A' Chrannchuir

[stewartvonalba]

Hello....I'm having some difficulty finding a coherent translation for A'Chrannchuir, which is the name for a Cnocan above the village of Kilpatrick on the Isle of Arran....any help would be greatly appreciated - Stewart.

[Ciarán12]

It looks like it means "The Lottery", but I don't speak any Scots Gaelic, so perhaps it has a different meaning there.

[ceid donn]

It would be better to refer to it as Cnocan a' Chrannchuir, as most recorded names are some variation of that. That just translates as "the little hill of the lot," which is coherent. It just isn't obvious what that means. Gaelic placenames are a field of research unto themselves, as even a single island like Arran can have hundreds of unique Gaelic placenames passed down over the generations that aren't recorded in most English language surveys, let alone their meanings, origins and histories. There are people who are devoted, either as professionals or amateurs, to researching the history of these Gaelic placenames and your best bet would be to get in contact with someone who is researching placenames in Arran specifically. The most convenient way of starting your search would be to go on Twitter and ask about this placename using the hashtags #Gàidhlig, #Arran and #Scottishplacenames

[stewartvonalba]

Thank you for taking the time to compose such a lucid and informative answer; very much appreciated - Stewart.