252 Place Names in Kirkpatrick-Durham. 



able to apply appropriate names to them — names which have 

 remained in use now for many hundred years. Knocklosh may 

 have been an instance of this, but certainly Barbain = "the white 

 hill, ' ' is so, and Auchenreoch = " the grey field, ' ' and Minnydow 

 = "the black moss," prove that they were not colour-blind. So 

 also Glaisters if it means, as is supposed, " the green land." The 

 natural features of the localities have been described with an 

 accuracy which is still apparent in such cases as Larg = " the 

 sloping hillside," Chipperkyle — " the hollow of the well," Bogue 

 and Boghall = " marshy places," and Lairdlaugh = " place on the 

 hillside." We cannot be certain, but it seems probable that 

 Corsock, of which the Church and Manse are in this parish 

 quoad civilia, originally designated it as a marshy place. 



Those who live in certain parts of Corsock are mostly aware 

 that, owing to the clay sub-soil, the water which falls in rain does 

 not speedily drain away, but lies long upon the surface. The 

 Corsock district was at one time famous for its peat mosses. 

 Indeed it continues to be so still. Owing to the high price of coal, 

 Corsock people have been glad to fall back upon their peat. 



A bare, barren hill with small appearance of vegetation is 

 Muil, 1135 feet high. At the foot of it are the Muil Well, of 

 which Symson made a note more than 200 years ago, and the 

 farm of Muil, which takes its name from the hill. Fleckit Hill, 

 too, i.e., " the hill of many colours," .shows that the people who 

 gave it the name were observant of the natural features of the 

 scenery amid which they lived. Take as another instance, 

 Clonkins, which means " the beautiful meadow ' ' — a name which 

 is frequently found also in Ireland. Still another instance is 

 Garholm, which we may take to mean "the rough holm." 



Spending their days under the open canopy of heaven — not 

 confining themselves, as many of us are tempted to do, within four 

 walls and under a slated roof — they were able to observe more 

 narrowly the objects of the landscape. They did not dwell in 

 cities or towns, but in open fields. Neither were their fields like 

 ■ ours now, encircled with hedges or fences or walls. They were 

 open fields. The people wandered across the country at their 

 will. 



Auchen represents mostly their word for field. We have in 

 Kirkpatrick-Dorand Auchenreoch = " the loch of the grey field." 

 The field gave its name to the loch which is now the boundary 

 in that part between the parishes of Kirkpatrick-Dorand and Urr. 



