West Linton is a town and civil parish in southerly Scotland, on the A702. It was previously in the region of Peeblesshire, but given that city government re-organisation in the mid-1990s it is now part of Scottish Borders. A number of its homeowners are commuters, owing to the village's distance to Edinburgh, which is 16 miles (26 km) to the north east. West Linton has a lengthy background, and also holds a yearly typical event called the Whipman Play. The village of Linton is of old beginning. Its name originates from a Celtic aspect (cognate with the contemporary Irish Gaelic linn, Scottish Gaelic linne, and modern Welsh "Llyn") meaning a lake or pool, a pool in a river, or a network (as in Loch Linnhe, part of which is called An Linne Dhubh, the black swimming pool, or Dublin, an Anglicisation of dubh and linn, suggesting black swimming pool) and the Gaelic "dun" Welsh "din"), for a fortress, strengthened place, or armed forces camp (related to the modern-day English community, using the Saxon "tun", a ranch or collection of houses), and also is obviously suitable, as the town shows up to have actually been bordered by lakes, pools and marshes. At one time it was called Lyntoun Roderyck, identified perhaps with Roderyck or Riderch, King of Strathclyde, whose territory included this location, or with a neighborhood chieftain of that name. The Scottish Gaelic version of the place name is a partial translation, Ruairidh being a Gaelic form of Roderick. The prefix "West" was obtained lots of centuries later to clarify the difference from East Linton in East Lothian.