>I (originally from Leith, now in East Kilbride) asked my mother
>(originally from Coatbridge, now in Leith) and she said she heard the
>reason years ago but can't remember! Anybody got a clearer memory than
>ma Ma?

>Alison

>>I (originally from Leith, now in East Kilbride) asked my mother
>>(originally from Coatbridge, now in Leith) and she said she heard the
>>reason years ago but can't remember! Anybody got a clearer memory than
>>ma Ma?

>>Alison
>Alison.
>The correct form is Dumbarton and Dumbartonshire - because the County,
>Sheriffdom or what have you takes its name from the burgh.  However over
>the centuries various spellings were found and in the 18th century some
>people were using the Dunbarton spelling because it showed the
>derivation of the place name more clearly - Dun Breatan - the fort of
>the Britons.  By 1900 the County Council were using Dunbartonshire as
>the official name of the county - although the town's name remained as
>Dumbarton.  In the 1930's the County Council managed to persuade the
>Ordnance Survey to have the county shown on the OS maps as
>Dunbartonshire - despite strong opposition from the Town Council of the
>day.  In 1948 the new parliamentary constituencies of East and West
>Dunbartonshire were created - previously the area had been represented
>by the constituencies of Dumbartonshire and the Dumbarton District of
>Burghs.
>Between 1975 and 1996 the local authority covering a large part of the
>former Dumbarton County was Dumbarton District Council - but the last
>local government reorganisation managed to get things wrong again and
>created a West Dunbartonshire Council (and for that matter an East
>Dunbartonshire Council.)
>Bet you wish you hadn't asked!
>Brian.
>--

>Tenuous link here!
>While watching Telefios (Grampian/STV gaelic news) I've noticed that
>where possible they try to gaelicise people's names - obviously not
>Yeltsin, Mandela, etc. So when Sam Galbraith, Scottish Office Minister
>for Health, Sport and lots more, gets a mention he comes across as
>Somhairle Mac 'Ill Bhreatan (excuse the spelling attempt). A friend with
>more gaelic than me (mine is more or less Ordnace Survey gaelic and his
>wife is from Scalpay, Harris) explained that the name means 'son of the
>Briton' and that the Galbraiths were numerous about Dumbarton. He also
>mentioned a 'Clach nan Breatan', a sort of marker stone which stood at
>the limit of the land occupied by the Britons. He claimed it was
>supposed to be around the head of Loch Lomond and probably somewhere in
>the lower part of Glen Falloch. He suggested searching Tom Weir's books
>for its exact location, if it still exists, but I didn't relish that
>thought so decided to try this n.g.
>Does anyone know anything about this stone, does it still exist and
>where exactly is it?

>TIA
>Graham

> In article <gGMVFCAW7G10E...@bdosborne.demon.co.uk>, "Brian D. Osborne"
> <br...@bdosborne.demon.co.uk> writes
> >In article <34D2057D.5...@memex.com>, Alison Grant
> ><Alison.Gr...@memex.com> writes
> >>I was on the way to Fort William the other day and one of those annoying
> >>wee thoughts popped into my head - namely why is the town called
> >>Dumbarton (with an 'em') but the area is called Dunbartonshire (with an
> >>'en')?

> >>I (originally from Leith, now in East Kilbride) asked my mother
> >>(originally from Coatbridge, now in Leith) and she said she heard the
> >>reason years ago but can't remember! Anybody got a clearer memory than
> >>ma Ma?

> >>Alison
> >Alison.
> >The correct form is Dumbarton and Dumbartonshire - because the County,
> >Sheriffdom or what have you takes its name from the burgh.  However over
> >the centuries various spellings were found and in the 18th century some
> >people were using the Dunbarton spelling because it showed the
> >derivation of the place name more clearly - Dun Breatan - the fort of
> >the Britons.  By 1900 the County Council were using Dunbartonshire as
> >the official name of the county - although the town's name remained as
> >Dumbarton.  In the 1930's the County Council managed to persuade the
> >Ordnance Survey to have the county shown on the OS maps as
> >Dunbartonshire - despite strong opposition from the Town Council of the
> >day.  In 1948 the new parliamentary constituencies of East and West
> >Dunbartonshire were created - previously the area had been represented
> >by the constituencies of Dumbartonshire and the Dumbarton District of
> >Burghs.
> >Between 1975 and 1996 the local authority covering a large part of the
> >former Dumbarton County was Dumbarton District Council - but the last
> >local government reorganisation managed to get things wrong again and
> >created a West Dunbartonshire Council (and for that matter an East
> >Dunbartonshire Council.)
> >Bet you wish you hadn't asked!
> >Brian.
> >--
> Sorry - typo in last post -  for Dun Breatan read Dun Breatann.
> Brian.