Talk:Thurso

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I come from Thurso - and this is completely correct ^_^ Cruisers (Neds + Car = Driving in a circle for up to 5 hours. Pretty Pointless) Though the Drugs comment was unneccesary, its only about a 0.5% minority that do anything worse than the occasional Joint, lol - and even then, the 'stoners' don't really integrate - most of us spend our quite lives just chilling *nodnod* ^_^

Yeah, it's not very encylopedic, but... who cares? I suppose it's totally not NPOV...

Contents

[edit] Kirk

I note the article's use of the word kirk, wondering whether this is English. Is it Scots? Is its use appropriate in the English language version of Wikipedia? Laurel Bush 09:58, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC).

As the only 'kirk' I can see is part of a proper name, I can't see that there's any grounds for altering it. The Oxford English Dictionary also lists 'kirk', noting it to be the Northern English and Scots form of the word 'church'. Furthermore, it's a word in widespread use in Scotland today, and I don't think that there's any doubt that we speak English nowadays... presumably there's not a blanket objection to all words used in English drawn from another language e.g. French (café)? Killiedaft 21:42, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

Kirk comes from the Old Norse word kirkja, which means "church". It is not in itself a Norse word, it is merely an every day word in common useage in Scotland which happens to have Old Norse etymology. In that respect, it is far from unique and I would say that it's use in the English language version of Wikipedia is entirely appropriate. Lianachan 13:37, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

... Plus, it's not used in a general church context, but to refer to a specific building known as "Old St Peter's Kirk". Should 'old' be in the image captions ? Or is there no "New St Peter's" ? BTW, has surfing died - seems surprising it's referred to in the past tense ! Also "from June 2007" suggests the Smyril is a new service - I remember it from about 1979 ? --195.137.93.171 (talk) 18:47, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Gaelic name

My Gaelic is poor, but Inbhir Theòrsa seems to imply that the town is named after the river, and not vice versa. Is this a good interpretation of the name? If so, is the implication true: does anyone really know? Laurel Bush 13:13, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC).

The Theòrsa part of that is of Old Norse etymology, being a Gaelicised version of the name Thurso. It itself comes from Thórsá, meaning "Thor's River" (the á part means "river"). Lianachan 13:44, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

Theòrsa is a transliteration of Thórsá? River may be á in Old Norse but I believe nontheless there is some dispute about whether Thórsá or Thurso actually means Thor's River: naming rivers for gods seems to have been, at best, very uncommon amongst the Norse. Laurel Bush 16:29, 7 October 2005 (UTC).

Well, whether the river is named afer Thor or not - the word Thórsá describes the river, which in turn gives the town it's name. I'm not sure how valid the Gaelic name Inbhir Theòrsa actually is, historically - is it a relatively modern construct? There's not much in the way of old Gaelic placename etymology in Caithness. Anyway, it's clearly describing an area at the mouth of a river and it seems the town is named for the river once again. I'm not disagreeing with you - you said "that the town is named after the river" and I don't think that, at least, is disputed. Lianachan

That the town is named for the river is precisely what I believe to be disputed by some etymologists, who suggest the river might be named for the town. Would be useful to have some knowledge of the oldest surviving written uses of Thórsá, Theòrsa and Thurso. Likewise for any other spellings that may have existed. You suggest Inbhir Theòrsa may be a modern construct, and I suspect so myself. And I am not sure Thórsá is not a presumed spelling. Laurel Bush 09:17, 8 October 2005 (UTC).

Not meaning to drag this up again, but Watson's suggested toponomy is an agreement with MacBain's suggestion of Thjórsá, meaning Bull's Water. I haven't found any pre-Norse names for the river, or settlement, although I've found an intriguing pre-Norse name for nearby Holborn Head (Tarvodunon, meaning Bull Fort). Lianachan 01:21, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

OK. Perhaps the footnote in the article needs tweaking. It still seems to be the case, however, that the English name is not an Anglicised form of a Gaelic name and the Gaelic (probably a very recent construct) is not a direct translation of the English. Nontheless there is strong support for the idea that the meaning of the Gaelic construct reflects to some degree the meaning of a Norse original. Laurel Bush 10:28, 18 March 2006 (UTC).

Absolutely. If the Norse named the river after a Bull, and there had been a Bull Fort name in the immediate vicinity about a millenia earlier, it's definately possible that although the modern name comes from the Norse one, it itself is a translation of an earlier one. Perhaps some local small group had a Bull as a totem and the area was named after them? I don't know. But I do know people who're better qualified than me to speculate, so I'll email them and keep you posted. *edited afterthought - there is a fort right at the end of Holborn Head, too. Lianachan 11:19, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Town of the Year?

Well, I live in Thurso, and I have never heard of this award being given to the town. Anyone have any sources?Sierra 1 16:29, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

I guess the reference is to a vote taken by a drinking club in a Thurso pub. Probably not in a Wick pub. Laurel Bush 13:51, 20 January 2006 (UTC).

Heh ^_^Sierra 1 17:38, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The name of the town.

As someone already stated the name of the town comes from being Thor's River, and it has nothing to do with a Bull. The name of the town was most likely originally Thorso and over years has been corrupted by dialect, most people in Caithness can sound like they are saying Thirsa when they say it. I was born and raised in Thurso and have always been interested in my towns past and I have always been told by numerous sources that the Town is named after the river and it was Thor's River. This doesn't necessarily imply it was named after the God, thor was a common christian name and it could have been named after the man who discovered it. The name is similar to that of the Norwegian town of Tromso, and not unlike Thorshaven. What I am trying to say is whoever wrote the old norse explanation is talking Bull ;-)

Actually, the "Thor's River" etymology is the one that's bull, although it is popular. The town is indeed named after the river, though. The names of rivers are just about the oldest existing names there are, predating the Norse by millenia, so the thought of the river being named after a discoverer called Thor doesn't fit. Most of them are named after known Celtic gods (with similar names found on the continent), while others are named after their characteristics. More, of course, could be nameed after gods we just don't know about. Another bull reference in the immediate vicinity is the ancient "Fort of the bull" on Holborn Head - see my thoughts about that above. Compare with the names of rivers like Thjórsá in Iceland, or check with the Scottish Placenames Society, or with any of the books on Scottish place names. Lianachan 20:53, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Caithness.org

I am not sure the caithness.org link in the info box is really appropriate. The website represents itself as a "community website", but it seems to be very much a private initiative on the part of a particular Highland councillor, who is expected to be standing for re-election in May's elections. Laurel Bush 18:02, 3 April 2007 (UTC).

No response? Shall I remove the link? Laurel Bush 09:25, 5 April 2007 (UTC).

Link now removed. Laurel Bush 10:38, 10 April 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Broken link

May be down just now - if still gone days later, please delete ! No sign in google etc.--195.137.93.171 (talk) 18:36, 29 November 2007 (UTC)