| Place-name: | Chang Hill |
| Suggested Meaning: | ‘tongue shaped hill’ |
| element: | Gaelic teanga ‘tongue’ |
| element: | Standard Scottish English hill ‘hill’ |
| Place-name: | Littlechang Hill |
| Standard Scottish English little ‘little’ + Place-Name: Chang +SSE hill ‘hill’ | |
| Place-name: | Littlechang Burn |
| Place-Name: Littlechang + Scots burn ‘stream’ | |
| Place-name: | High Chang Hill |
| Standard Scottish English high ‘high’ + Place-Name: Chang + SSE hill ‘hill’ | |
| Blaeu Coila (1654): | Chayng Hil |
| OS Name Books (1855-57): | Chang Hill |
| Location: | Ordnance Survey (1937-1961) |
| Other Early Forms: |
| Chayng hil (1654), Schang (1759), Chang (1803) , Changhill (1803), Changuehill (1816), Chanquehill (1845) |
Chang Hill
Gaelic teanga ‘tongue’ + Standard Scottish English hill ‘hill’
The Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Chang Hill reads –
An eminence on Dalleagles farm on which is a Trig [Trigonometric] Station
Chang Hill appears in Blaeu Coila Provincia as the impressive Chayng Hill. The farmstead Chorg downstream appears to be a mis-spelling of Chang; taking its name from the hill.
The properties of Schang (1759), Changhill (1803), Chang (1803) and Changuehill (1816) appear in the Land Tax Rolls of those years. In 1854 the ‘Lands of the Estate of Dalleagles‘ were put up for sale including the “Lands and farm of Chanquehill” [3].
Sir Herbert Maxwell identifies Chang in Galloway as Gaelic teanga ‘a tongue, expressing a long strip of land’ and tongue-shaped perfectly describes Chang Hill.
Littlechang Hill
Standard Scottish English little ‘little’ + Place-Name: Chang Hill
The Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Littlechang Hill reads –
A rising ground bearing Rough Pasture, Situate between Littlechang Burn and Catlock Burn
Although Littlechang hill could be described as tongue-shaped or perhaps even little-tongue shaped in comparison to its neighbour it seems more likely it was named much later as the little hill next to Chang Hill.
Littlechang Burn
Place-Name: Littlechang +Standard Scottish English burn ‘stream’
The Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Littlechang Burn reads –
A Small Burn on the west side of Littlechang Hill, flowing north it meets with Catlock Burn and afterwards take the name of Croomdie* Burn.
*should read Crocradie
The Littlechang Burn [4] obviously takes its name from Littlechang Hill.
High Chang Hill
Standard Scottish English high ‘high’ + Place-Name: Chang Hill
The Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for High Chang Hill* reads –
A ridge of elevated Moorland extending eastwards from Enoch Hill
The three ‘Authorities for Spelling’ were Andrew Lammie, Dalleaagles, Iron Company Map and Estate, all of which gave the spelling as Highchang Hill, in the same style as Littlechang Hill. However, a fourth ‘Authority’ was the County Map, presumably William Johnson’s, Map of Ayrshire (1828), which adopted the style High Chang Hill and this is the form it appears on Ordnance Survey Maps .
*Although it appears as High Chang Hill on the maps the entry in the OS Name Book (1855-57) is found under Highchang Hill.
Again a case, albeit a weaker one, could be made to consider High Chang Hill as a tongue-shaped hill. However, the element high reflects that High Chang Hill is higher, further up in the range of hills than its neighbour Chang Hill.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
| References |
| [1] Malcolm MacLennan, ‘Gaelic Dictionary’ (1995) |
| [2] Sir Herbert Maxwell ‘The Place-Names of Galloway” |
| [3] The British Newspaper Archive |The Glasgow Herald, Monday November 13, 1854 |
| [4] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. | burn |
| Maps |
| Reproduced with the permission of The National Library of Scotland |
| https://maps.nls.uk/ |
| Map 1: Joan Blaeu, Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, 1654, Coila Provincia, [or], The province of Kyle / auct. Timoth. Pont.| Chayng Hil |
| Map 2: Ordnance Survey, 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain – 1945-1971 (1953)| Chang Hill and Littlechang Hill |
| Map 3: Ordnance Survey, 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain – 1945-1971 (1953)| High Chang Hill |
| Ordnance Survey Name Books |
| By Permission of Scotland’s Places |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49|Chang Hill |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49 |Littlechang Hill |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49 |High Chang Hill |
| Land Tax Rolls |
| By Permission of Scotland’s Places |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Land Tax Rolls 1759|Schang |
| Land Tax Rolls 1803| Chang, Changhill |
| Land Tax Rolls 1816| Changuehill |
NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY 