| Place-name: | Craigdullyeart |
| Suggested Meaning Scots: | dirty, dull colour crag Scots or SSE craig ‘crag, rock’ + 1. Scots ‘dullyeart ‘of a dirty dull colour’, |
| Suggested Meaning Gaelic: | Gaelic creag ‘crag, rock’ + 1. Gaelic a’tileich/ tulaich-àrd ‘high knoll’ 2. Gaelic dubh ‘black’ + Gaelic d(h)earg ‘red’ 3. Gaelic dubh-liath ‘dark grey’ Gaelic àrd ‘high, lofty’ 4. Gaelic doilleir ‘dim,dull, dark grey’ |
| Place-name: | Craigdullyeart Limeworks |
| Place-name: | Place-Name: Craigullyeart + SSE limeworks ‘limeworks’ |
| Place-name: | Craigdullyeart Hill |
| Place-Name: Craigullyeart + SSE hill ‘hill’ | |
| Blaeu Coila (1654): | N/A |
| OS Name Books (1855-57): | Craigdullyeart, Craigdullyeart Limeworks, Craigdullyeart Hill |
| Location: | Ordnance Survey (1895) |
| Early Forms |
| Craigdullyeart : Craigdulart (1838)*, Craigdulart (1852, 1855-57), Craigdullart (1855-57, Census 1841, 1881,1891) |
| Craigdullyeart Limeworks: Glen Lime Work (1828), Mansfield Glen (NSA 1838), Craigdullart Lime work (1855-57), Craigdulart Lime Work (1858) |
| Craigdullyeart Hill: Craig Dilliard (Roy 1752-57). Craigdulart Hill (1828), Craigdullart Hill (1855-57, New Cumnock) Craigdilliard Cairn (1855-57) |
The distribution of the place-name Craigdullyeart at the time of the compilation of the Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) is shown on the map below.
Craigdullyeart
The Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) entry for Craigdullyeart reads –
A poor cottage house on Mansfield Estate.
The ‘Various Modes of Spelling’ were Craigdullart, authorised by Mr Carr*, Mansfield Colliery, Mr William Johnstone* and an ‘Estate Map’ and Craigdulart from’ Johnston’s County Map’ (see Map2) and ‘Road Map’ (See Map 3).
*Mr Robert Carr, Mr William Johnstone, school master
Craigdulart cottage does appear on ‘Johnston’s map of the county of Ayr, 1838’ on the right-hand side of the road cutting along the south-west facing slope of Craigdulart Hill from Glen to the Mansfield Coal Works.
There may well have been an earlier cottage here, however this does not reflect the location of Craigdulart cottage on the later ‘Road Map, 1858’, which sat the right-hand side of the road running north from Glen to the Craigdulart Lime Kiln. It is here today, that the ruins can be found. (Perhaps there was a cartographical error in 1838?)
The form Craigdullart (i.e. double ll) preferred by the ‘Authorities of Spelling’ above, i.e. Mr. Carr and Mr. Johnstone, appeared in the 1841 Census Records of John Campbell (40), grain dealer and Joan Campbell (70). However, the OS Name Book entry for Craigdullyeart also includes the following comment in red ink [1,2] –
DULLYEART, adj. Of a dirty dull colour, Upp. Clydes.; from Dull and Art, Ard, q.v.
John Jamieson, D.D. ‘Supplement to the Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, Vol. 1, p.218 (1825)
Although the reference applies to Upper Clydesdale, it appears that the compiler of the Ordnance Survey Name Books has been influenced by Jamieson’s dullyeart and determined the spelling of the place-name to be Craigdullyeart as opposed to Craigdullart (despite it apparently being derived from Dull and Art!)
Craigdullyeart became the established form of the name on Ordnance Survey maps, however the form Craigdullart appears in the 1881 Census*, of John Goldie, (30), Corn Miller, Mary Goldie (29) and their daughter Anne (8) and then again in the 1901 Census, of Janet Miller (19), servant where her address is given as ‘Craigdullart Craigshiel Shooting Lodge‘, where Craigshiel sits 3/4 mile east of Craigdullart.
