soil’) and Cyderhall (Sigvarth-haugr ‘Sigurd’s howe’) in Sutherland, Durness (dýr-nes
‘deer headland’) and Sangomore (sand-gjá ‘sand cleft’) on the north-west seaboard,
Gruinard (grunna-fjo ̨rðr ‘shallow firth’) and Sand (sand-á ‘sandy river’) in Wester Ross,
Aignish (egg-nes ‘ridge headland’) and Galson (galt-sund ‘hog sound’) in Lewis, Hough
(haugr ‘mound’) and Uig (víg ‘bay’) in Coll, and Skipnes (skip-nes ‘ship headland’) and
Sandaig (sand-vík ‘sandy bay’) in Tiree (Crawford 1995 : 112 – 15 ), and further afield but
still within the Norse zone, Scarlett (skarf-klett ‘cormorants’ cleft’), Ramsey (hrams-á)
‘wild-garlic river’) and Swarthawe (svart-ho ̨fuð ‘black mound’) in the Isle of Man, and
Strangford (strang-fjo ̨rð ‘strong-current firth’) and Leixlip (lax-hleypa ‘salmon leap’)
along the east coast of Ireland.
Habitative names include staðir in Borrostoun (Borgarr), setr in Helsetter (hella), and
bólstaðr in Lybster (hlíð) and Scrabster (skári ‘young seagull’) in Caithness (Crawford
1995 : 42 – 3 ), staðir in Skegirsta (Skeggi), setr in Linshader, and bólstaðr in Garrabost (garða
gen. pl.) in Lewis, staðir in Torastan (Þórr) in Coll, and Bhiosta (with an obscure first
element) in Tiree, and bólstaðr in the simplex name Bousd and in Arnabost (Arni or ‘eagle’)
in Coll (Crawford 1995 : 116 – 21 ), staðir in Leodest (Ljótulfr) and possibly bólstaðr in
Bravost (brú) in Man (Gammeltoft 2001 : 98 , 100 , 105 , 136 ).
The picture of Scandinavian place names in the British Isles ranges from the almost
wholly Norn names of Shetland and Orkney and the marked Danish influence in eastern
England to areas of Scotland and the Isles where Gaelic influence has partly obscured the
Norse names of the Viking period and areas where later Danish influence from the
Danelaw has spread over north-western England, southern and central Scotland and even
southern Wales, to the spread of seafaring influence around the coasts of Ireland and
Wales, and, finally, to the Isle of Man, where Gaelic names have been overlaid by
both Norse and Danish names before finally being subjected to a layer of English varnish
(Figure 28. 7 ).
Figure 28. 6 Duncansby, Caithness: Celtic personal name Dungal and Norse bæ ‘settlement’.–– Gillian Fellows-Jensen––