The eldest son of an Easter Ross blacksmith, William J Watson (1865-1948) became a noted teacher and academic, laying firm foundations for the scientific study of place names in Scotland, and working tirelessly to improve the status of Gaelic, his mother tongue. This book contains most if not all of Watson's significant papers on place names, which appeared in such publications as The Celtic Review and the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness. They have never been gathered together in this way before. There is material here which prefigures the content of his magnum opus of 1926, The History of the Celtic Place Names of Scotland; there is also material which does not appear elsewhere. Although inevitably it contains a certain amount of duplication, for anyone interested in the origins and meanings of our Scottish place names this volume will provide a fascinating and rewarding insight into the methods and results of one of Scotland's most original place-name scholars.

The introduction is an expanded version of a paper previously published by Professor Nicolaisen.