| Place-name: | Craigenrig Hag, Hagg |
| Suggested Meaning: | marshy hollow piece of ground in a moor at Craigenrig |
| First element | 1.1.Gaelic creagan ‘little rock, rocky place’ 1.2 Scots rig ‘A ridge of high ground, a long narrow hill, a hill-crest |
| Second element | Scots hag ‘marshy hollow piece of ground in a moor’ |
| Blaeu Coila (1654): | No Entry |
| OS Name Books (1855-57): | Craigenrig Hag |
| Location: | Ordnance Survey (1857) |
| Later Forms: |
| Black Loch |
The Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Craigenrig Hag reads –
A marsh on the farm of Pencloe – Situated on the footpath leading from Pencloe to Glenlee. The name is not known to many.
Alternative spelling: Craigenrig Hagg.
Authority for spelling: John Welsh , Craigdarroch and Estate Map 1769.
1st element : Gaelic creagan ‘little rock, rocky place’ + Scots rig ‘ridge’
The OS Name Book entry emphasises that ‘the name is not known to many’. The hag presumably takes its name from another topographical feature known as Craigenrig, however no feature of this name appears on Ordnance Survey maps (or others) or in the OS Name Books.
The name appears to be a combination of the two elements, namely Gaelic creagan ‘crag, rock’ [1] followed by a later Scots rig ‘ridge, long narrow hill’ [2]. There are no rocks, crags or craigs in the vicinity and although there are no named no rigs or ridges (or drums), Meikle Hill, stretching between Glenshalloch Burn to the west and Lochingerroch Burn to the east, fits the description of rig ‘long narrow hill’
The Lanarkshire Ordnance Survey Name Book (1858-1861) records a Craigenrig [ See Map 3] in the parish of Lesmahagow. Local historian David Bunten considers that the term rig is used in the sense of a long, narrow stretch extending along the top of a hill or mountain’
2nd element : Scots hag, hagg ‘A soft marshy hollow piece of ground in a moor’
One of the Dictionaries of the Scots Language entries for hag [3] reads –
3. (1) HAG, v.1, n.1 Also hagg, haag, haug. A soft marshy hollow piece of ground in a moor, e.g. where channels have been made by water or where peats have been cut; “moss-ground that has formerly been broken up; a pit, or break in a moss”
Also used attrib. and in such combs. as moss-hag (Ayr. 1790 A. Tait Poems 224, -haug), peat-hag, etc. Now Gen.Sc. Also found in n.Eng. dial.
Dictionaries of the Scots Language, Dictionars o the Scots Leid | hag
Craigenrig Hag sits to the edge of the footpath from Pencloe to Glenlee just over a mile and a half south of Pencloe. The man-made square shape at the heart of the hag is indicative of peats being worked here, with the footpath providing access to the workings.
Black Loch
Craigenrig Hag ‘the name that was not known to many‘ dissappears from view in later editions of the Ordnance Survey maps and resurfaces as Black Loch. The hollow in the hag now filled with water with the peaty bottom giving it a dark, black appearance. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to call it a lochan rather than a loch.
Place-name hag distribution
- Craigenrig Hag: On the west side of the footpath from Pencloe to Glenlee, just over one and half miles south of Pencloe.
- Jock’s Hags: On the east side of the footpath from Pencloe to Glenlee, just over two-miles mile south of Pencloe [4].
- Saddle Hags: On the south of Auchincally Hill, just over a half-mile east of Jock’s Hags [5].
| Acknowledgement |
| Many thanks to David Bunten for his comments on Craigenrig, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire |
| References |
| [1] Edward Dwelly Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary | creagan |
| [2] The Dictionaries of the Scots Languages Dictionars o the Scots Leid|rig |
| [3] The Dictionaries of the Scots Languages Dictionars o the Scots Leid|hag |
| [4] New Cumnock Place-Name | Jock’s Hags |
| [5] New Cumnock Place-Name | Saddle Hags |
| Maps |
| By Permission of National Library of Scotland |
| https://maps.nls.uk/ |
| Map 1: Ordnance Survey (1858) | Craigenrig Hag |
| Map 2: Ordnance Survey (1895) |Meikle Hill |
| Map 3: Ordnance Survey (1858) | Craigenrig, Lesmahagow |
| Map 4: Ordnance Survey (1894) | Black Loch |
| Map 5: Ordnance Survey (1858) | hag distribution |
| Ordnance Survey Name Books |
| By Permission of Scotland’s Places |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| Craigenrig Hag |
| Lanarkshire OS Name Books (1858-1861) Vol. 45 | Craigenrig |
NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY 