Editing Balmoral Castle (section)

==Etymology==

Balmoral is pronounced {{IPAc-en|b|æ|l|ˈ|m|ɒr|əl}} or sometimes locally {{IPAc-en|b|ə|ˈ|m|ɒr|əl}}.<ref name="Watson placename">{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=Adam |title=The place names of Upper Deeside |date=1984 |publisher=Aberdeen University Press |page=18}}</ref> It was first recorded as 'Bouchmorale' in 1451, and it was pronounced {{IPA|gd|baˈvɔrəl|}} by local [[Scottish Gaelic]] speakers.<ref name="Watson placename"/> The first element in the name is thought to be the Gaelic ''[[Bothy|both]]'', meaning "a hut", but the second part is uncertain.<ref name="D. Mills, 2011">{{cite book| last=Mills| first=A.David| title=A Dictionary of British Place Names| location=Oxford| publisher=Oxford University Press| year=2011| isbn=978-0191078941}}</ref> Adam Watson and Elizabeth Allan wrote in ''The Place Names of Upper Deeside'' that the second part meant "big spot (of ground)".<ref name="Watson placename"/> [[Alexander MacBain]] suggested this was originally the [[Pictish]] ''*mor-ial'', "big clearing" (cf. [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''mawr-ial'').<ref name="MacBain">{{cite book |last1=MacBain |first1=Alexander |title=Place names Highlands & Islands of Scotland |publisher=E. Mackay |year=1922 |page=156}}</ref> Alternatively, the second part could be a saint's name.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mac an Tàilleir |first1=Iain |title=Ainmean-Àite/Placenames |url=http://archive2021.parliament.scot/Gaelic/placenamesA-B.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://archive2021.parliament.scot/Gaelic/placenamesA-B.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |publisher=Scottish Parliament |page=15 |date=2003}}</ref>