List of Ayrshire place-names beginning with 'R'
Race Course
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS631227
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 253m
Elements: SSE race course
Description:
The OSNB notes: ‘This race Course was founded by the proprietor but was a failure caused by the out of the way Situation and other Causes, it still retains the name.’ It is unsurprising this race course did not work out, given its location. Although more recent maps show no trace of the race course, its imprint can still be seen on satellite images.
Railway Inn
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS549221
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 155m
Elements: SSE railway + SSE inn
Description:
An inn established on what were then the outskirts of Auchinleck to serve the nearby railway. It remained a hotel until closing in 2020.
Rakeams Green
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Field
Grid reference: NS570200
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 114m
Elements: un uncertain + SSE green
Description:
The first element is obscure. It looks like a personal name, but there is no such in Black's Scottish Surnames. There is, however, the English surname Rackham, though this is unlikely. The second element is SSE 'a green'.
'A small space of Arable ground north side of Glaisnock Water near Glaisnock Cottage A private green' (OS1/3/52/39).
Rams Cleuch
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS688196
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 291m
Elements: SSE ram + Sc cleugh
Range Cleuch
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS709208
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 350m
Elements: SSE range or Sc range + Sc cleugh
Description:
The first element could refer to a sweep of countryside, or to the range of hills from which the burn in the cleugh flows (Pepper Hill, Stony Hill). However, there are a number of Scots meanings of range which could apply here. The SND notes a usage related to mining, quoting a manual of mining terms from 1886: ‘Ranging, searching for minerals by means of shallow pits across the outcrops’; it further notes a usage in the Borders, ‘To agitate water in order to drive fish out of their hiding places’.
Ratling Rig
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS540143
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 373m
Elements: Sc rattling + Sc rig
Description:
One of the meanings of Sc rat(t)le is ‘(of solid things) to produce, when agitated or struck frequently, a series of short, sharp noises one after the other, so that the resultant sound is almost continuous’; it can also mean ‘to chatter, talk incessantly and thoughtlessly’ (DOST). It may thus refer to a particular sound the wind makes as it blows over this high land. The OS Name Book gives no clue as to its meaning, writing only: ‘This name applies to a ridge or rising ground between High Mount and parish boundary on the lands of Knockdon’ (OS1/3/52/133).
Ratten Loop
Dalmellington (DAL), Straiton (STT)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS434086
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 157m
Ravenscroft
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS459141
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 231m
Elements: SSE raven + SSE croft
Description:
This is a relatively recently established farm, having been created around 1871 as an amalgamation of three earlier farms: Auchengee, Fauldhead and Greenside. According to Love (2021: 331) it is attested first in the 1871 census. See also: https://farminginthecumnockarea.blogspot.com/search/label/Ravenscroft
Given its relatively recent creation, the origin of the name may be known locally.
Red Cleuch Burn
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS505070
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 238m
Redhall Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS578110
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 210m
Elements: Sc reid + Sc hall + SSE burn
Description:
The red hall is very likely a humorous reference to the Straid Brick & Tile Works beside the burn. This was established here by 1851 and appears on the OS 1st edn map (surveyed 1857, printed 1860) simply as Brickworks. This is tentatively suggested by Robert Guthrie on his New Cumnock History website (REDHALL BURN – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY), but there can be little doubt that this is the case. The element hall is often used in a Scots milieu to refer ironically to a building of low status, so the very opposite of a hall in the sense of a high-status residence. It is for this reason that it has been analysed as a Scots name rather than a Scottish Standard English one.
The OS Name Book is no help here, describing Redhall Burn simply as: ‘A Stream rising on Straid farm and flowing north by Straid enters Lane Burn’ (OS1/3/49/143).
The above NGR (NS578110) is where burn joins Dalleagles Burn on the OS Explorer. However, some diversion of both burns has taken place. Previously Redhall Burn joined Dalleagles Burn at NS583112, on both OS 6 inch 1st and 2nd edn maps.
Redree Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS632117
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 296m
Elements: en Redree + SSE burn
Description:
OS Name Book: ‘A Stream rising on the east Side of Lochbrowan Hill and flowing in a Northerly direction it receives the water of a burn at the North end of Redrey Hill and afterwards takes the name of Polquhirter Burn’ (OS1/3/49/129).
Redree Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS636107
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 411m
Elements: Sc reid + Sc ree + SSE hill
Description:
‘Red sheepfold hill’. As seen in the OS Name Book extract below, the local farmer would derive this name from ree, which he says is a ‘corruption’ or reeve. In fact both words are used in Scots, with reeve probably deriving from ree (see ree and reeve in SND). However, that reeve is the better-known word in this part of Ayrshire is indicated by Reeve Craigs and Reeve Knowe, both New Cumnock.
The complete citation from OS Name Book is: ‘A slightly elevated ridge of Rough pasture land. Mr John Campbell of Dalhanna is of opinion that Redrey is a corruption of Red reeve, the local name for sheepfolds, in this part of Ayrshire’ (OS1/3/49/128).
Reeve Craigs
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS613042
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 497m
Elements: Sc reeve + Sc craig
Description:
‘Crags or rocky outcrops associated with a reeve‘. While Sc reeve can refer to a pen for any livestock, in this case it is clearly for sheep, since the OS Name Book describes it as: ‘Two Small rocky Slopes near a Sheepfold or Reeve on Glenlee farm’ (OS1/3/49/197). The OS 6 inch 1st edn map itself shows a rectangular ‘Sheepfold‘ immediately beneath the crags.
Reeve Knowe
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS521113
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 296m
Elements: Sc reeve + Sc knowe
Description:
‘A knowe or small hill associated with a sheepfold’. It is described in the OS Name Book as: ‘A slightly elevated knowe on Beoch farm between Gullet Syke and Mitchell's Syke’ (OS1/3/49/39).
Reidston
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS455170
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 133m
Elements: pn Reid + Sc toun
Description:
‘Farm associated with a family or individual called Reid’. There were Reids in the Ochiltree area already in 1399, when John Reid of Dalrymple (Johannem rede de dalrympil) and John Reid of Barskimming STA, OCH (Johannem rede de be . scemyng) testified on oath that the patronage of the parish kirk of Ochiltree lay with Melrose Abbey (Melrose Lib. no. 517).
Reservoir (Auchinleck Water Works)
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS599189
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 221m
Elements: SSE reservoir
Reservoir (Cumnock Water Works)
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS597172
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 230m
Elements: SSE reservoir
Rig
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS535100
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 263m
Elements: G druim or Br drum + Br caled + Br tīr or Br duvr + Sc rig
Description:
‘A ridge’. Originally Drumkallander Rig #, it had started to be referred to simply as Rig by the 16th century. The name Drumkallander as opposed to Drumkallander Rig # appears to refer to the wider area around Rig, since both The ridge of Drumkalladyr and Drumkalladyr are shown as separate settlements on Blaeu (Kyle) (1654), and the earliest reference to the place (1384) mentions simply Drumcalder. The ridge in question is the rocky, elongated hill now called Rig Hill, with the disappeared farm of Righill on its north-eastern tip and High Rigend lower down on the north-eastern slope. It may also have been of some territorial significance, as it forms part of the upland boundary between the medieval parishes of Dalmellington and Cumnock, which is also the watershed between the rivers Nith and Doon.
The first component of Drumkallander is G druim, possibly NBr *drum (Welsh trum). Both mean ‘a back, a ridge’ so in landscape terms they have exactly the same meaning as Sc rig. There is therefore little doubt that druim/*drum and rig refer to the Rig Hill. If it is Gaelic, then it was added later to the NBr name.
The second element (-kallatyr/-kallander) is Northern Brittonic. It forms part of the group of names which has developed into the river-name Calder found throughout norther Britain, as well as names such as Callendar by Falkirk STL. It is generally assumed that it derives from early Brittonic Caleto-dubron, later *caled-duvr ‘hard water’ probably in the sense of a water-course with a stoney bed (see Watson 1926, 455-6 and James BLITON under *cal-). The River Nith rises in the hills to the south-east and while still a relatively small burn runs along the eastern flank of Rig Hill. It is possible that its bed was at one time notably stoney and that kaladyr etc. was the name of the upper reaches of the Nith, though it is a big name for a small stream. It can hardly be an earlier name for the Nith as a whole, since it is probably the river called Novios shown on Ptolomy’s map created in the second century A.D. (Watson 1926, 54-5).
