| Place-name: | Ashbeugh Glen |
| Suggested Meaning: | a glen associated with the ash or ash-boughs |
| element: | S. ash ‘ash tree‘ + S. beuch, beugh ‘ branch of a tree, bough’ S. ashbeugh ‘ash-bough’ |
| element: | S. glen ‘glen, hollow’ |
| Blaeu Coila (1654): | N/A |
| OS Names (1855-57): | Ashbeugh Glen |
| Location: | OS Map Six-inch Scotland 1885-1915 |
| Other Early Forms: |
| Ashbeugh head (1828) |
Ashbeugh Glen
Scots ashbeugh ‘ash-bough’ [1,2] + Scots glen ‘glen, hollow [1,3]
The Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Ashbeugh Glen reads –
A grassy hollow through which a stream flows in a westerly direction into Cummock Water
The ‘Authorites for Spelling’ were Walter Campbell, Lochmeharb; Kennedy Brown Esq., Factor, Girvan and James Morrison, all agreeing on Ashbeugh Glen.
Ashbeugh
Although the OS Name Book entry makes no reference to the derivation of the place-name Ashbeugh the Place-Names of the Coalfield Communities offers [1] –
Ash-bough glen; a glen associated with ash or ash-boughs’? Sc beugh, also beuch, is Scots for a bough of a tree, so ashbeugh would be ‘an ash-bough’. It is also possible that Ashbeugh is an existing name.
Place-Names of the Coalfield Communities: Ashbeugh Glen
Glen
The OS Name Book entry for glen reads ‘A grassy hollow through which a stream flow‘, which fits well with the general description in the Dictionary of the Scots Language [3].
Returning to the ‘Authorities for Spelling’, as well as the aforemetioned three authorities a fourth entry is given only as Ashbeugh with the source Johnston’s County Map’. Presumably this is one of the series of three maps of 1828, all of which refer to ‘Ashbeugh head’, presumably head of the Ashbeugh glen.
The stream that flows through the Ashbeugh Glen is the Linn Water [4], taking its name from a waterfall on its course, and forms the boundary between the parishes of New Cumnock and Dalmellington. On exiting Ashbeugh Glen the water-course takes on the name of Cummock Burn, throughout its journey to the meeting with River Doon.
Acknowledgements
| References |
| [1] Place-Names of the Coalfield Communities. 2026. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. https://ayr-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk | Ashbeugh Glen |
| [2] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |beuch, beugh |
| [3] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |glen |
| [4] New Cumnock History | Linn Water |
| Maps |
| Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland |
| https://maps.nls.uk/ |
| Map 1: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six Inch , 1843-1882 (1850-1857) |Ashbeugh Glen |
| Map 2: Johnson Thomson’s Atlas of Scotland, Northern Part of Ayrshire. Southern Part. (1832) | Ashbeugh head |
| Map 3: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1857 (1860) | Ashbeugh Glen |
| Ordnance Survey Name Books |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Ayrshire OS Name Book (1855-57) Vol. 49| Ashbeugh Glen |