List of Ayrshire place-names beginning with 'L'
Ladies Walk
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS440183
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 117m
Elements: SSE lady + SSE walk
Description:
This was a country pathway when first named on the 6 inch 2nd edition; latterly it was incorporated into the growing town of Drongan, and has remained as a street-name there. It is not clear where the name comes from.
Lady Burn
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS709207
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 348m
Elements: SSE lady + SSE burn
Description:
It is uncertain what the first element, lady refers to. Often in place-names ‘lady’ is connected either with religious sites commemorating the Virgin Mary, or with early modern estates, commemorating the wife of the local laird. It is hard to see either as good options here. For comparison, see Lady Burn near Cupar in Fife, where it is clear that the eponym is the Virgin Mary (PNFife, vol.4, or https://fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk/placename/?id=2341 )
Lady Elizabeth's Walk
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS540197
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 140m
Elements: pn Lady Elizabeth + SSE walk
Description:
As this walk is on the lands of Dumfries House, the eponymous Lady Elizabeth was presumably someone closely connected with the Crichton-Stuarts. Her identity has still to be established.
Lady's Bridge
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS544203
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 116m
Elements: SSE lady + SSE bridge
Description:
This bridge on Dumfries House Estate is described in the OS Name Book for Old Cumnock parish as: 'A Bridge so called crossing the "Nest Burn" on the carriage road in Shaw Wood, near to its junction with Lugar Water' (OS1/3/52/3).
Lady's Well
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS538206
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 94m
Elements: SSE lady + SSE well
Description:
It is not clear who the eponymous lady was, but given that it formed an integral part of the policies of Dumfries House, it is more likely to be a lady of that house rather than Our Lady. The OS Name Book describes it as: ‘A well near the Bridge crossing the "Lugar Water" on the grounds attached to Dumfries House covered by a handsome erection of stonework’ (OS1/3/52/2). This ‘handsome erection of stonework’ was probably designed by Robert Adam in the mid-18th century, and existed before the present house was built. The structure is shown but not named on a plan of1756 (Bute Archives DHP/24), for which see Green 2019, 2. It was badly damaged during target practice in 1944 when the Army occupied the Estate and never reconstructed (Green 2019, 115 (including a photo), 219-20).
Laglaff
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS602102
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 290m
Elements: G lag + G lobh
Description:
‘A decayed hollow, a hollow characterised by some kind of decay’? The second element seems to be connected with G lobh, a verb meaning ‘to rot, decay’.
Laglass Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS648087
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 546m
Elements: G lag + G glas + SSE hill
Description:
‘Green hollow’. The name has been preserved only in that of Laglass Hill. For the possible identity of the hollow In the name, see Laglass Hill – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY. G glas ‘green’ in place-names usually implies relatively good grazing. It is not clear if this is the case here.
Lagower Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS641022
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 572m
Elements: G lag + G gobhar
Description:
‘Goat hollow, a hollow associated with goats’. The name has been preserved only in that of nearby Lagower Hill. The source of the Afton Water lies on its south-west flank.
Laigh Coalburn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS573140
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 259m
Elements: Sc laigh + en Coalburn
Description:
‘Low Coalburn’, a division of the lands of Coalburn, the original settlement being at Old Coalburn, which see.
Laigh Elymains
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS458162
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 145m
Elements: Sc laigh + en Elymains
Description:
Preusmably ‘low Elymains farm’, but the situation is complicated because of the rather peculiar history of the forms of this name, and also Elymains itself. See there for further discussion.
RN
Laigh Glenmuir
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS617203
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 198m
Elements: Sc laigh + en Glenmuir
Description:
'Low Glenmuir'. This is what was historically the chief place of the lands and barony of Glenmuir.
Laigh Glenmuir Cottage
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS615206
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 202m
Elements: en Laigh Glenmuir + SSE cottage
Description:
This is an ephemeral name, recorded on OS maps between the 1960s and the 1980s, but the buildings have now disappeared under the setting pond for open cast mining. There had briefly been a school on the same site.
RN
Laigh Mount
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Relief, Vegetation
Grid reference: NS535145
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 343m
Elements: Sc laigh + SSE mount
Description:
'Low mount or mound'. Described in the OS Name Book of c.1857 as, 'An oval plantation of fir on the lands of Knockdon the property of the Marquis of Bute' (OS1/3/52/134), it is named in opposition to the higher plantation High Mount to its south-east.
Laigh Plaid
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS487180
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 154m
Elements: Sc laigh + en Plaid
Description:
Laigh Plaid is 18m lower than High Plyde. As with High Plyde, this farmsteading was merged into the farm of Rottenrow at the time of the OS Survey c.1858. The relevant description for Laigh Plaid is: ‘Once a farmsteading but now merged into the farm of Rattenrow [sic] one storey thatched & in middling repair. Marquis of Bute proptr. [proprietor]’ (OS1/3/51/1/52).
Laigh Pluck
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS533189
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 167m
Elements: Sc laigh + en Pluck
Laigh Tarbeg
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS487203
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 146m
Elements: Sc laigh + en Tarbeg
Description:
‘Low Tarbeg.’ For full details of Tarbeg and its various divisions, see under Tarbeg OCH. Laigh Tarbeg is 11m lower than High Tarbeg.
Laighmains Bridge
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS458162
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 148m
Elements: en Laigh Elymains + SSE bridge
Laight
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS457076
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 202m
Laight Castle (remains of)
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Antiquity
Grid reference: NS449088
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 204m
Elements: en Laight + Sc castle
Laight Cottage
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS455073
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 173m
Elements: en Laight + SSE cottage
Laight Farm
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS611116
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 230m
Elements: G leachd + SSE farm
Description:
'A grave, a tombstone', probably referring to a human-made feature interpreted by the name-givers as grave of some sort. Laight is also a settlement in the adjacent parish of Dalmellington AYR. This is probably Lachtalpin 1203 x 1207 ‘ Alpin’s grave’ (RRS ii no. 462).
Laight Mine (No 1, Ironstone)
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS459082
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 235m
Elements: en Laight + SSE mine
Description:
Laight Mine was an ironstone mine which was worked from c.1884 until c.1901 (Smith, 1967, 239).
Lairhag Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS514129
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 284m
Elements: Sc lair + Sc hag + Sc burn
Description:
'A burn flowing through or past a hag or piece of soft, marshy ground in a moor (often broken by peat-cutting) where sheep or cattle take shelter'. In this case the animals involved are almost certainly sheep since there is a stell (a walled enclosure for sheep) at the western edge of the hag, called Midhill Stell. See Lairhag Burn – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY for more details.
Lamb Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS627035
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 525m
Elements: SSE lamb + SSE hill
Description:
‘A hill associated with lambs’. This was clearly an important sheep-rearing area, as Wedder Hill lies immediately to the south-east.
Lamb Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS599085
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 399m
Elements: SSE lamb + SSE hill
Description:
‘A hill associated with lambs’. This was clearly an important sheep-rearing area since it forms a shoulder of the higher Ewe Hill (NS594080).
Lane
Ochiltree (OCH), Stair (STA)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS443180
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 102m
Elements: G lag + G lèana or G leathan
Description:
This may represent Sc lane meaning locally ‘a slow-moving, boggy burn’; or G lèana ‘a (marshy) meadow’, the word from which Sc lane originally derives. However, if the briefly recorded place-name Laglane lies behind the name, it may instead be G *lag leathan ‘broad hollow’, or lag lèana ‘hollow of the marshy meadow’. Any of these would probably suit the farm’s situation.
This farm has now been subsumed by the village of Drongan. The site lies under Drongan Primary School.
Lane Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS584130
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 198m
Elements: Sc lane + Sc burn
Description:
‘A slow-moving, winding stream’. The element burn was presumably added to clarify or emphasise the nature of the feature, perhaps as the term lane was becoming obsolete. That it was once called simply (the) Lane is indicated by the name Lanehead.
For a good photograph of Lane Burn, see Lane Burn – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY.
RN
Laneburn Bridge
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS573112
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 212m
Elements: en Lane Burn + SSE bridge
Description:
This bridge crosses Lane Burn close to Whitehill.
Lanehead
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS557108
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 237m
Elements: en Lane + Sc heid
Description:
‘(A settlement at the) head of the Lane Burn’. It is so interpreted in the OS Name Book entry of 1857: ‘A farm house occupied by [….] Paterson the property of Sir John Cathcart It is situated as the name [suggests] near the source of Lane Burn’ (OS1/3/49/46).
Lanehead Cottage
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS552105
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 272m
Elements: en Lanehead + SSE cottage
Lanemark
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS587119
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 202m
Elements: en Lane + Sc merk
Description:
‘A merkland on the Lane Burn’.
Lanemark Brick Works
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS591131
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 202m
Elements: en Lanemark + SSE brickworks
Description:
Also known as the Afton Brickworks, it stood beside Lanemark Collieries (Boigside, No. 2) pit. It was operational from c.1896 to the inter-war years. (Canmore at https://canmore.org.uk/site/90638/lanemark-brick-works).
Lanemark Collieries (Boigside, No. 2)
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS590130
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 204m
Elements: en Lanemark + SSE colliery
Description:
This was one of 3 Lanemark Pits shown on OS 6 inch 2nd edition, the others being Lanemark Colliery (Afton, No. 1) and Lanemark Colliery (Rigfoot, No. 1). They took their name from the farm of Lanemark. Lanemark Collieries (Boigside, No. 2) took its name from the farm of Boigside a short distance to the south-west.
Information from 2009 held in the National Records of Scotland (Record Ref NRA(S) 1426) indicates that the colliery was operated by the Lanemark Coal Co. between 1864 and 1909. In 1909 the mine, in common with others in the area, was taken over by New Cumnock Collieries Ltd. The colliery closed prior to Nationalisation in 1947. The colliery buildings and associated machinery were dismantled and removed. The former colliery site is now (2009) covered by heaps of mining spoil.
Lanemark Collieries (Boigside, No. 2) stood beside the Lanemark Brick Works.
Lanemark Colliery (Afton, No. 1)
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS583107
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 247m
Elements: en Lanemark + SSE colliery
Description:
This was one of 3 Lanemark Pits shown on OS 6 inch 2nd edition, the others being Lanemark Collieries (Boigside, No. 2) and Lanemark Colliery (Rigfoot, No. 1). They took their name from the farm of Lanemark. Lanemark Colliery (Afton, No. 1) took its name from the famous Afton Water by New Cumnock.
Information from 2009 held in the National Records of Scotland (Record Ref NRA(S) 1426) indicates that the colliery was operated by the Lanemark Coal Co. between 1864 and 1909. In 1909 the mine, in common with others in the area, was taken over by New Cumnock Collieries Ltd. The colliery closed prior to Nationalisation in 1947.
Lanemark Colliery (Rigfoot, No. 1)
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS581120
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 217m
Elements: en Lanemark + SSE colliery
Description:
This was one of 3 Lanemark Pits shown on OS 6 inch 2nd edition, the others being Lanemark Collieries (Boigside, No. 2) and Lanemark Colliery (Afton, No. 1). They took their name from the farm of Lanemark. Lanemark Colliery (Rigfoot, No. 1) took its name from the farm of Rigfoot about 1 km to the north.
Information from 2009 held in the National Records of Scotland (Record Ref NRA(S) 1426) indicates that the colliery was operated by the Lanemark Coal Co. between 1864 and 1909. In 1909 the mine, in common with others in the area, was taken over by New Cumnock Collieries Ltd. The colliery closed prior to Nationalisation in 1947.
Lanemark Moss
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS593115
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 226m
Elements: en Lanemark + Sc moss
Description:
‘A marsh or bog associated with Lanemark.’ It is described in the OS Name Book as: ‘A Moss Hagg South of Faulds Moss’ (OS1/3/49/124).
Lanemark Row
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS593117
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 226m
Elements: en Lanemark + SSE row
Description:
A row of miners’ cottages now demolished.
Laneside
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS549121
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 219m
Elements: Sc lane + SSE side
Description:
'(A settlement) beside a lane (slow, winding burn etc.)'. The lane in question is Beoch Lane. It has now been destroyed by opencast mining.
