Mitchell’s Sike

Place-name:Mitchell’s Sike
Suggested Meaning:‘sluggish stream’
1st element:Personal Name: Mitchell
2nd element:Scots sike, syke ‘sluggish stream’
Blaeu Coila (1654):No Entry
OS Name Books (1855-57):Mitchell’s Sike
Location:Mitchell’s Sike

Mitchell’s

Personal Name: Mitchell

Mitchell’s Sike flows into the Beoch Lane which then flows to meet the Nith passing the original property of (Old) Craigman. In the early 17th century Daniel Mitchell of Craigman married Marion Cathcart the daughter of Allan Cathcart of nearby Waterhead Castle.

Was Mitchell’s Sike a boundary of the Mitchell land?

Sike, Syke

The name is shown as Mitchell’s Sike on the Ordnance Survey Map while the entry in the Ordnance Survey Name Books was Mitchell’s Syke but was change to Sike for ‘conformity’s sake [Initialled] JM Lt RE [Lieutenant Royal Engineers]’.

A Sike or Syke is described as –

A small stream, rill or water-course, especially one that meanders through a hollow or across flat or boggy ground and is freqently dry in summer

Dictionary of the Scots Language [1]

the sheughs and the sykes

Laird of Logan “Colin Dulap” [2]

Map 1: Mitchell’s Syke | Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

References
[1] Dictionaries of the Scots Language | sike, syke
[2] The Laird of Logan, Or, Anecdotes and Tales Illustrative of the Wit and Humour of Scotland.

Maps
Reproduced with the Permission of National Library of Scotland
https://maps.nls.uk/
Map1 : Ordnance Survey 6 inch (1892-1960) | Mitchell’s Syke
Ordnance Survey Name Books
By Permission of Scotland’s Places
scotlandsplaces.gov.uk
Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49|Mitchell’s Syke