Definition of the word 'Leith'

As with the history of clans and tartans in Scotland, there are a variety of opinions on the meaning of the word 'Leith'.  My research has uncovered eight meanings, some of which are related.  It is important to remember that the name is taken from the harbour of Leith, a strategically important fishing port that stands on the river named the Water of Leith.  Some of the meanings can be taken from the purpose of such a location:  river and flowing water.  John Arthur, Historian of Leith, Edinburgh states that the river is about 50 to 60 feet wide now due to development, but was much wider in the past which may lend to broad (leathan in Gaelic), wide, and wide river.  As Mr. Arthur mentions below, Leith can be spelled Lyth(e) or Leeth on old maps.  Lythe is defined by Webster's Online Dictionary as the European pollack, a fish of the cod family.  Though Leeth is not a word of the English language, the third definition of Leet in the Oxford English Dictionary is a "meeting of the ways, a cross-way", and Webster's Online Dictionary has the fourth defintion of Leet as the European pollack, or fish.  Other meaings that I have come upon are meadow, and dweller's of the river's meadow.

Below is a response Mr. Arthur wrote to my initial research into the definition of Leith (those not including Lythe, Leeth or Leet).

"Unfortunately I have a problem with your derivation of the word Leith.  Despite what many people say Gaelic was never spoken in Leith.  In fact, at an early period Welsh was spoken in the West of Scotland; however, in the East from the Forth down to York in the 6th-7th centuries was the country of Northumberland with its capital at Bamburgh and was made up of the two earlier kingdoms of Bernicia and Deria which were Anglo-Saxon.  It's from a mixing of ancient Welsh or Byrthonic and Anglo-Saxon that modern Scots is derived.

"However if you look at old maps of Leith the name can be spelt Leeth, Lyth, Leth, Loth, etc and if you look up Webster's English Dictionary Leeth (Leet, see below) means a crossing point and Lyth means fish.  In other words the town can be approached from east and west along the coast of the Forth and from the north {sic} coming up from the Borders/England, and Lyth was a species of bony fish.  Both names are Latin, and Latin was spoken in Leith as it was a supply base for the Roman forts Cramond and Inversesk.  The Votodani, who controlled the area for the Romans, would have used Latin.  In point of fact the minister of North Leith was paid his stipend in fish for centuries.

"So this was a town where in early centuries people would have come to buy fish.  In one book I read it said that the name came from a family named Leith.  The only problem with this is that there never was a family in Leith called Leith in a thousand years of recorded history to give the place the name.  Almost a thousand years ago it was the de Lestalric family and then the Logan family took over in 1392.  The Monks called it Loth meaning it was a Lothsome place because of crime and piracy in the area before it became christian, and that is 1400 years ago.

"...there must be a connection between Leet and Leeth which does appear on old maps.  It was due to the position of both Leith and Edinburgh that made Edinburgh the Capital of Scotland and Leith the principal port for Scotland for several hundred years.  It seems the pronunciation must have changed in time just as Lestalric changed to Restalrig.  Restalrig is about two-three miles from Leith and was home to the de Lestalric family and the Barons of Leith from the time of David I.  So I don't think it is a great stretch of the imagination that a "h" was added in time to Leet to create Leeth and then Leith.

John Arthur, Leith, Edinburgh Historian.

As explained on the Coat of Arms and Motto page, I found seven variations of the Leith motto.  Though most of the variations are slight, two are in a different language, namely Latin.  The translation of the Latin semperfidus is always, ever (semper) + trusty, dependable (fidus), where as fidus ad extremum can be read as trusty, dependable (fidus) + reaching to, until (ad) + finally, at last (extremum).  Each of these Latin mottos translate into trusty to the end, the same as the six English versions.  These observations of Latin in the family history recorded in 1884 by Bernard Burke give evidence to support Mr. Arthur's assertion that Latin, and not Gaelic was previously spoken in the harbour of Leith.  Mr. Arthur did caution me that his "derivation (of the word Leith) is as wrong as it can be right", though after finding Latin mottos, I believe his derivation to be more likely than not.