282 Stoneykirk Place-Names. 



is to-day called Smithyhill. Traffic would not be of large bulk, 

 but there would be some as there is a Knockarod, hill-road, and 

 Kiidrochat, bridge at the wood. There were necessities or 

 customs similar to ours, and some very different. Chieftains 

 had their residence in Doons, such as Dunanrea, chief man's 

 fort — five of these doons noted for their strength ; one, Greenann, 

 for its sunniness. For some reason or other they had special 

 places for women in Barnamon, Cairnamon. There are several 

 Hermons. Do they, too, mark heights or cairns for women ? 



From the Gael's love of nature we see the colour of the ia':e 

 of the country, the form, and what then grew on it. There was 

 the Drum, back-like-ridge; Drumfad, long ridge, the higiicr 

 Knock (25 of them) ; a Knockcore, round knock ; Bar, the rocky 

 promontory; Slieve, the sloping heath ; Torr, the hillock. There 

 is no beg, but several mores — Birmore, etc. The diminutive affix 

 is not uncommon — Carrick from Craig, Lochan and Altain from 

 Loch and Alt. There are four times as many craigs as cairns in 

 Galloway ; in Stoneykirk there are eight cairns and five craigs. 

 The discriminating observation of those men is remarkable. The 

 names for hollows — Alt a glen with precipitous banks, Glaik a 

 hollow. Slunk a gully — taken along with the names for heights, 

 show a keen and minute perception of form. Xo less note- 

 worthy is their perception of colour. White (Finloch), Black 

 (Durcarroch), Yellow (Drumbuie, Island Buie, Cullabuoy), Red 

 (Culreoch, Knockanarroch, Drumcarrow), and even different 

 shades — Barjearg, red hill, different from heath red. They had 

 the eye, too, for the beautiful and the fading — Shambelly and 

 Nashantie, the old house ; Knochalean, the beautiful hill. This, 

 too, is likely the meaning of Garthland — old form, Garochlayne — 

 Garbh achadh loinnach, local pronunciation of Garflan, and so = 

 ground rough yet beautiful. Two hundred and fifty years ago a 

 laird of the place had a craze for things Italianate, and he called 

 the opposite hill Belvedere — thus likely an Italian rendering of the 

 Gaelic name. It may be noticed here that the local pronunciation 

 is an aid to the derivation. So with reference to a neighbouring 

 place, Garry, not something rough, but an inclosure, as the Gar is 

 pronounced Gar not Gar. 



With such an eye and such a mind it was to be expected the 

 inhabitants would leave a record of Nature's products. Thorns 

 (Drumdailly), sloes (Iron slunk), hazel (Caidows), birch (Barbae), 