Langholm
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS506217
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 84m
Elements: Sc lang + Sc holm
Description:
A settlement called from the haugh or holm extending along the north bank of the Lugar, north of Ochiltree. In The Correspondence App 1 (p.218), it is listed among the rented lands of the Barony of Auchinleck, noting alternative spelling of Longholm. Love (2015, p. 48) notes that it is given on an old map as ‘Over Hoom’. He further notes (p.201) that ‘The Ayrshire Yeomanry had a shooting range at Langholm … between the wars.’
RN
Langholm Braes
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS504220
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 102m
Elements: en Langholm + SSE brae
Description:
Raised ground extending along above the eponymous haughland of ‘lang holm’.
Langlands
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS511224
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 140m
Elements: Sc lang + Sc land
Description:
This farm, part of the Auchinleck estate, seems to be on record from at least the early 1700s. According to the Appendix of The Correspondence of James Boswell with James Bruce and Andrew Gibb, Overseers of the Auchinleck Estate, ed. Nellie Pottle Hankins and John Strawhorn (Edinburgh University Press and Yale University Press 1998) 218: ‘Longlands…, or Langlands, provided accommodation for estate workers…in 1782 and 1786.’ This source provides further detail on the letting of the farm to various neighbouring farmers. The name gave rise also to East Langlands (q.v.), formerly Craighead, and West Langlands. See further details on Ploughing up Our Past: https://cumnockhistorygroup.org/ploughing-up-our-past/ploughing-up-our-past-blog/
Langlands Plantation
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS510226
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 138m
Elements: en Langlands + SSE plantation
Langlee Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS631080
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 257m
Elements: Sc lang + Sc lea + SSE burn
Description:
There was presumably a feature called Langlee past or through which this burn flowed. It consists of two Scots words, lang ‘long’ and lee ‘’tilled ground which is now in pasture’ etc. It may have been a small settlement, now gone, or it may have been the name of a stretch of ground.
It is described in the OS Name Book as: ‘A rapid stream rising between Yirn Cleuch [Ern Cleuch] and Quintin Knowe, and flowing westward past Black Craig house, into Afton Water’ (OS1/3/49/174).
Lanochsyde
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS462176
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 132m
Description:
A modern name, the house appears as Whilehill Cottage on OS 6 inch 1st edn, taking its name from the nearby farm of Whitehill. The origin of the name is not certain.
Lauchensknoll
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS618241
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 194m
Elements: pn Lauchlen + SSE knoll
Description:
Described in the OSNB as ‘A dwelling house and offices’, the site is now only ruins. The current spelling of the name on the Explorer map (without the -l-) looks to be merely a typographical error. The settlement presumably originally took its name from the topographical feature on which it sat, or a nearby one.
Love (2015, p. 318) notes this as Laurenceknowe, a form detectable in directories, newspaper reports etc., but map forms usually as above. Lawrence Know appears in censuses; also Laughlands Knoll, see https://farminginthecumnockarea.blogspot.com/search/label/Lauchlensknoll for further variations.
Laurshill
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS480168
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 164m
Elements: pn Laurence? + SSE hill
Description:
The first element looks like a personal name, perhaps a shortened form of Laurie/Lowrie, which is itself a shortened (or hypocoristic) form of Laurence.
It is described in the OS Name Book as follows: 'A farmsteading dwelling & outhouses one storey thatched & in bad repair Marquis of Bute proprietor. Derivation unknown’ (OS1/3/51/1/59).
Having previously been demolished for opencast mining, the site is now under the waters of the recently formed loch beside Belston Loch.
RN
Legate
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS611129
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 192m
Elements: Sc liggat
Description:
'A self-closing gate'. For details of the development of this small settlement on the New Cumnock-Dalmellington road, see LEGATE – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY. The same element is found in the name Couplagate at the east end of the town of New Cumnock on the New Cumnock-Dumfries road.
There is an analogous place called Liggat in Kells KCB. For more derails see Place-Names of the Galloway Glens.
Lessnessock
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS481195
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 131m
Elements: G lios + G an + Unknown
Description:
‘Enclosed residence of the ?’ lios is a relatively rare element with a range of meanings, all of which refer to an enclosure of some sort, and by extension an enclosed building. In modern Gaelic it means ‘garden’. It has a Brittonic equivalent, cf. Welsh llŷs, and this may have influenced aspects of place-names in Scotland. There are a number of examples in southern Scotland, such as Lesmahagow. If the earliest form, Lesynasach, can be relied upon, the specific element may be G fàsach ‘wilderness, desert, (place of) desolation’, OG fásach (n) 2. ‘an uninhabited spot or region, a waste, wilderness’ (DIL). The form of such a name in medieval Gaelic would have been *les an fhásaig (modern lios an fhàsaich), and this being so we might worry about the name ending in -ach, -ok as not showing the palatal consonant we would expect.
Another possibility is OG esóc (easóg, easóg) f. ‘a weasel or small rodent’ (DIL); G easag ‘pheasant, squirrel. shrew’ (Dwelly) cf G neas f. ‘weasel, stoat, ferret’. OG nes(s) ‘a weasel’. Equally we might wish to think about OG fésóc ‘beard’. The problem with these words is that they are feminine, and so the names created from them would look thus in OG *les na h-esóice, *les na fésóice, though perhaps if a diminutive of nes(s), e.g. nessóc, this might be less of a problem. All in all, the final element here is uncertain.
Lessnessock Cothouses
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS485196
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 143m
Elements: en Lessnessock + SSE cothouse
Description:
Originally, as the name suggests, cottages attached to Lessnessock farm, they are now named Westmost Cottage, and Auchness Cottage.
Lethan Hill
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS432098
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 253m
Lethanhill
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS436103
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 314m
Lethans
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS692159
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 405m
Elements: G leathan
Description:
‘A broad slope’. The final -s earlier -is is the Scots plural ending, suggesting the lands were divided into two parts. In this regard it is probably relevant that Lethans is first mentioned as consisting of two merklands. There is another place called Lethans, now lost, on the western edge of the parish of New Cumnock. Both these places called Lethans have a Lethans Hill nearby.