*The Census Records of Craigdullart from 1851,1861, 1871, thuS far have not been recovered.
Further search of the 1901 Census Records revealed a house by the name of Craigdullyeart in Broomberry Drive, Gourock, Renfrewshire only to discover the residents were New Cumnock-born John Craig, ship broker and his wife Jean Picken, daughter John Picken, tenant of Mansfield Mains, New Cumnock.
The Valuation Rolls from 1885 to 1935 record the Place-name as CRAIGDULART with 4 houses recorded under that grouping where Samuel Todd, Craigdulyart is recorded as proprieotor and tenant of one of the houses and land, in 1925, 1930, 1935. In addition Water Works, Ayrshire County Council are recored under CRAIGDULYART FROM 1905-1930.
Very little remains of Craigdullyeart cottage, however when one of the last residents left the cottage and moved into a house in Mansfield Road, it was named in the old style of Craigdullart*
*Thank you to Mrs Rena Lees.
Craigdullyeart Hill
Place-Name: Craigdullyeart + SSE hill ‘hill’
The Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) entry for Craigdullyeart Hill in the parish of New Cumnock reads –
An eminence on the extremity [of] a ridge of elevated ground on the northern part of Mansf [Mansfield] Estate. The Boundary between New and Old Cumnock passes over it and is defined by a Stone wall.
The ‘Various Modes of Spelling’ were Craigdullart Hill, authorised Mr William Johnstone* and Mr. McGrigor* and Craigdulart from ‘Johnston’s County Map’.
* Mr William Johnstone, school-master, Mr McGregor (probably inn-keeper Cross Keys, Pathhead as his name and occupation appears in other OSNB entries)
However, as was the case of the OSNB entry for Craigdullyeart above, the entry for Craigdullyeart Hill also includes the following comment in red ink ‘Dullyeart Of a dirty dull colour Jamieson’, which again appears to have influenced the accepted mode of spelling as Craigdullyeart Hill.
As noted above, the boundary between the parishes of New Cumnock and Old Cumnock cuts across the hill and as such there is also an Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) entry for Craigdullyeart Hill under the parish of Old Cumnock, which reads –
A heathy pasture eminence Situated on Over Guelt and on the Parish boundary between Old & New Cumnock: the property of the Marquis of Bute
The ‘Various Modes of Spelling’ throw up a surprise with three ‘Authorities for Spelling’ , Mr Cameron, Mr. Cameron jun. and the Estate Map all offering Craigdilliard Cairn, where the Estate Map was that of the Marquis of Bute. Mr Cameron, was the overseer of the Marquis’s Dumfries House estate, Old Cumnock while presumably Mr. Cameron jun. was his son and therefore it is very likely their source for the spelling of the name is the Estate Map.
The suffix cairn, i.e. Scots or Standard Scottish English cairn ‘pile of stones’ [3] is possibly associated with the parish boundary, which was established in 1650, and may have been lost during the later construction of the stane-dyke.
The form Craigdilliard, however almost exactly matches the earliest form of the name (thus far uncovered), which is to be found in Roy Map (1752-55) Gazetteer, i.e. Craig Dilliard [4]. It was probably pronounced Craigdillyard and the -ard ending fits with Jamieson’s options of -art and -ard, i.e. “DULLYEART, adj. Of a dirty dull colour, Upp. Clydes.; from Dull and Art, Ard“.
Nevertheless, the New Cumnock Name Books entry for Craigdullyeart Hill was copied over to the Old Cumnock entry and the accepted mode of spelling was settled as Craigdullyeart Hill.
The photographs below are taken from Glen and the footpath marked on the map above.
