Place Names Of Skye
"In the following work on the place-names of Skye, etc., the aim and intention is to assist in rescuing from possible oblivion the Gaelic and Gaelic-Norse names stall to be found in that island, and to please and instruct the natives and others at home and abroad.
The original intention was to try and make the work one of the largest and most complete of its kind for the area involved,, and to that end to travel over the island so far as possible, and to secure at first hand all available names, with lore. This- intention had to be abandoned, recourse being had to personal knowledge and that of local friends and acquaintances.
Generally, the work is biased upon the Ordnance Survey Maps,, with the help of numerous other works, such as charts, titles, Acts of Parliament, and other works on place-names, all which,, with general works by learned writers, etc., number several hundreds.
It is hoped that the result of fifteen years’ labour may be received kindly by all, and found fairly full and correct.
As to the names themselves, with their meanings, na pretensions are made, pains having been taken to avoid erroneous and misleading conclusions; and where doubts existed, such are left unexplained.
The “ lore ” is given as received in most cases from local sources, a few selections having been made from written or printed material, all kept severely within bounds.
To describe the island with all its features is an impossibility in such a work as this: generally, the whole face of the island, and indeed most of Scotland, is one great poem, particularly to those who know the Gaelic language."