The Journal of Scottish Name Studies Vol. 5 The Journal of Scottish Name Studies Vol. 5 edited by Richard A.V. Cox and Simon Taylor Clann Tuirc 2011 The Journal of Scottish Name Studies5 (2011) edited by Richard A.V. Cox and Simon Taylor First published in Scotland in 2011 by Clann Tuirc, Tigh a’ Mhaide, Ceann Drochaid, Perthshire FK17 8HT Printed in Wales by Gwasg Gomer, Llandysul ISSN 1747-7387 © text: the authors 2011 © book and cover design: Clann Tuirc 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form, or by any means, known or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher. The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of the Scottish Place-Name Society towards the cost of this volume. The Journal of Scottish Name Studies JSNS is a peer-reviewed journal that exists to publish articles and reviews on place and personal names relating to Scotland, her history and languages. Editors Professor Richard A.V. Cox and Dr Simon Taylor Reviews Editor Mr Gilbert Márkus Editorial Advisory Board Professor Dauvit Broun Dr Rachel Butter Professor Thomas Clancy Mr Ian Fraser Dr Jacob King Mr Gilbert Márkus Professor W. F. H. Nicolaisen Professor Colm Ó Baoill Dr Maggie Scott Mr David Sellar Dr Doreen Waugh Subscriptions Visit <http://www.clanntuirc.co.uk/JSNS.html>, or contact the publisher by e-mail at fios@ clanntuirc.co.uk, or by post at the above address. Contributions Prospective contributors to the Journal should refer to the Notes for Contributors, available from the publisher and at <http://www.clanntuirc.co.uk/JSNS/notes_for_contributors.html>. Contents Tarbat or Not Tarbat? Was There a Portage on the Tarbat Peninsula? Liz Curtis 1 Place-names and Managed Woods in Medieval Scotland John M. Gilbert 35 Dating Brittonic Place-names in Southern Scotland and Cumbria Alan G. James 57 On the Origin of ‘Hiberno-Norse Inversion-compounds’ David N. Parsons 115 Too Many Papar – Not Enough Munkar Denis Rixson 153 Varia Alan G. James A Note on the Two Barloccos KCB, with Arlecdon CMB 169 Reviews Gilbert Márkus Patrick McKay, A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names 175 Alan Macniven Diarmaid Ó Muirithe, From the Viking Word-Hoard: A Dictionary of Scandinavian Words in the Languages of Britain & Ireland 178 Bibliography of Scottish Name Studies for 2010 Simon Taylor 183 Notes on Contributors 187 0 10 20 40 60 M 0 10 20 40 60 80 100Km Tarbat or Not Tarbat? Was there a portage on the Tarbat peninsula? Liz Curtis Some 30 miles north-east of Inverness, the Tarbat peninsula reaches into the North Sea like a finger separating the Dornoch and Moray firths. The precise extent of the peninsula is undefined: its tip is the headland, Tarbat Ness, while its base broadens into a wider peninsula bounded by Tain in the north and the Bay of Nigg in the south. The nameTarbert (variously spelt) is fairly common in Scotland, and usually signposts a portage. This is a route, used in the past, where boats and/or goods could be carried overland between two stretches of water. The whereabouts of such a portage is usually indicated by the position of the place-name and by the topography, and is sometimes confirmed by historical accounts. In the case of the Tarbat peninsula, however, neither the present-day siting of the place-name nor topography point to an obvious portage, nor does the scanty written record help. Consequently the existence or whereabouts of such a portage, and the meaning of the name, have been the subject of speculation. This article will examine past applications of the Tarbat name in this area, and will suggest that these point to a portage placed approximately along the line of the present Portmahomack to Rockfield road (see Maps 1 and 4). It will argue that such a portage would have made sense in Early Christian times, as a short cut between the Moray Firth and the important monastery on the site of Tarbat Old Parish Church on the edge of Portmahomack. Settlement The Tarbat peninsula is part of Scotland’s eastern coastal plain, and has attracted human settlers since prehistoric times.1 The climate is dry but windy, the land is fertile and undulating, and the coastal waters teem with sea-life. The only drawback is the scarcity of wood or peat for fuel.2 Settlers have left their mark in place-names and archaeology. There are several 1 RCAHMS 1979, 14ff. For general background on Easter Ross, see Mowat 1981; Baldwin (ed.) 1986; Omand (ed.) 1984; Oram et al. 2009. 