For comparability with other cities around the world, Kingston has been defined as the entire Corporate Area including and surrounding the Parish of Kingston. This area takes in the Palisadoes on which Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport are situated and extends from Dallas Mountain and Gordon Town in the east to Portmore and its suburbs in the west, and the Red Hills and Stony Hill in the north. Of the names of the 116 districts, neighbourhoods and suburbs that have been identified to date in Greater Kingston, 28 (24.1%) can be found in Scotland or are based on Scottish family names. Of course, many of the names are used in other parts of the British Isles as well, but at least 12 of them (10.4%) are unique to Scotland, or are readily identifiable with places in Scotland that are based on the same names.
It may surprise some readers that the names of so many neighbourhoods in the Jamaican capital have a Scottish connection. Articles on Jamaica usually draw attention to the Irish rather than the Scottish settlement of the island. It should be remembered, however, that Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns, in order to escape his financial and other worries, was on the point of emigrating to Jamaica in 1786. The success of the Kilmarnock edition of his poems and the acclaim of his admirers induced him to stay in Scotland.
Neighbourhoods, districts and outlying suburbs with names that occur only in Scotland and not elsewhere in the British Isles, and/or are definitely, or most probably, of Scottish origin are:
- Allerdyce Gardens - although Black (1996), the authority on Scottish family names, does not give Allerdyce as a variant of Allardice/Allardyce, the Kingston neighbourhood is possibly a misspelling of that name. Allardyce is from the old barony of Allardice in Kincardineshire (now part of Aberdeenshire) evidenced today by a cluster of places called Allardice, Allardice Castle, Allardice Mains and Allardice Mill, a short distance inland from Inverbervie. The surname Allardyce is quite commonly encountered in the north east of Scotland. Allardyce is a sept (branch) of the Graham of Menteith family and so they are entitled to wear the tartan shown here.
- Balmagie (Dumfries & Galloway, spelt Balmagee) though admittedly there is also an 'Irish ring' about this name.
- Billy Dunn - Dun or Dunn is a Scottish family name of territorial origin, perhaps from Dun in Angus. Dunn is the more usual form of this surname these days.
- Braeton - There is no place anywhere in the British Isles with this name. However, the 'brae' element in the name of this community near Portmore suggests a Scottish connection, 'brae' being a Scots word for a hillside or slope. There are hundreds of places in Scotland containing 'brae' as part of the name; about the closest sounding of these to Braeton is a small settlement in Highland, near Ben Tongue, called Braetongue.
- Burnside Valley (Burnside in Angus, Fife, Moray, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian; also Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet).
- Cockburn Gardens (Cockburn in the Scottish Borders and City of Edinburgh; also Cockburn Law, Cockburn Mill and Cockburnspath in the Scottish Borders and Cockburnhill in Edinburgh). Cockburn - pronounced Co-burn - is a Lowland family name, originating in the Scottish Borders. In the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214) there was a "Cukoueburn" (i.e. 'Gowk's Burn') in Roxburghshire. The Cockburn Society is the premier conservation organisation in Edinburgh, named after Lord Henry Cockburn who was a judge, advocate and journalist, and an outspoken conservationist.
- Dunrobin (Highland). Dunrobin Castle (illustrated here) in the far north of Scotland is the home of the Duke of Sutherland.
- Grants Pen - there is a Grant in Perth & Kinross. There are also many other places in Scotland with this Scottish family name as part of the name, for example Grantlodge, Grantshouse and Grantown-on-Spey. Places beginning with Grant can also be found in England but in the majority of these instances 'Grant' has a different meaning. According to Black (1996), Clan Grant is of Norman descent, the origin of the name being the French word 'grand' (great). It may interest readers to learn that place names based on this Scottish surname are frequently found in other parts of the Caribbean, for example Grant Town (Freeport, Bahamas) and Grants Town (Nassau, Bahamas).
- Hope Gardens - Hope is a noble Scottish family name, the family being descended from John de Hope who probably came to Scotland from France in the 16th century with Magdalen de Valois, the wife of King James V.
- Pitcairn Valley (Pitcairn in Fife and Perth & Kinross). The surname is recorded in Scotland as far back as the 13th century.
- Rennock Lodge - Black (1996) lists a few examples from the 17th century of the family name Rennoch. The name of the Kingston neighbourhood might therefore have a Scottish origin, despite the slight difference in spelling, especially since it does not occur elsewhere in the British Isles.
- Sterling Castle - the inclusion of 'castle' in the name of this neighbourhood suggests a reference to Stirling Castle (seen below) in central Scotland, whether directly or in the form of a pun.
Some of the following localities may also have a direct or indirect Scottish connection but these names are used in other parts of the British Isles as well:
- Halls Delight- there is a place in East Renfrewshire simply called Hall, as well as a place in Devon, England. The name of this Kingston community is far more likely to be of English rather than Scottish origin given that the surname Hall is the 20th most commonly encountered surname in England, according to the Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
- Kingston (Angus, City of Glasgow, East Lothian, Moray and Renfrewshire) also all over southern England and is found in Ireland and Wales as well. The origin of the name of Jamaica's capital city is more likely to honour royalty (possibly King William III) rather than a particular place in the British Isles, especially considering that Port Royal had been the previous seat of administration until 1872. Kingston Bridge in Glasgow (illustrated here) is named after a docklands area of the city which in turn may have taken its name from Kingston, Jamaica in the days when ships sailed regularly from there to the West Indies.
- Kirkland Heights (Kirkland in Aberdeenshire, Dumfries & Galloway, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Fife, Moray, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire, with more than one occurrence of the name in some counties). There are in fact at least 50 places in the Lowlands of Scotland with Kirkland as part of the name, other examples being Kirklandhill in the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and South Ayrshire, and Kirkland Glen in North Ayrshire. Records of Kirkland as a family name in Scotland go back to the 13th century. However, Kirkland also occurs fairly commonly in northern England, especially in Cumbria where it is used just as frequently as in the neighbouring Scottish county of Dumfriesshire. Kirkland is a name of Norse (Viking) origin, meaning 'estate belonging to a church', 'kirkja' being the Viking word for church. Viking settlement resulted in thousands of place names in southern Scotland and northern England with 'kirk' as an element in the name.
- New Haven (City of Edinburgh, spelt Newhaven) also three places in England called Newhaven. This may simply be a descriptive name, however.
- Mona Heights - there is a Mona Gowan in Aberdeenshire and Monaween in Angus. However, Mona is also the Latinised Welsh name for the Isle of Anglesey and there is a Mona Hill in Norfolk, England. Of course, the Kingston neighbourhood may simply refer to the personal name Mona.
- Mountain View Gardens - there is a Mountain View in the Scottish Borders as well as in Cumbria, northern England. This is likely to be a purely descriptive name, however.
- Newport East and Newport West - there is a Newport in Highland but the name also occurs in England, Ireland and Wales - Newport is Wales' third largest city and is also one of the best-known towns on the Isle of Wight in southern England.
- Port Henderson - there is a Henderson's Rock in Argyll & Bute as well as a Henderson's House in Durham, England. Henderson (meaning 'Henry's son') is a Lowland Scottish family name. A clan Henderson (their tartan is shown here) once held lands in Upper Liddesdale but were not included in the 1594 Act of the Scottish Parliament which sought to impose law and order on the Border Reivers. Being 'son of Henry', the name is not confined to Scotland, but with its strong Scottish connections, there is a good chance that the name of this Greater Kingston community could prove to have a Scottish link.
- Portmore - there is a Portmore House and Portmore Loch in the Scottish Borders. However, Portmore is also the name of a place in Hampshire, southern England as well as the name of a farm in Devon. Portmore was once a Scottish peerage title. The title was created in 1703 for David Colyear, but became extinct with the death of Lord Thomas Charles Colyear, the 4th Earl of Portmore, in 1835.
- Seaview Gardens - there is a Seaview in Highland as well as in two English counties. This is no doubt a purely descriptive name.
- Springfield (Argyll & Bute, Dumfries & Galloway, Fife, Highland and Perth & Kinross) but is even more commonly found in England and is also found in Wales.
- Stony Hill (Aberdeenshire, East Ayrshire and Moray) also two places in southern England.
- Tower Hill (Aberdeenshire and Inverclyde) but far more commonly found throughout England.
- Westbay (Argyll & Bute and Inverclyde, both spelt West Bay) also West Bay in Dorset, England.
- Whitfield Town (Whitfield in Dundee City) also in England.
Lazaretto is another name that is found only in Scotland and not elsewhere in the British Isles. There is a Lazaretto Point in Argyll & Bute, north of Ardnadam on Holy Loch. However, it is highly unlikely that there is anything specifically Scottish about this name since there is also a Lazaretto Point in Baltimore Harbor, Maryland. There is a memorial to American War Veterans at this point on Holy Loch but this is due to the over 30 years (1961-1992) during which there was a US Navy Polaris submarine base in the Holy Loch. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines 'lazaretto', a word of Italian origin, as "a hospital (chiefly in foreign countries) for diseased poor, esp. lepers; building or ship for performing quarantine in; after part of ship's hold used for stores." It is highly probable, therefore, that the name of this Greater Kingston community, which is situated at the entrance to Kingston Harbour, opposite Port Royal, may refer to a former quarantine station.
Scottish place names are found all over the island nation of Jamaica. Obvious Scottish examples outside Greater Kingston include Aberdeen, Clydesdale, Culloden (2 places), Duncans, Dundee, Elgin Town (2 places), Farquhars Beach, Glasgow, Grants Town, Inverness, Kilmarnoch (spelt that way), Perth Town, Stewart Town and Tweedside, to mention but a few. Two other Jamaican cities, Montego Bay and Spanish Town, also have several neighbourhoods with Scottish names, for example Dunbar Pen and Glendevon in Montego Bay and Ellerslie in Spanish Town. Of course, names of English origin are dominant throughout the island. There is also a good sprinkling of Irish, Welsh and Cornish place names, but not nearly as many as those of Scottish origin.
Acknowledgments:
- Scarlett, James D. (1975). The Tartans of the Scottish Clans. (Collins, Glasgow and London).
- Black, George F. (1996). The Surnames of Scotland. (Birlinn Ltd, Edinburgh).
- Thorne, J.O. & Collocott, T.C. (Editors) (1974). Chambers Biographical Dictionary (Revised Edition). (W & R Chambers, Edinburgh).
- Jamaica Road Map, 2001 (International Travel Maps, Vancouver, Canada).
- Websites, place name gazetteers and published Ordnance Survey maps of British and Irish cities, towns, villages and counties.
© Ian Kendall
If you wish to contact Ian about his research, his e-mail address is ian.kendall1@bigpond.com.
Melbourne, Australia, August 2005
