dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
@dgplacenames.bsky.social
Place-names, maps, languages. dgplacenames.wordpress.com
auldnorse.wordpress.com/owersettins/
auldnorse.wordpress.com/owersettins/
Pinned
This map shows 5,800 Gaelic place-names in Ayrshire and the southern counties of Scotland that survived to be recorded by the Ordnance Survey in the 19th century. 929 of these are from Carrick's nine parishes.
carricknames.scot/conferences-...
carricknames.scot/conferences-...
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
For giants and dwarves in Norse Orkney, see some brief comments by me in ‘Kirkwall, Orkney’, in Europe: A Literary History 1348-1418, ed. David Wallace, Oxford: OUP 2016, I, 375-383.
November 10, 2025 at 9:46 AM
For giants and dwarves in Norse Orkney, see some brief comments by me in ‘Kirkwall, Orkney’, in Europe: A Literary History 1348-1418, ed. David Wallace, Oxford: OUP 2016, I, 375-383.
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
17th-19th century Irish scribal abbreviations that look like text-speak: numeral 8 edition
"beannacht" (x2), "Connacht"
"beannacht" (x2), "Connacht"
November 9, 2025 at 4:59 PM
17th-19th century Irish scribal abbreviations that look like text-speak: numeral 8 edition
"beannacht" (x2), "Connacht"
"beannacht" (x2), "Connacht"
CAIN' WHALE 'pilot whale', so named because of how easy they are to drive (ca') ashore.
"A dyke at Grainbank Farm, Wideford Hill, was composed of the skulls of ca'in whales driven into Kirkwall Bay. "
"A dyke at Grainbank Farm, Wideford Hill, was composed of the skulls of ca'in whales driven into Kirkwall Bay. "
November 9, 2025 at 10:14 PM
CAIN' WHALE 'pilot whale', so named because of how easy they are to drive (ca') ashore.
"A dyke at Grainbank Farm, Wideford Hill, was composed of the skulls of ca'in whales driven into Kirkwall Bay. "
"A dyke at Grainbank Farm, Wideford Hill, was composed of the skulls of ca'in whales driven into Kirkwall Bay. "
Orkney word of the day: KROMO 'to tie the toes (of geese) together to prevent straying'
November 9, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Orkney word of the day: KROMO 'to tie the toes (of geese) together to prevent straying'
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
The Greek χλωρός (chlorós) means both 'grass-green' and 'pale, pallid'. In Tyndale's translation, therefore, Death, the fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, rides 'a grene horsse'. And apparently it's now just a thing in some translations that Death has a green horse.
November 9, 2025 at 6:32 PM
The Greek χλωρός (chlorós) means both 'grass-green' and 'pale, pallid'. In Tyndale's translation, therefore, Death, the fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, rides 'a grene horsse'. And apparently it's now just a thing in some translations that Death has a green horse.
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
The Shell Holm, the southern most outcrop of the Holm of Aikerness yesterday.
Selkies litter the north, on their own desert island.
#holmsweetholm
#papayatoll
#orkney
#westray
#papawestray
#desertisland
Selkies litter the north, on their own desert island.
#holmsweetholm
#papayatoll
#orkney
#westray
#papawestray
#desertisland
November 6, 2025 at 11:33 AM
The Shell Holm, the southern most outcrop of the Holm of Aikerness yesterday.
Selkies litter the north, on their own desert island.
#holmsweetholm
#papayatoll
#orkney
#westray
#papawestray
#desertisland
Selkies litter the north, on their own desert island.
#holmsweetholm
#papayatoll
#orkney
#westray
#papawestray
#desertisland
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
The Stane o' Quoybune, Birsay walks to the loch for a drink on New Year's Day too. Unfortunately, if you witness it you die shortly after so hard to confirm.
November 9, 2025 at 3:44 PM
The Stane o' Quoybune, Birsay walks to the loch for a drink on New Year's Day too. Unfortunately, if you witness it you die shortly after so hard to confirm.
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
Marwick suggests this #PlaceName derives from ON Jǫtunn ‘giant’. The same word is in Yettna Geo (Sandwick) & in a Rousay standing stone of which it ‘is said that in the early hours of every New Year’s Day the Yetnasteen takes 2 giant strides down to the nearby loch for a drink!' (Rousay Remembered)
November 9, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Marwick suggests this #PlaceName derives from ON Jǫtunn ‘giant’. The same word is in Yettna Geo (Sandwick) & in a Rousay standing stone of which it ‘is said that in the early hours of every New Year’s Day the Yetnasteen takes 2 giant strides down to the nearby loch for a drink!' (Rousay Remembered)
20 year antedating of the SND's only citation for JET 'a pier' from Armstrong's 1775 'A New Map of Ayrshire'
maps.nls.uk/view/218514920
maps.nls.uk/view/218514920
November 9, 2025 at 3:24 PM
20 year antedating of the SND's only citation for JET 'a pier' from Armstrong's 1775 'A New Map of Ayrshire'
maps.nls.uk/view/218514920
maps.nls.uk/view/218514920
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
When you see millions of the mouthless dead
Across your dreams in pale battalions go,
Say not soft things as other men have said,
That you’ll remember. For you need not so…
—Charles Hamilton Sorley (1895–1915)
#RemembranceSunday #poem #poetry
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47427/...
