Stoneykirk Place-Names. 27& 



Bargrennan and Newton-Stewart through the snowstorm of 

 December, 1908. The slides illustrating the lecture shewed 

 details of the mountain scenery, of interest to the geologist, and 

 included a series exhibiting grilse in the act of ascending Earlston 

 Linn on the river Ken. 



17th 3Iarc7i, 1911. 



Chairman — Mr M. H. M'Kerrow, Hon. Treasurer. 



Stoneykirk. — Hints as to its History from Place-Names. 

 By the Rev. G. Philip Robertson, Stoneykirk. 



The place-names here are of Welsh, Norse, Gaelic, Saxon, 

 and modern origin. More than 50 per cent, of the farm names 

 in general use are Gaelic, still more predominantly Gaelic are 

 names of the various fields. 



The earliest language of which there are remains is 

 Brythonic. No doubt those intelligent inhabitants of the pit 

 dwellings discovered about ten years ago used words in their 

 intercourse, but it is only guesswork that refers present-day names 

 to such an origin. Lachrymatories found here point to the 

 presence of the Romans at one time in the district, but the 

 absence of Roman derived names points to a short stay with 

 little influence. Not so with the Cymric, Norse, or Gaelic 

 people. In the north-west is the Brythonic Pinminnoch — moor- 

 head, an appropriate designation for the locality then, and 

 equally suitable is Gaelic Kenmuir for a similar place five miles 

 south. Here as elsewhere Scottish Gaels eclipsed Brythons, but 

 not to their total expulsion. Southwards is Dumbreddan, the 

 Galloway form of Dumbarton ; Strathclyde Walenses seem to 

 have dwelt in this south part of the parish; Ardwell goes from 

 sea to sea, and Cairnweil is not very far from Ardwell, and has 

 the mark of a chieftain's burial place. 



Norse influence is as widely recorded as Cymric. Between 

 Pinminnoch and Kenmuir on the west coast is Kirklauchlin — K 

 silent in Kl, from (Cathair) Caer Lochlinn, the Norsemen's- 

 fort. A little south are the Fell and the Float (N. Flot). 

 Beyond Kenmuir is Lochinbyre, the Norseman's dwelling, and 