2 In the 17th century, the Moss of Lochsline east of the loch supplied peats for Sir George McKenzie’s lands at the upper end of the peninsula (Nov. 1655 NAS GD305/1/105/298). OSA Tarbat dated 1793 observed: ‘The parish labours under a considerable disadvantage, from the scarcity of peats and other fuel’ (OSA, vol. 6, 429). OSA Fearn dated 1792 likewise noted: ‘The principal disadvantage under which this parish labours, is the scarcity of fuel’ (OSA, vol. 4, 297). The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 5, 2011, 1–34 2 Liz Curtis Map 1: Key places discussed in the text Dornoch TarbaT Ness DorNoch FirTh Portmahomack Tarbat Old Church Ballone Castle Tain Inver Rockfield Loch Eye Allan Fearn Abbey Hilton of Cadboll Shandwick Tarbat House Hill of Nigg Nigg Castlecraig Cromarty Moray FirTh Rosemarkie Nairn The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 5, 2011, 1–34 Tarbat or not Tarbat? 3 names on the broader peninsula with the element Pit-,3 from pett, adopted from Pictish by Gaelic speakers to denote a land-holding. Near the top of the peninsula there are Gaelic names probably from the Early Christian period, such as Tarbat and Tarrel (both to be discussed later) and Portmahomack.4 This combines port (landing-place or haven, from Latin portus) with mo- Cholmác (of my little Colm or Colmán). This person is St Colmán, to whom the parish church is dedicated: Early Christian saints were often known by diminutive pet-names in the form ‘my little such-and-such’.5 The same saint is commemorated in the village’s well, Tobar Mo-Chalmaig (Watson 1904, 46), and probably at Kilmachalmack (locally pronounced ‘Kilmacholmack’) on the Kyle of Sutherland, which is on a direct route by boat from Portmahomack.6 There were over 200 Irish saints called Colmán (Watson 1926, 278–79). This very popular name, the diminutive of Colm (ScG Colum or Calum), is from a Gaelic word meaning ‘dove, pigeon’, deriving from the Latin columba, with the same meaning. In the Christian tradition, the dove symbolises the Holy Spirit. A saint’s feast-day (date of death) is a key way of identifying individual saints of the same name. The feast-days are listed in church calendars, to show when the saint should be celebrated. The calendar of the Martyrology of Aberdeen, compiled c. 1500 for the use of the Church of Aberdeen, specifically refers to the Tarbat saint, placing his feast-day on 18 February and describing him as ‘St Colman, bishop and confessor, [who is] buried in the diocese of Ross at Tarbat.’7 The notes to the ‘Martyrology of Oengus’, 18 February, refer to a 3 Fraser 1984, 219–21; Watson 1904, 33–34, 41, 46 (entry for Portmahomack), 51; Pont, ‘Rosse’. 4 The earliest forms identified are: (Notarial instrument dated at)Meikle Tarrell, Portmaholmak and Inver de Lochslyne 1630 NAS GD305/1/125/559; (contract for building a pier at) St Mal[colm]es haven alias Portmahomack 1697 NAS GD305/1/147/39; Burgh of Barony of Portmaholmack 1714 NAS GD305/1/52/1 [copy disposition of tailzie]; the Burgh of Barony of Portmaholmach, alias Castlehaven, formerly called the Town or Village of Portmaholmack 1724 NAS GD305/1/53 [printed version of royal charter following the death of George Earl of Cromarty, used in a libel action]; Portmaholmack 1791–99 OSA Tarbat, 417. 5 For port and also the use of mo with names of saints, see DIL. The technical term for a pet-name is a hypocorism or hypocoristic form. See Clancy and Márkus 1995, 116, on early medieval attitudes to saints. Ó Néill and Dumville (2002, vii) write: ‘Diminutives, often with hypocoristic force, are widely attested in the christian [sic] religious names of the Gaelic world – and indeed of the Insular Celtic world as a whole.’ 6 Information about pronunciation from Roy Gennard. Timothy Pont’s text (c.1583–96, 122v–123r) reads: ‘There ar in Stracharron Kilmachalmag, upon the ferry that goeth up to Okell river, with a chappell, and a burn of that name 4 myl long, cuming down from Bra- Stracharrown.’ Robert Gordon’s map ‘Sutherland, Strath Okel and Strath Charron’ shows Kilmachalmag with a church symbol. 7 ‘In Scocia Sancti Colmanni episcopi et confessoris sepultus dyocesi Rossensi apud Terbert.’ (Martyrology of Aberdeen (Laing), 261). 4 Liz Curtis Colmán i n-Albain fri Monaid atuaid ‘in Scotland north of the Mounth’, who could well be the same saint.8 For a church to be dedicated to a saint does not, however, necessarily imply that the saint actually founded the church or was ever present there.9 Another name with links to the early church is Annat, found here on the southern end of the Hill of Nigg, facing the Moray Firth, in the parish of Nigg. Pont’s ‘Rosse’ gives Aniatt as a settlement-name, while a 1763 estate plan shows Loch Annat, Annat Burn, and lands named Annat either side of the burn and extending southwards off the map.10 Watson (1904, 52–53; 1926, 252) recorded An Annaid on the farm of Castlecraig, and also Loch na h-Annaide.11 Annat derives from G.