Across your dreams in pale battalions go,
Say not soft things as other men have said,
That you’ll remember. For you need not so…
—Charles Hamilton Sorley (1895–1915)
#RemembranceSunday #poem #poetry
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47427/...
November 9, 2025 at 12:27 PM
When you see millions of the mouthless dead
Across your dreams in pale battalions go,
Say not soft things as other men have said,
That you’ll remember. For you need not so…
—Charles Hamilton Sorley (1895–1915)
#RemembranceSunday #poem #poetry
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47427/...
Across your dreams in pale battalions go,
Say not soft things as other men have said,
That you’ll remember. For you need not so…
—Charles Hamilton Sorley (1895–1915)
#RemembranceSunday #poem #poetry
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47427/...
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
Better than calling yourself Lake Superior
November 9, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Better than calling yourself Lake Superior
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
Watching @realgdt.bsky.social’s excellent new Frankenstein film reminded me of a specific passage from the book.
Mary Shelley wanted somewhere extremely remote and depressing for Victor Frankenstein to create the companion for his ‘monster’. So she sent him to…Orkney
📚🧬⚡️
Mary Shelley wanted somewhere extremely remote and depressing for Victor Frankenstein to create the companion for his ‘monster’. So she sent him to…Orkney
📚🧬⚡️
November 9, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Watching @realgdt.bsky.social’s excellent new Frankenstein film reminded me of a specific passage from the book.
Mary Shelley wanted somewhere extremely remote and depressing for Victor Frankenstein to create the companion for his ‘monster’. So she sent him to…Orkney
📚🧬⚡️
Mary Shelley wanted somewhere extremely remote and depressing for Victor Frankenstein to create the companion for his ‘monster’. So she sent him to…Orkney
📚🧬⚡️
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
That's so much healthier than the toxic self-image that some lakes have.
happy anniversary of Stupid Lake getting its name [citation needed]
November 9, 2025 at 5:28 AM
That's so much healthier than the toxic self-image that some lakes have.
The last two orders before my self-imposed book-buying ban arrived today
November 8, 2025 at 3:55 PM
The last two orders before my self-imposed book-buying ban arrived today
@shroomgirl.bsky.social That was great - really enjoyed it!
November 8, 2025 at 3:13 PM
@shroomgirl.bsky.social That was great - really enjoyed it!
A reminder to other lochs to abandon the pressure to be perfect
maps.nls.uk/view/218516888
maps.nls.uk/view/218516888
November 8, 2025 at 12:36 PM
A reminder to other lochs to abandon the pressure to be perfect
maps.nls.uk/view/218516888
maps.nls.uk/view/218516888
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
Whistle O'er the Lave O't from 'Before Burns: Eighteenth-Century Scottish Poetry'
April 6, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Whistle O'er the Lave O't from 'Before Burns: Eighteenth-Century Scottish Poetry'
Made a site where you can practise Old English scansion. You get given a half-line and have to select which of Sievers's five types it belongs to.
Just Beowulf for now, but that's 6364 half-lines to be getting on with: dgplacenames.github.io/scansion/
[Data: clasp.ell.ox.ac.uk/]
Just Beowulf for now, but that's 6364 half-lines to be getting on with: dgplacenames.github.io/scansion/
[Data: clasp.ell.ox.ac.uk/]
November 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Made a site where you can practise Old English scansion. You get given a half-line and have to select which of Sievers's five types it belongs to.
Just Beowulf for now, but that's 6364 half-lines to be getting on with: dgplacenames.github.io/scansion/
[Data: clasp.ell.ox.ac.uk/]
Just Beowulf for now, but that's 6364 half-lines to be getting on with: dgplacenames.github.io/scansion/
[Data: clasp.ell.ox.ac.uk/]
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
My article on Metre and Clitics in Old English and Old Saxon has just appeared in Glossa. Basically an attempt to use metre to get a better handle on the prosody of things like prepositions and the development of articles in those languages. Really enjoyed working with Glossa -- a model journal!
Metre and clitics in Old English and Old Saxon
This article attempts to extract prosodic information from Germanic (here, Old English and Old Saxon) alliterative poetry by integrating multiple theoretical frameworks. The metrical theories of Sieve...
doi.org
November 7, 2025 at 12:26 PM
My article on Metre and Clitics in Old English and Old Saxon has just appeared in Glossa. Basically an attempt to use metre to get a better handle on the prosody of things like prepositions and the development of articles in those languages. Really enjoyed working with Glossa -- a model journal!
The Sievers type quiz is almost good to go. Just need a name. I'm never going to top 'This b the verse' so will happily take suggestions
November 6, 2025 at 9:22 PM
The Sievers type quiz is almost good to go. Just need a name. I'm never going to top 'This b the verse' so will happily take suggestions
Papay Don't Preach
Altnabreac-y Heart
In Tain in the Brain
Beauly and the Beast
Altnabreac-y Heart
In Tain in the Brain
Beauly and the Beast
Make a song Scottish
Fly me to Dunoon
Chanson Dalmuir
That's A Moray
Coming In the Ayr Tonight
Twenty four Hours from Tolsta
Naver Gonna Give You Up
Born on the Forth of July
Fly me to Dunoon
Chanson Dalmuir
That's A Moray
Coming In the Ayr Tonight
Twenty four Hours from Tolsta
Naver Gonna Give You Up
Born on the Forth of July
November 6, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Papay Don't Preach
Altnabreac-y Heart
In Tain in the Brain
Beauly and the Beast
Altnabreac-y Heart
In Tain in the Brain
Beauly and the Beast
That's me learned the word chemoautotrophic
I remember learning about the existence of colonial spiders for the first time and thinking that was cool. This is next level. 2 species of spider (Tegenaria domestica & Prinerigone vagans) cohabitating in an effectively chemoautotrophic sulfur-based ecosystem.
🧪🕷️🕸️🐛
newatlas.com/biology/sulf...
🧪🕷️🕸️🐛
newatlas.com/biology/sulf...
World’s largest web houses 110,000 spiders thriving in total darkness
Deep underground in a dark, sulfuric cave on the border between Albania and Greece, scientists have made an incredible discovery – a giant communal spider web spanning more than 100 square meters (1,0...
newatlas.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:17 PM
That's me learned the word chemoautotrophic
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
Don't think the author was called 'Joseph', though, the only info is that he was 'Jo Ben'. There's some useful stuff in this: www.orcadian.co.uk/shop/orkney-... 1/2
New Orkney Antiquarian Journal - Volume 6 - The Orcadian Bookshop
A sixth volume of historical and archaeological papers relating to Orkney.
Published by Orkney Heritage Society with Orkney Archaeological Trust.
Paperback.
www.orcadian.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Don't think the author was called 'Joseph', though, the only info is that he was 'Jo Ben'. There's some useful stuff in this: www.orcadian.co.uk/shop/orkney-... 1/2
Reposted by dgplacenames (now in Orkney)
Also, the Latin text is reproduced in Barry's History of the Orkney Islands (1805; pp. 433 ff. in the 1975 facsimile reprint and p. 447 ff. in the Internet Archive version). archive.org/details/hist... 2/2
The history of the Orkney Islands : with a prefatory account of the agricultural progress and present state of the islands : Barry, George, 1748-1805 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet ...
archive.org
November 6, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Also, the Latin text is reproduced in Barry's History of the Orkney Islands (1805; pp. 433 ff. in the 1975 facsimile reprint and p. 447 ff. in the Internet Archive version). archive.org/details/hist... 2/2
Stronsay, 3.
[...] One half of it is barren. Some of the inhabitants worship a god called Tuidas, others do not. They have great belief in fairies, and say that men dying suddenly, spend their life with them afterwards, but this I do not believe.
celt.ucc.ie/published/T8...
[...] One half of it is barren. Some of the inhabitants worship a god called Tuidas, others do not. They have great belief in fairies, and say that men dying suddenly, spend their life with them afterwards, but this I do not believe.
celt.ucc.ie/published/T8...
Description of the Orkney Islands
celt.ucc.ie
November 6, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Stronsay, 3.
[...] One half of it is barren. Some of the inhabitants worship a god called Tuidas, others do not. They have great belief in fairies, and say that men dying suddenly, spend their life with them afterwards, but this I do not believe.
celt.ucc.ie/published/T8...
[...] One half of it is barren. Some of the inhabitants worship a god called Tuidas, others do not. They have great belief in fairies, and say that men dying suddenly, spend their life with them afterwards, but this I do not believe.
celt.ucc.ie/published/T8...