| Place-name: | Knockenlee |
| Suggested Meaning: | Gaelic cnoc an liath ‘grey hill’ |
| element | Gaelic cnoc ‘hill’ |
| ELEMENT | Gaelic liath ‘grey’ |
| Place-Name: | Knockenlee Burn |
| Place-Name: Knockenlee +Scots burn ‘stream’ | |
| Place-Name: | Knockenlee Bridge |
| Place-Name: Knockenlee + SSE bridge ‘bridge’ | |
| Blaeu Coila (1654): | N/A |
| OS Name Books (1855-57): | Knockenlee Burn, Knockenlee Bridge |
| Location: | Ordnance Survey (1857) |
| Other Forms |
| Knockinlee (1838) |
Knockenlee
The place-name Knockenlee appears to comprise the Gaelic elements cnoc ‘hill, knoll, hillock’ [1] and liath ‘grey,grey-coloured’ [2] giving Gaelic cnoc an liath ‘grey hill’. However, there is no hill named Knockenlee Hill or Grey Hill in the vicinity.
Knockenlee Burn
Place-Name: Knockenlee and Scots burn ‘stream’ [3]
The Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Knockenlee Burn reads-
A rivulet rising west of Flush and flowing eastwards falls into the Nith at Knockenlee Bridge.
Knockenlee Burn presumably takes its name from a hill of that name in the area between Flush [4] and its meeting with the River Nith.
Below is a small stretch of Knockenlee Burn and a decorative foot bridge (i.e. not Knockenlee Bridge) which then flows under the road beyond to join the River Nith.
Knockenlee Bridge
Place-Name: Knockenlee and Standard Scottish English bridge ‘bridge’
The Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Knockenlee Bridge reads-
A Small Bridge of one arch on the River Nith on the Dalmellington and New Cumnock Trust Road.
It is kept in Repair by the County (of Ayr).
It is interesting to note that Knockenlee Bridge does not cross the Knocklenlee Burn, in line with the usual convention for naming bridges, but is ‘a small bridge of one arch on the River Nith‘. The bridge therefore may have taken its name from its location in the vicnity of the lost name of Knockenlee (hill). Indeed, when Nith Cottage, later to be named Nith Lodge, was built to the west of the River Nith and to north of the Dalmellington – New Cumnock road, its address was given as Knockenlee Bridge, New Cumnock.
Only a fragment of the small bridge remains this can be seen from the north side of the current bridge.
There was a signifcant twist on the Dalmellington to New Cumnock road as it approached the bridge. The road was straightened and a new bridge built over the River Nith which was duly named Nith Bridge in accordance with bridge-naming convention. Knockenlee Bridge no more!
Knockinlee farm
Old Parish Reords (Scotland’s People)
The Old Parish Records of Baptisms for the Parish of New Cumnock includes the entries –
- 1814, June 27 – William, (born the 20th) L. Son to John Morrison and Mary Williamson in Knockinlee
- 1816, December 31, Agness, (born January 7th*) L. D. to John Morrison and May Williamson in Knockenlee
- 1819, December 10 (born 17th January* )Rachel L. D. John Morrison and May Williamson in Knockenlee
*The baptism / birth dates appeared to have been mixed up. The following two children of this couple were born at nearby Rigg.
The farmstead of Knockinlee appears on ‘Johnston’s map of the county of Ayr, by A.E. Thomson 1838) on the road side, down the hill from Maneight farm, as the New Cumnock – Dalmellington road descends steeply to the bridge over the Nith.
Census Records (Scotland’s People)
- In 1841 Duncan Bone, 25, farmer & Margaret Bone, along with their son Ebenezer (born at neighbouring Maneight) and James Hyslop, 14, agricultural labourer were living at Knockenlee.
- In 1851 William McDonald, 41 & Barbara Hyslop, 45 along with their children Euphemia, 9, Margaret 7, Janet, 4 and son James, 1, were living at Knockenlee.
The farmstead is not recorded in the OS Name Books (1855-57) and does not appear the OS maps that followed. There is no sign of a ruin between Maneight and River Nith on the OS Map 25 inch 1st Edition (surveyed 1856 ).
In Search of Knockenlee
The Dalmellington to New Cumnock road descends down a brae towards the bridge over the River Nith between the Nith Lodge on the left hand side and the modern day house of Knockenlee on the right hand side. Knockenlee Burn runs parallel with the road for much of the way. There is high ground on either side the road with both potential sites (2) and (3) for the now lost Knockenlee (hill).
The favoured site, lies on the south side of Knockenlee Burn, on a small ridge on the lower slopes of Meikle Hill.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
| References |
| [1] Edward Dwelly Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary | cnoc |
| [2] Edward Dwelly Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary | liath |
| [3] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. | burn |
| [4] New Cumnock Place-Names | Flush |
| [5] British Newspaper Archive | Ayr Observer , Friday, October 17, 1884, |
| 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 (1850-57)|Knockenlee Burn, Knockenlee Bridge |
| Map 2: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1855-1882 (1856) |Knockenlee Bridge |
| Map 3: Ordnance Survey National Grid maps, 1944-1972 (1961) |Nith Bridge |
| Map 4: A. E. Thomson, Johnston’s map of the county of Ayr. With parish boundaries, railways, &c (1838) | Knockinlee |
| Map 5: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1949 (1894), LIDAR Background DTM 50cm- 1m , Eng, Sco, Wales | possible Knockenlee |
| Map 6: Map 4: Ordnance Survey, 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain – 1945-1971 (1953) | possible Knockenlee |
| Ordnance Survey Name Books |
| By Permission of Scotland’s Places |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| Knockenlee Burn |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| Knockenlee Bridge |
| Scotland’s People |
| https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk |
| Old Parish Records, Births, Marriages, Deaths, Census Records, Valuations Rolls, Wills & Testaments |
NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY 