82 Notes on Cummertkees. 



2nd April, 1897. 



Mr MuEEAY, V.-P., in the chair. 



JVezv Metnbers. — Mr W. H. WilUams, Inland Revenue, Thistle 

 Cottage ; Mr John M'Naught, Royal Bank. 



Donations and Exchanges. — The Secretary laid the following" 

 on the table : — Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries in 

 Scotland ; Smithsonian Report for 1894 ; Bulletin of Minnesota 

 Academy of Natural Sciences ; Transactions of the Geological 

 Society of Glasgow. 



COMMUNECATIONS. 



I. — So7ne Historical and Antiquarian Notes on the Parish of 

 Cutnmertrees. By Rev. WILLIAM JOHNSTON, Ormiston. 



The parish of Cummertrees, situated on the shores of the 

 Sol way, is about 12 miles distant from Dumfries and 18 from Car- 

 lisle. In appearance it is flat and uninteresting, its highest eleva- 

 tion being Repentance Hill, 372 feet above the level of the sea. 



The name has been spelt differently at different times. The 

 following are the forms it has assumed, namely, Cumbertres, 

 Cummertaies, Cumertreis, Cumbertrees, and Cummertrees. 



According to Chalmers the name is derived from a Cymric 

 word, Cum-ber-tre, signifying " the hamlet at the end of the short 

 valley " (Caledonia). A somewhat similar view is that of J. A. 

 Pictoii. " At first sight," he says, " it would seem natural to sup- 

 pose that the Cumber in Cumberland and Cummer in Cummer- 

 trees are derived from the same source ; but a little further 

 examination will throw doubt on this. Cumberland is, of course, 

 the land of the Cymry or Cumbri, so named by the Angles before 

 it was conquered by them. Now, if Cummertrees, or Cumbertre, 

 is derived from the name of the inhabitants, it must mean the 

 abode or dwelling of the Cymry. It is scarcely likely that, dwell- 

 ing in the midst of other Cymric settlements, the inhabitants 

 themselves would have given it that name. On the other hand, 

 their Anglian or Norse neighbours, if they wished to invent a 

 name, would certainly not have adopted a foreign tongue. We 

 must, therefore, look to another source for the origin of the name. 

 All, or nearly all, Celtic names of places have a direct reference to 



\ 



