Talk:Argyll

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Name

The text says "The name derives from Old Irish airer Goídel, meaning "border region of the Gaels". However old the source this is nonsense. Originally Argyll did not even include Lorn. It was the area given over to the Airgialla whom Kenneth mac Alpin invited over to fill the gap when the leadership of the Cenel Loarn was needed to take control of Moray and Strathearn/Menteith. The early spelling was quite different.

What has happened is that there has been a conflation with 'Argyle'. Argyles were like bantustans attached to the new towns whose residents were exclusively foreign. So townships of Scots locals set up just outside the town walls - as can be seen from many "Argyle Steet"s. [Glasgow was an exception to this where Argyle Street is actually a late homage to a Duke of Argyll.] Freuchie (talk) 09:47, 3 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I have now noted this theory for the origin of the name in the text, but just as an alternative; there are many reliable sources which cite the 'border region of the Gaels' theory. The alternative origin you advance remains something of an outlier, albeit I see it has been included in a 2024 book which I have cited as the source. (Although given your choice of words above, would I be right in thinking you're the author of that work?) On your particular point about an Argyle being a type of suburb, whether you spell it Argyle or Argyll (consistency of spelling not being a feature of early records), the sense of "Gaelic fringe / borders" sounds valid both for suburbs outside Scoto-Norman towns and for the edges of the kingdom (Alba / Scotland) with a stronger Gaelic population. Stortford (talk) 08:24, 13 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]