Place Names in Kirkpatrick-Durham. 251 



remaining Bars, namely, Barbain and Barncailzie, do not show- 

 much of a hill of any kind. 



The broken, precipitous-faced hill which we call a crag was 

 known among those Gaelic-speaking people as a Craig. At any- 

 rate their word has come to us in that form. Sir Herbert 

 Maxwell mentions three in Kirkpatrick-Dorand, viz., Craigen- 

 gillan, Craigadam, and Craigelwhan, of which the first and second 

 recall the names of persons. Many hills in Scotland and also in 

 Ireland^- perpetuate the recollection of Guillean, who was the 

 tutelary deity of the ancient blacksmiths. Another Craigengillan 

 is in Carsphairn. Craigadam, I have reason to believe, is a 

 modern coinage intended to designate the abode of a gentleman 

 called M'Adam. The house has given its name to the hill, as 

 sometimes happens. The meaning of Craigelwhan is to me 

 unknown. 



Next come the Knocks, which were much the same as in 

 Southern Scotch would now be denominated Knowes. Of these, 

 eight survive, viz., Knockamos and Knockwalker, which possibly 

 preserve from oblivion two persons, Amos and Walker ; Knocknail ; 

 Knockvennie, said to mean the Knowe of the Milk ; Knock- 

 walloch or Walloch's Knowe; Knockleach, which is the Knowe 

 of Flat Stones ; Knockdrockit, the Knowe at the Bridge ; Knock- 

 losh, which may be either the Burnt Knowe — alluding to its burnt 

 appearance in summer, or more probably the Hill of Fire, 

 because a beacon .signal flared on occasions from its summit. 



Still another word those people had to distinguish the appear- 

 ance of elevated land. In distinction from the Mill or Mull and 

 the Bar and the Craig and the Knock, they had the Drum, which 

 denoted a sow-backed ridge. Kirkpatrick-Dorand has only one 

 Drum, viz., Drumhumphrv, or Humphry's Ridge. If this were 

 l)etter seen, for it is now covered and obscured by trees, its 

 appearance would justif\ the epithet which those people con- 

 ferred upon it. 



Cairns would no doubt be numerous in those old days as 

 monuments of departed warriors, or m.arks and memorials of 

 famous battles; but only two are still mentioned here. They are 

 Cairney Hill and Meikle Cairn. 



We can hardly help remarking that those Gaelic-speaking 

 people had a keen eye for topographical characteristics, and were 



2. O'Reilly's Irish-English Dictionary, Dubl., 1864. 



