Blair Collection > Place names in Strathbogie, with notes historical, antiquarian and descriptive

14 Place Names in Strathbogie.
ent English meanings, but which neither our
records, traditions, nor the natural features of
the place enable us to determine the exact
application of the name originally. And, (4) The
references to not a few names leave us in doubt
if we have reached the oldest forms, although the
names may appear as early as the 13th or
14th centuries. Now there are difficulties of
some sort common to every branch of study, and
those which give rise to uncertainty about local
names may be purely personal, local, or tempor-
ary. Investigations in other parts of the country
will certainly cast further light on names which
are presently obscure, and as yet the subject has
only received serious attention in a few districts
throughout Scotland. It is therefore premature
to say what may, or may not, be accomplished ;
but it appears to me that there must be much
preparatory research by individual students, in
compiling lists of names, with their old forms,
and suggestions as to their meaning, based on
local knowledge, before it is possible to under-
take a comprehensive work on the place names
of Scotland, with any hope of success.