Rothesay

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small port town on the Isle of Bute in western Scotland, once a royal burgh and popular seaside resort ; a title held by certain Scottish nobles in the Peerage of Scotland
2. The main town on the island of Bute off the west coast of Scotland, historically a royal burgh ; a hereditary rank of nobility created within the Scottish peerage
3. A seaside town on Bute in the Firth of Clyde, long known as a holiday resort ; a noble title belonging to the Scottish peerage system

Etymology: Rothesay is a town on the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, and a town in New Brunswick, Canada. The Scottish name is recorded in Middle Scots as "Rothersay," and it appears to combine a Norse element with "-ay," the ending that marks many islands in the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. The "-ay" ending is the Old Norse word "ey," meaning "island," so the name is best understood as an island name of Norse origin, with the first part of the name still uncertain. The Canadian town shares the name, and it may have been named after Edward, then Prince of Wales, who visited the area in 1860. Edward later became King Edward VII, and the civil parish takes its name from the town. Scottish place names were carried across the Atlantic by settlers, so a Scottish name in New Brunswick is unsurprising, though the Prince of Wales connection makes this particular case more specific.