Steedman

[cormack15]

Mixed fortunes for The Scorries.

Won 5-1 last week but yesterday they found league champions Buckie too strong and went down 3-1. So, 3 pts from their first three games but playing well really.

They’re also going well in the North of Scotland Cup, with a semi-final tie against Inverness Caledonian Thistle coming up in a week or two.

Not sure what ‘ster’ means. I think it just means a gathering of dwellings. Not sure if it’s the same derivation as Chester, etc.

Another decent horse named for a Caithness placename was Eclipse winner Canisbay (Arkle being just over the border in Sutherland).

[robnorth]

Chester and town with suffixes of similar nature (Cirencester, Colchester, Lancaster for example) were derived from the Roman name for fort or town. I would imagine names ending in ‘ster’ in Caithness are derived from either Gaelic or, perhaps more likely, from Norse.

I couldn’t immedaitley find a source of the name Thrumster but the following entry for Scrabster in http://www.domesdaymaps.com hints at its derivation:

SCRABSTER OLD COUNTY: Caithness NAME ON MAP: Scrabester DATE: 1328 EARLIEST RECORD: Skarabolstad DATE: 1201 MEANING: probably OLD NORSE skjære `rocky’ bólstathr `homestead’. The VIKING name Skari is another possibility.

Rob

[Drone]

Homestead it is Rob

Googling ‘homestead’ and ‘scrabster’ found this:

Caithness was not, traditionally, a Gaelic stronghold although the language was spoken there. Many of the names are of Viking origin, and are similar to those found in Lewis, for example. They refer to farms, homesteads and settlements as well as to personal names.

Among the most common place name elements found in Caithness are:

Ster – meaning a farm or homestead (examples: Lybster, Scrabster, Bilbster)

Dale – meaning a type of valley (Berriedale, Sordale, Westerdale)

Wick – meaning a bay (examples: Wick, Freswick)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/fogh … urso.shtml

Interesting that -dale and -wick are suffixes commonly encountered further south but -ster seems to have remained more or less confined to the far north.

[cormack15]

Caithness was not, traditionally, a Gaelic stronghold

Very true, and there is a furore up there at the minute as the (Inverness based) regional council (from 100 miles away) is planning to spend ‘000s converting all the road signs in the county to include the gaelic versions.

http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/4619/Should_Caithness_have_bilingual_road_signs_.html

(btw – if you look on that page and click on the ‘Turf Talking’ link to the right you’ll find my and Adam’s weekly series of tipping articles!)

Now, how on earth did we get here from Steedman?

[eddie case]

I’ve always been told "Never trust a man who wears a kilt, especially to the races".

[Anonymous]

Not advisable to walk below one who’s riding a horse either.

Is Rory at Ayr today with his kilt on? He’s a fine upstanding Scotsman you could trust him with anyone’s wife. Except the married ones that is

[Author]

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