Amongst the ancient Gaelic and Celts of Ireland and Scotland we find that the property upon which the family lived was known as 'baile' a word from Gaelic whose meaning is described as ones home, dwelling, farm, village and town.

 

The modern day meaning of baile would be 'town' and 'township' a description which is different from its original meaning as when these Gaelic and Celtic names were first used there were very few towns, hence its original meaning was 'place' and 'home' as in the 'place of' and the 'home of'.

 

The British in its colonisation outlawed the Irish language and forced them to speak English with the intention of changing the place names as they knew their ancient history was contained within their place names and so to change its future you have to change its past.

 

 

The origin of baile seems to be 'bhu' a word from Sanskrit whose meaning is to 'be' to 'become' to 'exist' and this is seen in 'bhu-alio' a pre Celtic word meaning 'the place where one dwells' 'the place where one is' which then becomes this baile meaning 'dwelling' and 'home' and from this the modern day prefix 'bal' meaning 'town'.

 

Within his book 'The Rise of the Celts' author Henry Hubert writes "It is even supposed to come from the root 'bhu' meaning 'to be', the word 'baile' implies a word 'balios' which implies a pre celtic 'bhu-alio' meaning 'the place where one is'".

 

An interesting word related to this is 'husband' and 'husbandry' from the Old Norse words 'hus' meaning 'house' and 'boandi' meaning to 'dwell' as in that which dwells in the home. boandi, like baile, are both formed from 'bhu' a Sanskrit root which means to 'be' to 'become' to 'exist'.

 

 

Throughout the Gaelic and Celtic lands of Scotland it is said there are over two thousand place names which possess this Gaelic prefix 'baile' and of course within the Celtic lands of green Ireland we find many names which begin with 'bally'.

 

The Scottish county of Perth has some 300 place names which bear this prefix 'baile' as seen within 'Balmeanach' whose meaning is the middle ( meanach ) town ( baile ) a name which also possesses the Sanskrit 'madhya' meaning 'middle'.

 

Baile becomes 'Belcraig' in Aberdeen and 'Balnacraig' in Perth whose meaning is the town ( baile ) of the rock ( craig ) a name which possesses 'khara' a word from Sanskrit meaning 'hard' and 'dense' which becomes the Indo/european 'kar' meaning 'hard' as seen in this Celtic 'craige' meaning 'rock'.

 

 

As pictured above we find 'Balmoral' the home castle of the Queen residing within the highlands of Aberdeenshire and its name which means the majestic ( mor ) village ( bal ) seems to also possess 'mira' a word from Sanskrit whose meaning is 'ocean'.

 

The Gaelic language has 'mor' meaning 'ocean' which is related to the Sanskrit 'mira' meaning 'ocean' and a word we see in 'Windermere' meaning 'lake'. The Gaelic 'mòr' also means 'large quantity' and 'great' and ''vast' words which seem to be an extension of its meaning as 'Sea' and 'Ocean'.

 

As an example we have the Old English 'mere' meaning 'lake' 'sea' and we have the Old English 'Mere' meaning 'great' which is describing the greatness ( mere ) of the ocean ( mere ). The Gaelic 'mor' means 'ocean' and the Gaelic 'mòr' means 'great' all descriptions of the ocean and we have the Old German name for the 'ocean' which is 'mer' and the Old German name for 'great' which is 'mor' hence these two words meaning 'ocean' and 'great' are synonymous and very much related to the Sanskrit 'mira' meaning 'ocean'.

 

 

Baile becomes 'Balgreen' a place name which is found within the counties of 'Banff' 'Renfrew' 'Aberdeen' 'Ayr' and 'Perthshire' its name meaning the town ( bal ) of the Sun ( grean ) and a name which possesses the Sanskrit 'ghrni' meaning the 'Sun'.

 

The ancients of the Celtic empire of Scotland were amongst other things worshippers of the Sun, as seen in their god 'Bel' and as seen within 'grean' which we find in this Celtic place name 'Balgreen' whose meaning is the town ( bal ) of the Sun ( grean ).

 

'Grean' meaning the 'Sun' is also seen throughout Scotland as 'Clach Na Greine' meaning the stone ( clach ) of the Sun ( grean ) its seen as 'Greenburn' meaning the stream ( burn ) of the Sun ( grean ) its seen as 'Grenan' meaning the river ( an ) of the Sun ( grean ) and its seen as 'Greenock' meaning the knoll ( knoch ) of the Sun ( grean ).

 

 

Balbardie, Balbaird and Balvaird are all towns ( bal ) of the bard, the word 'bard' representing a high station amongst Gaelic and Celtic cultures of Ireland and Scotland. They were highly trained poets, intellects, historians and story tellers and as William Shakespeare was known as the bard of Avon, so in India Rabindranath Tagore was known as the bard of Bengal.

 

The bards were employed or utilised by Kings who would use their poetic abilities to describe their great victories and heroic deeds and they were considered most important as they handed down from generation to generation their history in the form of poems, songs and rhyming metres.

 

Bard meaning 'poet' is related to the Sanskrit root 'Gr' meaning to 'call' to 'invoke' which becomes the Sanskrit 'grnati' meaning to 'praise' to 'recite' to 'teach in verses' to 'extol' and this becomes the Iranian 'gar' meaning to 'praise' which is related to the European 'gwer' meaning to 'favour' and according to academia this becomes 'bard' though its much easier to see 'Gr' and 'grnati' meaning to 'praise' becoming the Latin grate, gratus and grateful, meaning to 'please'.