It is now ruin. For a photograph, see https://farminginthecumnockarea.blogspot.com/
Lethans
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS544079
Certainty: 2
Altitude: 404m
Elements: G leathan
Description:
‘A broad slope’. The settlement of Lethans seems to have disappeared, and its lands subsumed into neighbouring estates, by the later 17th century. It has left its name in Lethans Hill near the source of the River Nith. The picture is confused by the fact that there is another settlement in New Cumnock called Lethans. It is at the other end of the parish (NS692159) and still exists but does not appear in the record till the 17th century. It, too, has given its name to a nearby hill, namely Lethans Hill.
Lethans Hill
Kirkconnel (KCL), New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS693157
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 430m
Elements: en Lethans + SSE hill
Lethans Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS544079
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 404m
Elements: en Lethans # + SSE hill
Description:
This hill takes its name from the lost settlement of Lethans at the western edge of New Cumnock parish. It is described in the OS Name Book as: ‘A hill Situated between Peddinnan Burn, River Nith and Loup Burn’ (OS1/3/49/151).
Limekiln Burn
New Cumnock (NCU), Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS665170
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 276m
Elements: SSE limekiln + SSE burn
Description:
This burn flows northwards into the Guelt Water from the Guelt and Craigdulyeart Lime Works with limekilns shown beside each of these.
For more on the burn and the lime works, with photographs, see LIMEKILN BURN – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY.
Lingie Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS516113
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 316m
Elements: Sc lingie + SSE hill
Description:
‘Heathery hill’. Sc lingie/lingy is an otherwise unrecorded adjective from Sc ling, whose main meaning is ‘heather’. For more on this, see Robert Guthrie’s discussion on Lingie Hill – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY. While the OS Name Book entry for Lingie Hill is no help in identifying more exactly the vegetation involved, Guthrie notes that there is a Lingy Knowe on the boundary between Dunsyre and Carnwath parishes LAN. For this the OS Name Book has: ‘ A small hill covered with Heath and "Ling" the latter is the local name for a species of Heath which bears some resemblance to Broom and from which the name is derived’ (OS1/21/12/68).
Linn Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS645137
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 178m
Elements: en (Mansfield) Linn + SSE burn
Description:
‘A burn which takes its name from the linn or waterfall called Mansfield Linn. For a full discussion and photographs, see Linn Burn, Upper Linn, Netherlinn – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY. There is another Linn Burn in the parish (NS555133); also a Linn Water, formerly Linn Burn (NS514076).
Linn Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS555133
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 247m
Elements: Sc linn + SSE burn
Description:
‘A burn with a waterfall (Sc linn). It is described in the OS Name Book as: ‘A small stream running into a small ravine north of the above house [The Linn], and running South joins Dalgig Burn’ (OS1/3/49/31). The linn has given its name to the cottage called The Linn (NS549136).
RN
Linn Liver Bridge
Dalmellington (DAL), Straiton (STT)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS476039
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 166m
Linn Water
Dalmellington (DAL), New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS514076
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 279m
Elements: Sc linn + SSE water
Description:
‘A burn or small river with a waterfall (Sc linn)’. The OS Name Book for New Cumnock explains the name well: ‘A Stream on the west Side of Meiklehill farm, and forming the Boundary between the Parishes of Dalmellington and New Cumnock. It derives its name from a linn or waterfall over which the stream falls. It is known by this name. *After entering the Parish of Dalmellington this stream bears the name "Cumnock Burn"’ (OS1/3/49/147)
The OS Name Book for Dalmellington has basically the same information, adding: ‘There is a fine Waterfall of 28 feet on this stream; from which probably it derives its name.’ (OS1/3/21/87).
Little Auchengibbert
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS587194
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 164m
Elements: SSE little + en Auchengibbert
Little Auchingilsie
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS555168
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 255m
Elements: SSE little + en Auchingilsie
Little Bolt Wood
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS631068
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 326m
Elements: SSE little + en Bolt Wood
Little Bowes
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS559179
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 195m
Elements: SSE little + en Bowes
Description:
This small settlement on the lands of Bowes had completely disappeared by the time of the OS 6 inch 2nd edn.
Little Burnockhead
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS524149
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 271m
Elements: SSE little + en Burnockhead
Little Camlarg
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS495065
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 209m
Little Changue
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS558190
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 176m
Elements: SSE little + en Changue
Little Clydnoch
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS476195
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 140m
Elements: SSE little + en Clydnoch
Little Coupla
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS626131
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 198m
Elements: SSE little + en Coupla
Description:
Named in contrast to Big Coupla, which is 20m higher. ‘A small hill about 20 chains E [East] of Polquirter cottages’ (OS1/3/49/107). See Coupla for more details.
Little Craigwaughton
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS504025
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 319m
Little Creoch
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS594146
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 201m
Elements: Sc little + en Creoch
Description:
‘Little Creoch’, a division of the lands of Creoch, the other division being the reciprocally named Meikle Creoch. On the Blaeu map of 1654 Meikle Creoch was *Nether Creoch, while Little Creoch was *Over Creoch’, distinguished not by relative size but by relative height.
Little Creoch Plantation
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS587145
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 232m
Elements: en Little Creoch + SSE plantation
Little Dalhanna
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS617109
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 218m
Elements: SSE little + en Dalhanna
Description:
Formerly Nether Dalhanna, contrasting with Over Dalhanna, now Dalhanna Farm.
Little Darmalloch
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS615201
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 212m
Elements: SSE little + en Darmalloch
Little Eriff Hill
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS508007
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 322m
Little Garclaugh
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS655143
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 230m
Elements: SSE little + en Garclaugh
Description:
Formerly Nether Garclaugh, contrasting with Over Garclaugh, later Meikle Garclaugh.
Little Kirk Syke
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS717193
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 346m
Elements: SSE little + en Kirk Syke
Little Poljorg Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS655062
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 513m
Elements: SSE little + en Poljorg Burn
Little Rigend
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS540114
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 229m
Elements: SSE little + en Rigend
Description:
This is a division of the extensive lands of Rigend, with about 1.25km between High Rigend and Little Rigend.
Little Rigend Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS537114
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 278m
Elements: en Little Rigend + SSE hill
Littlechang Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS561086
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 353m
Elements: en Littlechang Hill + SSE burn
Littlechang Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS563079
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 441m
Elements: SSE little + en Chang Hill
Description:
This is named in contrast to High Chang Hill (529m). Chang Hill itself is 461m.
Littledodd Hill
New Cumnock (NCU), Sanquhar (SAN)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS657035
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 590m
Elements: Sc little + Sc dod + SSE hill
Description:
‘A little rounded hill’. It is named in contrast to the larger neighbouring Meikledodd Hill.
Littlemark
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS575106
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 234m
Elements: Sc little + Sc merk
Description:
‘A small merkland’, a merkland being a unit of land valued at one merk or 2/3rd of a pound. It has almost certainly been named in relation to nearby Marshallmark, both probably originally part of the lands of Dalleagles. What is little about it is difficult to ascertain, given that a merkland was a relatively fixed unit. It may be that the farming settlement (ferm-toun) was smaller or considered less important than Marshallmark. The question is discussed at length by Robert Guthrie on the New Cumnock History website LITTLEMARK – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY, with no firm conclusion reached.
Littlemarkhill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS576100
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 301m
Elements: en Littlemark + SSE hill
Description:
This takes its name from the nearby farm of Littlemark. It was formerly called Newhouse. According to Robert Guthrie, Newhouse was originally built to house those who worked at the nearby lead mines on Dalleagles (LITTLEMARK – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY). It is now a ruin, a photo of which can be found on the above-mentioned website.
Littlemill Bridge
Coylton (COY), Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS451152
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 150m
Elements: en Littlemill + SSE bridge
Description:
This road bridge (carrying the B730) spans the Water of Coyle beside Littlemill COY. The bridge crosses the parish boundary between Ochiltree and Coylton parishes.
Loch Doon (Reservoir)
Dalmellington (DAL), Straiton (STT)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NX497970
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 213m
Elements: Sc loch + en (River) Doon
Loch Gaur
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS495009
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 264m
Loch Muck
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS512008
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 289m
Loch o' th' Lowes
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS601145
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 183m
Elements: Sc loch + Sc of + Sc the + en Lowes
Description:
Lowes refers here to the extensive territory which was divided up into North, Mid, East and West Lowes (for which see under Lowes). Sc lowe means ‘loch’, taking its name from this and two other lochs (Creoch and Black). The somewhat circular naming of the loch does not necessarily mean that Sc lowe was not understood as ‘loch’ when it first appears in the 17th century. Rather that Lowe(s) had become so embedded as a settlement-name as to have lost its watery reference.
The water in the most northerly of the three flows both north to the Lugar and south to the Nith. See under that name for more details.
RN
Loch Rig
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief, Vegetation
Grid reference: NS519130
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 297m
Elements: Sc loch + Sc rig
Description:
While the second element is definitely Sc rig in the sense of a ridge, the first element is puzzling as there is no loch in the vicinity, and the terrain is such that it is unlikely that there has ever been one. It is possible that it referred to a very small lochan or pond on the ridge along the lines of Whig Hole just to the south on Martyrs Moss, although Whig Hole was dry enough for Whigs or Covenanters to hide in it in the seventeenth century (see Whig Hole NCU).
The OS Name Book describes this simply as: ‘A ridge of moor land on the North side of Martyrs Moss’ (OS1/3/49/26).
Loch Ryan
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NX498996
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 213m
Lochbrowan
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS622097
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 236m
Elements: G lag + ?
Description:
‘Hollow of ?’. G lag ‘hollow’ had been assimilated to the more common element loch by the mid-seventeenth century. The same process can be seen in the name Lochmeharb NCU (which see).
The second element is problematic. Robert Guthrie discusses several possibilities on the New Cumnock History website (LOCHBROWAN, LOCHBROWAN HILL – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY), one of which is G braon ‘drizzle, rain, moisture’, probably found in adjectival form in Knockburnie NCU. It is found in several Scottish place-names, e.g. Birnie MOR and Birnam PER, but nowhere does it come through as ow /au/. Another element he discusses (following a suggestion by Alan James) is brugh, gen. sing. na bhruighne, gen. pl. nam bruighneann, for which Dwelly has ‘large house, village, tower, fortified town, fairy hillock, tumulus, cave, house half under the surface, fort’. However, there is no other place-name in Scotland which certainly contains this element (the Carneburgh suggested by Watson is in fact a development from earlier Karnebuth (1926, 204 fn. 1), so it can be fairly confidently dismissed.
Lochbrowan Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS628101
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 408m
Elements: en Lochbrowan + SSE hill
Lochen Burn
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS528025
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 356m
Lochhill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS601154
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 195m
Elements: SSE loch + SSE hill
Description:
‘Hill by or near a loch’, the loch in question being both Loch Creoch and Loch o’ th’ Lowes. It was formerly East Lowes, the name Lochhill not becoming established until the 20th century. See
RN
Lochingerroch
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS623094
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 234m
Elements: G lag + G an + G caora
Description:
‘Hollow of the sheep’? Robert Guthrie on the New Cumnock History website suggests caora ‘a sheep’, plural caorach, with eclipsis in the genitive plural, giving na gcaorach, in modern Scottish Gaelic nan caorach (LOCHINGIRROCH, LOCHINGIRROCH BURN – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY).
RN
Lochingerroch Bridge
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS621095
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 235m
Elements: en Lochingerroch + SSE bridge
Description:
This bridge crosses Lochingerroch Burn to the north of Lochingerroch, from which it takes its name.
Lochingerroch Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS621097
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 228m
Elements: en Lochingerroch + Sc burn
Lochmeharb
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS566039
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 322m
Elements: G lag + G an + G earb
Description:
‘Hollow of the roe-deer (plural)’? The earliest form Lagmanarbe suggests an underlying Gaelic plural lag nan earb, while the later forms suggest G lag na h-earba ‘of the (single) roe-deer’.
G lag ‘hollow’ had been assimilated to the more common element loch. The same process can be seen in the name Lochbrowan NCU (which see).
Note that in Old Gaelic erp/erb can also mean ‘she-goat and doe’ as well as ‘roe’ (DIL).
Lochnoran Well
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS574223
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 180m
Elements: en Lochnoran + SSE well
Description:
A seemingly ephemeral name, the first element has in recent years been revived as the name of Lochnoran House, home of the local publishers Carn Publishing. It is unclear where the name Lochnoran originally derives from. There is no nearby loch. The example of Lochnorris OCU earlier Leifnorris, where the first element is ultimately from G leth-pheighinn ‘half-penny(land)’, shows that various earlier words could underlie a modern form in Loch-.
Lochnorris (Site of)
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS539205
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 101m
Elements: G leth-pheighinn + pn Norris
Description:
G leth-pheighinn + ? pn Norris
‘Half-pennyland'; see Watson 1926, 185.
The name of the estate which became known as Dumfries House. The old castle of Leifnorris stood on a low piece of raised ground north-west of the present house, near the Lugar Water. Note the assimilation of an unusual first element to a more familiar one (Leif- > Loch-).
Lochside House Hotel
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS602147
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 182m
Elements: SSE loch + SSE side
Description:
‘Settlement beside a loch’, the loch in question being Loch o’ th’ Lowes. For a time the settlement gave its name to the loch.
Lodge
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS474059
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 165m
Logan
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS589206
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 159m
Elements: pn Logan
Description:
The name derives from the family of the Logans of Restalrig near Leith MLO. ‘In the year 1660, Sir Robert Logan … effected a purchase of a large portion of the barony of Cumnock, to which he gave the family name’ (Bobby Grierson on Places – Country Houses, Villas and Castles – Cumnock History Group).
The NGR is of Logan House. It was demolished in the early 1950s to make way for the village of Logan.
Logan
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS588205
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 157m
Elements: en Logan
Description:
This mining village was built in the 1950s and ‘60s on the site of Logan House and its grounds. The radical change from country estate to housing estate is well summed up in the title of a book of reminiscences produced by the Logan History Group in 2000, which is called From Big House tae Wee Village available online at Logan-History-Group-Booklet.pdf (cumnockhistorygroup.org)
The NGR is of roughly the mid-point of the village.
Logan Braehead
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS585204
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 157m
Elements: en Logan + SSE brae + SSE head
Logan Bridge
Auchinleck (AUK), Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS585206
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 140m
Elements: en Logan + SSE bridge
Description:
The bridge carries the main road (A70) over Lugar Water to the west of Logan.
The OS Name Book for Auchinleck parish describes the bridge as: 'A county bridge of two arches across the Lugar Water on the turnpike road from Old Cumnock to Muirkirk' (OS1/3/3/104). On the other hand, the OS Name Book for Old Cumnock parish, with a different set of authorities, has: 'A county bridge with one arch across the Lugar Water on the road from Cumnock to Muirkirk' (OS1/3/52/17).
RN
Logan Hags
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS641203
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 293m
Elements: en Logan or pn Logan + Sc hag
Description:
Sc hag is 'a soft marshy hollow piece of ground in a moor, e.g. where channels have been made by water or where peats have been cut'. The first element may relate to Logan House (in OCU), which is not very nearby but could potentially have had some rights to peat in this area. Alternatively, it may be the common surname Logan (cf. Loganston).
Logan Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS553070
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 502m
Elements: G lagan + SSE hill
Description:
Logan is probably a diminutive of G lag ‘a hollow’, so ‘little hollow’. This feature later gave its name to a hill either because it was adjacent to the hollow or because there was a small hollow on the hill itself.
The OS Name Book (1850) describes it simply as: ‘A large hill on the west side of the Source of Rough Burn’ (OS1/3/49/156).
Logan Junction
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS586201
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 166m
Elements: en Logan + SSE junction
Logan Quarry
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS578206
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 145m
Elements: en Logan + SSE quarry
Logan's Pillar
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS588208
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 154m
Elements: pn Logan + SSE pillar
Description:
The OS Name Book for Old Cumnock records this as: 'An ornamental pillar erected by the wit Hugh Logan it is about 6 chains N W of Logan House and stands about 13 feet high' (OS1/3/52/13). A note underneath adds a quotation from Paterson, History of Ayr: 'There is a stone near the house of Logan, which goes by the name of Logan's Pillar, where, it is said, he was much in the habit of sitting and cracking his jokes with those around him - Paterson's History'. The minister Rev. Ninian Bannatyne, writing in 1845, while clearly taken by Logan’s wit, is obliged in his role as minister of religion to sound a note of disapproval. He writes: ‘His numberless witticisms and sarcasms, which were oftentimes pregnant, not only with the most genuine humour, but likewise marked by an eagle-eyed discrimination, as well as an unsparing dissection of character, and conduct, are generally current among the people of this district, and form an unfailing source of amusement at their jovial meetings. But, from the frequent mixture of coarseness and profanity that interlard them, they have by no means contributed to promote the interests, either of religion or morality, in the neighbourhood’ (NSA v, 481).
Logangate Br.
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS587202
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 163m
Elements: en Logan + SSE gate + SSE bridge
Description:
The gate in the name refers to one of the gates into the grounds of Logan House. There is another Logangate Bridge about 2 km to the south.
Logangate Bridge
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS587185
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 186m
Elements: en Logan + SSE gate + SSE bridge
Description:
A road bridge to the west of Loganhill. This may refer to a gate at the road-end of Loganhill. However, it might be Sc gate ‘a road’, indicating an old road to Logan House, which lies about 2 km to the north, where there is another Logangate Bridge.
RN
Loganhill
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS589185
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 194m
Elements: en Logan + SSE hill
Description:
This farm presumably once lay on the lands of Logan. These must have been extensive, as Logan House itself lies c.2 km to the north.
Loganhill Road
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS589189
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 177m
Elements: en Loganhill + SSE road
Loganston
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS512215
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 93m
Elements: pn Logan + Sc toun
Description:
The earliest form of the name might suggest an original ‘Lugar toun’, i.e., farm on the Lugar Water, but the OS form is well attested, including in the estate papers of the Boswells of Auchinleck. According to the Appendix of The Correspondence of James Boswell with James Bruce and Andrew Gibb, Overseers of the Auchinleck Estate, ed. Nellie Pottle Hankins and John Strawhorn (Edinburgh University Press and Yale University Press 1998) 218: ‘Loganston… was let to Alexander Gibson, in 1756 (ordained elder) and with Gibston in 1787, at which time he also rented Barnsdale with this brother James in Longlands [Langlands, q.v.].’
