Menteith
56°10′30″N4°03′25″W/ 56.175°N 4.057°W
MenteithorMonteith(Scottish Gaelic:Mòine Tèadhaich), a district of southPerthshire,Scotland,roughly comprises the territory between theTeithand theForth.Earlier forms of its name includeMeneted,ManetethandMeneteth.(Historically, the area betweenCallanderandDunblanewas known in English by the similar name of the “Vale of Menteith”.)
Menteith encompasses the parishes ofCallander,Aberfoyle,Port of Menteith,Kippen,Kilmadock,Kincardine,LecroptandDunblane.[1]
Etymology
[edit]The nameMenteithmay be derived from theBrittoniccognate ofWelshmynydd(borrowed intoGaelicasmonadh), meaning "mountain, muir",[2]combined withriver-nameTeith(of obscure origin).[2] Alternatively, given the topography of the area the name is possibly derived from theGaelicwordmoine,meaning Moss or Marsh, cognate withTeith.Much more likely it has aBrittonicbasis reflecting twoWelshwordsmignmeaning "bog, morass" andtuth/tithmeaning "to trot" so conveying the meaning "(the river which) flows steadily through the marsh".
Because the name includes the River Teith rather than the River Forth, the name must have been given to it by people living to the north of it rather than the south or west.
History
[edit]In medieval Scotland, Menteith was astewartry,and later anearldom,ruled by theearls of Menteith.Gilchristis the first known earl. InShakespeare'sMacbeth,Menteth (sic) is one of the "noblemen of Scotland" appearing in Act V who allies himself with Malcolm and others to oppose Macbeth's usurpation.
The lands and the earldom passed toWalter Comyn(d. 1258) in right of his wifeIsabella;then, through Isabella's sisterMary,to theStewarts;and finally to theGrahams.One notorious relative of the earls of Menteith wasJohn de Menteithwho betrayed William Wallace to the English. The earldom became extinct in 1694,[3]but becausesheriffdomshad previously been introduced into Scotland, sheriffs were a ready-made alternative source of authority: Menteith was covered by the sheriffdom based atPerth.
When local government reforms in the mid-19th century replaced the ancient provinces withnew counties(shires) that were coextensive with the sheriffdom boundaries, Menteith became the south-western portion of the newly created county,Perthshire.
Lake of Menteith
[edit]The Loch orLake of Menteith,situated2+1⁄2mi (4.0 km) south ofLoch Venachar,measures1+1⁄2mi (2.4 km) long by 1 mi (1.6 km) broad, and contains three islands. On Inchmahome (Innis MoCholmaig,island of St Colmaig) stand the ruins ofInchmahome Priory,anAugustinianprioryfounded in 1238 by Walter Comyn, and built in theEarly Englishstyle, with an ornate western doorway.Mary, Queen of Scots,when a child of four, lived on the island for a few weeks in 1548 before leaving forDumbarton Castleon her way to France. OnInch Tallastands the ruined tower, dating from 1428, that belonged to the estate of the earls of Menteith. The village of thePort of Menteithlies on the north shore of the loch.[3]
References
[edit]- ^Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A survey of Scottish Topography statistical biographical and historical, by Francis H. Groome; publ. Thomas C. Jack, Edinburgh, 1882 - 1885. (Article on Monteith)
- ^ab"The Journal of Scottish Name Studies Vol. 8,"(PDF).Clann Turic.Retrieved27 June2019.
- ^abChisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 146.
- Watson, William J.,The Celtic Place-names of Scotland.Revised with introduction by Simon Taylor. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2004.ISBN1-84158-323-5