They are the ancient names of Scotland’s wild place, though many have been lost beneath urban sprawl or obscured to the mists of time.
But now a project is making the country’s forgotten forests visible again, helping people to better understand the landscape and its relationship to nature.
A map is being dawn up identifying all the places whose names reflect historic woods and trees, which are often derived from Gaelic, Norse, Scots and possibly the language of the Picts.
The scheme, dubbed Forgotten Woodlands, is being a partnership between NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland and Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba - the national advisory partnership for Gaelic place-names.
It has set out to map all Scottish place-names with the potential to reveal their historical woodland coverage, hopefully inspiring landowners and communities to think of the native trees their land used to support, and consider how they might wish to restore its ecological value for the future.
Rich in environmental and cultural detail, the digital story map contains the names of 15,000 which Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba’s Dr Jake King gathered during his research.
The map allows the public to view and identify historically, culturally, and once-ecologically important woodland sites.
Some of the areas with Gaelic place-names are still wooded, but of special interest are the areas of open ground with no records of previous land use beyond the linguistic clues left.
NatureScot Gaelic Officer Robyn Ireland said: “Much of Scotland used to be covered in forest. Today, native woodland covers just four percent of the total land area. Forgotten Woodlands shines a light on the strength of connection between Scotland’s natural and cultural diversity.
“The project is full of descriptions about place; without this knowledge of the language a place’s features can easily be hidden or, indeed, forgotten.
“The Forgotten Woodlands project demonstrates that there is ecological value in recognising, respecting and understanding the cultural context of Scotland.”
READ MORE:
- Scotland’s rainforest and the long journey to our most remote pub
- Former manager calls for halt in £4m sale of Cashel Forest
He added: “The longevity of woodlands in Scotland’s landscape speak of an ecological continuity that people recognised as significant and vital in previous centuries.
“There is a connection to be reclaimed and a privilege to be found in knowing what has gone before us, so that we can best take care of nature for the future.”
Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba’s Dr Jake King said: “This exciting and innovative project was akin to undertaking a PhD in 18 days.
“These 15,000 place-names, which contain words denoting ‘wood’, specific tree types, or woodland indicator species, are spread throughout mainland Scotland and derive from all languages of Scotland, not just Gaelic and Scots, but Pictish and Old Norse as well.
“When used in tandem with other existing datasets for Scotland’s woodlands, my hope is that the Forgotten Woodlands project will be a starting point for future research ideas and contribute a valuable ecological and cultural dimension to our existing knowledge.”
Gaelic specialist Roddy Maclean, Forestry and Land Scotland, and native woodland ecologists provided support and advice to the collaborative project.
Funding came from a research and innovation grant from Future Woodlands Scotland, as well as the University of Edinburgh’s Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability’s Forest, Peat and Rural Land Management programme.
Forestry and Land Scotland Carbon Projects Manager Sarah Nicholas said: “Language has huge significance in our landscape. Many of the forests and land that we manage are steeped in folklore and bear Gaelic, Scots, Norse and Pictish names that describe their appearance or reflect their cultural importance.
“However, there has never been an attempt to comprehensively map woodland-related place-names across Scotland until now.”
He added: “We are proud to support the Forgotten Woodlands project because place-names can hold clues to help us understand the landscapes we manage. When viewed alongside ecological surveys, community consultations and other datasets, this piece of work can help inform decisions about its future management.
“Underpinned by our Gaelic Language Plan, this project is just one way that FLS is committed to helping ensure that the ongoing relevance of Gaelic is recognised and has a sustainable future.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel