Scottish Towns-Cities (Fort William.)

Fort William (Scottish Gaelic: An Gearasdan [ən ˈkʲɛɾəs̪t̪ən]; “The Garrison”, Scots: The Fort) is a town in Lochaber in the Scottish Highlands, located on the eastern shore of Loch Linnhe. As of the 2011 Census, Fort William had a population of 10,459, making it the second-largest settlement in the Highland council area, and the second-largest settlement in the whole of the Scottish Highlands; only the city of Inverness has a larger population.

Fort William is a major tourist center, with Glen Coe just to the south, Ben Nevis and Aonach Mòr to the east, and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles. It is a center for hillwalking and climbing due to its proximity to Ben Nevis and many other Munro mountains. It is also known for its nearby downhill mountain bike track. It is the start/end of both the West Highland Way (Milngavie – Fort William) and the Great Glen Way (a walk/cycleway Fort William–Inverness).

Around 726 people (7.33% of the population) can speak Gaelic.

The earliest recorded settlement on the site is a Cromwellian wooden fort built in 1654 as a base for British troops to “pacify” Clan Cameron after the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The post-Glorious Revolution fort was named Fort William after William of Orange, who ordered that it be built to control the Highland clans. The settlement that grew around it was called Maryburgh, after his wife Mary II of England. This settlement was later renamed Gordonsburgh, and then Duncansburgh before being renamed Fort William, this time after Prince William, Duke of Cumberland; known to some Scots as “Butcher Cumberland”. Given these origins, there have been various suggestions over the years to rename the town (for example, to Invernevis).

The origin of the Gaelic name for Fort William, An Gearasdan, is not recorded but could be a loanword from the English garrison, having entered common usage sometime after the royal garrison was established, during the reign of William of Orange or perhaps after the earlier Cromwellian fort, or from the ultimately French-derived word “garrison”, as at the earlier garrison at Inverlochy by the Scoto-Norman Clan Comyn.