more likely that Ben Arthur was given its name because it was associated with a historical Arthur, and there is only historical Arthur in the right place at the right time. If Ben Arthur was named in memory of Arthur Mac Aedan this would explain both the name and the location. This would also suggest that Arthur Mac Aedan was the man who became the legend that is Arthur and that the general consensus that Ben Arthur was named in honor of the legendary Arthur is well founded.
Head west, away from Loch Lomond, across the Rest-and-be-thankful road, you will find that the road falls steeply down towards Inveraray, the capital of Argyll. Beyond Inveraray a string of Ard Airigh place-names runs north–south down the spine of Arthur’s Dalriada; these include, among others, Ardery near Strontian in Sunart, where I met Jimmy Ardery; Dun Creagach, the fort south of Connel named Ardery on Timothy Pont’s sixteenth-century maps; Ardary and Aredrey on the banks of Loch Awe; and Dunardry at the southern end of the Kilmartin Glen.
In the sixth century the most important route in Argyll was the portage road that ran east–west along the line of the modern Crinan Canal, in the shadow of Dunardry. This made Dunardry the obvious administrative capital of Argyll. It is unlikely to be mere coincidence that at the very foot of Dunardry, exactly where one would expect business to be transacted, goods inspected, tolls levied, and travelers identified and given permission to pass, there is a place called Tighean Leacainn , the “smooth slope of the master or sovereign.” Tighean Leacainnwas probably, in effect, Argyll’s commercial district. This lends weight to the view that Dunardry and other Airigh -places do not have pasture but lordly connotations.
Contiguous with Tighean Leacainn is Dhaill , a place-name that can and usually does mean a portion or a share, as in the place-name Dalkeith, the portion or share of the Keiths. The Dhaill at the foot of Dunardry stands alone and does not have a name attached to it, and so, if it was ever meant to signify some particular party’s portion or share, that information has been lost. It is more likely however that this Dhaill at the foot of Dunardry, next to the smooth slope of the lords, where business was transacted and meetings were held, denotes a meeting place, a place of business and parley—literally a parliament, a place where people would meet to talk. (The name of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Republic of Ireland, Dáil Éireann , is from the same root.) Again, this suggests there was more to Dunardry than has hitherto been thought.
Airigh is an element in many modern Gaelic place-names. Sometimes it means a summer pasture or shieling; sometimes it has O’Brien’s older meaning, lord. However, it would require someone more patient than me, with significant linguistic skills and some statistical ability, to work out which Airigh was which on each individual occasion. I suspect that even such a person would find it impossible to reach a definitive conclusion in every instance.
Not only do Q-Celtic Ard Airigh place-names speckle the heartland of Arthur Mac Aedan’s Q-Celtic speaking Dalriada, they can also be found in the P-Celtic speaking lands of the Britons: Arderydd where Arthur Mac Aedan fought against Merlin-Lailoken in 573; Ard Airigh, now Ardery Street, Partick, Glasgow, where, I have submitted in Finding Merlin , Merlin-Lailoken lived toward the end of his long life; the town of Airdrie ( Ardrytoun or Ardry ) 2 in central Scotland; and, two miles north of Airdrie, Arderyth. If Arthur was Arthur Mac Aedan it would not be surprising that the Ard Airigh names found in Arthur Mac Aedan’s Argyll also echo in the southlands of Manau, in Airdrie and Arderyth, where Arthur’s father Aedan ruled and Arthur Mac Aedan patrolled the border.
East of Dunardry-Dunadd, upriver along the Add and past thevillage of Kilmichael Glassary is Glen Airigh, traditionally
Head west, away from Loch Lomond, across the Rest-and-be-thankful road, you will find that the road falls steeply down towards Inveraray, the capital of Argyll. Beyond Inveraray a string of Ard Airigh place-names runs north–south down the spine of Arthur’s Dalriada; these include, among others, Ardery near Strontian in Sunart, where I met Jimmy Ardery; Dun Creagach, the fort south of Connel named Ardery on Timothy Pont’s sixteenth-century maps; Ardary and Aredrey on the banks of Loch Awe; and Dunardry at the southern end of the Kilmartin Glen.
In the sixth century the most important route in Argyll was the portage road that ran east–west along the line of the modern Crinan Canal, in the shadow of Dunardry. This made Dunardry the obvious administrative capital of Argyll. It is unlikely to be mere coincidence that at the very foot of Dunardry, exactly where one would expect business to be transacted, goods inspected, tolls levied, and travelers identified and given permission to pass, there is a place called Tighean Leacainn , the “smooth slope of the master or sovereign.” Tighean Leacainnwas probably, in effect, Argyll’s commercial district. This lends weight to the view that Dunardry and other Airigh -places do not have pasture but lordly connotations.
Contiguous with Tighean Leacainn is Dhaill , a place-name that can and usually does mean a portion or a share, as in the place-name Dalkeith, the portion or share of the Keiths. The Dhaill at the foot of Dunardry stands alone and does not have a name attached to it, and so, if it was ever meant to signify some particular party’s portion or share, that information has been lost. It is more likely however that this Dhaill at the foot of Dunardry, next to the smooth slope of the lords, where business was transacted and meetings were held, denotes a meeting place, a place of business and parley—literally a parliament, a place where people would meet to talk. (The name of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Republic of Ireland, Dáil Éireann , is from the same root.) Again, this suggests there was more to Dunardry than has hitherto been thought.
Airigh is an element in many modern Gaelic place-names. Sometimes it means a summer pasture or shieling; sometimes it has O’Brien’s older meaning, lord. However, it would require someone more patient than me, with significant linguistic skills and some statistical ability, to work out which Airigh was which on each individual occasion. I suspect that even such a person would find it impossible to reach a definitive conclusion in every instance.
Not only do Q-Celtic Ard Airigh place-names speckle the heartland of Arthur Mac Aedan’s Q-Celtic speaking Dalriada, they can also be found in the P-Celtic speaking lands of the Britons: Arderydd where Arthur Mac Aedan fought against Merlin-Lailoken in 573; Ard Airigh, now Ardery Street, Partick, Glasgow, where, I have submitted in Finding Merlin , Merlin-Lailoken lived toward the end of his long life; the town of Airdrie ( Ardrytoun or Ardry ) 2 in central Scotland; and, two miles north of Airdrie, Arderyth. If Arthur was Arthur Mac Aedan it would not be surprising that the Ard Airigh names found in Arthur Mac Aedan’s Argyll also echo in the southlands of Manau, in Airdrie and Arderyth, where Arthur’s father Aedan ruled and Arthur Mac Aedan patrolled the border.
East of Dunardry-Dunadd, upriver along the Add and past thevillage of Kilmichael Glassary is Glen Airigh, traditionally
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