What’s in a name?

Over last night’s curry (and shout out here to Abdul and the team at the Coldstream Radjhani Spice – another corker!) we descended to the time tested family game of combining place names into characters for the novel/play none of us is ever going to write. Thus far we have:

• Guay Tullimache of Ruthven – the dashing young hero come home from afar (or rather two villages oft encountered on the way back from Glenelg);
• Hawkslaw Whitadder of Georgefield – a very bad egg indeed, but with a certain glamour. I am feeling shades of the Wolf of Badenoch here (which is btw possibly the best nickname in history……);
• Birgham Duns – horny handed son of the soil, may be lacking in a sense of humour;
• Edrom Duns, brother of Birgham more of a quiet thinker I feel;
• Stobo St Abb – absolute fool of a man, brother of Yarrow.

The females had been proving trickier until I brought in rivers and reservoirs. (On further thought this is actually rather poetic, shades of naiad there…) On this front I have mustered:

• Till Yetholm – sparky type and frank speaker. Possibly a keeper of goats??;
• Yarrow St Abb- rather floaty type, may yet develop common sense though. Sister of Stobo;
• Eden Water – who is clearly no better than she should be and I feel rather spiteful;
• Tala Water – sister of Eden and much nicer. “Nicer” is not much of a personality so further thought may be required;
• Megget Dam – elderly woman – personality as yet undecided – related to Kielder perhaps???

The problem is, once started it gets rather addictive. Windy Gyle anyone?

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