Rivers in Scotland

Rivers In Scotland

This list of rivers in Scotland is organised geographically, taken anti-clockwise, from Berwick-upon-Tweed. Tributaries are listed down the page in an upstream direction. (L) indicates a left-bank tributary and (R) indicates a right-bank tributary whilst (Ls) and (Rs) indicate left and right forks where a named river is formed from two differently named rivers.

For simplicity, they are divided here by the coastal section in which the mouth of the river can be found. Those on Scottish islands can be found in a section at the end. For Scottish estuaries, please see under firths and sea lochs.

The Scots have many words for watercourses.

  • A "Water" (Lallans: "Watter", Scots Gaelic, "Uisge") is a smaller river, e.g. Ugie Water, Water of Leith etc. Many Scottish rivers incorporate the name "Water" traditionally.
  • A "burn", Scots Gaelic: "allt" (anglicised as "Ault/alt"), used for smaller rivers and larger streams, also once widely used in England, now mostly in placenames especially the north, and sometimes spelled "bourne", e.g. Bournemouth and Ashbourne. In Scotland examples include Coalburn, Bannockburn, Aultmore.
  • Abhainn in Gaelic meaning river, which is anglicised as Avon. There is also a similar Brythonic cognate. This sometimes leads to curious 'double' namings of rivers by Anglo-Saxon speakers, such as River Avon and River Afton (literally "River River"), or Glendale (literally "Valley Valley") which is a combination of Norse/Anglo-Saxon "dale" and Gaelic "glen" or Brittonic "glyn".

Read more about Rivers In Scotland:  South-eastern Scotland, Forth To Tay, East Coast, Moray Firth (south Coast), Moray Firth (north Coast), North Coast, North-west Highlands, Firth of Clyde, Solway Firth, Rivers On Scottish Islands, Listing By Length, Listing By Area of Catchment, Shared Names, See Also

Famous quotes containing the words rivers in, rivers and/or scotland:

    He who hears the rippling of rivers in these degenerate days will not utterly despair.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Thank God we’re living in a country where the sky’s the limit, the stores are open late and you can shop in bed thanks to television.
    —Joan Rivers (b. 1935)

    A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.
    James I of England, James VI of Scotland (1566–1625)