@willdalrymple.bsky.social I'm reading your magnificent Golden Road, and I've reached where Xuanzang is in India, including Patna. It's quite the coincidence that the village in Ayrshire you are named from is close to a name transferred from India that appears in your book!

In my part of central Scotland, near Stirling and Dumyat, we were hating fish long before it was woke, as Cassius Dio testified in his book. We also didn't like shoes or clothes...

My wee Half-tache sends hugs.

Cassius Dio wasn't impressed with our ability with fish either...

In Gaelic Scotland, while eagles (iolair) and ravens (fitheach) abound in place-names, it is fairly rare, at least in my experience, to find place-names containing smaller, particularly lesser known birds, but south of Inverness is Allt a' Chlacharain 'burn or stream of the stonechat'.

I'm just thinking, the cross at Crieff and the proximity of Kincardine, might be an interesting parallel to your study. There's a long article about it Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal vol 6. Angus Watson wrote on the place-names in it (not sure if he actually mentioned Kincardine, though 😬).

What do you make of these terraces on Wester Kirk Craig above Tillicoultry in Clackmannanshire?

I guess shld make a 1st proper post. I'd like to post on Scottish place-names more than I did on the Ex-site. Scotland has 6 main languages that make up its place-names, more than most western European countries. Anyway, the pic shows my fave, between Kelty and Kinross (map Roy c.1750 via nls.uk).

My wee Half-tache says hi...😺