It would fit into a broad range of names employing surnames with the Scots element toun. Most of these seem to date back to the late medieval or early modern period, and we would probably be justified in thinking of this name in such terms. Logan itself is a surname derived from a place-name, and there are a number of place-names in Logan nearby, cf Logan House OCU.
Long Break
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS643063
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 631m
Elements: SSE long + SSE break
Description:
‘A long break or gap’. It refers to a long scar which runs down the steep western slope of Black Craig Hill. There are photographs of this feature on the New Cumnock History website under Long Break – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY.
It is described in the OS Name Books as: ‘A hollow between Stratified rock, on black craig Hill, extending from the base to the Summit in a curved direction’ (OS1/3/49/178).
Long Craig
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS672144
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 360m
Elements: SSE long + Sc craig
Description:
'A long crag'. It is described in the OS Name Books as: ‘A small range of rock [or rocks] near the top of Corson Cone’ (OS1/3/49/85). See the New Cumnock History website for photographs (Long Craig – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY).
Long Rig
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS507041
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 392m
Long Row
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS575222
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 178m
Elements: SSE long + SSE row
Description:
Miners' cottages, later renamed as Birnieknowe.
RN
Longhouse
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS578203
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 138m
Elements: en Longhouse
Description:
This takes its name from neighbouring Longhouse farm.
It is described in the OS Name Book as: ‘A few inferior dwelling houses of a farm steading, the property of William A Cunningham Esqur situated a few yards from the Railway Station’ (OS1/3/52/12).
Longhouse
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS580204
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 155m
Elements: Sc lang + Sc house
Description:
'A long house'. This name refers to the farm, which gave its name to the ‘few inferior dwellings’ at NS578203. For more details see Ploughing Up Our Past: Longhouse - Old Cumnock (farminginthecumnockarea.blogspot.com).
It is described in the OS Name Book as: ‘A farm Steading the property of William A Cunningham Esqur occupied by George Logan’ (OS1/3/52/17).
Longhouse Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS670133
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 178m
Elements: SSE long + SSE house + SSE burn
Description:
‘A burn which flows past or near a long house’. There is no place called Longhouse in the vicinity so it may well describe the nearby (now ruined) farm-house or Netherton. See the New Cumnock History website at Longhouse Burn – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY for discussion and photographs.
RN
Longmore
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS595203
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 197m
Elements: SSE long + SSE moor
Description:
‘A long stretch of moor’.
Lord Bute's Walk
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS551211
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 125m
Elements: pn Lord Bute + SSE walk
Description:
A walking path which goes through Manse Glen, this was named after the Lord Bute who created a series of walks around Dumfries House Estate in the 1870s.
Loup Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS543075
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 346m
Elements: Sc loup + Sc burn
Description:
‘A burn which can be jumped’ or perhaps ‘a burn flows relatively quickly, perhaps with small rapids’.
The OS Name Book is no help with the interpretation of this name, having only: ‘A Small Stream, south of Lethans Hill, flowing thro [through] a deep Glen, into the Nith’ (OS1/3/49/152).
Loupsheugh Burn
Dalmellington (DAL), New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS507103
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 316m
Elements: Sc loup + Sc sheugh + SSE burn
Description:
‘A burn associated with a sheugh or muddy ditch which can be jumped or which people regularly jump over’. The burn itself is probably the original Loupsheugh, with the element ‘burn’ added later. The burn, a tributary of the Black Water, forms the parish boundary between New Cumnock and Dalmellington for the whole of its length. It has given its name to the nearby Loupsheugh Rig.
Loupsheugh Rig
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS509102
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 338m
Elements: en Loupsheugh + Sc rig
Description:
This ridge takes its name from the Loupsheugh Burn, probably originally called simply the Loupsheugh, which runs along its west side.
Low Brickhouse
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS573191
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 133m
Elements: SSE low + SSE brickhouse
Description:
‘A house made of bricks’. It is low because of its position vis-à-vis High Brickhouse almost 20 metres higher and a few hundred metres up the road out of Cumnock. It is now part of the Netherthird area of Cumnock.
Low Broad Wood
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS546200
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 134m
Elements: SSE low + en Broad Wood
Description:
This is the lower part of the wood called Broad Wood on the Dumfries House Estate. There is another division called East Broad Wood.
Low Dalblair Belt
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS647196
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 256m
Elements: SSE low + en Dalblair + SSE belt
Low Garclaugh Bridge
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS655145
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 246m
Elements: en Low Garclaugh + SSE bridge
Description:
This is a road bridge spanning the Garclaugh Burn to the north-west of Little Garclaugh. It preserves a form of the older name for Little Garclaugh, namely Nether (Low) Garclaugh.
Low Garleffan Plantation
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS627185
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 274m
Elements: en Low Garleffan + SSE plantation
Description:
'A plantation on the lands of Low Garleffan'. Low Garleffan is now Garleffan Farm (see for details).
Low Moss
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS612209
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 206m
Elements: SSE low + SSE moss
Low Muir Plantation
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS522174
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 210m
Elements: SSE low + en Muir + SSE plantation
Description:
This lies on the northern edge of the lands of the farm of (The) Muir. Next to it is another plantation with the same name.
Low Muir Plantation
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS518174
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 199m
Elements: SSE low + en Muir + SSE plantation
Description:
This lies on the northern edge of the lands of the farm of (The) Muir. Next to it is another plantation with the same name.
Lowes
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS594164
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 211m
Elements: Sc lowe
Description:
‘Lochs’. The lochs which gave rise to the name are now called Black Loch, Creoch Loch and Loch o’ th’ Lowes. The original land of Lowes has been divided up into several parts, these divisions chiefly indicated by affixes. In the case of Lowes these are or were: west, east, mid, over, nether, little. However, there have never been as many divisions, which means that different affixes have been applied to the same place at different times. This is not unusual as affixes are inherently unstable. There is, however, another factor at work amongst the Lowes, as two of the divisions have changed name entirely: West Lowes (which seems to have been both *Nether Lowes and Little Lowes over the years) is now Calton; and East Lowes is now Lochhill. For a full discussion of the complex of Lowes-names through time, with maps, see Lowes – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY.
