| Place-name: | Auchingee |
| Suggested Meaning: | ‘field of the wind’ |
| First element | Gaelic achadh nan ‘field of the-‘ |
| Second element | 1. Gaelic gaoth ‘wind’ 2. Gaelic geadh ‘goose’ |
| Blaeu Coila (1654): | Achinghy |
| OS Name Books (1855-57): | Auchingee |
| Location: | Ordnance Survey (1892-1960) |
| Current Status: |
| Other Early Forms: |
| Auchinge (1535), Auchingey (1549), Auchinghy (1549), Auchinegie (1604), Achinghy (Blaeu 1654), Auchingie (Wills, 1670), Aghengee, Achengee (1684), Auchengea (Land Tax 1759). |
The Ordnance Survey Name Book entry for Auchingee reads –
A farm house occupied by James Lennox. The property of Mr Ranken, Glenlogan.
Alternative spelling: Auchengee
Records of the Craufurds of Leffnoreis gives the early forms Auchinge and Auchengey which later appears in Blaeu’s map above as Auchingy. The records all show the parcel of lands, some of which retained a long relationship with those of Auchingee [1,2] –
— 26 May 1535 letter to him fear of lands of Lefynoreis of gift of nonentries of 2 merk lands of Ferding, 2 merk lands of Auchinge, Ricard, 2 merk lands of Straid, 2 merk lands of Blareene, 2 merk lands called [Dal]Leglis, Quhithill, 2 merk lands of Chang, Litill Merk (bar Cumnock vic Are) held by him of dec Jamess Dunbar of Cumnok as superior now in crown’s hands by reason of nonentry at his dec.
Stuart Clarkson |RSSRS Vol. II , No. 1681
Ricard is an early form of Dalricket, while in the next extract it is referred to as the grainmill of Nith.
6 Jun 1549 royal grant to Margt Creichtoun in liferent, him of Lefnoris, Georgio Craufurde hereditarily in 2 merk lands of Knokdonis, lands of Slowanis de Waird, lands of Dykes occ by Joh Craufurd, lands of Windyraw, grainmill of Nith, 2 merk lands of Farding, lands of Auchingey, Dalleglis, Quhitehill, Schang with annexes (vic Air) which sd Geo. with consent of Alexr Nesbit of Bankheid curator personally resigned to be held in blenchferm [RMS/iv#327]
Stuart Clarkson |RMS IV No. 327
Auchingee
1st element | Gaelic achadh nan ‘field of the-‘
Typically places names beginning with the elements achin-, auchen- or auchin- would have started out as field names indicative of ancillary farming activity by Gaelic speaking settlers [2] and all are anglicised forms of the Gaelic achadh ‘field’.
1. Gaelic achadh gaoth ‘field of the wind’
2nd element| 1. Gaelic gaoth ‘wind’ [3].
Sir Herbert Maxwell entry for Tandragee, Stoneykirk, Wigtownshire reads ‘Ton re gaeith [gue, gwee], backside to the wind. A common name to express and exposed hillside’ [4]. This brings to mind the New Cumnock Place-Names Bloweary [5] and Windy Edge on Corsencon Hill [6].
Auchingee farm sits on a ridge that runs south to Whitehill protected from the wind with strategically placed belts of tree plantations.
2.Gaelic achadh nan geadh ‘field of the goose’
2nd element| 2. Gaelic geadh (pronounced giagh) ‘goose’ [6].
Perhaps a field on Auchingee was a stopping off place for geese migrating south from Iceland for the winter. Ironically, today geese are regular visitors to the newly created nearby loch as part of the regeneration of opencast workings.
In 1760 the lands of Whitehill were held by James Ranken possibly along with Auchingee at the same time since his son and successor George Ranken, according to the Cess Tax Roll (ca. 1834/44) held the following lands –
- Whitehill and Auchingee
- Auchingee called Braehead
- Dalricket Mill and Lands
Although the Rankens of Whitehill later adopted Glenlogan in the parish of Sorn as their major residence they continued to own the above lands in the parish of New Cumnock until the 1920s when by 1925 the Sloan family had acquired Auchingee while Andrew Black acquired Braehead and Dalricket Mill.
Appendix: A Corner of Old Strathclyde
Hugh Lorimer in his fascinating ‘A Old Corner of Strathclyde’ identifies place-names throughout the parishes of New Cumnock and Old Cumnock which he associates with the Dark Age dynasty of the House of Rheged [8]. For example, he considers Dalricket [9] to be dal-Rheged and the neighbouring Auchingee to be lands of Goddeu/ Godeu –
The equivalent of the Welsh Gwyyd in Gaelic is Geadh – a goose. This is pronounced Gee. Accordingly, the Gaelic Auchin-gee (the field of the Goose) , which is in the adjacent and adjoining farm to Dal-ricket, is the “unknown” and long lost Godeu.
Hugh Lorimer F.S.A, A Corner of Old Strathclyde, p. 87 (1952)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
| References |
| [1] Source: Stuart Clarkson | Registrum Secreti Sigili Regum Scottorum, Vol. II , No. 1681 |
| [2] Source: Stuart Clarkson | Registrum Magni Sigili Regum Scottorum, Vol. IV , No. 327 |
| [3] W.F.H. Nicolaisen | Scottish Place-names (1986) |
| [4] Edward Dwelly, Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary |wind |
| [5] New Cumnock Place-Names: Bloweary |
| [6] New Cumnock Place-Names: Windy Edge (in progress) |
| [7] Edward Dwelly, Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary |geadh |
| [8] Hugh Lorimer F.S.A. | A Corner of Old Strathclyde, p. 87 (1952) |
| [9] New Cumnock Place-Names | Dalricket |
| Maps |
| Reproduced with the permission of The National Library of Scotland |
| https://maps.nls.uk/ |
| Map 1 | Blaeu, Joan, 1596-1673 (1654), Coila Provincia, [or], The province of Kyle / auct. Timoth. Pont. | Auchingy |
| Map 2 | Ordnance Survey, One-inch to the mile maps of Scotland, 2nd Edition – 1885-1900 (1857) |Auchingee |
| Ordnance Survey Name Books and Land Tax Rolls |
| By Permission of Scotland’s Places |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| Auchingee |
NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY 