townshipNames

		Back to Placenames Index

An Garadh fhada	Garafad	Another easy one - the long wall, which is still in sight. This time we see Norse and Gaelic coming together: gàradh - though pure Gaelic for dyke or garden - may alternatively derive from the Nortse Gardr which also means garden, dyke or yard. Fada in Gaelic means long. They say a wizard called Iain Dubh once lived here. The Gàradh fhada is very much associated with MacQueens historically.
Bhaltos	Valtos	Forbes gives this as 'fold ridge'. Vold is the Old Norse for vollr meaning field and -ass we have not got a derivation for as yet.
Breacaraidh	Breakrey	Breac is Gaelic for speckled (as in breac being the Gaelic also for trout) and the second element might be àirigh (a shieling). To digress here - the people of Stafainn would understand the word breac to mean salmon. Elsewhere, salmon is frequently known as bradan, and though the Stafainn person is well aware that bradan means salmon, he himself would not use the word. Elsewhere in Gaelic communities, the word breac means trout. In Stafainn, we traditionally use the word ceabhanach for a brown trout, and the word geallag for a sea trout.
Brògaig	Brogaig	This is possibly the district of the bay. Both elements might be Norse - well 'aig' is definitely so, being derived from vik for bay. Bro is rather more elusive in derivation, as it might also be brog or borg.
Clachan	Clachan	This probably refers to the graveyard. Clachan the word is Gaelic in origin, and it is frequently used in places which have at once a parish church, inn and smithy.
Cùl nan cnoc	Culnancnoc	This is very simplistic, given that it is pure Gaelic, meaning the back of the wee hills. The main road took a different route in past times to what it does today. We believe that it might be the view of the place from Malagar and Marisiadar. During the 1840s, a number of people were emigrating from Cùl nan cnoc. As it faded from sight, one woman on board cried as she said 'Cha b'e Cùl nan cnoc, ach agaidh na gréine' (the place was not the back of the hills, but the face of the sun)
Dìg	Digg	This refers to the ditch that runs through the township. The word can mean a ditch or mound to keep out water or a wall or loose stones. Another offering is the hollowed-out rhines in or at a ford after retreat of tide.
Ealaisiadar	Ellishadder	This means cave seat or residence. The Old Norse word Hellir was a cave drilled out by the action of sea waves and shader is from setr which has several meanings - shieling, mountain pasture; hut. There is a Dùn in Ealaisiadar.
Flòdaigearaidh	Flodigarry	Flòdaigearaidh - the floating enclosure or place - Fljot and gardr or Gaelic gearraidh. Traditionally Flòdaigearaidh has always been very fertile, it being a farm until the end of last century and largely surrounded by water. People often referred to being "air flod" (on flod)
Geàros	Gearos	The place at the estuary of the river.
Glas pheighinn	Glasphein	'the penny land green spot' - the grey penny literally (two Gaelic words for a change!) signify that at one time the croft rent here was a penny.
Greallainn	Grealain
Greip	Greip
Leth allt	Lealt	This is pure Gaelic, with two elements: leth and allt (the half stream). It applies to a burn or stream with one steep side or bank - one bank being higher than the other.
Lon fheàrna	Lonfern	This is all Gaelic and it means alder burn.
Màl-le-geir	Maligar	The rent for this area was paid with suet, the fat from animals. Hence, the name commemorates this practice màl-le-geir (rent with suet).
Marisiadar	Marrishadder	An easy one! - Marisiadar is pure Norse and it means the pasture or summering ground for mares. Mari is the Norse for mare and setr is a common Norse name for pasture which is very plentiful on the west coast, giving rise to shader more often than not.
Na Dùnanan	Dunans	Little forts or dome-shaped hills - just like the place
Reiseaborg	Reisaburgh	Borg is Norse and it means fort, castle or dome-shaped hill - check!
Rig	Rigg	This means the ridge, from the Norse hryggr. On the shore at Rig, there is a place which traditionally had good grazing ground. A bàrd called Calum Bàn MacMhannann said of the area, 'S gum b'e an t-àite bhò e (= and it was the place of cows).
Sartail	Sartle	This is alleged by Forbes to mean muddy vale. Saur is given as the Norse for mudy and dalr is the Norse for dale. They say there is a church or cell here dedicated to Saint Maolrubha, with an open burial place. Apparently Sartail had many athletes and sportsmen being noted for shinty matches (iomain). During the second world war, several local people harvested bog cotton from our area. Sartail was known to be an area where it grew well. It was sent away to be made into bandages.
Stafainn	Staffin	The name itself is a legacy to our having been colonised by the Norse a thousand years ago. The district of Stafainn starts at Rig and it stops at An Grip, on the border with Kilmaluag. It is a Norse name, from two Norse words. It means the place of pillars - coming from the Norse staffr meaning staff and inn or in meaning locality. We are not the only place in Britain to be named after pillars of rock. There is Staffa and also Dùn Staffanage. The pillars are those of Creag an Fhéilidh (the kilt rock). The Norse were a sea-faring race, and the land and its contours often came to be known by its appearance from the sea.
Stoighseall or Steinnseall	Stenscholl	According to Forbes, this means the stone slope. Following this theory, it comes from the Icelandic word sten for stone and hallr for slope. This name refers to stone - or mol - left by the sea at periods when the sea was much higher than at present. Another theory is that the second element in the word is really from bol, the Old Norse for house and also a resting place for animals. Stoighseall was a quoad sacra parish. In the eighteenth century, Forbes noted that Stenscholl had a mineral spring to rival that in Strathpeffer.
Tobht	Tote	This is from tobht (ruin) we guess, but we are not sure.