Barscalloch Burn

Place-name:Barscalloch
Suggested Meaning:bald hill
element:Gaelic barr ‘hill’
element:Gaelic sgallach ‘bald’
Place-name:Barscalloch Burn
Place-Name: Barscalloch + Scots burn ‘stream’
Blaeu Coila (1654):N/A
OS Name Books (1855-57):Barscalloch Burn
Location:Ordnance Survey (1895)

Barscalloch Burn

The entry in the Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) for Barscalloch Burn reads-

A burn rising on the east side of Hillend or White Knowe and flowing southwards into the river Nith

Map 1:Barscalloch Burn (OS 1857) | Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland
Barscalloch Burn (Robert Guthrie 2009)

Barscalloch

Gaelic barr ‘height,hill’ + Gaelic sgallach ‘bald’

The first element is Gaelic barr ‘height, hill’ [1] and the Place-Names of Galloway extends the definition on place-names to ‘hill, hill-top, rounded head-like feature, top’ [2]. While the second element is Gaelic sgallach ‘bald’ [3].

The most likely candidate for the ‘bald hill’ is what is now known as Hillend Knowe [4], albeit according its entry Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) it appears to have previously known as White Knowe (as it is in the above entry for Barscalloch Burn).

A high knowe, about 8 chains E [East] of Hillend farm house . This knowe is called “White Knowe” on the estate map, but is known by that name only to a very few old persons, and even these have discontinued it use. “Hillend Knowe” is the name by which it is commonly known

White Knowe possibly could be suggestive of a white, bare (or bald) knowe. However, today Hillend Knowe is far from being a bald hill and is now covered with a thick toupee of forestry on top and deciduous woodland on its lower slopes.

  • Barscalloch Burn (Robert Guthrie 2007)
  • A wooded Hillend Knowe and the River Nith (Robert Guthrie 2023)

Barscalloch Burn

Place-name: Barscalloch + Scots burn ‘stream’ [5]

There are several other named burns on the south facing slope of Corsencon Hill – Longhouse Burn, Duncan’s Burn, Spout Burn, Bull’s Burn, Mid Burn, however Barscalloch Burn appears to be the only one where the name is of Gaelic origin. Barscalloch Burn is not named in some of the later maps

Map 2: Barscalloch Burn (OS 1958) | Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

The source of the burn causes some confusion. Part of that is caused by the small water course that runs from east to west midway down the slope of Corsencon hill which then takes a sweeping curve (at 90 degrees) to follow the course of Barscalloch Burn.

  • Looking down from Corsencon Hill towards the Nith( Robert Guthrie 2004)
  • Barscalloch Burn runs parallel to the stane-dyke (Robert Guthrie 2004)
  • Barscalloch Burn runs from under the railwayline towards the River Nith (Robert Guthrie 2023)
  • Turf dyke running across face of Corsencon Hill diverting any streams towards Barscalloch Burn (Robert Guthrie 2004)
  • Turf dyke takes a turn to align with the flow of Barscalloch Burn (Robert Guthrie 2004)

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

References
[1] Edward Dwelly Illustrated Gaelic -English Dictionary (Birlinn Edition 2001) | barr
[2] Place-names of Kirkcudbrightshire. 2023. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. https://kcb-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk|barr
[3] New Cumnock Place-Names | Hillend (in progress)
[4] Edward Dwelly Illustrated Gaelic -English Dictionary (Birlinn Edition 2001) |sgallach
[5] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |burn
Maps
Reproduced with the Permission of National Library of Scotland
https://maps.nls.uk/
Images used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence.
Map 1: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882 (1857)|Barscalloch Burn
Map 2: Ordnance Survey National Grid maps, 1944-1972 (1958)| Barscalloch Burn
Ordnance Survey Name Books
By Permission of Scotland’s Places
scotlandsplaces.gov.uk
Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| Barscalloch Burn
Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49 |Hillend Knowe