Township: An Àird a Tuath,Caolas

Map Reference: Aird a Tuath 21

Name Type: sea

Meaning: NGR NM084502 [?ka ?ge?n' ]

Sgeir a’ Chagainn, William MacIntosh, Caolas, 2/1994 (oral source): + ScG sgeir 'skerry'

Caolas | Two parallel rocks in the sea off ScG Port Chloinn Nèill 'the inlet of the clan of Neil'

This is plausibly a Gaelic coinage from ScG caigeann 'winding pass through rocks and brushwood, a rough mountain pass' (MacBain 1911). The element occurs four times in Argyll (SP; see Black 2008, 613). Caigeann in North Uist is described as a 'narrow neck of land' between two lochs (OS1/18/7/67), and it is best understood here as a passage between two hazards.

Other Forms:

Related Places:

Information:
Two parallel rocks in Port Chloinn Neill - WMcI.

Local Form:

Languages : Gaelic, Obscure

Informants: Willie MacIntosh, Caolas, 2/1994