LL-L: "Place names" LOWLANDS-L, 25.APR.2001 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Place names"

> From: Colin Wilson <lcwilson at starmail.com>
> Subject: LL-L: "Place names" LOWLANDS-L, 24.APR.2001 (04) [E]
>
> At 21:25 24/04/01, Sandy Fleming wrote:
> >Larkhall (& other "halls" as opposed to the Scots "haa")
> >- an English corruption of "lark haugh".
>
> A very interesting posting, all in all, from Sandy.
>
> As for the name "Larkhall", given that the Scots for "lark" (the
> bird) is "laverock", I've often thought that "Lark" in "Larkhall"
> must mean something else. My guess is that it's an eroded form of
> "larick" (the larch tree). That's only a guess, though.

This is a difficult one to figure out, because "larick" is
also a Scots form of "lark"! I don't know if this issue could
be resolved by studying the dialect of the region because
erosion of the [v] sound is a phenomenon in Scots (eg gave
-> gae, leave -> lea &c).

One thing I could suggest to decide the issue is that the
larch tree wasn't introduced into Scotland until the early
18th century. There were a few kept in the botanical gardens
in Edinburgh at the end of the 17th century and the Scots
name "larick" for the tree is taken from the Latin designation
used by the botanists.

So if Larkhall was in existence with that name (or "La(ve)r(ic)k
Haugh") in the 17th century, then I'd say it's the bird, but
later than that the issue becomes difficult to resolve without
further historical evidence (eg the actual existence or non-
existence of larches there).

Sandy
http://scotstext.org
A dinna dout him, for he says that he
On nae accoont wad ever tell a lee.
                          - C.W.Wade,
                    'The Adventures o McNab'

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