I parked at the foot of Stirling Castle again and walked up the field to the Castle. The Butt Well is at the top of the second field. It is believed that this ancient well takes its name from its proximity to archery targets on the lower slopes of the park, not from the bad habits of local smokers.
There is a good write up about the well here:Butt Well, Stirling, Stirlingshire
The supposition is mistaken. In other instances the name 'butt' seems to come from 'beithis', a Gaelic word for a mythological re-born particularly large and venomous serpent (dragon).
ReplyDeleteThe same mistaken assumption re 'butt' and archery practice was made long ago re Serpents Well a.k.a. Butt Well at Cawthorne in Yorkshire. Place-name evidence cross confirming serpent/dragon and 'butt' comes from several places; eg, at Conisbrough, where there is a lost well or cave and traces of a dragon tale, associated with Drake Head Lane and Butt Hole Road (now renamed!) -- 'drake' is a very clear allusion to a dragon/serpent.
I discuss this in my new essay on the etymology re 'King Arthur', available on my website.
According to records on Canmore:
ReplyDelete'The Butt Well was known as the Spout Well in 1582'.
J Ronald 1899
Therefore the name change has occurred since then. As the location below it looks ideal for an archery range and Stirling has a long history as a military base then it is more likely the name is from the archery target. At that time we had a shortage of dragons in Scotland.