Township: Balephuil

Map Reference: Balephuil 52

Name Type:

Meaning: There are at least two possibilities:
• V?ttr ‘glove’ (CV, 723). Vøttu is a hill name in Møre, Norway (NG). See Fadamul below in the Gazetteer
• Vötn, nominative plural of vatn ‘water, lake’. This could refer to Loch Phuill, which is shown joined to Loch Bharabol on the Blaeu map (1654). Vötn is a farm name in Iceland (SAM)
However, if the source form Bòid is not regarded as a back-formation, reconstructions could also include:
• Botn ‘head of a bay, upper end of valley’ (CV, 73): Botn occurs seven times in Norway (NG); Botne derives from botn, and is a common generic, as in Skibotn (NS); and Botn occurs as a farm name in Iceland (SAM). This may refer to the east end of Loch Phuill, but otherwise does not appear to suit the flat topography here
• Mót ‘meeting, juncture [possibly with the meaning of boundary]’ (CV, 436). There is one Motten in Vinje, Norway (NG); Motet is a farm name in Norway (OR); Åmot is derived as ‘the confluence of the river Å’ (NS); Mót is common as a generic among qualified compound Icelandic farm names, for example Landamót, but does not occur as an unqualified simplex name (SAM). A large stream flowing into Loch Phuill is joined by a small side stream here
The folk etymology as a Gaelic name from ScG mòd ‘meeting place’, itself a loan word from ON mót, is likely to be an ‘etymological back-formation’; while Mod does not occur as a simplex name in Scotland, ScG Tom a’ Mhoid ‘the hillock of the assembly’ occurs seven times (SP).

Other Forms:

Related Places: Cachaileith Mhòid.

Information:Cameron, Rev. Hector (ed.), Na Bàird Thirisdeach, The Tiree Association, 1932, p 167: "Tha e nuas Cuil-Bhoid na Sgriob"

p405: "Cuil-Bhoid"

Colin MacDonald, p 359:

Chi thu Rifrinn, ’s chi thu’n Airidh,
’S an Carnan os cionn an loin;
Chi thu Hoghnis is cnoc Ghrianail,
Glac nan Smiar, agus Cuil Bhoid

The area around Cachaileith Mhòid.

Bòid is the area of the field around it - Alasdair Brown, Balephuil, 11/1993.

On both sides of the road - EK.

Local Form:

Languages : Gaelic

Informants: Mor Campbell, Balemartine, 11/1993

Informant 2: Eilidh Kennedy (Eilidh bheag), Balevullin, 11/1995

Informant 3: Na Bàird Thirisdeach