The Place Xames of Irongray. 21 



1. They can make complete lists of the place names of their 



parish and district — noting the distribution of names. 

 Where Gaelic predominates, where Saxon. 



2. They can find out the old spelling of the name from 



charters, kirk-session records, etc. The old spelling 

 very frequently affords a useful clue to the derivation. 



3. They can record the local pronunciation of the name. 



The pronunciation often is more useful than the spelling 

 in tracing back the name. 



4. They can study the name " in situ " — in its surroundings. 



For names were originally given to men and places in 

 order to describe them. It is on these lines I wish to 

 deal with the place names of my parish. 



The name Irongray looks a plain downright Saxon name. It, 

 however, is by no means descriptive of the valley or the parish. 

 How is it pronounced ? " Arngra," and it is so spelled in Timothy 

 Font's map, made in the beginning of the 17th centurv. 



[In charters, 1463, 14th of James III., it is .spelled Irangrav, 

 and in 1473 Irnegray. Transactions of Dumfries and Gallowav 

 Natural History and Antiquarian Society, Vol. X^., p. 137-141.] 



" Arngra ' ' can easily be split up into three Celtic words — 

 Ard-an-greaich, the height on the moor. A name thoroughly 

 descriptive of the parish, as anyone coming from Dumfries can see. 

 Compare Knockgray, Auchengray, Drumnagreach. The name, 

 which looked a solid lowland laird, turns out a wild Irishman in 

 disguise. 



Another instance of this transmigration may be seen in the 

 name of our ri\'er, over which the Routen Bridge passes. The 

 Ordnance Survey Map calls it the Old Water of Cluden ; the 

 inhabitants call it the Auld Water. But why auld? There is, 

 it is true, a farm called Auld Cluden just beside it, but there is no 

 new Cluden. The river, however, was there before the farm, 

 and the name was there before English-speaking people came into 

 Irongray. The Celt called it the Allt— the Glen Burn, a name 

 still common in the Highlands. The English-speaking invaders 

 caught the name Allt, but did not know what it meant, so thev 

 turned it into " auld," a word they did know the meaning of, and 

 added water to it. This process of making unknown names into 

 known names goes on continually. A sailor speaks of H.M.S. 

 Bellerophon as the Billy Ruffian, and the Hirondelle as the Iron 



