The Place-names of Assynt

Gemma Smith

Gemma Smith studies Gaelic place-names as a source for the ecological history of the most north-westerly area of the Scottish mainland and recently conducted a full parish survey of Assynt, examining how the geology, flora and fauna of the region are represented in the toponymic record. Her talk for the Centre for History reveals what the Gaelic place-names of Assynt can tell us about how folk inhabited the land and managed their natural resources, as well as the potentially surprising evidence for Norse-Gaelic language contact in the north-west. While Sutherland estate records can tell us much about what happened during and after the Clearances, what if we are more interested in what came before? Our greatest untapped historical source is right here on the map. Gemma Smith is a PhD researcher in the department of Celtic and Gaelic at the University of Glasgow.

You can watch a recording of the talk which was held online on Thursday 21 January, 2021.