September 24.
The name Rottenrow is one of the earliest named Glasgow streets
(Ratonraw, 1283), at a time when few were named (September 18 and 23).
Although the OED is coy on the subject, its etymology seems not to be
in doubt. It is neither French nor Gaelic but, as we might expect from
so widespread a name, plain English.
It comes from a middle English word (though of French derivation),
''ratoun'', meaning ''rat''. Apart from the famous Rottenrow in
Kensington, it was found in other English towns, and in Scotland also in
Aberdeen, Dundee, Dunfermline, Haddington, and Leith.
No doubt it tells us something about the living conditions of our
ancestors, but what puzzles me about the name is the compound with
''row''.
Presumably that meant a single stretch of houses, with none on the
opposite side of the street -- hence, I suppose, Fisherrow, where houses
overlooked a harbour.
But why, if rats commonly infested a one-sided street, did they never
infest, and give their name to a street built up on both sides -- why is
there no Rottengate (''gate'' means ''street'')?
Professor A. A. M. Duncan,
9 University Gardens,
Glasgow.
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