Place Names

Place names within Meigle and Ardler and in the surrounding area appear to come from a variety of different linguistic origins and include some that combine different languages within the one name. 

The oldest, pre-Celtic names across Britain relate to natural features, especially watercourses, and the river which makes the northern border of the old Meigle Parish has one such name: the Isla. 

Meigle itself derives from the Pictish word 'mig', meaning a bog, and 'dol', a field or meadow.  

Cardean may come from the Pictish 'carden', which can mean a wooded valley. However, the current settlement of Cardean was previously called Potento. West Cardean still exists to the east of the current Cardean with Easter Cardean being renamed as Simprim at the same time that Potento became Cardean. However, the old Cardean was still close to the Cardean Roman fort and as 'caer' means fort in the Brythonic Celtic languages (such as Pictish), it could well derive from the site of the fort. Furthermore, the original name for Cardean, Potento, could originate from the Pictish 'pit' prefix. 

More Pictish names are evident in other place names close to Meigle and Ardler, such as 'cuper' in Coupar Angus and 'pit' in Pitcur. 

Ardler derives from the Gaelic words 'aird' (high) and 'làr' (ground), and other Gaelic-based place names abound within Meigle and Ardler. These include Drumkilbo (druim – ridge, cùil – corner, bò – cattle), Balmacron, Balmyle (baile – settlement), and Glenlui (gleann – valley). 

Other place names could also have Gaelic derivations: Arnbog (earrann – portion, bog – soft/boggy), Craithes (cruidh – stony or craobh – trees, achadh – field), and Camno (camadh – bending or winding, perhaps from the Camno Burn before it became a straightened drainage channel), demonstrating that Gaelic must have been commonly spoken in the immediate area. 

Some local place names come from Scots. Teuchat Muir by Ardler is clearly from 'teuchat', a lapwing, and 'muir', a moor. Two others that appear to include Scots are Langlogie, which appears to combine Scots and Gaelic ('lang' - Scots for long, 'lagach' - Gaelic for of the hollow) and Loanhead which appears to combine Scots and Anglo-Saxon ('loan' - Scots for level ground, 'hōbid' – Old Saxon for head). 

Both Fullerton and Washington, the name for the planned village of Ardler, are Anglo-Saxon-based family names. The Fullerton family owned the land east of Meigle village and the name may derive either from the textile process of fulling cloth or from wildfowling, with 'ton' being the town or farmstead. Washington was named by George Kinloch, The Radical Laird, after George Washington, the name being the town of Wassa, which is an Old English proper name. 

Other Old English place names in Meigle and Ardler include Blackfauld (a black sheep fold/enclosure), and Myreside (the side of a bog).