The expansion and contraction of Gaelic in medieval Scotland: the onomastic evidence
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: Celtic and Gaelic
Abstract
The project investigates the evidence of names, primarily place-names, for Gaelic in medieval Scotland, focusing on areas of eastern and southern Scotland, between the high and low tide-marks of Gaelic's medieval expansion and contraction. It does this through the comprehensive analysis of the place-names of a region, Fife, where Gaelic ceased to be the dominant language in the 13th century. The methodology employed there will then be used to produce a comparative examination of the whole study-zone with regard to social context, regional variation and linguistic contacts in a remote and text-poor period.
Publications
Clancy T
(2011)
Proceedings of the British Academy Volume 167, 2009 Lectures
Clancy T O
(2008)
Two notes on Ayrshire place-names: 1. Pulprestwic 2. Trearne
in Journal of Scottish Name Studies
Clancy T O
(2008)
The Gall-Ghàidheil and Galloway
in Journal of Scottish Name Studies
Clancy T O
(2010)
Bile Os Chrannaibh: A Festschrift for William Gillies
Clancy T O
(2010)
The Cult of Saints and the Virgin Mary in Medieval Scotland
Henery, R.
(2007)
Pitmaclardie in Fife
in Journal of Scottish Name Studies
Markus G
(2007)
Gaelic under pressure: a thirteenth-century charter from East Fife
in Journal of Scottish Name Studies
McNiven P
(2012)
Place-names and the medieval church in Menteith' (Part 1)
in History Scotland
| Description | The project produced, in 5 volumes of over 3000 pages, the first detailed study of the place-names of any Scottish county for 60 years, and the first done to the most modern standards of scholarship: The Place-names of Fife (2006-12). In doing so it kick-started place-name survey in Scotland where it has been fallow in recent years (in contrast to England where most counties are surveyed), and is now leading to the development of a long-term plan for full survey. This also involved training of new researchers, two of whom have gone on to produce survey volumes of their own (Bute and Menteith), and added new life to a field which in a Scottish context demands some very rare research skills. It allowed us to rethink aspects of the expansion and contraction of the Gaelic language in Scotland, using place-names as our primary tool. In particular, a more fine-grained analysis of the loss of Gaelic, and the mechanisms behind that, in Fife was achieved; but also the considerable diversity in the fortunes of Gaelic in other places. Some real light was shed in a number of subsidiary papers and articles on Gaelic in south-west Scotland, a little understood part of Scotland in the early and central middle ages. |
| Exploitation Route | Our work is seen as having laid both groundwork and ground-rules (protocols of presentation, for instance) for further surveys of Scottish place-names, esp. further county studies, and this in fact is now being done. Local communities are able to incorporate a great deal of local linguistic and historical material from the Fife volumes into their heritage material. We have started to work with schools to enable teachers to use the linguistic and historical resources that are embedded in place-names. On the academic side, there are some paradigms of approach to Gaelic place-names and place-name types that need to be revisited in detail on a Scotland-wide scale. A pressing need is the development of an online resource which would enable wider dissemination of the resources than has been practical to date. There is currently some action on this front. |
| Sectors | Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | Our research has been used by local history groups, people interested in tourism and heritage, as the underpinning for various walks, brochures, displays and the like. The approaches used, as well as some of the research itself, have been used by the body responsible for official Gaelic place-names on road-signs and elsewhere, Ainmean Aite na h-Alba. Heritage Landscape partnerships, e.g. on Bute, have employed this research (and our ex-researchers) to engage in community projects around place-names. Our work on this project has now led directly to our ongoing work with the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership, surveying the names of 7 parishes in Kirkcudbrightshire. EducationScotland has, with our help, designed learning resources for schools P1-S6, based around place-names. The protocols emerging from this (and my other) project have helped to inform the building up of a Scottish Place-Name Database framework, now being employed in a Leverhulme-funded project, Recovering the Earliest English Language in Scotland, and several other new ongoing projects, such as the Place-Names of the Galloway Glens, and the Place-Names of Mull and Ulva. |
| Sector | Education,Environment,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Policy & public services |
| Description | Place-Name Resources for EducationScotland within Curriculum for Excellence |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| URL | http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/studyingscotland/resourcesforlearning/learning/Contextsforstudy/... |
| Description | Celebrating Fife 2010: Knowing your Place: Place-Name Walks |
| Amount | £1,200 (GBP) |
| Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 07/2010 |
| End | 09/2010 |
| Description | Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership (Heritage Lottery Fund) |
| Amount | £25,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2018 |
| End | 07/2020 |
| Description | John Robertson Bequest |
| Amount | £1,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2014 |
| End | 12/2014 |
| Title | Fife Place-Name Database |
| Description | This was a pilot project to retroactively create an online database from the (purposefully laid-out) volumes of The Place-Names of Fife. It was successful, and allowed the researcher, Simon Taylor, and the systems developer, Brian Aitken, to work together on a prototype of what will become the full Scottish Place-Name database for the future (based on older models, which underlie the survey volumes). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Creation, under the REELS project (Leverhulme funded) of a prototype of the new full Scottish Place-Name Database. |