While the NGR of the head-name is that of the farm marked as Lowes on the OS Explorer map (2000), forms of all the other Lowes-names have been included in the early forms.
RN
Lowes Belt
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS600161
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 250m
Elements: en Lowes + SSE belt
Lowesmuir
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS601169
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 265m
Elements: en Lowes + Sc muir
Lowesmuir Belts
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS603164
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 280m
Elements: en Lowesmuir + SSE belt
Lowesmuir Mount
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS611164
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 304m
Elements: en Lowesmuir + Sc munt
Description:
‘(Circular) low, tree-covered hill’. The name of a small settlement on the land of Lowesmuir. It may take its name from a lost munt, or from one or other of the nearby munts, namely Highmount Plantation and Lowmount Plantation. For more details see under these names as well as the entry on the New Cumnock History website HIGHMOUNT AND LOWMOUNT PLANTATIONS – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY
Lowmount Plantation
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS610162
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 300m
Elements: SSE low + Sc munt + SSE plantation
Description:
Sc munt (SSE mount) is defined as ‘a low tree-covered hill’ (SND). It forms one of a cluster of munt-names in close proximity, namely Highmount Plantation, Lowmount Plantation and Lowesmuir Mount. Both Highmount Plantation and Lowmount Plantation are perfectly circular, and still visible in the landscape. Robert Guthrie, in his detailed discussion of these names, writes:
‘There is a multitude of mounts throughout Ayrshire, many of which are circular plantations of trees. The other example in the parish of New Cumnock is Dalleagles Mount, while just over the boundary in the parish of Ochiltree there is the neighbouring pair High Mount and Laigh Mount. In the neighbouring parish of Old Cumnock are Dettingen Mount, Stair Mount, Bland’s Mount , Cistern Mount and Crosshill Mount – all of which are circular, while [only] the square shaped Skares Mount breaks the mould. In the parish of Auchinleck there is a Treeshill Mount which is circular in shape and a Treeshill Plantation which is a belt of trees’. HIGHMOUNT AND LOWMOUNT PLANTATIONS – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY
Both Highmount and Lowmount Plantations are named on the OS 6 inch first and second edition maps. While both are shown as circular features on the current OS Explorer map, neither is named. Highmount Plantation is described in the OS Name Book as: 'A Circular Plantation of mixed wood, near Lowesmuir Mount' (OS1/3/49/53). Lowmount Plantation is similarly described as: 'A Circular Plantation about 8 chains south of Lowesmuir Mount' (OS1/3/49/53). The contrastive elements high and low reflect that fact the former lies a mere 10m higher than the latter.
Lugar
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS592213
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 141m
Elements: en Lugar (Water)
Description:
The town grew up from the Lugar Ironworks and attendant workers housing, during the late 19th century.
Lugar Brick Works
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS589222
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 182m
Elements: en Lugar + SSE brickworks
Lugar Bridge
Auchinleck (AUK), Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS511214
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 87m
Elements: en Lugar (Water) + SSE bridge
Description:
This was the name given to the main road bridge spanning the Lugar Water at the eastern end of Ochiltree before the rerouting of the road and building of a new bridge (carrying the B7036 Barony Road) further south (at NS510212). It crosses the parish boundary between Auchinleck and Ochiltree parishes.
In around 1857, the old bridge was described simply in the OS Name Book for Auchinleck parish as: 'A county bridge of two arches across the Lugar Water near Ochiltree' (OS1/3/3/70). The description on the OS Name Book for Ochiltree parish provides more detail, as follows: 'An old substantial Stone Bridge of two arches over the Lugar on the Turnpike road to Auchenleck from Ochiltree about 25 feet above the bed of the River built and kept in repair by the County' (OS1/3/51/1/23).
This bridge was replaced in 1866-7 by a twin-arched bridge of dressed stone (Love 2021, 82). By the early 1960s the bridge was declared unfit for heavy traffic. Since the rerouting of the main road and the building of a new steel girder bridge in 1961-2, this bridge is no longer used by traffic. For more details, see Love 2021, 82 and 83.
RN
Lugar Ironworks
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS590214
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 161m
Elements: en Lugar + SSE ironworks
Description:
RN
Lugar St.
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS567202
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 117m
Elements: en Lugar + SSE street
Lugar Station
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS590222
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 183m
Elements: en Lugar (Water) + SSE station
Lugar Water
Auchinleck (AUK), Mauchline (MAU), Ochiltree (OCH), Old Cumnock (OCU), Stair (STA)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS493252
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 67m
Elements: en Lugar + SSE water
Description:
Brittonic *louco + *ar- or NBr *lug + NBr *-ar
Undoubtedly one of the oldest names in the Coalfield Communities area, the name Lugar may date to the very earliest period of Celtic or Brittonic names in Ayrshire. Although not recorded until the 12th century, nonetheless it may date as a name to the Roman era or earlier, like other major river names such as the Ayr and the Doon. If so, the name would, as Watson noted in 1926, probably go back to a form like *Leucarā-, or similar (see James, BLITON, s.v. luch, lug).
However, it is possible that it is a bit younger than this, as both the element *lug ‘bright’ and the element *ar appear to have been in use in Northern Brittonic, so in the post-Roman period from AD 400 on. The element *lug can be found in other river names in southern Scotland, such as the Lugton and the Luggie, as well as in Welsh and English river names (Lugg, Llugwy). According to Alan James, *ar is ‘an ancient river-name element implying either horizontal motion, “flowing”, or else “rising” or “springing up”’ (BLITON, s.v. *-ar). This element lies behind the name of the River Ayr. Given that the Lugar flows into the Ayr, it could be argued that the name Lugar arose as a way of distinguishing the southern from the northern fork, as one moved upstream. See, for instance, the descriptions of the boundary in the Melrose cartulary in the early forms ‘et per ar [Ayr] deorsum usque lugar [Lugar]’.
As Watson (1926: 433) notes, the name appears (twice) in Macfarlane’s Collections as Lugdour, which might suggest another etymology, but these outlying forms seem likely to be caused by confusion with the name of the Lugton Water in Cunningham, which appears in the same form as this early on.
RN