Many of Scotland’s major rivers have very ancient names, some of which are Celtic, but some of which date back before the time of the Celts. These oldest names are thought to belong to an early stage of the development of the Indo-European family of languages, before the Celtic and Germanic branches went their separate ways. The early Celtic or Indo-European names include the Spey, the Tay, the Tweed, the Ness, the Dee, the Avon, the Ayr and the lost river-name Adder (found in the modern names Blackadder and Whiteadder in the Borders).
The large number of Scots terms for different types of rivers and streams (and the obstacles you might encounter in them) reminds us of the importance that such landscape features had in days gone by. The traveller, the boatman or the fisherman all needed to know how to navigate their way through the pows and burns, latches and pots they might encounter. The history of some of these terms conjures picturesque images of Scotland’s landscape, while others give us a sense of the ways in which former generations lived and worked.