Burn
- this is one of the most frequently used Scots words for a small river, and is found in the names of more than 2,500 streams across the country. Although burn is usually preceded by a descriptive term, as in names like Whiteburn or Blackburn, there is also a large group of names that use the construction Burn of followed by another term, usually a place-name in its own right. Examples include Burn of Achlais in Stirlingshire, Burn of Birse in Aberdeenshire and Burn of Crockadale in Shetland.