In the case of -kallatyr it is more likely to derive from NBr *caled- tīr ‘hard land’ in the sense of rocky or stoney. This derivation was suggested for Callendar STL (Kalentyr c.1142 and c.1150, Kalenter 1153) by Andrew Breeze in a 2002 article (Breeze 2002, 37-8). ‘Rocky land’ certainly fits the terrain well. Alexander McLeod, who excavated a burial cairn on Rig Hill, described it as follows:
Rig Hill is composed of an intrusive mass of granite which crops out frequently above ground in lines of weathered jointed blocks, resembling heavy dry masonry’ (McLeod 1938, 241-2).
This is echoed in the OS Name Book’s description of Rig Hill as ‘a rocky hill’ (OS1/3/49/136).
The name Rig has given rise to several place-names in the vicinity such as Forerig, Rigend (Little and High), Little Rigend Hill, Rig Hill (a hill) and Righill (a settlement). These are the ones which appear on OS maps. There are others, such as Nether Rigend and Back-Rig mentioned in the NCH website’s lengthy entry Rig Hill, Rig, Rigend – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY, which also has photos of Rig Hill.
The approximate NGR is taken from a point between High Rigend and Forerig.
Rig Belt
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS650197
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 263m
Elements: Sc rig + SSE belt
Rig Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS530097
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 338m
Elements: en Rig + SSE hill
Description:
The ridge (Sc rig) is fully discussed under Rig NCU. It is described in the OS Name Book as: ‘A rocky hill on the estate of Sir J Cathcart - which gives name to the Farm of Rigghill’ (OS1/3/49/136).
Rigend
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS537104
Certainty: 2
Altitude: 246m
Elements: en Rig Hill + Sc end
Description:
‘End of Rig Hill’. The lands of Rigend lay at the head or end of the long ridge called Rig Hill q.v. They were once extensive, there being about 1.25km between High Rigend and Little Rigend. Another division was Nether Rigend, although it does not appear on OS maps (see Rig Hill, Rig, Rigend – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY. The original settlement of Rigend was probably at High Rigend, hence the NGR.
Rigfoot
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS581130
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 167m
Elements: Sc rig + Sc fute
Description:
‘Foot or bottom of a ridge or rig’. In this wider area Sc rig usually refers to a ridge or elongated hill. However, there is no obvious ridge here, so it can be assumed that we are dealing here with Sc rig in the sense of a cultivated strip of land.
About 1.25km to the north of Righfoot is the farm of Righead. Although relatively near, it lies on the other (north) side of the Nith, so there is no reason to think they are connected.
RN
Rigg Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS561091
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 400m
Elements: Sc rig + SSE hill
Description:
‘A ridge like eminence between Rough Burn & Crocradie Burn’ (OS1/2/49/151). Rough Burn is the name of the upper reaches of the Knockburnie Burn. It appears only on OS 1st edn map.
RN
Rigg Road
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS573212
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 177m
Elements: en Rigg + SSE road
Rigg T.P.
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS557210
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 135m
Elements: en Rigg + SSE turnpike
Righead
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS578142
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 234m
Elements: Sc rig + Sc heid
Description:
‘End or head of a rig or ridge’. In this wider area Sc rig usually refers to a ridge or elongated hill. However, there is no obvious ridge here, so it can be assumed that we are dealing here with Sc rig in the sense of a cultivated strip of land. Note that on Blaeu’s map (1654) what would certainly have been Sc rig has been written in its English equivalent ridge.
About 1.25km to the south of Righead is the farm of Rigfoot. Although relatively near, it lies on the other (south) side of the Nith, so there is no reason to think they are connected.
The OS Name Book describes it simply as: ‘A farm house, the property of the Earl of Dumfries’ (OS1/3/49/104).
Righill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS530099
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 341m
Elements: en Rig Hill
Description:
It takes its name from Rig Hill, near whose highest point it lay. Given its height (341m) it is hardly surprising that it has long been deserted. Under the hill-name the OS Name Book states explicitly that the farm takes its name from the hill (OS1/3/49/136).
River Ayr
Auchinleck (AUK), Coylton (COY), Mauchline (MAU), Muirkirk (MUK), Sorn (SRN), Stair (STA)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS495254
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 79m
Elements: Br *ār (< Clt *ar-) or Br *aer (< Clt *agr-)
Description:
The Ayr flows through many parishes, but by and large only skrts our area in the Coalfield Communties. The Grid Reference given is for near where the Lugar Water joins it, near Ballochmyle.
The name of the river Ayr is probably the oldest of the names in Auchinleck parish, and belongs to a strand of ancient, single-element river names which doubtless go back to the Roman period and beyond. The other such name in our area is the River Doon (q.v.). The name has often been associated with references in early Welsh poetry and other traditions to a kingdom or territory in the north of Britain called Aeron (Watson 1926, 342-3; Williams 1975, pp. xlv-xlvii [reference: Ifor Williams, The Poems of Taliesin (Dublin, 1975)]). It is possible that the region around the river Ayr is what is referred to, but it is far from certain, and it is not the only candidate (see Williams 1975, xlvii; Clancy 2013, 155-6 [T. O. Clancy, ‘The kingdoms of the North: poetry, places, politics’, in A. Woolf (ed.), Beyond the Gododdin: Dark Age Scotland in Medieval Wales (St Andrews, 2013, 153-76]). In terms of the etymology of the name, it was long associated with the element lying behind the Welsh word aer ‘battle, fight, war, etc.’ (see Watson 1926, 342). Of this element, Alan James notes, under ajr, *aɣ that the sense goes back to a verb with the meaning ‘drive, move forcefully’, which would befit river names. However, James has convincingly argued that the origin of the name Ayr is instead *ar, which he defines as ‘an ancient river-name element implying either horizontal motion, “flowing”, or else “rising” or “springing up”’ (BLITON, s.v. *ar). This element is also found in the name Lugar (q.v.).
River Doon
Dalmellington (DAL), Dalrymple (DRL), Straiton (STT)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS417115
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 156m
Elements: Br *deua + Br -onā
Description:
The Doon flows through several parishes, as well as Dalmellington; the Grid Reference is for where the river leaves the Coalfield Communities area, at the Dalmellington border, where the Polnessan Burn joins it.
The Doon almost certainly derives from a Brittonic, or perhaps even earlier Celtic strand of river names. The likely origin is a form something like *dẹ:w-onā- (see James, BLITON, 108), meaning 'the goddess'. In this it forms a pair with the Dee in Kirkcudbrightshire, and it is probably signficant that one route between the Solway and the Clyde would have been up the Dee and along the Ken and then (in due course) the Doon (in essence, the A713).
River Nith
Kirkconnel (KCL), New Cumnock (NCU), Sanquhar (SAN)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS551062
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 439m
Elements: Br nöwïδ
Description:
It is probable that this is the river which appears on Ptolemy's map (AD 150) as Νοουíου ποταμου ‘εκβολαί (Latin Novii Fluvii Ostia) ‘the mouth of the River *Novius’. It would appear to contain the early Celtic or Northern Brittonic word for 'new', perhaps in river-names meaning ‘fresh, lively, vigorous’ (Watson 1926, 27).
The element is found also in the nearby people-name Νοουάνται (Latin Novantae (Ptolemy map), probably with the same meaning of ‘lively, vigorous’. For further discussion see Rivet and Smith 1979, 428, 425) (The Place-Names of Roman Britain). BLITON under nöwïδ and Watson 1926, 27, 55, 514 (note to p. 55).
The Grid Reference given here is for the ‘Source of the Nith’ , marked on the OS 6 inch 1st and 2nd edition maps at NS551061 at a height of 439m. Rising here in New Cumnock, it flows through or past the parishes of Kirkconnel, Sanquhar, Durisdeer, Penpont, Morton, Closeburn, Keir, Kirkmahoe, Dunscore, Holywood, Dumfries, Terregles, Troqueer, and enters the Solway Firth at Caerlaverock DMF and New Abbey KCB. From just north of Dumfries southwards it forms the county boundary between DMF and KCB.
RN
Riverview
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS434090
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 176m
Roadinghead
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS577211
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 196m
Elements: Sc roddin + Sc heid
Description:
The Scots word roddin, also roading, is defined by the SND as ‘A narrow track or path, specif. one trodden out by sheep (s.Sc. 1825 Jam.); any private unmetalled track or rough road’.
