The land of the Norse settlers

Gaelic, Norse, Brittonic? A look into the history 
and origins of place names in and around our area

Some place names of Norse (Viking) origin are named for a person, and in Iceland such places are often named for the first settler. In the Highlands, it would have been the first Norse settler. 

Such is the case of Alladale, ‘Ali’s dale’, from Ali, a Norse personal name, probably the short form of a name beginning with Al- or Ál-. In the Kyle of Sutherland, near Edderton we find the remains of a broch structure called Dun Alaisgaig meaning ‘fort of Ali’s strip’.

Another Viking that must have settled in our area was named Cathal, since there is a Scuitchal (Sgodachail) from old Norse Sguit, a small farm, so the meaning would be ‘Cathal’s piece of land’ or ‘Cathal’s croft’.

Torroboll (Torroble) and the burn Allt Torroboll near Lairg have the meaning of ‘Thor’s farm’. In the 1800s it was recorded with a ‘bal’ ending, disguising it as a Gaelic name, but the origin of the second part of the word, from old Norse bólstaðr (meaning ‘place’) is widely accepted.