Hello Blyth friends!
Once again I have come across a little gem that I just have to share with you, this time regarding the old uncracked nut of Kitty Brewster.
A certain J. P. Godwin wrote a brief note to the Tyne & Tweed history magazine in the autumn of 1976 (issue no. 28) and this is what he wrote.
No copyright restrictions apply. A Note on Kitty Brewster
This is a puzzling place-name, for which local tradition has catered by saying that a woman called Kitty lived here who was famous for her home-brew. It is, however, remarkable that a second place called Kitty Brewster exists on the west side of Aberdeen. It, to, has a similar tradition of one Kitty, a brewster. The key however, lies in the Gaelic word
ceide, a little hill, which at Aberdeen, as at Blyth, was applied to a sloping bank about 50 feet high beside a river about 2 miles from it's mouth. James B. Johnston, in his Place Names of Scotland (1892; 3rd edition 1934 and reprinted 1970), states that in 1376 the place was called 'Browster Lands', and in 1615 'the den(e) called Kittiebrouster' occurs. He derives the name as 'Brewer's hill', adding "The reputed female innkeeper is a myth". For other such Kittys he adduces Kitty-salloch (at Minnigaff, near Newton Stewart, Galloway) and Kitty Frist Well (at Kilsyth, 1796).
The almost exactly similar appearance and siting (on the south banks of their rivers) of the two Kitty Brewsters might be mere coincidence, but is perhaps due to the arrival of Aberdonians at some time past, whom it reminded of home; there was formerly a considerable trade in iron with Scotland from Blyth, Bedlington, and district. These men, on seeing the spot, would have called it 'the Kitty-Brewster', as it is called to this day (not 'Kitty Brewster',
tout court), having forgotten the significance of 'Brewster' here; and the name has stuck, aided by the latter myth.
Other such 'Kitty' place-names exist in Northumberland; e.e. Kitty Frisk, east of Hexham, on a steep hillside. There are other Gaelic ('Celtic') survivals in this land of Anglian place-names; Cambois, for instance, which is
cammus, a bay, and is pronounced as such, rightly; the
'bois' in it's spelling is a later addition. Collecting these Northumbrian Gaelic names would be valuable: certainly interesting, the results might yield some significant surprises.
Hopefully those of you interested enough will find it quite informative. Whether you still want to believe that there was a woman brewing beer there or perhaps a woman of ill repute in that area, is entirely up to yourselves. Godwin certainly has put an altogether different and plausible light on it from my perspective.
Enjoy. Mention was made on the subject here;
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,101741.0.htmlP