Note: there are several other Roadingheads, one in Ochiltree, and two in Mauchline. The Correspondence, App. 1 (p.222) lists this Roadinghead among the properties in the Regality of Templand (q.v.).
For further information on the different Roadingheads, see: https://farminginthecumnockarea.blogspot.com/search/label/Roadinghead
Roadinghead
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS467180
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 143m
Elements: Sc roddin + Sc heid
Description:
‘Head or end of a narrow (sheep) track’. There is also a Roadinghead in Auchinleck parish (AUK).
Roadinghead Bridge
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS465178
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 129m
Elements: en Roadinghead + SSE bridge
Description:
A bridge to the south-west of Roadinghead, from which it took its name.
RN
Roadside
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS578176
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 175m
Elements: SSE road + SSE side
Description:
The road in question is described in the OS Name Book in 1857: ‘A row of Cottages on West side of parish road between the Lodge entrance to Glaisnock House and Clockclownie farm Steading’ (OS1/3/52/80).
Rocking Stone
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Antiquity
Grid reference: NS599215
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 178m
Elements: SSE rocking + SSE stone
Description:
Supposed place-name.
OSNB (OS1/3/3/120) describes it thus: “Near the junction of Bellow & Glenmore Water, on the East side of the former in a low secluded spot, are two, huge stones about 6 ft [feet] high on the top of which is placed a large and massive stone called "the Rocking stone." There is an additional note attached to the entry, which cites Paterson’s History of Ayrshire vo. 1, p. 236: "The most ancient remain of Antiquity in the parish, perhaps, is the Rocking Stone, on the lands of Wallacetoun. It is situated about 4 miles from Auchinleck, on the top of a hill called Lamagee. The stone is several tons in weight, and rests on two other upright stones”.
According to Love (2015, 15) it 'lost its ability to rock sometime around 1800 when its equilibrium was destroyed'.
An image of the stone can be found here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lugar_rocking_stone.jpg
Rogerton Plantation
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS556221
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 175m
Elements: en Rogerton + SSE plantation
Description:
This plantation is mentioned several times in the Boswell correspondence, and indeed, we have a clear date for its establishment both as a feature of the landscape and as a place-name—spring of 1792. On 14 March 1792, James Boswell writes to Andrew Gibb, his overseer, ‘I think it is right to carry out the belt of Rogerton planting, and to straight the march’ (The Correspondence, 156) and on 2 April 1792, he writes to him again, this time about ‘the mistake which was made about the trees for Rogerton Plantation. I have written to Mr Bruce Campbell about it; and hope it will be rectified.’ (The Correspondence, 158-9) The editors of The Correspondence further note that ‘Gibb calculated that at 4,464 tress per acre under another 10,000 trees, in addition to those—Scotch fir, ash, larch, spruce, elm, beech—already available, were needed for Rogerton belt, for a total plantation of some 20,000 trees; he ordered the new trees. 'good 3 year old firs’ and ‘Good stout oaks’, from Samsons of Kilmarnock.’ (ibid., p. 159). The 2 April letter may well represent the first coining of the place-name.
For analysis of the first element, see under Fore Rogerton.
Rose Burn
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS549205
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 100m
Elements: SSE rose + SSE burn
Description:
‘A burn characterised by roses’? it is rather unusual to find a burn named after a flower. There is a Rose Burn in Aberdeenshire and a Roseburn House in Midlothian.
Rosebank
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS596215
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 157m
Elements: SSE rose + SSE bank
Description:
OSNB notes that ‘the name applies to three or four small cottages’.
Roseburn
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS553201
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 120m
Elements: en Rose Burn
Roseburn Br.
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS553200
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 121m
Elements: en Rose Burn + SSE bridge
Roseburn Cottages
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS549188
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 173m
Elements: en Rose Burn + SSE cottage
Description:
'Cottages beside the Rose Burn. They were formerly known as Garrallan Cottages, on the lands of Garallan OCU.
