Ach- and Bal- Place-Names in NE Scotland
This map shows the distribution of two of the commonest Gaelic place-name elements, viz,. ach- (achadh = field) and bal- (baile = town/settlement and demonstrates that Gaelic was spoken throughout the North-East of Scotland.
It can be seen from the above that there is a difference in the distribution of the two elements, with the ach- element found more in the NE corner, probably representing a later period of Gaelic settlement. For about 700 years the language has retreated westwards until, by the early 20th century, it was confined to upper Deeside i.e. to the Dee valley westwards from Ballater village, especially in and around the small village of Inverey.
The only exception to this was in the Corgarff area of upper Donside where, as will be seen, a very few native speakers of Aberdeenshire Gaelic were still to be found. Alexander (p. xviii) comments in 1952 that “The change of language can be withessed in its last phase at the present time in that district (Inverey); where the commoner Gaelic words, and even short sentences are understood by a limited number of people but are not used.”