A great big Thank You to everyone who came along to the first step of the Coastwise Place Name project events for Caerlaverock, at the Barbour Hall in Glencaple and at Wardlaw afterwards! What a super event!
Debs McDowall of Sleeping Giants introduced the event to the 25 or so participants – there was a strong contingency from Lochside, Dumfries.
Introducing Nic Coombey and Morag Walker of the Solway Coastwise project run through Solway Firth Partnership and Jan Hogarth from Wide Open/ Quest and Retreats, Debs told us that the main aim of this Coastwise project is to capture the colloquial names of local places – the ‘unofficial’ names that aren’t already on our maps.
Nic explained that the more we know about our coast, the more we care about it and the more we’ll tell other people about it!
Debs and Nic in front of the Solway Coastwise display
So the purpose of the workshop was to get two groups of people together – locals to tell us about the local places, placenames and stories of these places, and folk from Dumfries to learn about these places and to appreciate our fantastic coast!
Coastwise is going to gather, collate and record all the information and stories they find out, and publish them on paper and online – to make them available to everyone. This is the kind of stuff that if not told, is lost in the mists of time…
They are also keen for people to do some oral recordings too – to record the stories of the Caerlaverock area – so they are actively looking for participants! If you know of anyone who has a wealth of local information to share, or even a story about a particular place, please do get in touch (details below)!
(We have yet to see the remains of Phyllis’ cottage for ourselves – but got a step closer today after Nic’s directions… Will have to visit again in winter, once all the brambles and jaggy undergrowth have died back again!) We did however, capture a rather nice aspect of Wardlaw from Phyllis’ Corner! We were shown maps where people have already started telling Coastwise their placenames and the stories attached. Every placename has a story! Nic also told us about two particularly good resources online – the National Libraries of Scotland maps which shows an old map overlayed over a satellite map from today, in which you can slide (change transparency) between the old map and the existing aerial views! And, now a free resource – information from the Ordnance Survey Name Books – Scotland Places Website which shows the records of the original OS researchers in 1850, who came around parishes asking locals about place names, and why they were so called. Jan then took over to describe how, as an environmental artist, she is interested in how we connect with a landscape, how the places and stories really come alive when you’re actually in the place! She loves the connections between placenames, stories, layers of history, myths and folklore – something she would continue to tell us about when we were up Wardlaw Hill! She described the strategic importance of Caerlaverock through time – how powerful it was to have control of the mouth of a river. We were invited to gather round to start sharing our knowledge of the area, the places, names and stories of Caerlaverock… After this, we relocated to walk up Wardlaw Hill where Jan braved the strong wind to begin telling us about the folklore surrounding our part of the Solway – the tales of wizards and a witch who dumped her casket of sand at the mouth of the river Nith – which became Criffel. We also heard about oral traditions, and how sometimes historians disagreed about different interpretations. There was the intriguing story of the place name ‘Pagan’s Nose’, which in fact derived from a fisherman called Mr Pagan! The main thrust of this Coastwise project is the involvement of the local community who hold the keys to local place names and information. We urge you to get in touch with the project – it’s all the little morsels that can add up to a truly wonderful source of information for generations to come! To hear a(-n unedited) recording of the initial meeting at the Barbour Hall, click on the link below. Debs McDowall introduces Nic Coombey, followed by Jan Hogarth: We all had a really great day – we learned lots in a friendly, engaging way – and would highly recommend attending any future coastwise events! We will keep you posted of Coastwise progress. P.S. There is a new geo-cache hidden around Wardlaw!! www.solwayfirthpartnership.co.uk/solway-coastwise Contact Details: Solway Coastwise Co-ordinator: Nic Coombey nic@solwayfirthpartnership.co.uk Phone: (01387) 702363 Solway Coastwise Assistant: Morag Walker morag@solwayfirthpartnership.co.uk Phone: (01387) 702182 Alternatively, we can pass on any place names and stories to the Coastwise team. Please email us at caerlaverockcommunity@gmail.com or message us through our Facebook page.
Sometimes places are named after features, or people; Nic talked as a prime example of Phillis’/ Phyllis’ Corner/ Phyllis’ Creek – in which long time resident, Stephen Powell told us
We scurried round to the lee side of Wardlaw, where it was sheltered and easier to hear Jan (and easier for her to talk!) where we heard about Caerlaverock stemming from the ‘fort of the lark’, about dousing – with important lines crossing Wardlaw and references to sounds of the wind in the trees and birds in poetry… We found out about peace loving druids and the Romans and about how this ancient place was used as a sacred ceremonial site.