Roseburn Walk
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS550203
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 109m
Elements: en Rose Burn + SSE walk
Rottenrow
Ochiltree (OCH)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS489189
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 152m
Elements: Sc ratton + Sc row
Description:
‘A rat-infested street or row of dwellings’, a common name in both Scotland and England (-row).
Rottenyard
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS613152
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 223m
Elements: Sc rotten + Sc yaird
Description:
A rat-infested yard or garden.
Rottenyard Bridge
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NS611146
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 187m
Elements: en Rottenyard + SSE bridge
Description:
This bridge, carrying the main road (A76) from New Cumnock to Cumnock is located to the south of Rottenyard, from which it takes its name.
Rough Burn
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS454088
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 235m
Elements: Sc ruch + Sc burn
Rough Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS558093
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 352m
Elements: SSE rough + SSE burn
Description:
It is not entirely clear what is rough about this burn. As shown on the OS 6 inch 1st edn map, this is the name of the upper stretch of Knockburnie Burn.
Rough Hill
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS593108
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 264m
Elements: SSE rough + SSE hill
Rough Hill
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS620190
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 243m
Elements: SSE rough + SSE hill
Description:
It cannot have been that rough as it is described in the OS Name Book (1857) as being: ‘An elevated portion of Arable ground so called on the farm of Low Garleffan’ (OS1/3/52/97).
Rough Knowe
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS668128
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 235m
Elements: SSE rough + SSE knowe
Rough Knowe
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NS674142
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 335m
Elements: SSE rough + SSE knowe
Roughhill Moss
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS620187
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 246m
Elements: en Rough Hill + SSE moss
Roughside
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS628154
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 261m
Elements: SSE rough + SSE side
Description:
‘Rough hillside’. There is a fine description of what is rough about this farm in the Ayr Observer and Galloway Chronicle (May 27, 1881) in the obituary of Alexander Sloan (aged 86), who had farmed at Roughside for many years: ‘Although Mr. Sloan had a somewhat stubborn soil, an elevated situation, and a cold and stormy climate to contend with, yet he was a skilful and successful farmer’ (cited by Robert Guthrie Roughside – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY). See also that url for pictures of Roughside, some of which show clearly why it was so called.
There is a Ruchside (*Roughside) which is mentioned in a 1484 charter anent lands belonging to James Dunbar (lord) of Cumnock. This is not, however, the Roughside discussed here but another place to the east, though still in the parish of New Cumnock. It appears in the charter as ‘one merkland of *Roughside’ (unam merc. terrarum de Ruchside). The name did not survive as that of a settlement, and already by 1654 it appears only in the hill-name Ruchsid hil (Bleau (Kyle) map). For more discussion see Roughside – NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY.
It is pronounced locally Ruch side /r∧x saιd/ (Robert Guthrie).
RN
Rowantree Burn
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS505039
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 345m
Elements: SSE rowantree + SSE burn
Rowantree Burn
Dalmellington (DAL)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS469094
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 331m
Elements: SSE rowantree + SSE burn
Rushy Burn
Auchinleck (AUK)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS669169
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 279m
Elements: SSE rushy + SSE burn
Description:
The name has the sense of ‘a burn known to be filled with rushes’.
RN
Ryderston
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NS588181
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 201m
Elements: pn Rider + SSE town
Description:
‘Farm owned or tenanted by an individual or family called Rider’? The first element looks very like a personal name, although Rider/Ryder does not appear in Black Surnames. It does, however, occur in the personal name section of The Oxford Names Companion (1998, 524).
It seems to have been part of Borland and Netherton and associated with the McLanachan family of nearby Loganhill (Ploughing Up Our Past: Ryderston (farminginthecumnockarea.blogspot.com), accessed 06 22.
Ryderston Belt
Old Cumnock (OCU)
Classification: Vegetation
Grid reference: NS587183
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 195m
Elements: en Ryderston + SSE belt
Rye Burn
New Cumnock (NCU)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NS639126
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 236m
Elements: SSE rye + SSE burn
Description:
‘A burn which flows through or past a field or fields where rye is grown’. It is a somewhat unlikely name for a burn, but no other interpretation suggests itself. The OS Name Book describes it simply as: ‘A burn rising about 20 chains south of Burntonhill and flowing N.W. into Burnton Burn’ (OS1/3/49/110).
RN