The subject of The Placenames of Scotland is a complicated one that relates to the layers of history of the Scottish people. The number of languages that have been spoken in Scotland is staggering, including Gaelic, Pictish, Norse, Anglo-Saxon, Scots, and Modern English. An investigation into the origins and meanings of placenames necessarily excavates some of those layers of history. Iain Taylor, who holds a degree in Celtic Studies from Aberdeen University and has taught Gaelic, is probably just the person for this type of exploration. You can open this book at random and find tantalizing insights. For instance: the name "Claybokie," near Aberdeen, seems to mean something like "the graveyard of the ghost." If you don't already consider parts of Scotland to be enchanted in their own way, this book and its poetry and lore may convince you. Natural features - bogs, channels, fertile fields, clearings, valleys, headlands and more - are central to the naming of the terrain, as one might imagine. But man-made details, like cairns, orchards, forts, meeting places, burial grounds, and churches are equally prominent in the nomenclature. Placenames are given in bold type in English followed in brackets by the name of the county or island in which it is located, and then, if a placename has a current Gaelic name, that is given in plain type. Then a derivation of the name and other information and cross-references follow. This book would be a very handy guide during any travels around Scotland, providing insights into the shifting cultural ties of the people who have lived on the land for millennia.