Craigdullyeart Hill viewed from Glen (Robert Guthrie 2023) 
Looking north-east from footpath towards Craigdullyeart Hill (Robert Guthrie 2023) 
Looking north-east from footpath towards Craigdullyeart Hill with coal-conveyor belt (Robert Guthrie 2008) 
Coal-conveyor belt snakes round the back of Craigdullyart Hill (Robert Guthrie 2008)
A further search of the Roy Map (1752-55) Gazetteer reveals the place-name Dulliard Brae (Drumelzier, Peebleshire) which later appears in the Ordnance Survey Name Books (1856-58) as Dulyard Brae, and the entry reads –
[Situation] About 3/4 of a Mile S.W [South West] from Logan Craig
A Very Steep Brae which slopes in a S.W [South West] direction from the base of Logan Head towards the River Tweed; on the Farm of Drummelzier Place; its surface is Covered with Heathy Pasture with Groups of Scattered Rocks
Dulyard Brae is situated about 30 miles north-east of Craigdullyeart Hill, equidistant from the upper reaches of the River Clyde, Jamieson’s locus for the use of Scots Dullyeart. However, a further search of the Roy’s Map (1752-55) Gazetteer reveals the place-name Dularthill (Troqueer, Kirkcudbrightshire) [5] and the associated water-course Dulart Lane [6], some 30 miles south-east of Craigdullyeart Hill. Sadly these ‘Dulart’ names did not prevail with the Gazetteer also recording the modern-day alternatives, i.e. Woodhead Hill and Crooks Pow respectively.
Craigdullyeart Limeworks
Place-Name: Craigdullyeart + SSE limeworks ‘limeworks’
On Armstrong’s Map of Ayrshire (1775) the Lime Craigs shown at the foot of the hill between Corsincon and Craigsheild are surely the forerunner to Craigdullyeart Limeworks [7].
In the early 19th century map the name Glen Lime Works makes an appearance (See Map 2 above and Map 9 below) taking its name from the lands of Glen on the Mansfield estate. Elsewhere on the estate are the Lime Works at the Hall of Mansfield. Just north of the Glen Lime Work are the Gelt (Guelt) Lime Work in the parish of Old Cumnock on the lands of the Marquis of Bute, although the kilns lie in the parish of New Cumnock. Later the New Statistical Account of the parish of New Cumnock (published in 1845 but prepared in 1838 by the Rev. Matthew Kirkland) refer to the lime kilns as Mansfield Glen and Mansfield Haw [8].
The MacDerment & Sons road map of 1852 places the Craigdulart Lime Kiln across the road from Craigdulart cottage (see Map 3 above). The combination of kilns and quarry became known as the Craigdullyeart Limeworks and its entry in the Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) reads –
An extensive Quarry, where limestone is procured – chiefly by mining – together with lime kilns, situate on Mansfield Estate and near Craigdullart from which the name is derived
Here again the ‘Authorities for Spelling’*, Mr. Carr, Mr Wm. Johnstone, New Cumnock and Mr. McNaught, Craigshiel all agreed on the name Craigdullart Limeworks – as is witnessed in the entry above. However, the ‘Jamieson card‘ was played again and the name Craigdullyeart Limeworks prevailed.
*Mr Carr, Mansfield Colliery, Mr Wm. Johnstone, New Cumnock and Mr Robert McNaught, Craigshiel
Lime kilns
The remains of two of the three kilns (Map 10) can still be seen while what’s left of the third kiln can be seen on the right behind the small hawtree. An excellent view of all three kilns can be viewed on the CANMORE (National Record of the Historic Enviroment) here.
Quarry
The limestone quarry is known locally as the ‘Corsencon Caves’.
A. Place-Name Craigdullyeart: Scots
dirty, dull coloured rock
A1. Scots or SSE craig ‘crag, rock’ and Scots dullyeart ‘of a dirty dull colour’
Gaelic word order has the noun (1st element) followed by the adjective (2nd element) , for example –
- Craigdhu is Gaelic creag ‘crag, rock’ and Gaelic dubh ‘black’
Scots or Standard Scottish English word order has the adjective (1st element) followed by the noun (2nd element), for example –
- Blackcraig is Scots or SSE black ‘black’ and Scots or SSE craig ‘crag, rock’
However, ‘Place-Names of the Galloway Glens’ identifies a number of place-names, including Craig Meikle, which seem to be words ‘coined in Sc or SSE whose elements are combined in what is more typically Gaelic word-order‘ [9].
Craigdullyeart may fall into this category with Scots or SSE craig ‘crag, rock’ [10] followed by Scots dullyeart ‘of a dirty dull colour’, mimicking Gaelic word-order, to give Craigdullyeart ‘dirty dull coloured rock’. Whatever the case, the rock in question is surely the rocky outcrop on south-east side of Craigdullyeart Hill, i.e. the Lime Craigs on Armstrong’s Map.
However, Scots dullyeart ‘of dirty dull colour’ is proving a cause for concern as thus far further references to the word in Scotland’s Places have proved elusive including in Upper Clydesdale.
It can be found in the form dullyart in the translation of the renowned Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean’s poem ‘Dàin do Eimhir LIV’ into Scots by the renowned Scots poet Douglas Young [11].
Courtesy of Stuart Sanderson, University of Glasgow, Ph.D Thesis (2015)
Derrick McClure in his essay, ‘Douglas Young and Sorley MacLean’ examined the methods used by Young to convey the meanings of MacLean’s poems ‘in a very dissimilar language and estimating the success or otherwise of his attempts’. In the case of the use of dullyart, McClure considers it to be a ‘doubtful word’ [12] –
Young’s use of dullyart, a doubtful word attested only in Jamieson and glossed by him as “of a dirty dull colour” is again for reasons of sound patterning
J. Derrick McLure ‘Douglas Young and Sorley MacLean’ in Gaelic and Scots in Harmony (1988)
In stark contrast dullyeart is found in the works of Anthony Burgess, no not ‘The Clockwork Dullyeart’, but in his novella ‘1985’, a tribute in some sense to George Orwell’s ‘1984’ [13]. The blog ‘Ponying the Slovos’ aims to explore how invented languages function and under the post ‘Anthony Burgess’s other invented languages Part 6: Orwell and the Workers’ the following quote from ‘1985’ is considered to be ‘dubiously exaggerated Scots‘ [14] –
“Sae, ye dullyeart horse-punckin, ye’d hae it that the Laird’s worrrd is kilted in a tippit?”
Anthony Burgess ‘1985’, 1978
*horse-punckin ‘the depression made by the hooves of horses in soft ground’ [15]
B. Place-Name Craigdullyeart: Gaelic
A request to members of the Scottish Place-names / Ainmean-àite na h-Alba Facebook Group [16][ kindly offered the following suggestions below. All but one of the Gaelic derivations included element referring to the colour of the craig, i.e. red/black; dark grey and dim, dull, dark. Alan G James offered an alternative in respect of the location of the craig, i.e. at a high knoll, he also that Jamieson’s dullyart is a perfectly possible Scots form.
1. Gaelic creag ‘crag, rock’ + a’tileich/ tulaich-àrd ‘high knoll’
- Alan G. James: A long shot, but it might suit the place, *creag a’tileich/ tulaich-àrd, ‘high knoll’? (from BLITON: Gaelic tulach, tileach, ‘a knoll, a hillock’, is uncommon in southern Scotland (CPNS p. 184); where it does occur, a Brittonic predecessor *tāl-ǭg may sometimes be suspected, as in the documented case of Kirkintilloch). While Jamieson’s ‘dullyart’ seems to be doubtfully evidenced, it’s a perfectly possible Scots form, cf. ‘lyart’ etc., and it might have influenced *Tiliard < *a’tileich-àrd.
N.B. Scots lyart ‘Variegated, multi-coloured, streaked with two colours, esp. red and white’. O.Sc. lyart, grizzled, 1438, dappled, 1500 [17]
2. Gaelic creag ‘crag, rock’ + Gaelic dubh ‘black’ + Gaelic d(h)earg ‘red’
- Isobel McAllister: Could come from Gaelic dubh/black, pronounced doo, and d(h)earg/red, pronounced yarrack. So doo- yarr- ack
3. Gaelic creag ‘crag, rock’ Gaelic dubh-liath ‘dark grey’ Gaelic àrd ‘high, lofty’
- Michael S Newton: It would be helpful to have more early attestations. A wild guess using Gaelic elements might be Creag Dhubh-Liath Àrd.
