Placename
Gaelic name: Ball Breac
Name in Original Source: Bolla Breac
English meaning: Speckled spot of ground
Placename feature: Land feature
Notes: This is a small feature lying between the Upper Toscaig and Lower Toscaig roads, just off cfAn Cnoc Breac. It was pronounced by the late Rhoda Cameron (born and raised in cfToghsgaig, 1912-2006) as 'Bolluh-breac' according to information from Ann Bell Phimister (1/1/2002). In other words, a svarabhakti vowel at the end of the first element of the name.<br /><br /><br /><br />Euphemia Fraser said that the actual location is at the top of the sloping crofts in Raon Thoghsgaig (q.v.) below the main stock fence, and that it was always regarded as being amongst the best arable ground in the township. (Thursday 24th January 2013).<br /><br /><br /><br />Rev. Dr. Kenneth MacDonald (29th November 2012) suggested the name might be 'ball breac', a speckled spot or portion of ground, which fits the area appropriately.<br /><br /><br /><br />Alternatively, it could be 'buaile breac'. Ian Fraser, School of Scottish Studies, and a former researcher for the Scottish Place Name Survey, has written that 'buaile' is a term that comes from Ireland originally but that in Scotland it rarely appears in names relating to permanent settlement, and often in hilly country. He also wrote: 'In Lewis, buaile is normally applied to walled enclosures lying close to the township.' [Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, Vol. LVIII, 226] <br /><br /><br /><br />It could also be Bòl, which is given in Richard Cox's The Gaelic Place-Names of Carloway, Isle of Lewis, as meaning an animal couch.
W. J. Watson's notes:
Map name appears in: Does not appear on maps
Feature Co-ordinates: 57.382546,-5.805106
Show on map: Click to view on google map
Audio: Click to hear placename audio
Image:
