Often a source of bafflement for outsiders, arriving in Scotland can mean coming into contact with some very unusual place names. With many towns and villages having ancient names that make little sense if you don't live there or don't understand Scottish pronunciation – it can sometimes be hard to ask for directions.
Some of these places owe their names to the Gaelic language, others to Scots or Norse and some even have a French influence. This means that many places have names that seem impenetrable to even those who have become acclimatised to some of our unusual words and spellings.
Many can't be pronounced phonetically while the silent letters, regular 'ch' as in loch sounds and rolling 'R's can come across as confusing, which can be daunting for the casual traveller. Thankfully, the locals are patient and usually more than happy to help with a correction or two.
Here are some of the places that people can find confusing to spell, say or just understand how their name came about.
Culzean - This is the wonderful name for a beautiful clifftop castle in Ayrshire but outsiders will often be confused when people refer to it as 'Kull-ane' and not 'Cul-zeen'.
Ecclefechan - A delightfully named town in Dumfries and Galloway can seem like a strange name to read at first but it's relatively easy to pronounce if you remember that most place names with a 'ch' are pronounced like 'loch' and not as in cheddar. So, 'eck-el-feck-han'. Easy.
Crossmyloof - Not particularly hard to pronounce (Cross-ma-loof) the confusion comes here from where the origin of the name lies, and there are many theories, one of the more popular is that the word 'loof' is said to be an archaic form of palm.
Ae – Another entry in Dumfries and Galloway is Ae, which is pronounced 'Aye', and is said to be the shortest place name in the UK.
Culross - Many Outlander fans will know the pain of asking for directions to 'Cul-Ross' only to have people look at you like there is no such place. In fact, this place is shortened to 'Coo-Riss', which means next time you head there you can sound like a local.
Kirkcudbright - Yip, we are back in Dumfries and Galloway again, this time in the charming town of Kirkcudbright. So far so reasonable sounding right? Well, what if we told you it was in fact pronounced 'Kirk-coo-bree'?
Garioch - It might be tempting to apply your new-found knowledge of the Scottish use of 'ch' here but you should probably hold off on that, Garioch falls under the remit of the Doric dialect and so this picturesque area of Aberdeenshire is actually pronounced 'Geery' – and yes that goes for Glen Garioch whisky too.
Ballachulish - Anyone travelling to the beautiful scenery of the northwest Highlands will have come across the sign for this picturesque wee town and felt a bit confused when locals actually refer to it as Ball-a-hoolish.
Strathaven - Anyone looking at the name of this little rural town in the Lanarkshire countryside would be forgiven for thinking it was relatively straightforward to say, but as we Scots are so fond of being economical and shortening words and names wherever we can, you'll find it's actually pronounced 'Stray-ven'.
Wemyss Bay - This wee village on the southwest coast is hugely popular but if you're visiting or are meeting someone from there, it is pronounced 'Weems Bay' not 'We-miss Bay'.
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