The Hill Lists : There are five major lists of the hills and mountains in Scotland, which classify t

A first-time visitor hotel london inexpensive to Scotland can sometimes be a little intimidated by the names of towns and places on the map. Scottish place names are a combination hotel london inexpensive of English, Scots and Gaelic languages, with other influences thrown in as well, so we ve put together this guide to help visitors to Scotland with the basics.
Ben : A ben is a mountain, and can be pretty much literally translated as Mount . Scotland is the most mountainous part of the UK, and the highest mountain in Britain can be found here, at Ben Nevis.
Inch : In the Scots language, the word inch is used very much as in English, as a unit of measurement, but in Scotland, when you see Inch on a map, it means an island, as handed down from the Gaelic word innes . An example is Inchkeith, a small island in Fife.
Loch : This is probably the one geographical term that most visitors to Scotland have heard before they arrive, mostly due to the famous Loch Ness . A loch is more than just a lake, though. In fact, the true definition of loch is a narrow inlet of the sea, which is almost, but not entirely, landlocked.
The Hill Lists : There are five major lists of the hills and mountains in Scotland, which classify them by their height and other criteria. These lists are named after their original compilers, and include the Munros, Corbetts, Donalds, Grahams, and Murdos. Hills aren t usually hotel london inexpensive named this way, but they are often referred to by their membership in the lists. For example, there are 283 Munros, defined as mountains over 3,000 feet tall.
Aber- : A remnant hotel london inexpensive of the ancient Brythonic language, the prefix Aber- means the confluence (meeting) of , usually referring to the river that drains the area. For example, Aberdeen is named for the point that the River Don and River Dee meet and join the ocean. Roughly, Aber + Dee + Don = Aberdeen.
Inver- : Many Scottish towns begin with this prefix, which comes from the Gaelic inbhir , meaning the mouth of a river. A name beginning in Inver- often ends with the name of the river. For example, Inverness lies at the mouth of the River Ness.
Kirk- : As you travel farther north in Scotland, the Norse influence increases and eventually in some places can become a more prominent part of place names than Gaelic. hotel london inexpensive Kirk is the Norse word for church. An example is the largest town on the Orkney Islands , Kirkwall.