| Place-name: | Knockburnie |
| Suggested Meaning: | hill of the moist place |
| 1st element: | Gaelic cnoc ‘hill’ |
| 2nd element: | Gaelic braonoch ‘moist place’ |
| Place-name: | Knockburnie Cottage |
| Place-Name: Knockburnie + SSE cottage ‘cottage’ | |
| Place-Name: | Knockburnie Burn |
| Place-Name: Knockburnie + S. burn ‘stream’ | |
| Place-Name: | Knockburnie Glen |
| Place-Name: Knockburnie + S. glen ‘a valley traversed by a stream’’ | |
| Place-Name: | Knockburnie Bridge |
| Place-Name: Knockburnie + SSE bridge ‘bridge’ | |
| Blaeu Coila (1654): | Knokburny, Knockburny b., Scheles of Knocburny |
| OS Name Books (1855-57): | |
| Location: | Ordnance Survey (1893-1960) |
| Earlier forms |
| Knocbyrny (1384,1427), Knapburny (1426), Knypburny (1427), Knockburney (1631), Knokburny and Knocburny (1645) |
Knocbyrny
In 1374 Lord Alan Cathcart inherited the baronies of Sundrum and Dalmellington through his wife Margaret Wallace, sister of Sir Duncan Wallace. Ten years later he entered into a written agreement with Roger Craufurd of Dalelglis in which he renounced the following 10 merk lands in his barony of Dalmellington in return for £46 13s 4d with the intention of paying back the money within an agreed period of time and recovering his lands [1].
At Edinburgh, 31 May (1427).
Register of the Great Seal, vol. II, #90 (translation):
THE KING confirmed a certain indenture,- [in which Lord Alan of Kethkert knight, lord of the same, pledged and offered the title of pledge (?) and renounced to ROGER of CRAUFURDE lord of Daleglis,-his own 10 merk lands in his barony of Dalmelyntoun, in the sheriffdom of Air, viz. the farthing land of Benbane, the obulatam (?) land of Drumcalder, the farthing land of Lathanis, the farthing land of Molynnach, the farthing land of Dalwar, the farthing land of Rewach, the obulatam land of Knocbyrny, the farthing land of Marchaleholme,- for Ł46 13s. 4d. sterling; which the said Roger paid to the said Alan as necessary:
See Appendix
Evidently these lands were recovered by Cathcart and were later held by a branch of the family known as Cathcart of Waterhead, resident at Waterhead Castle on the upper reaches of the River Nith. In a sasine of 12th May 1631 ‘two merkland of Knockburney‘ is recorded as one of the properties making up the 9 merk-lands of Waterhead [2].
Knapburn, Knypburny
In 1406 the name appears in the form Knapburny and Knypburny [3] where the first element appears in the form similar to knap ‘lump, knob’, cf. The Knipe [4].
REX confirmavit quasdam literas Johannis de Crawfurd de Drongane, in vulgari ser- mono, — [qua concessit JOHANNI DE SCHAW de Hale et Heredibus ejus, — terras de Marsielmerk, de Knapbyrny, Mulenach, et de Lethanys, in baronia de Dalmelytoun, vie. Are : — Apud Are, Nov. 16, 1406, sub hac forma subsequente :Be it kend til al men thrwch thir present letteris me Jon off Crawfurd, lord off Drongane, til haf gewin and til haf grantit and be thir my present letteris gifis and grantis til Jon of tho Schaw, lord of the Hale, and til hys ayris, in fe and heritage, al and syndry the landis of Marsielmerk, of Knypbyrny, of the Mulenach and of the Lethanys wyth the pertineutis lyand wythin the barony of Dalmelyntoun wythin the schyrrafedome of Are, quhil tha landis fra me or myn ayris be lauchfully racoverit be the ayris of Schyr Alan of Cathkert
Register of the Great Seal, vol. II, #89:
Blaeu’s map shows Knokburny farm and Knockburny b. (burn) as well as the ‘Scheles of Knocburny’ beyond the source of the burn, probably a shepherd’s bothy [5], on the lands of Knockburnie.
The Ordnance Survey map below shows 1. Knockburnie Farm 2. Knockburnie Cottage 3. Knockburnie Burn 4. Knockburnie Glen 5. Knockburnie Bridge while 6. is the proposed original Knockburnie cnoc braonoch ‘hill of the moist place’.
Knockburnie
Gaelic cnoc braonach ‘hill of the moist place’
The Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Knockburnie reads –
A farm house and offices in the occupation of James Laurie – the property of Sir John Cathcart –
Gaelic cnoc ‘hill’
Knockburnie is one of five knock- names in the parish where the first element is Gaelic cnoc ‘hill’ [6] which represents an eminence of no great height. Although there is an entry for Knockburnie Hill in the Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-1857) it has been left blank and Knockburnie Hill is not shown on any Ordnance Survey maps.
Knockburnie Hill may be that part of Peat Hill that sits between Spout Burn and Knockburnie Burn or possibly was renamed Peat Hill at some later time.
Gaelic braonach ‘moist place’
W. J. Watson [7] explains that Gaelic braon ‘a drizzle, ooze’ leads to Gaelic braonach ‘a moist place’, while the dative-locative is braonaigh which becomes birnie in Scots by the usual metathesis.
The term ‘ooze’ is also one that could be applied to Spout Burn, since Scots spout ‘a spring of water issuing naturally from the ground’ [8]. The burn rises on Peat Hill and joins Knockburnie Burn just behind Knockburnie farm.
Knockburnie Cottage
Place-Name: Knockburnie + Standard Scottish English cottage ‘cottage’
The Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Knockburnie Cottage reads –
A Cottage on the public road from New Cumnock to Dalmellington Occupied by William Gemmel, GameKeeper
Dalmellington-born William Gemmell was resident at Knockburnie Cottage at the time of the 1851 Census and some time before the next census his sister Mary Gemmell lived there as his housekeeper. Gemmel was the gamekeper for the Waterhead Estate.
Nothing now remains of Knockburnie Cottage that once sat at the clump of trees shown below.
Knockburnie Burn
Place-Name: Knockburnie + Scots burn ‘stream’
The Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Knockburnie Burn reads –
A rivulet – the Continuation of Rough Burn – flowing through a deep rocky Ravine and passing by Knockburnie, runs into same* Burn.
* should read Lane Burn (R.Guthrie)
The ‘rivulet’ is of course better known as Scots burn ‘stream’ [9] and takes its name from the place-name Knockburnie.
Rough Burn [10] rises between Logan Hill and Enoch Hill about 2.5 miles south of Knockburnie farm . However in 2nd and later editions of the Ordnance Survey maps the name Rough Burn no longer appears and the burn simply referred to a Knockburnie Burn.
Before reaching Knockburnie farm, the burn flows through a ‘deep rocky ravine, which is known as Knockburnie Glen, see below.
After flowing under the Knockburnie Bridge (see below_ on the New-Cumnock-Dalmellington road the burn heads north-east for a short while before heading due north to meet with Lane Burn. However today Knockburnie Burn continues north-east to join an unnamed burn before meeting Lane Burn, much further downstream.
Knockburnie Glen
Place-Name: Knockburnie + Scots glen ‘ravine, dell’
The Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Knockburnie Glen reads –
A deep ravine through which flows Knockburnie Burn
Although Scots glen is typically associated with a valley and a river of the same name, for example, Glen Afton and Afton Water it can also be applied to a ravine associated with a sammler burn, as in the case with Knockburnie Glen and Knockburnie Burn [10] .
GLEN, n. 1. A valley or hollow gen. traversed by a stream or river, usually but not necessarily narrow and with steep sides; in longer rivers connoting the mountain valley in the upper reaches as opposed to the strath or broader vale below; in small streams, a dell or ravine, a den.
Knockburnie Glen is a particularly impressive example of a dell or a ravine.
