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

On the Study of Gaelic Place Names. 7
origin and meaning of the old names. Some of
those I now notice have often been insisted upon,
and still more frequently neglected, with results
which are too well known. I observe, — (i) A
phonetic resemblance to a known or familiar
word is no safe guide to the derivation of a name.
The mere sound is often more misleading, and
it is therefore absolutely necessary to discover
the old form before we can advance a single step
in the study of an obscure word. Many names
in the low country and borders of the Highlands
are so completely altered, that, without search in
the old writings, it is impossible even to conjec-
ture what they may have been originally. Bo-
triphnie, when traced back, becomes Bothruvin,
and Duthell, Douchquhale ; and although cor-
ruptions such as these are very common, they
are frequently accepted as representing some
combination of modern Gaelic words. Logic
Coldstone is given in Robertson's ' Topography
of Scotland,' ' lag-cnl-diiine, the hollow behind the
fort.' Now the old form of Logie Coldstone is
Logic and Codilstan, these being the names of
two parishes united in 161 8, and the names
have no other connection. (2) In dealing with
concise grammatical phrases, such as many of
these descriptive names are — names which have
not been artificially formed, but have grown and
become fixed by use and wont, it may generally
be accepted that the meaning lies, or once lay,