanding how the Scandinavians were in Contact with Gaels and Picts?" in Ballin Smith et al (2007) pp. 484-85 drawing on Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar , Magnus Barefoot's saga and Orkneyinga saga unless otherwise stated.
  35. Gammeltoft (2010) p. 21. First recorded in 1190.
  36. Watson (1994) p. 30
  37. Watson (1994) p. 7
  38. Pokorny, Julius (1959) Archived 14 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch . Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  39. "The Origin of Orkney" Orkneyjar.com. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  40. Plummer, Carolus (2003). Venerabilis Baedae Historiam Ecclesiasticam [Ecclesiastical History of Bede]. Gorgias Press. ISBN   978-1-59333-028-6.
  41. Watson (1994) p. 40
  42. 1 2 3 4 Watson (1994) p. 41
  43. Ross (2007) p. 54 dated to c. 1100
  44. Ross (2007) p. 92
  45. Broderick (2013) pp. 8-9
  46. Strang, Alistair (1997) "Explaining Ptolemy's Roman Britain". Britannia. 28 pp. 1–30
  47. 1 2 3 4 5 Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith "Group 34: islands in the Irish Sea and the Western Isles 1". Kmatthews.org.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
  48. Watson (1994) p. 39
  49. Youngson (2013) p. 65
  50. Ross (2007) p. 19 - no date specified.
  51. Ross (2007) p. 77
  52. 1 2 3 Watson (1994) p. 95
  53. O'Clery (1864) p. 105
  54. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Watson (1994) pp. 84-86
  55. Broderick (2013) p. 10
  56. Ross (2007) p. 21 - no date specified.
  57. Ross (2007) p. 89
  58. Watson (1994) p. 72
  59. Broderick (2013) pp. 13-14
  60. Ross (2007) p. 44
  61. Ross (2007) p. 44 dated to c. 1100
  62. Gammeltoft (2010) p. 18.
  63. 1 2 3 Youngson (2001) p. 67
  64. Murray (1966) p. 49. He provides no evidence for this assertion.
  65. Youngson (2001) pp. 73-74
  66. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gammeltoft, Peder "Scandinavian Naming-Systems in the Hebrides—A Way of Understanding how the Scandinavians were in Contact with Gaels and Picts?" in Ballin Smith et al (2007) p. 487
  67. Ross (2007) p. 44. Ile dates from 800 and Ilea from 690.
  68. Ross (2007) p. 45 dated to 678.
  69. Mac an Tàilleir, Iain (2003) Ainmean-àite/Placenames. (pdf) Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  70. Ross (2007) p. 17. Bot dates from 1093 and Bote from 1204.
  71. 1 2 3 Watson (1994) p. 64
  72. Watson (1994) p. 96 "Arann" possibly dating from c. 1200
  73. Ross (2007) p. 9 dated to 1154.
  74. Mackenzie (1906) p. 203
  75. Rivet, A. L. F.; Smith, Colin (1979). The Place Names of Roman Britain. Batsford. pp. 410–411.
  76. 1 2 Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO. p.  676. ISBN   978-1-85109-440-0.
  77. Caldwell (2011) p. 25
  78. Anderson (1873) p. 124
  79. Hudson (1998) p. 9
  80. Broderick (2013) p. 7
  81. Broderick (2013) pp. 20-21
  82. Broderick (2013) p. 21 quoting Nicolaisen (1992) "Arran Place-Names: a fresh look". Northern Studies28 p. 2
  83. Murray (1973) p. 263
  84. Gammeltoft (2010) p. 17
  85. Gammeltoft (2010) pp. 19-20
  86. Gammeltoft (2010) p. 9
  87. "Norn" Shetlopedia. Retrieved 23 Jan 2011.
  88. Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 89
  89. Watson (1994) p. 45
  90. 1 2 Mac an Tàilleir (2003)
  91. Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 138
  92. Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 104
  93. Rae (2011) p. 9
  94. Haswell-Smith 2004 p. 11
  95. Watson (1994) p. 67
  96. Baldi & Page (December 2006) Review of "Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica", Lingua, 116 Issue 12 pp. 2183-2220
  97. Watson (1994) p. 97
  98. Watson (1994) pp. 381-82
  99. "The Life of Saint Serf" cyberscotia.com. Retrieved 27 Dec 2010.
  100. Watson (1994) pp. 365, 369
  101. Watson (1994) p. 358
  102. Hunter (2000) pp. 44, 49
  103. Watson (1994) p. 65
  104. 1 2 Woolf, Alex "The Age of the Sea-Kings: 900-1300" in Omand (2006) p. 95
  105. Gammeltoft (2010) pp. 8-9
  106. Sandnes (2010) p. 8
  107. Watson (1994) p. 104
  108. Sandnes (2003) p 14
  109. Ó Corráin (1998) p. 25
  110. Thomson (2008) p. 24-27
  111. Woolf (2007) p. 57
  112. 1 2 Sandnes (2010) p. 9
  113. Lamb, Gregor "The Orkney Tongue" in Omand (2003) p. 250.
  114. Jennings and Kruse (2009) pp. 83–84
  115. King and Cotter (2012) p. 4
  116. Watson (1994) p. 93
  117. Gammeltoft (2010) pp. 482, 486
  118. 1 2 Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 515
  119. "Isle of Arran". Ordnance Survey . Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  120. "Isle of Bute". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  121. "Isle of Gigha/Giogha". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  122. "Isle of Mull". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  123. "Isle of Noss". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  124. "Isle of Skye". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  125. "Isle of Raasay". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  126. "PAF Stats". Powered By Paf. Royal Mail Group Ltd. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  127. Murray, W.H. (1973) The Islands of Western Scotland: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. London. Eyre Methuen. ISBN 0413303802
  128. National Records of Scotland (15 August 2013). "Appendix 2: Population and households on Scotland's Inhabited Islands" (PDF). Statistical Bulletin: 2011 Census: First Results on Population and Household Estimates for Scotland Release 1C (Part Two) (PDF) (Report). SG/2013/126. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  129. Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 4
General references