| URL | http://fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Living Lomonds Landscape Partnership |
| Organisation | Living Lomonds Landscape Partnership |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Place-name expertise and place-name walks for exploring landscape of the Lomond Hills in Fife and Kinross, largely through agency and expertise of Dr Simon Taylor. THis is based on research from both AHRC funded projects on the place-names of Fife and of Kinross-shire. The LLLP is a Heritage Lottery funded Heritage Landscape Partnership. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Hosting and collaborating on KE events. |
| Impact | Place-name walk from Falkland to Strathmiglo. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Place-Names of the Galloway Glens |
| Organisation | Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | A team descended from the team which carried out Scottish Toponymy in Transition will be engaged with the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership to deliver a survey of 6 parishes in upper Kirkcudbrightshire, over the course of 2018-19. |
| Collaborator Contribution | GGLP is the sponsoring organisation, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and they will also be engaged with the dissemination activities. |
| Impact | The project is just starting. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Aberdour Heritage Centre events |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Two fundraising events to raise funds for an Aberdour Heritage Centre |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016 |
| Description | Big Tent Festival, Falkland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Disseminated information about place-name work. Main impact was participating in event with wider interest in environment. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.bigtentfestival.co.uk/green-festival.html |
| Description | Crail History Society Talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A talk was given on "Place-Names of Fife, with special reference to Crail and the East Neuk" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Exhibition at National Records of Scotland From Ae to Zetland: Scotland in the Ordnance Survey Name Books |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Joined with NRS for exhibition related to Scotland's "Year of Natural Scotland"; collaboration was very fruitful. A variety of linkages made around work with newly digitised OS Name Books. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/news/ordnance-survey-name-books-online |
| Description | Gaelic and the church in early medieval Galloway |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This talk was part of day organised on the role of Gaelic in Galloway, as part of an awareness-raising exercise by interested memebers of the local community. The day-conferecne was widely advertised and got a fair amount of both local and national notice (see URL below). My paper discussed the earlier phase of Gaelic in the region, and was based on research originally done for this project in the 2006-10 period. A publication is intended from this. This coincided with the launch of our place-name project working with the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/galloway-gaelic-conference-proves-success-13300174 |
| Description | Great British Story, Riverside Museum Glasgow |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk / activity / fun panel event stimulated ideas and interest in place-names Public interest in place-names--and enjoyment! |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/galleries/p00v1z9j |
| Description | Place-Name walk in Leslie, Fife |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 20 people attended a place-name walk, led by Dr Simon Taylor, under the auspices of the Living Lomonds Landscape Partnership, based on research done under two AHRC place-name projects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://onomastics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Leslie-Place-Name-Walk-autumn-2015.pdf |
| Description | Place-name walk from Falkland to Strathmiglo |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The walk prompted exchange of ideas and information about local landscape. Better awareness of local routeways in the past. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://onomastics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Falkland-to-Strathmiglo-13-Sept-2014-leaflet.pdf |
| Description | Place-name walk in Aberdour |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Discussion and information about local landscape and place-names. Leaflet was widely distributed for free locally and is now hosted on onomastics.co.uk--people can do walk themselves. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| URL | http://onomastics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Aberdour-Place-Name-Walk-booklet-25-01-2011.pdf |
| Description | Place-name walk in Markinch |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Excellent interchange of information about local landscape and place-names between researchers and local community. Aspects of landscape of Markinch were better understood following exchange of information. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| URL | http://onomastics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Markinch-Place-name-walk-booklet-25-01-11.pdf |
| Description | Talk on the Survey of Scottish Place-Names |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A talk explaining the origin and launching of the Survey of Scottish Place-Names, delivered to the joint meeting of the Scottish Place-Name Society and the Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland. Both of these societies are a mix of academics and members of the interested general public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://spns.org.uk/day-conference-4-november-2017-glasgow |