The River Avon (pronounced “A'an” /ɑːn/) is a
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
in the
Strathspey area of the
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...
, and a
tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
of the
River Spey
The River Spey () is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom and the third longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is an important location for the traditions of salmon fishing an ...
. It drains the north-eastern area of the
Cairngorm Mountains
The Cairngorms () are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national park (the Cairngorms National Park) on 1 September 2003. Althou ...
and is largely contained within the
Cairngorms National Park
Cairngorms National Park () is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of National parks of Scotland, two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National ...
The source of the River Avon is conventionally said to be
Loch A'an situated between
Cairn Gorm
Cairn Gorm () is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. It is part of the Cairngorms range and wider Grampian Mountains. With a summit elevation of Height above sea level, above sea level, Cairn Gorm is classed as a Munro and is the sixt ...
and
Ben Macdui
Ben Macdui (, meaning "MacDuff's mountain") is the second-highest Mountains and hills of Scotland, mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis, and the highest of the Cairngorm Mountains. The summit is above sea level an ...
(
Gaelic
Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to:
Languages
* Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
: ''Beinn MacDhuibh'').
[Royal Scottish Geographical Society, (2006), ''Scotland: an encyclopedia of places & landscapes'', page 39] Loch A'an itself collects headwaters from a number of burns on these two mountains. From there the river then continues east down Glen Avon to the north of
Ben Avon, for 10 miles before turning north towards the village of
Tomintoul
Tomintoul (; from , meaning "Hillock of the Barn") is a village in the Moray council area of Scotland in the historic county of Banffshire.
Within Cairngorms National Park, the village lies close to the banks of the River Avon and is said by s ...
and
Strath Avon.
There is a River Avon Fishing Association that promotes tourism in nearby towns and fishing along the river.
Tributaries
Over the first few miles flowing east through the
Forest of Glenavon the Avon gathers to itself numerous small burns, the most notable of which are the Burn of Loin and the Builg Burn originating at Loch Builg. The latter flows down Glen Builg to enter the Avon on its right bank just downstream of the Linn of Avon.
A mile to the southwest of Tomintoul, the Water of Ailnack enters from the confines of a precipitous gorge - the higher reaches of this watercourse are known as the Water of Caiplich. Downstream of Tomintoul, the Conglass Water originating at the
Lecht, enters from the east and the Burn of Lochy enters from Glen Lochy to the west. Above Bridge of Brown, the Lochy is fed in turn by the Burn of Brown. The lowermost tributary of the Avon is the River Livet which enters from
Glenlivet on the right bank at Drumin just as the Avon leaves the national park.
[
]
Etymology
Some authorities state that, in common with various other examples of Avon, the river takes its name from the Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
''abhainn'' meaning 'river' or 'stream'. The word, in common with the Welsh ''afon'', is thought to originate from an early Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...
root ''ab'' or ''aub''. Watson (1926) however, is of the view that the derivation is from the " early British ''Abone'' not Gaelic ''abhainn''", the former being the precursor of both Pictish
Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...
and Gaelic.[ Watson, W. J. (1994) ''The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland''. Edinburgh; Birlinn. ISBN 1841583235. First published 1926. p.430 ] Whatever the exact derivation, all agree that the name has the tautological meaning of 'river river'.
References
{{authority control
Avon, Strathspey
1Avon
Strath Avon