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.
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