Brockloch

Place-name:	Brockloch
Suggested Meaning:	‘badger’s den’
First element	Gaelic broclaich‘ badger’s den‘
Blaeu Coila (1654):	Brokloc
OS Name Books (1855-57):	Brockloch
Location:	Ordnance Survey (1892-1960)

Other Early Forms:

Brokloche (1625), Brokloc (1654), Brochloch of Blarein (1706)

Brockloch: Gaelic broclach ‘badger warren’

The sheep farm of Brockloch sits on the north facing slope of Blarene hill between Blarene Burn and Connel Burn. In the Barony of Afton (1706) charter for Sir William Gordon, 1st Baronet of Afton it appears as Brochloch of Blarein (Blarene).

Map 1 Blaeu Map Brokloc | Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

The Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) entry reads –

A good farm house occupied by George Sloan the property of Mr. A Cunninghame, of Logan

George Sloan was the son of the late Alexander Sloan and Euphemia Park. The large family had moved here from Galston. The proprietor was William Allason Cunningham Esq. of Logan who had inherited Brockloch, one of the few remaining Gordon of Afton properties (Barony of Afton) in New Cumnock at that time.

Brockloch farm with Blarene hill in the background (Photo Robert Guthrie)

Brockloch is a relatively common place-name including three others recorded in the Ordnance Survey Name Books for Ayrshire for the parishes of Craigie, Girvan and Maybole.

Map 2: Brockloch | Reproduced with permission of the National Library of Scotland

Although the name appears to begin with Scots brock ‘badger’ [1] its origins lie in Gaelic broc ‘badger’ [2] leading to Gaelic broclach ‘badger’s den, warren, fox’s den’ [3].

Sir Herbert Maxwell records a number of occurences of the place-name Brockloch (and variants) in Galloway and identifies them as broclach ‘badger warren’ [4].