Garclaugh

Place-name:	Garclaugh
Suggested Meaning:	1. G. garbh ‘rough’ + G. clach ‘stone or rock’ 2. G. ceathramh ‘quarter-land ‘ + G. clach ‘stone, stones’ 3. G. garad ‘wall’ + G. clach ‘stone’
Place-name:	Meikle Garclaugh
	Scots meikle ‘big’ + Place-Name: Garclaugh
Place-name:	Little Garclaugh
	SSE little ‘little’ + Place-Name: Garclaugh
Place-name:	Garclaugh Pendicle
	Place-Name: Garclaugh + Scots pendicle ‘small holding’
Place-name:	Garclaugh Burn
	Place-Name: Garlcaugh + Scots burn ‘stream’
Place-name:	Low Garclaugh Bridge
	Place-Name: Low Garclaugh + SSE bridge ‘bridge’
Blaeu Coila (1654):	N/A
OS Name Books (1855-57):	Meikle Garclaugh, Little Garclaugh, Garclaugh Pendicle, Garclaugh Burn
Location:	Ordnance Survey (1857)

Earlier Forms

Uvirgar(c)lach & Nethirgarclach (1484), Garclaichis (1490), Garcleugh, Garclauch (1539), Garclacch & Garclacch Burne (Pont Nithia 1580),Garclach (1623), Garclacch & Garclacch Burne (Blaeu Nithia 1654), N. Garclach, O. Garueclach, Garueclach b. (Pont – Coila Provincia 1654), Gartcloche (Wills 1681) Garclaugh (OPR 1707), Nether Garclaugh (OPR 1721), Little Garclaugh (1804), Meikle Garclaugh (1804), Low Garclaugh Bridge (1895), Big Garclaugh (1930s), Wee Garclaugh

Garclach

The early form Garclach is found in the records of a 15th century dispute between the Baron of Cumnock and the Countess of Ross. So why did it come about that the Baron of Cumnock fell out with the Countess of Ross, their homes seemingly separated by over 200 miles?

The baron was in fact Sir James Dunbar of Cumnock & Westfield who had inherited the title of Cumnock through marriage to Euphemia Dunbar (before 1474), the eldest daughter and heir of Patrick Dunbar of Cumnock & Mochrum. He also inherited the title of Westfield from his father Sir Alexander Dunbar of Westfield, Morayshire [1]. Despite holding the positions of Sheriff of Elgin & Forres, Sir James got himself into some financial difficulty and not having the means to pay Elizabeth Livingston, Countess of Ross, she was granted the following lands in his barony of Cumnock [2] –

2 Oct 1484

Jacobus de Dunbar de Cumno owing 700 merks plus 10 merks expenses to Elizabeth Countess of Ross because of decreet of lords auditorum causarum et querelarum, not having enough moveable goods to pay, royal grant to said Elizabeth in lands of Wellis of Gelt, 2 merk lands of Lethanis, merkland of Knokluy, merkland of Ruchside, 2 merk lands of Uvirgar(c)lach, 2 merk lands of Nethirgarclach, 2 merk lands of Nethirgerreve, with free regress to sd lands whenever he, heirs might pay 710 merks within 7 yrs .

translation courtesy Stuart Clarkson

Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, RMS/ii#1602|

N.B. Nethirgarclach = Nether Garclach, Uvirgar(c)lach = Over Garclach

As the dispute rumbled on the Countess Ross was granted lands including ‘3 merk lands of Garclaichis‘ [3] , – perhaps a collective name for the Garclach properties, now 3 merks as opposed to 4 merks above.

20 Oct 1490

Jacobus Dunbar de Cumnok miles owing 1136 merks to Elizabeth Countess of Ross because of decreet of lords auditorum and lords of council, not having enough moveable goods to pay, royal grant to said Elizabeth in 10 merks of land viz 3 merk lands of Polquhois, 4 merk lands of Garefis, 3 merk lands of Garclaichis appraised at 900 merks with free regress to said lands whenever he, heirs might pay 900 merks within 7 yrs.

Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum [RMS/ii#1983]

• Polquhois (Polquheys), Garefis (Garrive now Mansfield)

By the following century the lands of Garclauch were held by Patrick Hamilton, son of Patrick Hamilton of Bordland, parish of Cumnock [4].

17 May 1539

(Royal charter ) precept of charter to WILLELMO CRAUFURD son, heir apparent of George Craufurd de Lefnoreis in 2 merk lands of N. Garreve, 2 merk lands of Dalhannay, house, gardens occ by Patrick Hamilton in Garclauch, 2 merk lands of N. Garclauch* (baronia de Cumnock) which pertained to Alexander Dunbar de Cumnok who sold them to Michael McCrony, Johanni Huchisoun in Clokleny for sums owed, assigned to said George and William, Wm by them.

courtesy of Stuart Clarkson, Guelph, Canada

Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum [RMS/iii#1973]

*N.B. James Paterson account of this charter gives the form Garcleugh [5].

Sheep stealing

The Reverend Warrick in the ‘History of Old Cumnock’ recounts the trial of a sheep-stealer at Garlach, although we are left to imagine the outcome [6] –

24th June 1623

The Council did not decide the case themselves, but deputed Sir William Cunynghame of Caprintoun, who was the baron at the time, and his bailies, to investigate the matter. In the commission they received under the royal signet, they were authorised to try Gilbert Brown of Garclach within the barony of Cumnock, who, having been long suspected of being a common thief, was lately apprehended ” with the fang of a stolen scheip” by the said Sir William’s bailies, and having” ryppit the same, they fand the remains of uther two scheip, quhilk he confest he staw fra James Tailfeir in Cumnok.”

Rev. John Warrick ‘The History of Old Cumnock’ (1899)

Perhaps ‘Hew Broun in Gartcloche, new parish of Cumnock and spouse of Ellison Gemill’ (1681) was a descendant of the unforunate Gilbert Brown [Scotland’s People, Legal Records].

Pont & Blaeu Maps

Although Timothy Pont’s manuscript of Coila Provincia (which forms the basis of Blaeu’s Coila Provincia) did not not survice, his manuscript of ‘Nithsdale; part of Teviotdale’ incorporates a small part of what is now the parish of New Cumnock and included Garclacch and Garclacche Burne.

Map	Title	Place-Names
Timothy Pont	Nithsdale; part of Teviotdale – Pont 35 (ca. 1583 – 1614)	Garclacch and Garclacch Burne
Joan Blaeu	Nithia Vicecomitatus, The Shirifdome of Nidis-dail (1654) / Timothy Pont	Garclacch and Garclacch Burne
Joan Blaeu	Coila Provincia, [or], The province of Kyle (1654) / Timothy Pont	O.Garueclach N. Garclach Garclacch b.

Roy’s Military Survey, 1747 (see Map 5) includes the forms Girk Loch and N. Girk Loch which appear to be misinterpretations of Gircloch and N. (Nether) Gircloch.

Garclach / Garclaugh

The place-name Garclach (and its variants) appears to comprise the two elements

• Gaelic gar-, which has a number of possibilities – see below
• Gaelic clach cloiche dat. cloich pl. clachan ‘stone, rock’ [7].

The first element gar– is not only found locally in Nether Garclach and Over Garueclah but also probably in the neighbouring properties of Nether Gariff and Over Garif [8 NC Place-name], as well as Garleffan some 2-3 miles to the north east (since divided into High Garleffan and Low Garleffan) in the neighbouring parish of Old Cumnock.

If Garclach, Gariff and Garleffan all share a common first element then the following derivations 1. and 2. of the latter, albeit its counterpart of Garlaffin in Dalry, Kircudbrightshire, are of interest

1. Gaelic garbh ‘rough’ and Gaelic clach ‘stone, rock’

G. garbh clach ‘rough stone or rock’

The Place-Names of Galloway Glens entry for Garlaffin reads G. garbh ‘rough’ + G. leth-pheighinn ‘half-penny land’ and explains that although the name is applied to a high hill, it may well be the case that it was named from a now-lost settlement [9], where garbh may have been a reference to the rough pasture of the half-penny land.

With regards to garbh clach ‘rough stone’, this is probably a reference to the quality of the stone in the vicinity perhaps general found in outcrops or used in construction or to a specific single stone or rock .

In Kilmichael Glassary Parish, Argyll there is a small rock known as Clach Gharbh

A small rock visible at low water. Sig [Signification] Rough Stone

Extra infor : Clach Gharbh [note] Corr: Gael: [Correct Gaelic] (pronounced Clach Garv

Scotland Places, Argyll OS Name Books (1868-78) Vol. 17

There are a number of entries in Scotland’s Places which makes a reference to rough stone in relation to a named stone, including –

• The Cloch, a Standing Stone: a rough stone, in the circumference of a stony circle, commonly called the Cloach Stone. It is more than a foot thick, measures eight feet along the ground, and rises nearly six above its surface,’
• The Camp Stone: is a large rough Stone about 4 feet in height 8 feet long and two broad.
• Old Laird’s Stone: This name applies to a rough Stone of Considerable dimensions Said by Some to be spoken of in the Charters by which the Land is held it.

Although SSE rough is found in the place-namesf place-names in the parish of New Cumnock – Rough Hill, Rough Knowe, Rough Burn and Roughside (previously Ruchside), there is no Rough Stone / Rock.

2. Gaelic ceathramh ‘quarter-land’ and Gaelic clach ‘stone’

2.1 G. ceathramh nan clach ‘quarter land of the stones’

Sir Herbert Maxwell entry in ‘The Place-Names of Galloway’ for Garlaffin, Dalry reads G. ceathramh leth-pheighinn [carrow leyfin] half-penny land. Although Maxwell does not specifically define G. ceathramh as ‘quarter-land’, he does elsewhere with a number of other gar- names, e.g. Garlies, Garryaird, Garsalloch. Having said that, Garlaffin ‘quarter-land half-penny land’ seems unlikely [10].

Although W. J. Watson in ‘Celtic Place-Names of Scotland’ in discussing old land measures in Galloway includes Garleffin as an example of a half-penny land, he makes no reference to quarter-land. Indeed in his discussion on quarter-lands he remarks ‘the ceathramh or quarter is common usually as Kirrie-‘ [11].

Consequently, if Garleffan and Garclach share the same first element gar- , then it is more likely to be G. garbh ‘rough’ rather than G. ceathramh ‘quarter-land’.

2.2 G. ceathramh nan clach ‘quarterland of the stones’

Moving on from Garlaffen (and its variants Garlaffin, Garleffin) and returning to the place-name Garclaugh and a recent derivation of the name by Michael Ansell in ‘New Cumnock News’ Here he explains that ceathramh, a quarterland is the most commonly found land assessment unit in Galloway and continues [12] –

There is the possibility that there is one ceathramh place-name in New Cumnock parish – Meikle Garclaugh may represent ceathramh nan clach ‘quarterland of the stones’. Frequently with the place-name ceathramh, the ‘c’ sound is anglicised as ‘g’ and the terminal ‘amh’ gets dropped off.

Michael Ansell , New Cumnock News [12]

3. Gaelic garad ‘wall, fence’ and Gaelic clach ‘stone’

G. garad clach ‘stone wall, enclosure of stone wall’

For this third option, comparisons are again made with a place-name in the parish of Dalry, Kirkcudbrightshire, namely Garstubban. The Place-Names of Galloway Glens entry for Garstubban suggests the following elements [13] –

• G. garadh ‘wall, fence’, and perhaps therefore ‘place enclosed by such a wall’
• G. stob pl. stoban ‘stake, pointed thing, prickle, thorn, the stump of anything broken or cut’.

The first element identifies the presence of a fence while the second element describes the material of construction in this case Garstubban garad stoban is the ‘place enclosed by e.g. a wooden stake fence’.

In the same vein Garclach garad clach could be the ‘place enclosed by a stone wall’.

N.B. John Smith in ‘Prehistoric Man in Ayrshire’ considered the place-name Garclaugh ‘to probably mean the stone fort or grave‘ [14]. Perhaps stone fort was Smith’s interpretation of a stone enclosure while as for grave this may be from Gaelic gearr [15].

Putting the Clach in Garclach

There is no record of a standing stone or any other named stone or boulder in the lands of Garlcaugh. A stroll along the Garclaugh Burn from point 1 to point 2 in search of a potential stone (or stones) that may have influenced the name Garclaugh revealed some points of interest marekd as A to D on the map below.

A: Stone / Rock Outcrop

An impressive outcrop of rock on the west bank of the Garclaugh Burn which perhaps with horizontal striations as rough stone? The outcrop actually sits over the boundary fence between Little Garlcaugn actually sits over the fence that marks the boundary between the lands of Little Garclaugh and the lands of Street; which may or may not, be significant. N.B. it may be the case that Street and perhaps Glen were once part of the lands of Garclaugh.

B: Small circle of stones

There may well be a simple explanation for this feature, perhaps it is the remains of the base of a small kiln as the Mansfield estate was know for its extensive outcrops of limestone at Hall of Mansfield and Craigdullyeart (where remains of substantial lime kilsn can still be seen) as well as at Glen, further up the Garclaugh Burn. Whatever these stones signify it is probably not significant enough to have influenced the place-name Garclaugh. It appears on the LIDAR map which also shows how deep the glen of Garclaugh Burn is at this point.

C: Disused stane-dyke

The fields and hillsides of New Cumnock remain lined with stane-dykes including on the lands of Garclaugh where here too is found a disused stane-dyke running south from the Garclaugh Pendicle. Much of the stone no doubt was used again.

D: Pile of stones

Stones on a small wooded knowe. It may be case some of the stone had been cleared from other parts of the field. A fully functioning stane-dyke can be seen in the distance (see Photo 2).

Now to consider those early place-names Nether & Over Garclach as they evolve through time to the modern day names Meikle & Little Garlclaugh and in between times some local variants Big & Wee Garclaugh and the less common High & Low Garclaugh.

Nether Garclach / Garclaugh and Over Garclach / Garclaugh

The place-name elements Scots nether ‘lower’ [16] and Scots over ‘upper’ [17] are commonly used to distinguish between two places bearing the same name, with nether and over applying to the lower lying and upper lying properties respectively.

Baptism & Census Records

The Old Parish Records of births/baptism in the parish of New Cumnock cover the period (1707-1855). It should be noted that these are incomplete and over some periods the records do not include the place of birth.

Analysis of the entries in the register reveal that Garclaugh, as opposed to Garclach, has become the established form of the place-name with the first record appearing in 1707. Furthermore the vast majority of the records simply record Garclaugh, as the place of birth with no prefix. Indeed there are no entries for Over Garclaugh and the first and only entry for Nether Garlaugh appears in 1721. It seems that Over Garclaugh was simply known as Garclaugh during this period.

• 1707, Sep 7 | George, son to Thomas Campbell and ? Herbert in Garclaugh
• 1721, April 16 | Thomas & John, twins John Howatson & Margaret Bifset in Nether Garclaugh

The name Little Garclaugh appears for the first time in the baptism records of 1814, replacing Nether Garclaugh.

By the 1841 Census Records the two properties are referred to Garclaugh and Little Garclaugh while in 1851 they are recorded as Garclough and Little Garclough.

Landowners in 18/19th century

The lands of Garclaugh changed hands a number of times during the 18th/19th century [13 place-name Mansfield [18,19]

In the early 1790’s, Sir James Stirling, a former provost of Edinburgh ‘purchased the estate of Garrieve or Gartlochs (pronounced Garclaugh), in the parish of New Cumnock, Ayrshire, and changed the name to Mansfield’, in honour of his wife Alison Mansfield.

Later the lands were acquired by John Buchan Esquire Stirling who in turn put these up for sale in 1804 including the ‘farms of Garrive, Meikle and Little Garclaugh‘ – the earliest record of the current names found thus far. These were then purchased by Andrew Thomson Esq. of Mansfield and Castlemains and later passed to his niece Catherine Thomson of Mansfield and Castlemains.

in 1827 ‘The lands of Garrieve and Garclaugh (Eastmost Part of the Estate of Mansfield)‘ were purchased by Sir Charles Granville Stuart Menteath Esq. of Closeburn (Dumfriesshire) later to be 1st Baronet of Closeburn & Mansfield.

Meikle Garclaugh and Little Garclaugh

Through time the pair of place-names Nether Garclach and Over Garclach evolved into Meikle Garclaugh and Little Garclaugh with the pre-fixes effectively serving the same purpose, i.e differentiating two properties sharing same name, albeit it in this case differentiated in terms of scale of the properties rather than location.

This transformation also reflected in the Nether Creoch and Little Creoch to Meikle Creoch and Little Creoch.

Meikle Garclaugh

Scots meikle ‘big’ + Place-Name: Garclaugh

The entry in the Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) for Meikle Garclaugh gives little detail other than names of the owner and tenant of the property, although the tenant should read John Houston.

A farm house, the property of Sir James Menteith, occupied by James Houston*.

The entry for meikle in the Dictionaries of the Scots Language [20] and that of its counter-part little (see below) explains the transformation, during the 18th and 19th century, of distinguishing lands sharing the same name by their size, significance of the lands rather than by their location.

MUCKLE, adj., adv., n. Also mei(c)kle, meikill, 5. In farm names, freq. of the larger of the two farms made up of unequal portions of an older settlement in the general agricultural reconstruction of the 18th and 19th c. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1763 Caled. Mercury (19 Oct.) 504: The Two Oxgates of Little and Meikle Blackmiddins.

In the case of Meikle Garcalugh the transformation goes Nether > Over > no prefix > Meikle.

Certainly the acreage of Meikle Garclaugh is significantly greater than that of Little Garclaugh.

Little Garclaugh

Standard Scottish English little ‘little’ + Place-Name: Garclaugh

Just, as in the case of Meikle Garclaugh the entry in the Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) for Little Garclaugh gives little detail other than names of the owner and tenant of the property, and here too they have mixed up the tenant’s name which should read James Houston. The entry in the Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) for Little Garclaugh reads-

A farm house, the property of Sir James Menteith, occupied by John Houston*

The entry for little in the Dictionaries of the Scots Language [21] and that of its counter-part little (see below) explains the transformation, during the 18th and 19th century, of distinguishing lands sharing the same name by the size, significance of the lands rather than by their location.

LITTLE adj. 1. (1) As opposed to meikle: younger or less important in rank or status, etc. Common in farm-names, freq. of the lesser of two farms made up of unequal portions of an older settlement in the general agricultural reconstruction of the 18th and 19th c. Gen.Sc. For quots. cf

The farm is better known locally as Wee Garclaugh, Scots wee ‘small, little’ [22].

Garclaugh Pendicle

Place-Name : Garclaugh + Scots pendicle ‘a small holding’

The entry in the Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) for Garclaugh Pendicle reads-

A small feu on the roadside, 22 chains E. N. E. [East North East] of Little Garclaugh, the property of Sir James Menteith

Pendicle A small piece of ground -An appendage – in Jamieson

The entry for pendicle in the Dictionary of Scots language reads [23] –

PENDICLE, n. Also pendikle, penticle 2. Specif.: (1) a small piece of ground forming part of a larger holding or farm and freq. let to a sub-tenant (Sc. 1825 Jam.; m. and s.Sc. 1965). Often applied as a place-name to small pieces of ground, orig. pendicles but now detached and independent.

Garclaugh Pendicle was situated on the lands of Meikle Garclaugh but nothing now remains of the cottage.

At some time it became known as Sharp’s Cottage, the earliest written record thus far uncovered being the 1901 Census Records where it appears as Sharp Cottage and thereafter in the Valuations 1905-1940 as Sharp’s Cottage.

Although the surname Sharp is known within the parish of New Cumnock there is no record of a family of that name residing specifically on the lands of Garclaugh. However, there are records of widower Thomas Sharpe and his family on the Mansfield Estate. He was born at Closeburn, Dumfriesshire in 1805/06 and since the Stuart-Menteth family were Baronets of Closeburn & Mansfield it is likely he was a tenant of theirs at Closeburn some time before he later settled at Mansfield in 1846/1847.

The family headstone in the Auld Kirkyard, New Cumnock records that his daughter Jane Kellock Sharp died at Mansfield Cottage on 8th March 1847 and when the stone was erected ‘In Memory …’ to his wife Elisabeth Moffat d. 1846, son Thomas d. 1844 both at ????? and daughter Elizabeth, 9th July 1846 at Closeburn [24]. N.B. all the references to the family have the surname in the form Sharp.

Thomas appears in successive Census Records 1851-1881 (alongside with various members of his family where the surname is given in the form Sharpe and some co-tenants)

• 1851: Thomas Sharpe 46, agricultural labourer, Mansfield House
• 1861: Thomas Sharpe 55, gardener, Mansfield House
• 1871: Thomas Sharpe 63, labourer, Mansfield Cottage
• 1881: Thomas Sharpe 75, gardener, domestic servant, Mansfield Cottage

Thomas died at Closeburn in 1890, aged 90 and lies at rest in the Auld Kirkyard, with the name Sharp carved on his headstone.

Mansfield Cottage and Garclaugh Pendicle sit on opposite sides of the same road only 500 yards apart. Perhaps before the elderly Thomas Sharp(e) returned to his native Closeburn, he spent his final years of serving the Mansfield estate residing the pendicle and perhaps it became known as Sharp’s Cottage? However, it may well be the case that is named after andother Sharp family, and possibly from New Cumnock.

Those that lived at the Garclaugh Pendicle / Sharp’s Cottage covered a variety of occupations. The Valuation Roll (VR) of 1895 recorded John Hutchison, pointsman as the tenant, a reminder that the Glasgow and South Western Railway line cut through the lands of Garclaugh, with New Cumnock Railway Station 2 miles to the west further up the line. In the aforementioned 1901 Census Records the residents, at Sharp’s Cottage were Samuel Cuthbertson and his wife Margaret Cunningham; he too worked on the railway, as a surfaceman, having previously worked as a shepherd at the nearby farm of Merkland. The remaining Vauation Rolls recorded the following tenants of Sharp Cottage’s James Shankland, farm assistant; Andrew Noble, ploughman; Thomas McHarg, byreman; John Todd, ploughman and Robert McCulloch (no occupation recorded).

Houston family

John Houston, born in Old Cumnock, and his wife Mary Cook settled at Little Garcalugh where in 1824 their first child James was born and two years later a daughter Elizabeth was born at Garclaugh (presumably Meikle Garclaugh). Four more children were born at Little Garclaugh – Janet I (1829), Janet II (1831), John (1833) and Mary (1835). Their remaining three children were all born at Garclaugh (i.e. Meikle) – William (1838) and twins Wilhelmina (1841) and Janet III (1841).

As well as John & Mary and their six surviving children other members of the Houston family appear in the 1841 Census Record of Garclaugh including his elder brother David Houston and his nephew William Hunter, born at Little Garclaugh, son of his sister Elizabeth Houston and John Hunter.

By the 1851 Census, John & Mary were living at Garclaugh with their three surviving daughters (twin Janet passed away), his brother David and two servants on a farm of 180 acres. Meanwhile their eldest son James, agricultural labourer, had married Helen Hastings and they were living at Little Garclaugh with their first three children John (1848), Janet (1849) and James (1851)

In the 1861 Census, John Houston was described as a ‘farmer of 200 acres’ while his son James Houston had progressed to being ‘a farmer of 104 acres’ at Little Garclaugh.

John Houston, passed away in December of that year and a few years later the Dairy Farms of Meikle Garclaugh, Little Garclaugh and The Glen on the estate of Mansfield, the property of Sir J. Stuart Menteth, Bart. were put up for let [25] –

‘These Farms extend to 403 Imperial Acres or thereby whereof 56 Acres or thereby are Meadow. They are beautifully situated on the Banks of the River Nith, have a Southerly exposure, and are divided into suitably sized fields. There are three excellent Steadings on the Lands capable of accommodating aboot 70 cows besided young Cattle. The Meadows produce a large quantity of Hay of the best quality , which may be greatly increased by top dressing

The Stirling Observer , Thursday, May 29, 1863

Meanwhile James Houston and his family moved to the nearby Mansfield Cottages while another Houston family, John Houston and his wife Grace Shankland settled at Little Garclaugh.

Baird family

John Baird, a farmer from Sorn took up residence at Meikle Garlcaugh and in 1866 he married Flora Mitchell, dairymaid from Auchinleck. Together they had eight children -Thomas (1870), Mary (1872), Andrew (1874) , John (1877), Hugh (1880), William (1884) , Gilbert (1885) and Christina (1887). The Baird dynasty farmed Meikle Garclaugh for some 60 years with sons Andrew, John and Gilbert succeeding their father who passed away in 1900, while later Andrew and Gilbert would also take on the running of Little Garclaugh.

The family had quickly gained a local reputation for the cheese produced on the farm and national recognition by the Ayrshire Breeders Association as one of the top dairy herds in Britain [26]. Ayrshires were exported across the world and the Garclaugh Herd’s reputation went global after one of its cows, Garclaugh May Mischief (born 1906), exported to the USA, held a world’s record lactation of 25,329 lbs milk, 894 lbs fat [27].

In 1923 it was a bull from the Garcalugh herd heading from New Cumnock to New Zealand [28] –

Three years later the Argentine market was looking promising. Six heifers were exported from Maybole accompanied by the bull – Garclaugh Harold Lloyd (his sire Garclaugh Attraction; his dam Garclauch Sweet Peat 3rd) bred by Gilbert Baird [29].

The name Garclaugh travelled the world!

By this time Gilbert and his wife Mary Armstrong were resident at Meikle Garclaugh with Little Garclaugh now home to William Lambie, retired farmer and Daniel Craig, retired shepherd. However, the Baird era at Garclaugh was about to come to a close and the Bairds settled at Glenside farm in the parish of Auchinleck on lands owned by Dumfries House estate.

In the 1928 those managing the Mansfield Estate announced that ‘FIRST CLASS FARMS are TO BE LET, namely MANSFIELD MAINS, MEIKLE GARCLAUGH AND LITTLE GARCLAUGH’ and described the farms as ‘famous for carrying the best Ayrshire Stock in Scotland‘.

The following descriptions of Meikle Garclaugh and Little Garclaugh were carried in the newspaper [30]

MEIKLE GARCLAUGH. Acreage 196, of which 49 acres are Meadow Land and the rest Pasture and Arable. There is a Byre Accommodation for 90 Head of Cattle, Stable with 4 Stalls, Dairy, Cheese Loft &c. The Farmhouse contains 3 Public Rooms, 3 Bedrooms and Bathroom. There is an addtional Cottage* for Labourer with Two Living Rooms . The present tenant** has given notice of termination of his lease and is not an offerer.

• *additional Cottage is Sharp’s Cottage (Garclaugh Pendicle)
• **present tenan Gilbert Baird had fiven notice.

LITTLE GARCLAUGH. Acreage 97, of which 15 Acred are Meadow Land and the balance Pasture and Arable. There is Byre Accommodation for 41 Head of Cattle, Stable with 3 Stalls, Dairy, Cheese Loft &c. The House contains 3 Public Rooms and 3 Bedrooms

Brothers William and Thomas McClelland, both born at Sorbie, Wigtownshire moved into Little Garclaugh and had previously worked on a farmed tenanted by their father at Balmaghie, Kirkcudbrightshire

McClounie Family

The McClelland’s new neighbours at Meikle Garlaugh were James McClounie his wife Susan Malcolm and their children Margaret, Thomas and William; having moved some 8 miles up the River Nith from Carco Mains in the neighbouring parish of Kirkconnel.

Soon neighbours became family following the marriage in 1934 of Margaret McClounie, Big Garclaugh and William McClelland, Little Garclaugh. Two years later her brother William McLounie married Elizabeth Hyslop from Polshill farm on the other side of the River Nith; the form Big Garclaugh again used on the McClounie marriage certificate.

Descendants of the McClounie family continue to live and work at Meikle Garclaugh to this day. and as well as the farm they also manage a business focused on ‘The Development of Building Programmes’. One of these programmes included the farmhouse itself where it now has a stunning extension built from the stone taken from the meticulous demolishment of the long abandoned St. Margaret’s R.C. Church, that that stood at the Legate since 1883.

Some years later another long abandonded church, the Arthur Memorial United Free Church was demolished by the company. This church had been built in 1912 to replace the orginal Free Church erected in 1843 at the time of the Disruption of the Church of Scotland. During the demolition the church bell was recovered and so too a time capsule enclosed in a cavity stone. The family kindly invited Helen Cuthbert, minister of New Cumnock Parish Church and Bobby Guthrie, local history enthusiast to Meikle Garclaugh to witness the opening of the time capsule which not only contained artefacts from 1912 but also those that had been recovered from the 1843 time capsule including coins of the realm, newspapers, magazine and church documents [31].

There was however a much older connection between the Arthur Memorial Church and the lands of Garclaugh. The church was built from money left to the congregation by William Arthur, farmer at Wellhill who was married to the aforementioned Elizabeth Houston, eldest daughter of John Houston and Mary Cook, born Meikle Garclaugh [32].

The McLounie family also kindly invited Viv and Neil Smith to the farm on their trip from Australia to visit the farms of Neil’s ancestor Ivie Campbell, including Meikle Garclaugh where Ivie was born in 1754 . This Campbell line would go to one of the leading farmers in the parish [33].

Two year’s later Ivie’s sister Helen Campbell was also born at Meikle Garclaugh and she married Thomas Laidlaw. Their daughter, also Helen, married William Hunter, born at Little Garclaugh, son of Elizabeth Houston and John Hunter. William later lived at Meikle Garclaugh working for his uncle John Houston. From here he found work as a Cheese & Grain merchant at Pathhead before becoming an agent for the City of Glasgow Bank. The Hunter family established themselves as leading merchants in New Cumnock and in 2005 William’s great great grandson Tom Hunter was knighted for ‘services to Philanthropy and to Entrepreneurship in Scotland’. [34]

Garclaugh Burn

Place-Name : Garclaugh + Scots burn ‘stream’

The entry in the Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) for Garclaugh Burn reads-

A burn rising on the E [East] side of Corson Cone and flowing S. S. W. [South South West] into the river Nith

The burn [35] actually rises on the west facing side of Corsencon Hill and runs parallel with the road that passes the cottages of Craigdullyeart (in ruins), Glen and Street (in ruins) albeit somewhat deeper down in a narrow glen which undoubtedly gave its name to the aforementioned Glen. Forestry now blocks views of much of the burn from the road. The burn then descends slowly toward Low Garclaugh Bridge (see below) and just before it reaches the bridge it crosses the boundary between the lands of Street and Little Garclaugh. After passing under the bridge, it soon disappears from view in a gorge heavily wooded with deciduous trees on both banks. The burn then continues down the hill then takes a 90-degree dog-leg turn before flowing under the Glasgow-Carlisle railway line and finally joining the River Nith.

Presumably the bridge is named for its proximity to Little Garclaugh farm which perhaps was thought to be called Low Garclaugh, although the Valution Rolls of 1895 record Little Garclaugh. N.B.there is no record of an equivalent High Garclaugh for Meikle Garclaugh. The banks of the burn at either side of the bridge are lined with deciduous trees.

Low Garclaugh Bridge

Place-Name : Low Garclaugh + S.S.E. bridge ‘bridge’

The road bridge over the Garlcaugh Burn is not recorded in the Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) and hence is not named in the editions of the Ordance Survey Maps. However, it makes an appearance in the next edition of Ordnance Survey Map (1895) where it is named as Low Garclaugh Bridge. Typically bridges take their name from the burn or river that they cross over, in which case Garclaugh Bridge may have been expected. However, occasionally the bridge is named after a nearby farm, like Corsoncone Bridge just less than a mile down the same road, in which case Little Garlcaugh Bridge may have been expected.

The name Low Garclaugh Bridge suggests that those at the time of naming the bridge may have considered the two Garclauch properties as’ High & Low’ Garclaugh (as opposed to ‘Meikle & Little’ or even ‘Big & Wee’), although as yet this form of the name has not been found in the other usual reords – Valuation Rolls, Census, Births,, Marriages and Deaths.

The bridge

References

[1] James Paterson, History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton Volume I Kyle, Part two (1871, 2003 Edition) | Dunbars of Mochrum and Cumnock

[2] Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum |RMS/ii#1602 Translation courtesy of Stuart Clarkson, Guelph, Ontario

[3] Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum|RMS/ii#1983

[4] Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum|RMS/iii#1973 Translation courtesy of Stuart Clarkson, Guelph, Ontario

[5] James Paterson ‘Histories of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton, Volume 1, Kyle part two, p.327 (1863, The Grimsay Press Edition 2003)

[6] Rev. John Warrick, History of Old Cumnock (1899)

[7] Edward Dwelly, Ilustrated Gaelic-Engish Dictionary | clach

[8] New Cumnock Place-Names |Garrif (in progress)

[9] Place-names of Kirkcudbrightshire. 2023. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. https://kcb-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk | Garlaffin

[10] Sir Herbert Maxwell, The Place-Names of Galloway | Garlaffin,Garlies, Garryaird, Garsalloch.

[11] W. J. Watson, Celtic Place-Names of Scotland |Garleffin

[12] Michael Ansell, New Cumnock News Issue 7, Winter 2020, New Cumnock Place-names III

[13] Place-names of Kirkcudbrightshire. 2023. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. https://kcb-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk | Garstubban

[14] John Smith, Prehistoric Man in Ayrshire

[15] Edward Dwelly, Ilustrated Gaelic-Engish Dictionary | gearr

[16] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. | nether

[17] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. | over

[18] New Cumnock History | Heritors: Miss Honyman

[19] New Cumnock History | Heritors: Stuart-Menteth

[20] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |meikle

[21] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |little

[22] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |wee

[23] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |pendicle

[24] Cumnock and Doon Valley Monumental Descriptions | New Cumnock Old Cemetery:Headstone No. 392

[25] The British Newspaper Archive |The Stirling Observer , Thursday, May 29, 1863

[26] Iain Baird, My Father was a Farmer in New Cumnock, Choir Press 2018

[27] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Dairy Cattle Breeds, Farmers’ Bulletin No. 1443,

[28] Northland Age, Volume 23, Issue 10, 25 June 1923 | Enterprising Ayrshire Breeders Reproduced for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

[29] The British Newspaper Archive |The Scotsman, Monday 18 October 1926

[30] The British Newspaper Archive |The Scotsman, Saturday, 25 August, 1928

[31] New Cumnock Heritage | Arthur Memorial Time Capsules

[32] New Cumnock Heritage | Auld Kirkyard Discovery Trail: William Arthur

[33] New Cumnock Heritage | Auld Kirkyard Discovery Trail: Ivie Campbell

[34] New Cumnock Heritage | Auld Kirkyard Discovery Trail: William Hunter

[35] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. | burn

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Maps

Reproduced with the Permission of National Library of Scotland

https://maps.nls.uk/

Map 2: Ordnance Survey, One-inch to the mile maps of Scotland, 2nd Edition – 1885-1900 (1895) | New Cumnock

Map 3: Timothy Pont,[Nithsdale; part of Teviotdale] – Pont 35 (1583-1596) | Garclacch

Map 4: Joan Blaeu , Nithia Vicecomitatus, The Shirifdome of Nidis-dail / auctore Timotheo Pont (1654)| Garclacch

Map 5: Roy Military Survey of Scotland, 1747-1755 | Girk Loch, N. Girk Loch

Map 6: Joan Blaeu, Coila Provincia, [or], The province of Kyle / auct. Timoth. Pont (1654) |N. GarclacH, O. Garueclach

Map 7: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882 (1866) | Clach Gharbh

Map 8: Ordnance Survey National Grid maps, 1944-1972 (1961) |Little Garclaugh, Garclaugh Burn

Map 9: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1949 (1895) | small stone circle Crown Copyright Scottish Government SEPA, Fugro & Scottish Water (2011-12)

Map 10: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1960 (OS 1895) | Meikle Garclaugh, Little Garclaugh

Map 11: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1855-1882 (1856)| Meikle Garclaugh

Map 12: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1855-1882 (1856)|Little Garclaugh

Map 13: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1855-1882 (1856)|Garclaugh Pendicle

Map 14: Ordnance Survey, One-inch to the mile maps of Scotland, 2nd Edition – 1885-1900 (1895) | Garclaugh Burn

Map 15: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1949 (1895) | Low Garclaugh Bridge

Ordnance Survey Name Books

By Permission of Scotland’s Places

scotlandsplaces.gov.uk

Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49|Meikle Garclaugh

Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| Little Garclaugh

Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49|Garclaugh Pendicle

Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49|Garclaugh Burn

Argyll OS Name Books (1868-78) Vol. 17 | Clach Gharbh

Kincardineshire OS Name Books (1863) Vol. 04|The Cloch

Perthshire OS Name Books (1859-62) Vol. 37|The Camp Stone

Wigtownshire OS Name Books (1845-49) Vol. 19 | Old Laird’s Stone