CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh

Edinburgh place names

(26 posts)
  • Started 11 years ago by Stickman
  • Latest reply from Morningsider

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  1. Stickman
    Member

    As a migrant from the west I suppose I should confess that even after approaching 20 years living here there are still place names I don't know how to pronounce. I don't bat an eyelid at Milngavie, but some Edinburgh names leave me mumbling. It doesn't help that most of my work colleagues are from elsewhere and so can't help either.

    So, as an aid to other incomers, could anyone help out with the correct pronounciation of these?

    Sciennes: is it seens, signs, shines or sheens?

    Bughtlin: butt-lin or bewt-lin?

    Cammo: cah-mo or cay-mo?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  2. LivM
    Member

    I'm not indigenous either (but East Coast not West Coast origin) and I have always heard people say Sheens, Bewt-lin and with the a in Cammo hard like "ammo" or "am" (no ahh or ay)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  3. SRD
    Moderator

    Top tip : Merchiston is pronounced with a hard ch.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  4. chdot
    Admin

    "
    Sciennes Primary School (pronounced Sheens) opened in 1892. Today we are the largest primary school in Edinburgh with 640 pupils in 22 classes.

    "

    https://www.twitter.com/SciennesPS

    Posted 11 years ago #

  5. Arellcat
    Moderator

    a hard ch.

    ch as in church, or ch as in kirk? But certainly not a soft ch as in loch. :-)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  6. gembo
    Member

    merkiston

    Then of course there are places like

    Gullane

    Which is pronounced gullin but not if you are a local

    Same county has whiteadder reservoir which locals apparently pronounce whitadder

    Posted 11 years ago #

  7. allebong
    Member

    There's definitely at least one Edinburgh place I was mispronouncing (if not out loud) until quite recently but it escapes me for just now.

    I do get forever confused between Kirkliston and Kirknewton - I'm familiar with both them and where they are though I forget which is which.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  8. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Kirkliston's on the big road, and Kirknewton's on the wee road.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  9. Charterhall
    Member

    Its Redford and Dreghorn barracks that get me confused. A clue, the one in Redford Road isn't the one you'd logically expect.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  10. Focus
    Member

    How about Redheughs Rigg? Wikipedia says that Redheugh Bridge near Newcastle is pronounced "Redyoof" (more or less). Same here?

    Another good one is "Croft-an-Righ" (pronounced "rye") and meaning "The King's Field".

    @ "allebong"

    "I do get forever confused between Kirkliston and Kirknewton" You're not alone. I occasionally mix up which one I've cycled to - not that I'm aiming for one and end up at the other, thankfully!

    Posted 11 years ago #

  11. fimm
    Member

    I'm glad it is not just me that gets Kirkliston and Kirknewton mixed up.

    Not really Edinburgh, but my mother pronounces Athelstaneford "Elshinford"...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  12. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    And Morningside is pronounced 'Morningsay'd'.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  13. gembo
    Member

    Ah yes, you could always buy a pan loaf in morneengsahide

    Posted 11 years ago #

  14. cb
    Member

    Does anyone pronounce Camus as in Albert?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  15. allebong
    Member

    I'm glad it is not just me that gets Kirkliston and Kirknewton mixed up.

    It's good to know I'm not alone! I've been thinking of remembering them by memorising 'kirknewtons not north' as a geographical aid.

    Vaguely related to this thread is the winding holes you get on canals, which is pronounced 'wind-ing' and not winding as in rhymes with finding.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  16. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @allebong

    I had jerusalem artichoke soup for tea last night, so your talk of wind-ing holes...I'll get my Altura Night Vision Evo coat....

    Posted 11 years ago #

  17. fimm
    Member


    Posted 11 years ago #

  18. Morningsider
    Member

    gembo - A pan loaf! Have you gone mad? It's artisan free range organic focaccia or nothing in Morningside.

    Honestly!

    Posted 11 years ago #

  19. cb
    Member

    I did once buy half a loaf of bread for almost £4 in Morningside. That's normal right?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  20. Morningsider
    Member

    I suppose - for the "reduced to clear" isle anyway.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  21. Arellcat
    Moderator

    "Reduced to clear"? That's a dreadfully common phrase. Such stock should be marked as "Failed to sell with characteristic haste upon initial marketing."

    Another one is Longstone. I believe it is correctly pronounced 'Long Stone', referring to a long stone that once bridged the Water of Leith somewhere in the vicinity of the Longstone Inn and HMP Edinburgh.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  22. allebong
    Member

    @IWRATS: Such toilet humour tends to be difficult to pass around here....

    Longstone is indeed pronounced as you would expect, though thinking about it now I've ended up mutating it to lonstin when I say it.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  23. gembo
    Member

    @morningsider

    Of course but when the option was only plain or pan the posh one was the pan. Leading as we know to the expression pan loafy meaning posh or well spoken

    Posted 11 years ago #

  24. kaputnik
    Moderator

    A lot of my colleagues have real trouble with Corstorphine, calling it either Costrofeen or Costorfine. I've never found Corstorfin to be too difficult to pronounce. Closest place name I found to it was a Roman Fort in Yorkshire called Corstorpitum.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  25. threefromleith
    Member

    A classmate at Uni who had a cut-glass RP accent wandered into a tutorial one day and puzzled many of us with details of her new flat in "Cawstaw FEEN"

    Took us a few minutes to realise it was "kirSTORfin" she was on about ;-)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  26. Morningsider
    Member

    gembo - I didn't know that. Every day a school day!

    Posted 11 years ago #

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