Knockburnie Bridge
Place-Name: Knockburnie + SSE bridge ‘bridge’
Knockburnie Bridge is not named in the 1st Edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1856) but does appear in later editions.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
| References |
| [1] Register of the Great Seal, vol. II, #90. (Thank you to Stuart Clarkson, Guelph, Ontario for the translation) |
| [2] The Scottish Jurist: Containing Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Courts of Scotland, Volume 15 , 1843| page 6 |
| [3] Register of the Great Seal, vol. II, #89. |
| [4] New Cumnock Place-Name | The Knipe |
| [5] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. | schele |
| [6] Edward Dwelly , Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary | cnoc |
| [7] W. J. Watson ‘The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland’, p189 |
| [8] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd.| spout |
| [9] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd.|burn |
| [10] New Cumnock Place-Names | Rough Burn (in progress) |
| [11] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. | glen |
| Maps |
| Reproduced with the Permission of the National Library of Scotland |
| https://maps.nls.uk/ |
| Map 1: Joan Blaeu, Coila Provincia, [or], The province of Kyle / auct. Timoth. Pont,.Blaeu Atlas of Scotland (1654) | Knokburny, Knocburny |
| Map 2: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1960 (1894) |Knockburnie |
| Map 3: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1949 (1894) | Knockburnie Cottage |
| Map 4: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882 (1857) | Rough Burn and Knockburnie Burn |
| Map 5: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882 (1850-57) | Knockburnie Burn |
| Map 6: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1949 | Knockburnie Burn |
| Map 7: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1949 | Knockburnie Bridge |
| Ordnance Survey Name Books |
| By Permission of Scotland’s Places |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49|Knockburnie, Knockburnie Cottage |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49 | Knockburnie Burn, Knockburnie Glen |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49 | Knockburnie Hill |
| Scotland’s People |
| https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk |
| Old Parish Records, Births, Marriages, Deaths, Census Records, Valuations Rolls, Wills & Testaments |
| Place-names | Sources |
| Knocbyrny (1374/1427) | Register of the Great Seal, vol. II, #90. (Thank you to Stuart Clarkson, Guelph, Ontario for the translation) |
| Knocburney (1631) | The Scottish Jurist: Containing Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Courts of Scotland, Volume 15 , 1843| page 6 |
| Knocburny, Knokburny (1654) | Blaeu Atlas of Scotland (1654) Coila Provincia, [or], The province of Kyle / auct. Timoth. Pont. |
| Knockbirnie (1726) | Testament Dative and Inventory, Glasgow Commissary Court, CC9/7/52 |Andrew Mitchell, 11/08/1726 |
Appendix
At Edinburgh, 31 May (1427).
Register of the Great Seal, vol. II, #90 (translation):
THE KING confirmed a certain indenture,- [in which Lord Alan of Kethkert knight, lord of the same, pledged and offered the title of pledge (?) and renounced to ROGER of CRAUFURDE lord of Daleglis,-his own 10 merk lands in his barony of Dalmelyntoun, in the sheriffdom of Air, viz. the farthing land of Benbane, the obulatam (?) land of Drumcalder, the farthing land of Lathanis, the farthing land of Molynnach, the farthing land of Dalwar, the farthing land of Rewach?, the obulatam land of Knocbyrny, the farthing land of Marchaleholme,- for Ł46 13s. 4d. sterling; which the said Roger paid to the said Alan as necessary:- to be held by the said Roger and Elisabeth his spouse and the longer living of them and their heirs and assignees from the said Alan, his heirs and assignees, until such time as the said Alan and his heirs or assignees shall have paid Ł46 13s. 4d. upon the high altar in the kirk of St. Conval of Cumnock on one Sunday between the sunrise and setting next following the one festival of the birth of the blessed John the Baptist (ie 24 June):- also the said Alan yielded to the said Roger and Elisabeth and their said all farms and proficua (?profits) of the said lands, having been levied in the meantime, for counsel and aid :- returning to the said Roger and Elisabeth one secta (?vote) at the three head courts annually held at Dalmelyntoun, with an annual return of 2 merks, 1d. :- Moreover if they shall have been expelled from the said lands, Alan obliged himself, his heirs, etc, and all his lands of Cathkert and Sondrum, etc … . At Sundrum Tuesday next after the feast of the birth of the Lord 1384]:- witnessed by John bishop of Glasgow chancellor, John Forstare chamberlain, Robert of Lawedre knight, justiciar; Walter of Ogilby treasurer.
NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY 