Balmain, Malcolm, William, Walter - Wemyss

[ostler]

I read a book about Fife place names and the author claims that Fifers traded a lot with Welsh people, and a lot of Welsh people settled here. The word 'bal' was derived from a Welsh word (which I can't remember off the top of my head, it's probably just 'settlement'). 'Mains' is a Scottish word meaning farm. There are many places in Fife beginning with 'bal' - Balgonie, Balbirnie, Balfarg, Balcomie, Balmalcolm, Balmerino, etc.

[ostler]

I should note that the author of the book is a professor of toponymy.

[hdw]

I read a book about Fife place names and the author claims that Fifers traded a lot with Welsh people, and a lot of Welsh people settled here. The word 'bal' was derived from a Welsh word (which I can't remember off the top of my head, it's probably just 'settlement'). 'Mains' is a Scottish word meaning farm. There are many places in Fife beginning with 'bal' - Balgonie, Balbirnie, Balfarg, Balcomie, Balmalcolm, Balmerino, etc.

Anyone interested in Fife place-names is in luck, as two leading name scholars, Dr. Simon Taylor (native of Aberdour) and Gilbert Markus, have been working on a four-volume study of the subject, and three of the volumes are now in print, each one over 600 pages long, covering place-names in the whole county between them. The only volume still to appear will be an exhaustive study of the various languages that used to be spoken in Fife. The publisher is Shaun Tyas in Donington, Lincolnshire, and each volume costs over £20.

Bal- names are common in Scotland, and usually derive from Gaelic baile, meaning, as you say, a settlement. The other main Celtic language spoken in Fife was Pictish. A lot of Fife names are Pictish-Gaelic hybrids, e.g. names containing Pit- (a piece of land, farm) or Carden- (a thicket).

A fascinating subject! I have the first three Fife place-name volumes, and am always dipping into them, especially the one covering my native East Neuk.

Harry

[cheekywan]

I find all this stuff fascinating; I read a book recently "Before Scotland The Story of Scotland Before History" by Alistair Moffat - The author describes the early history of Scotland as documented by Welsh (can't remember the exact name) but much of our early history is recorded by the Welsh and Irish in forms of stories and poetry apparently.

Heather

[hdw]

Yes indeed, Moffat used to be a TV producer so he knows how to popularise history for the masses. He's a passionate Borderer, a native of Kelso, and has written extensively about the Border Reivers etc.

I'll tell you what else is fascinating. Lots of us amateur genealogists have taken advantage of the new science of genetic genealogy to have our DNA tested and find out just who our early ancestors were, in terms of being Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, etc. People often like to think they're a Scot/Pict/Viking or what have you, but now there are scientific tests that can spell out your ultimate ancestry in terms of father's father's father ..., mother's mother's mother ... and so on, back thousands of years.

As a native of Fife brought up in the village where my father's family seem to have lived for ever, I wasn't surprised when my Y DNA 67-marker test showed I was a Pict. We didn't disappear, as historians have alleged - we're still here!

Harry

[ostler]

Yes it was Simon Taylor I was referring to, he did a talk at my local heritage group in Markinch.

[hdw]

When I first knew Simon he was doing his Ph.D. at Edinburgh University on habitation names in Fife. Before he came along the main man for Scottish place-names was Ian Fraser, and before him Bill Nicolaisen. Bill and Ian in turn worked on the floor above me at the School of Scottish Studies in George Square. All three of the above have been very good at descending from the ivory tower and giving talks to interested amateurs in local history groups etc. about Scottish place-names.

Harry

[ostler]

Small world. As I say, I'm from Markinch, but I work regularly in Cupar and St Andrews.

[hdw]

And you're obviously a night-owl! It's after half-past midnight now so I'm heading for bed. We have a workman coming early tomorrow to do some jobs for us so I'd better get some kip.

Harry