From Alan James – 7 August 2020
Yes, a few years back I put a note in Scottish Place-Name news about ‘Carrick Gallovidian’, nominating it as the worst book ever on Scottish place-names (though admitting the competition is strong, there’s some very crazy stuff out there!) The author, Kevan McDowall F.S.A.Scot., was quite a kenspeckle figure in Edinburgh in his day, best-known for advocating an Imperial Parliament to govern the entire British Empire, within which Scotland would have ‘Home Rule’ with the status of a Dominion (like Canada). Maybe it seemed a good idea at the time … But one gets the impression of a pretty intelligent fellow living in a fantasy world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kevan_McDowall
Alan