A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

and also a kind of

Atlantic roundhouse In archaeology, an Atlantic roundhouse is an Iron Age stone building found in the northern and western parts of mainland Scotland, the Northern Isles and the Hebrides. Circular houses were the predominant architectural style of the British landsc ...

Etymology

The term comes from

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

''dún'' or

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...

''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is cognate with Old Welsh ''din'' (whence

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''dinas'' "city" comes). In certain instances, place-names containing ''Dun-'' or similar in

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

and Southern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, may be derived from a

Brittonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

cognate of the Welsh form ''din''. In this region, substitution of the Brittonic form by the Gaelic equivalent may have been widespread in toponyms. The Dacian dava (hill fort) is probably etymologically cognate.

Details

In some areas duns were built on any suitable crag or hillock, particularly south of the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

and the Firth of Forth. There are many duns on the west coast of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and they feature in

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by Ch ...

. For example, the tale of the ''

Táin Bó Flidhais ''Táin Bó Flidhais'', also known as the ''Mayo Táin'', is a tale from the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature. It is one of a group of works known as Táin Bó, or "cattle raid" stories, the best known of which is '' Táin Bó Cúailnge' ...

'' features Dún Chiortáin and Dún Chaocháin. Duns seem to have arrived with the

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

in about the 7th century BC. Early duns had near vertical ramparts made of stone and timber. There were two walls, an inner wall and the outside one.

Vitrified fort Vitrified forts are stone enclosures whose walls have been subjected to vitrification through heat. It was long thought that these structures were unique to Scotland, but they have since been identified in several other parts of western and northe ...

s are the remains of duns that have been set on fire and where stones have been partly melted. Use of duns continued in some parts into the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. Duns are similar to brochs, but are smaller and probably would not have been capable of supporting a very tall structure. Good examples of this kind of dun can be found in the Outer Hebrides of

, on artificial islands in small lakes.

Toponymy

The word ''dun'' is, along with like-sounding cognate forms, an element frequently found in Celtic toponymy; especially that of Ireland and Scotland. It can include fortifications of all sizes and kinds:

Ireland

* Donegal (town), Donegal * Doneraile * County Down, Down * Dún Laoghaire * Kingscourt, Dún an Ri (Kingscourt), County Cavan * Dundalk * Dundonald, County Down, Dundonald * Dundrum, County Down * Dundrum, Dublin * Dungannon * Dungarvan * Dunmurry * Portadown

Scotland

Many settlement and geographical names in Scotland are named with Gaelic ''dun'' ("fort"), as well as cognates in Brittonic languages such as Cumbric and Pictish. * Drumpellier Country Park, Drumpellier, Lanarkshire * Dumbarton, Dunbartonshire * Dumfries, Dumfriesshire – possibly Brittonic ''din-pres'' ("thicket fort"). * Dundee, Angus, Scotland, Angus * Dunearn, Nairnshire * Dunearn, Fife – possibly dùn-Èirinn ("fort of Ireland"). * Dunfermline, Fife * Windygates, Duniface, Fife – possibly Pictish equivalent of Welsh ''din-y-faes'' ("fort of the field"). * Dunimarle Castle, Dunimarle, Fife * Dunino, Fife * Dunipace, Stirlingshire - Brittonic equivalent of Welsh ''din-y-bas'' ("fort of the shallow"). * Dunlop, East Ayrshire, Dunlop, Ayrshire * Duns, Scottish Borders, Duns, Berwickshire * Duntarvie Castle, Duntarvie, West Lothian * Tantallon Castle, Tantallon, East Lothian * Edinburgh, - Name in

is ''Dun Eideann''.

England

Some place-names in England are derived from Brittonic cognates of Welsh ''din'' (c.f. Cornish ''dyn'', Cumbric ''*din''), and fewer perhaps from the Gaelic form. Roman-era toponyms ending in ''-dunum'' may represent an ancient Brittonic ''*duno''. * Cambodunum (Britain), Cambodunum, Yorkshire * Bamburgh, Din Guoaroy, Northumberland – obsolete name for Bamburgh. Equivalent to Welsh ''din-gwarae'' ("fort of the play"). * Dinckley, Lancashire * Dunmallard Hill, Cumberland * Durham, England, Durham, County Durham - ''Dunelm'' * Glendinning Rigg, Cumberland * Londesborough, Yorkshire – ''Lugudunum'', from ''*lọ:co-'' + ''duno'' ("shining fort"). * Rigodunum, Lancashire * Segedunum, Northumberland * Tintagel, Cornwall * Uxelodunum, Cumberland – c.f. Welsh ''ucheldin'' ("high fort"). London has been Etymology of London, etymologised as Brittonic ''*lin-'' + ''dun-'' ("lake fort"). Coates has rejected such an etymology as "incompatible with early forms".

Wales

* Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire – ''Moridunum'' ("sea fort"). * Denbigh, Denbighshire – from ''dinbych'' ("small fort") * Tintern, Monmouthshire

Italy

* Duno, Lombardy, Duno * Induno Olona * Verduno

France and Switzerland

The Proto-Celtic language, Proto-Celtic form is ''*Dūno-'', yielding Greek δοῦνον. It is ultimately cognate to English ''town''. The Gaulish term survives in many toponyms in France and Switzerland: * Autun - ''Augustodūnon'' fort of Augustus * Lyon – ''Lugudūnon'' "Lugus' fort" * Nevers – ''Nouiodūnon'' "new fort" * Olten – ''Ol(l)odūnonm'' "fort on the Olon river" * Thun – ''Dūnon'' * Verdun – ''Uerodūnon'' "strong fort" * Yverdon-les-Bains – ''Eburodūnon'' "yew fort"

Germany

* Kempten, Bavaria – ''Cambodunum''

Bulgaria and Serbia

* Dunonia * Singidunum

Elsewhere in the world

* Dunedin, New Zealand – from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Gaelic name for Edinburgh.Dunedin: Edinburgh of the south
, ''The Scotsman'', 18 April 2012 * Dunedin, Florida, USA – see Dunedin, New Zealand.

References

* Scotland Before History - Stuart Piggott, Edinburgh University Press 1982, * Scotland's Hidden History - Ian Armit, Tempus (in association with Historic Scotland) 1998, {{Fortifications Fortifications in the United Kingdom Geography of Scotland Place name element etymologies Archaeology of Scotland Toponymy Fortifications by type Fortifications in Ireland