William John Watson FRSE LLD (1865 – 9 March 1948) was a toponymist, one of the greatest Scottish scholars of the 20th century, and was the first scholar to place the study of Scottish place names on a firm linguistic basis.

Life

Watson was a native

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, an ...

-speaker, born in Milntown of New Tarbat (now known as Milton),

Easter Ross Easter Ross ( gd, Ros an Ear) is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland. The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constitue ...

. He was the son of Hugh Watson, a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

. He received his initial education from his uncle, James Watson. William became well grounded in Gaelic studies and the

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. He went to study at the University of Aberdeen and the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. Initially a school teacher in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, he was appointed Rector of the Royal Academy, Inverness in 1894 and he then obtained the prestigious post as Rector of the Royal High School, Edinburgh, in 1909. It was while teaching in Inverness that he began to contribute to the ''Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness'' and the ''Celtic Review''. In Edinburgh he lived at 17 Merchiston Avenue. In 1910 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were

Walter Biggar Blaikie Walter Biggar Blaikie FRSE DL LLD (23 November 1847 in Pilrig, Edinburgh – 3 May 1928) was a Scottish civil engineer, printer, historian and astronomer. Life Second of the seven recorded sons of Margaret Catherine Biggar and William Garden ...

, Sir William Leslie Mackenzie, John Horne and Ben Peach. He took the chair of Celtic at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

in 1914, despite holding no prior university position. He remained in this prestigious position until making way for his son

James Carmichael Watson James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

in 1935 (but retaining a role in the university until 1938). William died on 9 March 1948, aged 83.

Family

He married Ella Carmichael (1880–1928), daughter of

Alexander Carmichael Alexander Carmichael (full name Alexander Archibald Carmichael or Alasdair Gilleasbaig MacGilleMhìcheil in his native Scottish Gaelic; 1 December 1832, Taylochan, Isle of Lismore – 6 June 1912, Barnton, Edinburgh) was a Scottish excis ...

. His son, James Carmichael Watson, was born in 1910. He was declared " missing in action" in 1942, when HMS ''Jaguar'' was sunk off the coast of Egypt. Presumed drowned, he is memorialised on the

Plymouth Naval Memorial The Plymouth Naval Memorial is a war memorial in Plymouth, Devon, England which is dedicated to British and Commonwealth sailors who were lost in World War I and World War II with no known grave. History After World War I, the Royal Navy w ...

Publications

He is known for his ''The Celtic Place-names of Scotland'' (1926), based on 30 years of work. Watson's work, eight decades later, is still the primary scholarly reference guide on the subject. The book is based on extensive notes taken by Watson, which are unpublished and held by the

. Watson's great work was recently republished by ''Birlinn'' (2004). * ''Place-Names of Ross and Cromarty'' (Inverness, 1904) * ''Prints of the Past around Inverness'' (Inverness, 1909; 2nd revised edition Inverness, 1925) * ''Rosg Gàidhlig'' (Inverness, 1915; 2nd edition Glasgow, 1929) * ''Bàrdachd Gàidhlig'' (Inverness, 1915) * ''The Picts: their original position in Scotland'' (Inverness, 1921) *
''The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland''
(Edinburgh, 1926) * ''Scottish Verse in the Book of the Dean of Lismore'' (Edinburgh, 1937)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, William J. 1865 births 1948 deaths Celtic studies scholars People from Ross and Cromarty Scottish Gaelic language Toponymists Academics of the University of Edinburgh

Life

Family

Publications

References

Further reading

External links