| Place-Name: | Redree |
| Suggested Meaning: | Scots reid, rid ‘red’ Scots ree ‘sheep-pen’ |
| Place-Name: | Redree Hill |
| Place-Name: Redree + SSE hill ‘hill’ | |
| Place-Name: | Redree Burn |
| Place-Name: Redree + Scots + SSE burn ‘burn, stream; | |
| Blaeu Coila (1654): | No Entry |
| OS Name Books (1855-57): | Redree Hill, Redree Burn |
| Location: | Ordnance Survey (1856) |
Redree Hill
Scots reid, rid ‘red’ + Scot ree ‘sheep-pen’ + SSE hill ‘hill’
The Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Redree Hill reads –
A slightly elevated ridge of Rough pasture land. Mr. John Campbell of Dalhanna is of opinion that Redrey is a corruption of Red reeve, the local name for sheepfolds, in this part of Ayrshire.
Ree – A sheep-ree, a permanent fold into which sheep are driven, surrounded with a wall of stone & feal, sometimes 5ft. high. – Jamieson.
John Campbell was one of the ‘Authorities for Spelling’, along with his father William Campbell, proprietor of Over Dalhanna, and Thomas Lees, Dunside . Although all three recorded the spelling as Redrey, the fieldworker recorded the name in the form Redree.
The fieldworker also recorded the above quote from John Jamieson’s dictionary entry for ree, and notes the wall was built of ‘stone & feal’, where Scots feal ‘turf, sod’ [1].
The Dictionaries of the Scots Language entry for ree, reads [2] –
A permanent stone sheep-pen where sheep are confined during stormy weather, shearing etc
Dictionaries of the Scots Language, Dictionars o the Scots Leid
John Campbell considered that Redrey (Redree) was a corruption of ‘Red reeves‘, the local name for sheepfolds as found in Reeve Craigs [3] and Reeve Knowe [4] . The two sheepfolds, shown on either side of Redree Burn on the map below, lie in the Campbell lands of Over Dalhanna.
Map 1: Redree Hill (OS Map 1857)| Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland
There has been no suggestion for the element red which is probably Scots reid, rid ‘red’ [5]*. Perhaps the sheep-pen was built with reddish stone or lined with heathery sods or turves?
*The street-name Redree Place in the Cairnhill Housing development of the 1940s is pronounced locally as ridree.
Redree Burn
Scots reid, rid ‘red’ + Scot ree ‘sheep-pen’ + SSE burn ‘burn’
The Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) entry for Redree Burn reads –
A Stream rising on the east Side of Lochbrowan Hill and flowing in a Northerly direction it receives the water of a burn at the North end of Redrey Hill and afterwards takes the name of Polquhirter Burn.
Some views of the Redree Burn as it makes its way to join and become part of the Polquhirter Burn.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
| References |
| [1] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |feal |
| [2] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |ree |
| [3] New Cumnock Place-Names |Reeve Craigs |
| [4] New Cumnock Place-Names |Reeve Knowe |
| [5] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd.| reid, rid |
| Maps |
| Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland |
| https://maps.nls.uk/ |
| Map 1: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882 |Redree Hill and Redree Burn |
| Map 2: Ordnance Survey, 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain – 1937-1951 | Redree Hill and Redree Burn |
| Ordnance Survey Name Books |
| By Permission of Scotland’s Places |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| Redree Hill |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| Redree Burn |