Aberdeen University Studies : No. 3 Place Names of West Aberdeenshire Aberdeen University Studies. — No. I. Roll of Alumni in Arts of the University and King's College of Aberdeen^ 1S96-1860. Edited by Peter John Anderson, M.A., LL.B., Librarian to the University. Aberdeen : 1900. — No. 2. Records of Old Aberdeett, ii^j-iSgi. Edited by Alexander Macdonald MUNRO, F.S.A. Scot. Vol. 1. Aberdeen : 1900. — No. 3. Place Names of West Aberdeenshire. By the late James Macdonald, F.S.A. Scot. Aberdeen : 1900. Place Names of West Aberdeenshire By the late James Macdonald, F.S.A. Scot. v'' Aberdeen Printed for the University 1900 cS EXCHANGE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN. Committee on Publications. Convener: Professor James W. li. Trah., M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Curator of the University Library. Litt. D. Principal Sir William D. Geddes, M.A., LL.D., Professor Herbert J. C. Grierson, M.A. Professor Francis R. Japp, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S. Professor JOHN A. Macwilliam, M.D. Professor Charles Niven, M.A., D.Sc, F.R.S. Professor Alexander Ogston, M.D. Professor William P. Paterson, M.A., D.D. Professor William M. Ramsay, M.A., LL.D., D.C.L. Professor William R. Sorley, M.A. Professor John Dove Wilson, LL.D. Librarian to the Getteral Editor: P. J. Anderson, M.A., LL.B., University. 6S6;34 PREFACE. BY THE EDITOR. uncle, Mr. James Macdonald, died in March, 1897, MY while engaged in the preparation of the work now published, which he had undertaken six years previously at the request of the Committee of the New Spalding Club. By his will he left his notes and manuscripts in my hands. He had previously asked me, in the event of his death, to destroy them, unless the book was sufficiently advanced to allow of its being published substantially as he left it, or unless Professor Mackinnon would undertake—what he felt he could not ask of him—the completion and revision of the work. I found that the first half of the book was complete and ready for the printer, and that the remainder could without much difficulty be compiled in a fairly complete form from the notes. Professor Mackinnon, to whom I applied for advice, recommended that the work should be printed, and he kindly undertook both to revise the proof sheets and to write an introduction. On his recommendation, the New Spalding Club decided to proceed with the publication. The whole of the text is Mr. Macdonald's work. The first ** half, down to the end of the word Forbes," is printed with merely verbal corrections from the manuscript : the remainder is a compilation from his notes. No additions whatever have been made, except a few notes, distinguished by square brackets of Professor who has also [ ], most which are by Mackinnon, corrected the Gaelic orthography, and in a few cases the Vlll. PREFACE. translations from the Gaelic. As editor, besides putting to- gether the latter part of the work, I have only corrected clerical errors, and inserted references which had been left blank. A few explanations which the author had marked as doubtful, or which appeared to be incomplete, have been omitted. While the text of the work is Mr. Macdonald's both in substance and in form, it is necessarily much less complete than it would have been had he lived to publish it. In his hands it would have undergone repeated revisions—he never spared himself labour—in which many imperfections would have dis- appeared, and not a few blanks would have been filled up. It will be seen, for instance, that the number of words of which no explanation is offered (other than Saxon place-names whose meaning is self evident) is considerable, especially in the latter part of the work. For some of these no explanation would in any case have been given : Mr. Macdonald held strongly that there are many names in the district covered by his work whose original form is so completely lost as to put their meaning beyond the reach of reasonable conjecture : but others of them he was still investigating at the time of his death, and it may be taken as certain that in some cases he would have arrived at conclusions which he would have embodied in the work. For the deficiencies, whatever they may be, in the author's work, his death in the midst of his labours must be sufficient apology. For those faults which may be attributable to the editor, he can only plead that the work was not of his own and that the to which those faults choosing ; -disqualifications may be due have had at least the advantage of freeing him from the temptation, to which a student of place-names would have been exposed, of introducing into the work of another his own emendations and suggestions. If on the other hand the minor errors