How we can etymologise placenames to uncover lost landscapes *Correction: The illustration for this article has been taken down due to its creative similarities to an original illustration by Elle Miller, a copyrighted design for the University of St Andrews Shop Did you know that any placenames ending in -ey or -ay refer to an island? It is fairly clear why Scottish islands like Orkney, Rothesay, Colonsay, and Raasay, surrounded by water, are thus named. In southwest Oxfordshire, however,...

What's in a costume? Student Shakespeare adaptations can be, truthfully, quite boring. Shakespeare’s brilliance is painfully dulled when attempted by drama enthusiasts with little knowledge of the rhythm and sounds he uses, interested only in remembering long soliloquies, often without feeling. Please, do not be alarmed by my theatrical purism. Mermaids’ most recent production of The Tempest was successful in its curation of a mercurial, otherworldly aesthetic, as well as in its slapstick,...

Our town through sights and seasons As you wander through the streets of St Andrews, the soundscape winds and shifts with you, never stagnant for more than a step or two. This ‘sleepy’ town is more tumultuous than it immediately appears. Flapping winds, shrieking seagulls, and the crescendo of crashing waves across three beaches are all constant throughout the year. The yells of students increase tenfold on the last Monday of October, echoed in parallel on the first day of May as the...