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The five gates of Glasgow

PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 5:05 pm
by hungryjoe
An old man raised the subject in the pub years ago and claimed that there were, or had been, five gates in the city.
I remember Drygate, Gallowgate, Bridgegate, and another I can't think of at the moment, all being mentioned but no one could come up with a fifth. Was the old man havering?

Re: The five gates of Glasgow

PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 5:35 pm
by Delmont St Xavier
Trongate

Re: The five gates of Glasgow

PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 5:39 pm
by hungryjoe
Delmont St Xavier wrote:Trongate

Aye, that's the fourth one.
Anyone think of the fifth?

Re: The five gates of Glasgow

PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 5:40 pm
by Lucky Poet
Westergait. (Now Argyle Street.) Mind you, when it was still the Westergait it was outside Glasgow, strictly speaking (as far as I know anyway).

Re: The five gates of Glasgow

PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 5:43 pm
by hungryjoe
Lucky Poet wrote:Westergait. Now Argyle Street.

Haven't heard of that one. It might well be it.

Re: The five gates of Glasgow

PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 6:09 pm
by Lucky Poet
I was just having a wee read of this - http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/smihou/smihou102.htm

Seems to confirm it, and interesting descriptions of various modern streets being wee country lanes. Shame the picture of the map's a bit rubbish, but what can you do.

Re: The five gates of Glasgow

PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 7:38 pm
by Josef
This photograph is a fac simile


Their italics. Well seen it's an academic site. I don't think I've ever seen the Latin term used before.

Re: The five gates of Glasgow

PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 7:43 pm
by Lucky Poet
I think when used in the original Latin, and in italics to boot, it's a euphemism for 'we stuck it in the department photocopier and hoped for the best'.

Re: The five gates of Glasgow

PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 2:14 pm
by hungryjoe
TRONGATE STREET was at first known as Saint Thanew's Gate, but the name was changed on the introduction of the Tron weighing establishment. The old title being carried westward, and getting metamorphosed, was imposed upon Saint Enoch Square.

From http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gordon.ada ... tNames.htm

Re: The five gates of Glasgow

PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:44 pm
by Rucola
In case anyone doesn't know, 'gate' in street names doesn't mean there was originally a gate of the city there (I'm not sure but as far as I know Glasgow never had city walls).

It's just an old word meaning street, probably Norse in origin (cf. Swedish gatan, Finnish katu, also the word "gait" in reference to walking).