in the book should prove to be few, this is due chiefly to Professor Mackinnon's careful revision. PREFACE. IX. Had my uncle himself written this Preface, he would have thanked many friends, and also many whom he did not personally know, for services rendered at all the stages of the work. I do not know all who helped him, nor the value he set on the work of each : but I feel that I may, on his behalf, offer to all warm thanks for assistance courteously and ungrudgingly given, often at the cost of much labour. I am certain, however, that I should fail in carrying out his wishes if I did not ac- knowledge in special terms the great debt he owed to Professor Mackinnon. In all his studies in place-names, both before and after the beginning of this work, my uncle constantly consulted him : he looked on him as the one always trustworthy authority on Scottish Place Names : and I doubt if he would have under- taken the present work at all, had it not been for his advice and encouragement. I believe he would have wished also to express his particular thanks to the Duke of Richmond and Gordon for the free access allowed him to the in the Castle Charter papers Gordon Room ; to the Library Committee of Aberdeen University for the of the books in the privilege consulting University Library ; and to the Director General of the Ordnance Survey for the permission to use the materials collected in the Ordnance Survey name books, which were lent him when he undertook the revision of the names in the one-inch and six-inch Ordnance Maps for West Aberdeenshire. Among the published works which aided him in his studies, he would have expressed his special obligation to Dr. Joyce's "Irish Names of Places"; to " " Mr. MacBain's Badenoch Place Names and to the ; writings of Dr. Whitley Stokes. C. E. TROUP. Home Office, 6th December^ iSgg. INTRODUCTION. '' I ^HIS volume, dealing with a very difficult subject, is issued - subject to the many disadvantages necessarily attaching to a posthumous work. As explained in the Preface, the author died before any part of it was printed, and when only about the half was finally written out for the press. Had Mr. Macdonald lived to complete his undertaking, he would no doubt have made several corrections in details, and very probably he would have been able to add considerably to the material accumulated by him, especially in the field of tradition, legend, and historical reference, for illustration and explanation of these names. When the author was preparing his valuable treatise on "Place-Names in Strathbogie," published in 1891, he did me the honour to correspond with me, with reference chiefly to Gaelic names and forms. Mr. Macdonald impressed me as a in this field of research very capable investigator ; and, accordingly, when the New Spalding Club invited him to prepare a volume on the Place-Names of the North-Eastern Counties of Scotland, I strongly urged him to undertake this larger work. Though the subject was congenial, he entered upon it with considerable reluctance. He was fully aware of the great labour involved, nor was he by any means satisfied with his own fitness for such a task. He decided, in the first instance at all events, to confine himself to the district of West Aberdeenshire, with which alone this volume deals. Mr. Macdonald's idea— and it was a sound one—was that the explanation of our Scottish Place-Names could be satis- Xll. INTRODUCTION. factorily accomplished only by the combined labour of many workers. These he would divide into two classes. After mapping out the country into districts, he would select local men, with the requisite intelligence and interest in the subject, to collect, sift, and record all available information regarding the names. Afterwards he would have the material thus accumulated examined by one or more men trained in linguistic science, and with a competent knowledge of the languages involved, for the purpose of providing an explanation of the meaning of as many as possible of these names. Among the first class of investi- gators Mr. Macdonald would rank himself, and it would probably be difficult to find a more suitable man for this department. He was a highly educated man, with a well-balanced and trained intellect. He had a genuine interest in the work, and could command a certain amount of leisure. By his disposition and character he was able to win the confidence of all he came in " contact with. In the Preface to his volume on Place-Names in Strathbogie," he has recorded his "great indebtedness to His Grace the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, K.G., for allowing me access to the Charter Room, Gordon Castle, and the use of documents containing valuable information not found elsewhere." Mr.