| Place-name: | The Dungeon |
| Suggested Meaning: | dungeon like hollow, abyss |
| Blaeu Coila (1654): | N/A |
| OS Name Books (1855-57): | The Dungeon |
| Location: | Ordnance Survey (1894) |
The Dungeon
The entry in the Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57 for The Dungeon reads-
A Glen on Connel Burn About 1/4 of a mile South of Laglaff
The Dungeon
1. Gaelic an daingean ‘the fastness’
W. J. Watson in Celtic Place-Names of Scotland considers ‘The Dungeon of Buchan, In Kells, Kirkcudbrightshire to be Gaelic an daingean ‘the fastness’ [1] while Sir Herbert Maxwell in the shares a slightly different view [2] –
Dr. Watson interprets this as an daingean, the fastness; but seeing that the Dungeon is surrounded by far higher hills, it does not appear that it deserves more than they to be regarded as a fastness.
Herbert E. Maxwell, The Place-Names of Galloway
The Place-names of Kirkcudbrightshire web-site nape considers place-name dungeon under Loch Dungeon and the wider group of dungeon-names in the vicinity and questions if they all refer to the same dungeon [3]
The existing name, Dungeon, may be from G daingeann, ‘strong, firm, fortified’, or the related noun daingean ‘stronghold, castle, garrison, fortification’. (OG daingen ‘firm, strong, fast’ as an adjective, but also as a noun, ‘stronghold, fortress, fastness’.)
Place-names of Kirkcudbrightshire | Dungeon
Below is Dungeon Hill, where clearly the topography is hugely different from that of the ‘glen on the Connel Burn‘.
2. dungeon ‘deep hollow, abyss’
The Dungeon is the name applied to a particularly steep part of the Connel Burn glen.
A comparison can be drawn with the place-name Dingle Brae in Glen Afton which takes its name from a dingle, ‘hollow’ that lies between Dingle Brae [4] and Berry Hill. The etymology of dingle identifies it as a diminutive of ding ‘dungeon’ [5] –
Dingle: From Middle English dingle (“a deep hollow; dell”), from Old English *dyngel, a diminutive of Old English ding, dung (“dungeon; pit”), equivalent to dung + -le
Wiktionary | Dingle
Certainly, The Dungeon on Connel Burn is much deeper than the dingle, hollow at Dingle Brae although perhaps to label it as an abysss, from Middle English dongeoun ‘keep, dungeon, abyss’ is too dramatic [6].
It is also interesting to note, that just as Dingle Brae sits in the vicinity of Laglass Hill – where the first element of the name is Gaelic lag ‘hollow’ [7] that The Dungeon ‘is 1/4 of a mile South of Laglaff‘ where the first element of that name is also lag– [8].
There is also another Dungeon Glen, in the parish of Old Luce, Wigtownshire. H.E. Maxwell notes its presence without offering a derivation of ‘Dungeon, Glen, The. ‘New Luce’ [9], nevertheless the topography compares well with its counter-part in Connel Burn.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
| Photographs |
| Ian Murgatroyd |Dungeon Hill © Copyright ian murgatroyd and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. |
| References |
| [1] W. J. Watson, Celtic Place-Names of Scotland | The Dungeon of Buchan |
| [2] Sir Herbert E. Maxwell ‘The Place-Names of Galloway’ | Dungeon O’ Buchan |
| [3] Place-names of Kirkcudbrightshire. 2022. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. https://kcb-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk | Loch Dungeon |
| [4] New Cumnock Place-Name |Dingle Brae |
| [5] Wiktionary On-line Dictionary | dingle |
| [6] Wiktionary On-line Dictionary | dungeon |
| [6] Wiktionary On-line Dictionary | dingle |
| [7] New Cumnock Place-Name | Laglass |
| [8] New Cumnock Place-Name |Laglaff – in progress |
| [9] Sir Herbert E. Maxwell ‘The Place-Names of Galloway’ | Dungeon Glen. The |
| 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 (1857) |The Dungeon |
| Map 2: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1855-1882 (1856) |The Dungeon |
| Map 3: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1960 (1893) | Dungeon Glen |
| Ordnance Survey Name Books |
| By Permission of Scotland’s Places |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| The Dungeon |
NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY 