| Place-name: | Catlock Burn |
| Catlock + SSE burn ‘burn stream; | |
| Place-Name: | Catlock / Caitloch / Catlick |
| 1. Gaelic cadalach ‘Sleepy, dull, lethargic’ | |
| 2.1 Old English *cat-lece ‘cat-brook’ | |
| 2.2 Gaelic cat, cait ‘cat’ + Gaelic leac ‘stone’ | |
| 2.3 Gaelic catlock ‘cat warren, bank’ cf. Gaelic brochlach ‘badger warren, badger bank’ | |
| 3. Scots catlock ‘the sheathed cotton-grass‘ | |
| 4. Scots catloup ‘A short distance (lit. as far as a cat can jump)” | |
| Blaeu Coila (1654): | No entry |
| OS Name (1855-57): | Catlock Burn |
| Location: | OS Map Six-inch Scotland 1888-1915 |
| Other Early Forms: |
Catlock Burn
The Ordnance Survey Name Book Ayrshire (1855-57) entry for Catlock Burn reads –
A Small Burn flowing between Chang & Little Chang Hills into Crocradie Burn.
1. Gaelic cadalach ‘sleepy’ + Scots + SSE burn ‘burn, stream’
Michael Ansell in his series of ‘New Cumnock Place-names’ articles in New Cumnock News [1] addresses Catlock Burn as follows; having found a reference to a place-name Catloche in in ‘The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft’ database [2] –
Perusing the new Scottish Witches location map I came across one Marion Aroane of Catlock. This unfortunate woman had been accused of being a witch and was tried by Lord Dalyell and John McMath of Dalpeddar a farm south-east of Sanquhar in 1630. Her place of residence is given on the website as Catloche. The only trace I can find of this location is in the name of the Catlock Burn. There must have been a farm or small-holding called Catlock/ Catloche although nothing is indicated in the Blaeu or Roy atlases.
There does not appear to be any loch in the vicinity. Perhaps the name applied to the small burn cadalach ‘someone or something sleepy’. Maybe there was something about the burn that inspired the name.
Michael Ansell, New Cumnock News Issue 7 Winter 2020
- Michael also explained that the surname Aroane would appear to be one of the many Gaelic lineage names incorporating Ua ‘descendent / grandchild of’, in this case the surname is probably derived from O’Ruane, O’Ruadhain , descendent of someone called ‘little redhead’. N.B. There are several examples of ‘A’ names in the Registers of Sasine, Kyle in Sheriffodom of Ayr, including AMilligane, ASloan and Asloss
A search through the usual records, e.g. Wills and Testaments, Land Tax Rolls and Baptisms etc. failed to reveal any further recurrences of the family name Aroane / Roan or similar, or indeed a settlement of the name Catlock or similar, in the parish of New Cumnock. However, a broader search revealed the ‘Testament Dative and Inventory of Margaret Roane, sometime spouse to John Fergusson of Dalquhatheid, parish of Glencarrne in Nithsdale, 14th January 1583‘ [3].
Furthermore Dalquhatheid appeared in the Land Tax Roll of 1671 combined with the lands the ‘Mains of Dalwhat and Marwharne‘ [4]. Although it has since been been lost, Dalwhat and Marwhirn are shown in the OS Map below. Neighbouring these lands were Upper Caitloch and Caitlcoch while Caitloch Cave was situated on the edge of Dalwhat Water. It was surely this Caitloch, in the vicinity of the lands of Dalwhat, that was home to the unfortunate ‘Marion Aroane of Catloche‘, a relative of Margaret Roan.
The entry for Marion Aroane in the ‘The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft’ provides little information. The case against her started on 6th May 1630. Although the section on ‘Accused Details’ records her residence as ‘Catloche, County of Ayr‘, it becomes clear it is in the County of Dumfriesshire. The section on ‘Case Details’ records two commissioners 1. Robert Dalyell described as the Viscount of Ayr, but also called Lord Dalyell. However the title of Viscount of Ayr was created in 1622 and was a subsidiary title for the Earl of Dumfries, as was Lord Cumnock. Robert Dalyell held the lands of Eliock, in the parish of Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire about 10 miles north-east of Caitloch and he was created Lord Dalyell in 1628. 2. John McMath of Dalpeddar, was a near neighbour of Dalyell, holding the lands of Eliock, a mile to the east.
The entry for Caitloch, Glencairn in The Place-Names of Dumfriesshire reads [5] –
CAITLOCH: Kadildacht 1484 (RGS); Cadiltach 1511 (RGS); Cadzeloch 1567 (Sh. Bk.); Kadeloch 1577 (Sh. Bk.); Caitloch 1660 (Bl). Might be G. cadalach, Sleepy, dull, lethargic, or, cadaltachd, sleepiness.
Edward Johnson-Ferguson’s The Place-Names of Dumfriesshire (1935)
Although we can discount the vicinity of Catlock Burn in the parish of New Cumnock as being home to the unfortunate soul Marion Aroane it is reasonable to adopt the Glencairn form of the place-name Caitloch and to consider its origin, i.e. G. cadalach, Sleepy, dull, lethargic as initially offered above by Michael Ansell.
2. Catlick / Catlock / Caitloch
Returning to Dalwhat Water, in the parish of Glencairn, the entry in ‘The Place-names of Dumfriesshire reads [6] –
Dalwhat. Dalquhot 1511 (RGS); Dalquhete 1514; Dal-quhat 1544 (Q); Dawhat 1660 (Bl). G. dail chat, field of the wild cats.
Edward Johnson-Ferguson’s The Place-Names of Dumfriesshire (1935)
cf. Sir Herbert Maxwell in ‘The Place-Names of Galloway’ considers Dalwhat, Kirkcudbrightshire as Gaelic dal chat ‘the wild cats’ meadows’ [7].
The presence of the Catloch place-names of Upper Caitloch, Caitloch and Caitloch Cave on the banks of Dalwhat Water suggests that the first element cat, cait- is surely a reference to Gaelic cat, cait ‘wild cat’ [8]. N.B. Alwhat, New Cumnock is Gaelic aill chat ‘steep place of the wild cats’ [9].
A discussion on the Ainmean Charraige / Carrick Names Facebook Page considers the Catlick Burn at the Haugh of Urr [10] –
Any thoughts on the Catlick Burn that flows down to the Urr at Haugh of Urr? Over in Ayrshire there’s Catlock Burn up in the hills above Dalleagles, and Maxwell mentions a Catelig in Portpatrick, though I can’t find that. Cadala(i)ch ‘sleepy, drowsy’?
Alan G. James
Some of the suggestions include –
- Alan G. James: Old English *cat-lece ‘cat-brook’, influenced by its Norse equivalent *kǫtt-lœk, might be a name for a burn where (wild?) cats were often seen, or had some catty associations, and that would have quite readily become Catlick or Catlock.
- Michael Ansell:Could it be cat-leac a noun-noun compound? I think there are Scots equivalent ‘Cat-Stane’ examples scattered around, one on the east shore of Loch Doon I seem to recall. Maybe the resort of wild-cats (a den under the stone?
- William Paterson: I was reminded of Gaelic broclach for a badger’s or fox’s den; the suffix with /l/ presumably needs an explanation here too. Henry Gough-Cooper: Loch’ in Caitloch might be a bank or hillside, as in Brochloch/Brockloch.
2.1 Old English *cat-lece ‘cat-brook’ + Scots + SSE burn ‘burn, stream‘
This offering considers Catlock to be a river-name, i.e. cat-brook, where the second element SSE burn ‘burn, stream’ has been added much later, without appreciating the existing river name.
2.2 Gaelic cat, cait ‘cat’ + Gaelic leac ‘stone’
This offering considers Catlock to be a stone associated with wild-cats, possibly providing a den where wild-cats would take shelter, while the nearby burn later took its name. There does appear to be significant unnamed stony / rocky feature on the banks of the Catlock Burn as it progresses to its confluence with Littlechang Burn at the head of Crocradie Burn.
It is worth noting the there is also stony / rock feature associated at Caitloch Cave on the north bank of Dalwhat Burn. There are many stony/rock features in the parish of New Cumnock which are typically named Scots craig or craigs, whereas there are no examples of the element Gaelic leac ‘flat stone, slab’. There are examples of Cat Stane / Cat Stone in the Ordnance Survey Name Books several a reference to a standing stone or Gaelic cath ‘battle’ [11].
There are also several entries of Catcraig in Ordnance Survey Name Books. There are two Ayrshire entries of Catcraig Quarry in parishes of Muirkirk and Craigie where the quarries in question are whinstone, while in the parish of Kilbirnie there is a Catcraigs – ‘an abrupt line of Whinstone rocks. The native cat would seen at one time to have been an inhabitant of this place’. Although nowadays, whinstone, an igneous rock, is cut to make paving flagstones it differs from Gaelic leac ‘flat stones, slabs’, associated with sedimentary rock, typically beds of sandstone.
2.3 Gaelic catlach, catlach ‘cat warren, catbank’
This offering is based on a possible comparison with Gaelic broclach, brockloch ‘badger’s den or bank’, i.e. and not from an entry from a Gaelic dictionary.
Ironically Dwelly gives Gaelic cat-luch, cait – ‘mouse- trap’ [12].
3. Scots catlock ‘the sheathed cotton-grass’
The Dictionaries of the Scots Language for catlock reads [13] –
‘the sheathed cotton-grass, Eriophorum’ (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.)’
Dictionaries of the Scots Language
However, the source is from George Watson, ‘The Roxburghshire Word-Book. Being a record of the special vernacular vocabulary of the County of Roxburgh’ (1923) and there is no evidence to support the term is used in Ayrshire.
4. Scots catlowp
Place-Names of the Coalfield Communities considers Catlock Burn to be obscure and offers the following suggestion [14] –
Could the first element ultimately derive from Sc catlowp ‘a short distance’ i.e. a narrow burn a proverbial cat could lowp over?
Place-Names of the Coalfield Communities.
There is both a Loup Burn (‘small stream‘) [15] and Loupsheugh Burn (‘stream’) [16] in the parish of New Cumnock, supporting that the element loup is associated with streams.
Such a small burn with some big ideas!
| References |
| [1] Michael Ansell, New Cumnock News Issue 7 Winter 2020, New Cumnock Place-names |
| [2] The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft |
| [3] Scotland’s People, Wills & Testament :Testament Dative and Inventory of Margaret Roane, sometime spouse to John Fergusson of Dalquhatheid, parish of Glencarrne in Nithsdale, 14th January 1583‘ , |
| [4] Scotland’s People, Tax Rolls: Land Tax Roll of 1671 combined with the lands the ‘Mains of Dalwhat and Marwharne‘ [4]. |
| [5] Edward Johnson-Ferguson’s The Place-Names of Dumfriesshire (1935) | caitloch |
| [6] Edward Johnson-Ferguson’s The Place-Names of Dumfriesshire (1935) | dalwhat |
| [7] Sir Herbert Maxwell, The Place-Names of Galloway (1930/ (Reprint 2001)) |dalwhat |
| [8] Edward Dwelly Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary (1902-1912) | cat, cait |
| [9] New Cumnock Place-Names| Alwhat |
| [10] Ainmean Charraige / Carrick Names| Catlick / Catlock |
| [11]Edward Dwelly Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary (1902-1912) | cath |
| [12] Edward Dwelly, Illustrated Gaelic Dictionary | cat-luch, cait- |
| [13] Dictionaries of the Scots Language, Dictionars o the Scots Leid|catlock |
| [14] Place-Names of the Coalfield Communities, s.v., “Place-name record 1313: ‘Catlock Burn’,” accessed 27 January 2026, https://ayr-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk/map/3a706e461ee1a |
| [15] New Cumnock Place-Names | Loup Burn (in progress) |
| [16] New Cumnock Place-Names| Loupsheugh Burn |
| Maps |
| Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland |
| https://maps.nls.uk/ |
| Map 1: Ordnance Survey Map, Six-inch Scotland 1888-1913 (1894) | Catlock Burn |
| Map 2: Joan Blaeu, Nithia Vicecomitatus, The Shirifdome of Nidis-dail (1654) |Kaitloch |
| Map 3: Ordnance Survey Map, One-inch Scotland 1885-1903 (1895) |Caitloch, Upper Caitloch |
| Map 4: Ordnance Survey Map, Six-inch Scotland 1843-1882 | Catlock Burn |
| Map 5: Ordnance Survey Map, Six-inch Scotland 2nd Edition 1885-1915, ESRI image | Catlock Burn |
| Map 6: Ordnance Survey Map, 25 inch to the mile 1st Edition 1855-1882 (1856)| Caitloch Cave |
| Ordnance Survey Name Books |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Ayrshire OS Name Book (1857-59) Vol. 49| Catlock Burn |