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That will leave me thankful while I live.

(Hewitt 2010 62)

The conjunction of enlightenment scientists and mapmakers with late 18th century Gaelic speakers in Perthshire, exemplifying the rational and the intuitive, high upon the summit of The Fairy Hill of the Caledonians, was an extraordinary amalgam. The meeting of science with Gaelic culture also produced a map with place-names. It is worth comparing this 1778 Schiehallion document of Hutton’s with the current record.

Table 2: Comparison of Schiehallion experiment Map with OS 1:25,000 sheet

There are 23 Gaelic names recorded near or on the measurement contour. Despite their irregular spelling, all can be tentatively translated. Names seem to have been collected from Gaelic speakers, as they have been rendered phonetically with some accuracy by the English speaking team. Less than half can be related to the contemporary map. In a way, this small episode, occurring 100 years before formal OS mapping, encapsulates many of the issues impinging on research into Gaelic toponymy.