- Eilidh Mairead Scammell: The obvious answer for -ard would be àrd ~ high. But others might have better idea
4. Gaelic creag ‘crag, rock’ Gaelic doilleir ‘dim,dull, dark grey’
- Dòmhnall Alasdair Moireasdan: Doilleir ‘dim, dull, dark’? Only mismatch is the t on the end
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
| References |
| [1] John Jamieson, D.D. ‘Supplement to the Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, Vol. 1, p.218 (1825)|dullyeart |
| [2] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |dullyeart |
| [3] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |cairn |
| [4] Roy Military Survey of Scotland, 1747-55, (Roy Gazetteer Browse Interface – All Names – A-C) |Craig Dulliard |
| [5] Roy Military Survey of Scotland, 1747-55, (Roy Gazetteer Browse Interface – All Names – D-I) |Dularthill |
| [6] Roy Military Survey of Scotland, 1747-55, (Roy Gazetteer Browse Interface – All Names – D-I) |Dulart Lane |
| [7] New Cumnock History | Mansfield Lime Works |
| [8] Rev. Matthew Kirkland (1838), New Cumnock, County of Ayrshire, NSA, Vol. V, 1845 |
| [9] Place-names of Kirkcudbrightshire. 2024. Glasgow: University of Glasgow |Craig Meikle |
| [10] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |craig |
| [11] University of Glasgow, Sanderson, Stewart (2016) Our own language: Scots verse translation and the second-generation Scottish renaissance. PhD thesis, September 2015, p.34 |
| [12] J. Derrick McClure, University of Glasgow, School of Critical Studies,’Douglas Young and Sorley McLean’ in Gaelic and Scots Harmony (1988) |
| [13] Anthony Burgess ‘1985’ (1978) |
| [14] Ponying the Slovos, ‘Anthony Burgess’s other invented languages Part 6: Orwell and the Workers’ |
| [15] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |horse-punckin |
| [16] Scottish Place-names / Ainmean-àite na h-Alba Facebook Group |
| Maps |
| Reproduced with the Permission of National Library of Scotland |
| https://maps.nls.uk/ |
| Map 1: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882 (1857)|Craigdullyeart |
| Map 2 A.E. Thomson, Johnston’s map of the county of Ayr. With parish boundaries, railways, &c. (1838) | Craigdulyart |
| Map 3: James Mc.Derment & Sons, Map of the turnpike & parish roads New Cumnock (1852) |Craigdulart |
| Map 4: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882 (1857) | Craigdullyeart |
| Map 5: Ordnance Survey National Grid maps, 1944-1973 (1961) | Craigdullyeart |
| Map 6: Roy Military Survey of Scotland, 1747-1755, Lowlands (1752-1755) | Craig Dulliard |
| Map 7: Ordnance Survey, 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain – 1945-1973 (1971) |Craigdullyeart Hill |
| Map 8: Andrew Armstrong, A New Map of Ayrshire (1775) | Lime Craigs |
| Map 9: John Thomson’s Atlasof Scotland (1832), John Thomson & William Johnson, Northern Part of Ayrshire. Southern Part, Imprint 1828. | Glen Lime Work |
| Map 10: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1855-1882 (1856) |Limekilns |
| Map 11: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1855-1882 (1856) |Craigdullyeart |
| Ordnance Survey Name Books |
| By Permission of Scotland’s Places |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) New Cumnock Vol. 49|Craigdullyeart, Craigdullyeart Hill |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) New Cumnock Vol. 49|Craigdullyeart Limeworks |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) New Cumnock Vol. 52|Craigdullyeart Hill |
| Peebleshire OS Name Books (1856-58) Drummelzier Vol. 6| Dulyart Brae |
| Scotland’s People |
| https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk |
| Old Parish Records, Births, Marriages, Deaths, Census Records, Valuations Rolls, Wills & Testaments |
NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY 