| Place-name: | Pathhead |
| S. peth ‘path’ S. heid ‘head, top’ | |
| meaning: | At the head, top of a path |
| Place-Name: | Wee Pathhead |
| Scots wee ‘small’ + Place-Name: Pathead, Pathhead | |
| meaning: | Smaller than the other place-name Pathhead |
| Blaeu Coila (1654): | N/A |
| OS Name Books (1855-57): | Wee Pathead |
| Other Names: | Castle View, Castleview |
| Location: | Ordnance Survey (1857) |
| Early Forms |
| Pathhead (1841, 1851), Wee Pathead (1855-57), Little Pathead (1861), Wee Pathhead (1867) Little Pathhead (1871,1881) |
Wee Pathead
The entry for Wee Pathead in the Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Name Books (1855-57) reads –
A Small Cottage on the farm of Oldmill – and Situate on the road from N. [New] Cumnock through Glen Afton
The Authorities for Spelling were James Wilson, farmer at Old Mill along with John Lee and David Lee – probably the agricultural labourers recorded in the Census Records of 1861, living at the Castle and Afton Bridgend respectively.
All three authorities agreed on the single ‘h’ spelling of Pathead, possibly from the local pronunciation pa-theid. Nevertheless, it was the double ‘h‘ spelling Pathhead that prevailed and appeared on the Ordnance Survey Map.
In the 1841 Census the name is recorded as Pathhead and is occupied by David Wilson, mason and his wife Williamana and their 3 children. By the 1851 Census two families are living at Pathhead. The first William Black, joiner and his sister Dorothia and the second Robert Trotter, labourer, his wife Margaret and their four children.
Pathhead
Scots peth ‘path’ Scots heid ‘head, top’
The place-name comprises the two elements SSE path ‘path’ and SSE head ‘head, top’. The path would follow the stretch, of what is now known as Afton Road, from Old Mill farm to the ‘small cottage‘ on the farm lands. The cottage sat at the head or top of the path which then takes a considerable dip as it continues its way up through Glen Afton.
Today a row of single storey houses stretches from the top of Shilling Hill to Castleview house which stands on the original site of Wee Pathhead, clearly situated at the head of the slope.
Wee Pathhead or Little Pathhead
Scots wee ‘small, smaller’ + Place-Name Pathhead
The 1861 Census (post OS Name Books 1855-57) records two families living at Little Pathead, i.e. the Scots equivalent of Wee Pathead. The first was widower Janet Hamilton, White Seam Sewer* and her four children and the second Thomas Torrance, ploughman, his wife Jane and their five children inlcuding 2-month-old Isabella, born at Little Pathead.
* Scots White Seam = plain needlework [1]
The Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald ‘Births column‘ in early March 1867 welcomed a new-born son to Andrew Crawford, baker and his wife Mary Wallace – ‘At Wee Pathhead, New Cumnock, on the 20th ult. Mrs Andrew Crawford, of a son [2].
By the time of the 1871 Census, the double ‘h‘ form Little Pathhead has been adopted. The two families living there were Robert Wight, labourer coal works, his wife Jane and their seven children and neighbours John Weir, shepherd, his wife Mary and new-born son James – another wee arrival at Wee Pathhead.
The introduction of the place-name element Wee or Little was most likely to distinguish this Pathhead from the growing settlement of Pathhead*, less than a mile to the north.
* The Ordnance Survey Name Books refer to Pathhead as one of the five villages of New Cumnock [3].
The final Census entry for Little Pathhead, found thus far, is that of 1881, at which time Andrew Farquhar, coal miner, his wife Isabella and their five New Cumnock born children were residents.
The OS Map (1895), appears to show an unnamed disused building at the location of Wee Pathhead, suggesting perhaps that it was vacated at the time of the 1891 Census.
Castle View, Castleview
Place-Name: Castle + SSE view ‘prospect’
The OS Map 1908 shows a new building on the former ground of ‘Wee Pathhead’, and now named Castle View. By the 1911 Census James Wilson, 61, farmer, his wife Helen Sharp, 61 and his father-in-law James Sharp, 91 were living at Castle View, possibly as the first residents of this fine new house and the Valuation Rolls of 1915 confirmed Wilson as the proprietor. Following his death in 1927 the property then fell to his wife Helen, who passed away at Castleview five years later. It then passed to her niece Margaret Sharp, born at Sunnyside, daughter of Hugh Sharp and Mary Laurie, of the Laurie’s of Knockburnie. Her widowed mother Mary would later live with Margaret and her husband James McKerrow at Castleview, and it was here in 1948 that she passed away [4].
The west gable-end of Castleview stood flush with the Afton Road while the front of the house faced northwards looking down from its elevated position to enjoy a good view of the buildings along either side of Castle*, the main thoroughfare through the town. However, today the line of single storey houses blocks the view, although the top of the parish church tower at Castle can be seen from the roadside.
*The Ordnance Survey Name Books refer to Castle as one of the five villages of New Cumnock [5].
The single storey house swere built in the 1930s and originally assigned the address Afton Crescent, despite its linear form and the address later changed to Afton Road.
When Castleview was put up for sale in 1984, the detached villa was described as follows [6] –
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
| References |
| [1] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. | White Seam Sewer |
| [2] British Newspaper Archive | Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, Saturday 09 March 1868 |
| [3] New Cumnock Place-Names | Pathhead (in progress) |
| [4] Cumnock Connections | Sharp, Helen Lapraik |
| [5] New Cumnock Place-Names |Castle, Castle Inn |
| [6] British Newspaper Archive | Irvine Herald, Friday 17th August 1984 |
| Maps |
| Reproduced with the Permission of National Library of Scotland |
| https://maps.nls.uk/ |
| Map 1: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1855-1882 (1856) | Wee Pathhead |
| Map 2: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882 (1857) |Wee Pathhead |
| Map 3: James Macderment and Sons, Map of the turnpike & parish roads … [for parishes in central Ayrshire] New Cumnock (1852)|Pathhead |
| Map 4: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1949 (1895) | Wee Pathhead ruin |
| Map 5: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1949 (1908) |Castleview |
| Map 6: Ordnance Survey National Grid maps, 1944-1973 (1961) | Castleview and Afton Road |
| Ordnance Survey Name Books |
| By Permission of Scotland’s Places |
| scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |
| Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| Wee Pathead |