Collecting Field-Names
Notes for Collectors
Sample record sheet
Agricultural Shows and field-names
COLLECTING FIELD NAMES
Moira S Forsyth
Two years ago, as a new member of the SPNS, my interest was caught by an item in the Newsletter about field-name collection. The School of Scottish Studies in Edinburgh was appealing for volunteers to help with their ongoing project to create a national record of field-names. As a `lay' member of the SPNS with no expertise in this subject, I was hesitant to volunteer. However, some familial prodding encouraged me to respond.
I wrote to Ian Fraser at the School of Scottish Studies offering to collect in the parish of Durris in Kincardineshire and received a positive reply with advice and instructions on how to proceed. Collectors use Ordnance Survey maps, either the old `6 inch to the mile' or the new 1:10,000 (depending on the area to be covered, these can be supplied by the School), and pro-forma Collection Sheets. The collector is required to mark on the map the boundary of each farm, and to assign a number to each field. Any changes in field boundaries to those on map are to be noted, along with any other features, buildings, or ruins not marked. Field Collections Sheets, to be completed for each farm are self-explanatory. The name and approximate age of each informant should be noted and the names of the fields listed along with their 8figure OS grid reference. There is space to note any additional sources like crop books or old estate plans if these are available, and also to expand on particularly interesting names.
I had the maps and the Collection Sheets and I felt I knew what to do. All I needed now was to find a friendly farmer. Although I have lived in Banchory for over 20 years, I had no direct connection with the farming community, so I was starting `cold'. Tentatively I approached a farmer I had met socially, explained what I was interested in, and was delighted when he expressed enthusiasm in contributing to the project. I now felt I had my foot in the door. Subsequently he gave me the name of a neighboring farmer he thought might be happy to talk to me, and in this way I gradually made my collection of field names covering the western part of the parish. The parish of Durris likes south of the river Dee near Banchory. The old Durris estate was split up in 1960 and the majority of the farms sold to Dunecht Estates who retain ownership. I spoke to eleven farmers and collected the field-names of fourteen farms. It took quite some time to do this, partly due to my work and family commitments, but also due to my reluctance to approach the farmers during lambing or harvest. Most of the farmers I spoke to are retired or of retiral age, but, with two exceptions, still work part-time providing family assistance on their former farms while living elsewhere.
My requests for a visit were always met with courtesy, after some initial bemusement at the interest in the names of their 'parks'. Although I indicated I would need only about half an hour of their time, none of the visits lasted less than one hour and I was often listening for much longer. The recalling of the field names seemed to unlock many more memories. On my visits I was always made welcome and often provided with cups of tea and scones. I was sometimes shown old photographs, and often told stories of a way of life very different from my own and now changed forever. The description of the five-day drive of sheep along the main road from Braemar to Durris as an annual norm fifty years ago was an amazement to me. I wish I had been able to make this collection twenty years ago as the farmers I spoke to seem to be the last generation using these names. [Nowadays, I was told, `official' forms require that fields are referred to by number not name.] As the older farmers retire the estate policy seems to be to amalgamate the land with adjacent farms to make larger, more viable units, and to sell or rent the surplus farmhouses. Once the older generation is gone the field names will be lost - I saw no written records of these names.
What about the names themselves? Many of them were very conventional, with fields named either for their position within the farm or relative to adjacent farms, or for some topographical feature, e.g. 'Burnside', 'Pointed Haugh'. Some of the names described the nature of the ground - 'Clay Park', 'Waggle' (ground shook when stood on), 'Chadder' (full of small stones), 'Poverty' and the stark but descriptive 'Bog'. Doric is alive and well in this area especially among the farming community, so the fields are known as 'parks' although occasionally when asked to name a particular park the farmer would add the suffix 'field' after its name, e.g. 'Cottar Hoose Field'. The use of 'haugh' in the names occurred several times. The diminutive 'parkie' also appeared, as in 'Little Parkie', 'Moss Parkie' and 'Calfies Parkie'. 'Windmill Park' is straightforward although the windmill is no longer in evidence. The farmer explained that it used to pump water from a spring up to the farm buildings but was eventually replaced by a generator. However this new introduction was deemed to be less efficient - the generator having 'less sook' than the old windmill.
The most dramatic name I encountered was 'The Chimney Pots o' Hell'. It came as a slight disappointment to learn that this was a quite recent naming, effected by the 'orra loon' who, as part of efforts to increase productivity during World War II, was having to hand-clear large stones from the previously uncultivated ground. Having been ploughed by horse, the earth in this field had revealed large quantities of boulders which seemed to him to be rising up from the nether regions.
Probably the oldest field name I came across was 'Lady's Dowry' - a name marked on the 1:25,000 map of the area. This name comes from a local legend telling of the then farmer's disapproval of his daughter's choice of husband and of his promise that her dowry would be 'all she could see' from a specified place on the farm. When she was taken there it was a large deep hollow of about an acre and, instead of the expected panorama, all she could see turning through 360 degrees, was the sky.
I found collecting these names a very rewarding experience, one I would recommend to anyone with some free time and the opportunity to make contact with older farmers.
The help and encouragement given to me by Simon Taylor was much appreciated.
1. Maps issued to collectors are normally 1:10,560 or 1:10,000 (Metric) Ordnance Survey sheets. These are usually copyright, so may not be copied.
2. Informants for field-names will usually be farmers, but retired farm-workers are often as good, if not better, at remembering old field-names. The farmer or the land-owner should be approached in the first instance. Enquiry should be made for the existence of field-plans, old estate plans, etc., which may give further information on obsolete names, and permisson to use information on these should be sought.
3. All names on the farm should be noted, including such features as tracks and paths, wells, woodland, quarries, ditches and outbuildings, as well as all topographic features whether named on the map or not. Note any changes to existing map names, and try to ascertain the names and locations of any deserted farm buildings which may have existed on the farm in the past.
4. Mark the farm boundaries on the map in coloured pen, using felt-tip if available. Red, black, green and blue are usually sufficient to provide clear indications of boundaries. When a field-name (or other name) is recorded, mark this with a number on the map, and note the name and number on the accompanying record sheet. Ensure that the record sheet is correctly complete, giving the informant's name, your own name (the fieldworker), the O.S. mao sheet number (e.g. NT32SW), and the name of the farm in capitals, including the county and civil parish.
5. It is normally sufficient to list the field-names without comment. However, if the informant volunteers extra information, e.g. on any historical incident which took place, a derivation or origin relating to the name, or a reference to crops grown in the field which may be of interest, feel free to note this on the record sheet. For clarity, the field-names should be marked first, and any incidental names afterwards.
6. Completed forms and maps should be returned to Mr I.A. Fraser, School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh, 27 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LD.
PNS 3/95
Sample HEADER for record sheet:
| INFORMANT: | COUNTY | PARISH | |
| O.S. MAP No(s) | |||
| FARM | |||
| FIELD WORKER | FS | / | DATE |
| No | Name |
(copy and paste the above to Wordpad or similar application, and use sheets for recording field-names, etc)
SPNSociety member Alan Craigie from Dundee has written suggesting that the Society should consider taking a small stall at local Agricultural Shows. Armed with OS maps (Pathfinder/1:25,000 or more detailed) and tape-recorders, volunteers could collect field-names and other local place-name information from the assembled farmers, themselves important repositories of place-name information and lore. At the AGM in St Andrews in May 1997 it was suggested that local groups might form, and this would be an appropriate activity around which to organise such a group. Mr Craigie points out that the Events Magazine (available free from the Scottish Tourist Board, 23 Ravelston Terrace, Edinburgh EH4 3EU) lists more than 40 agricultural shows the length and breadth of the country, from May to September, along with the addresses of the secretaries.
This would all cost money, but it might be possible to raise some from various relevant local or national businesses. The Angus Show at Arbroath is the nearest one to Dundee. Mr Craigie writes that if anyone is interested in spending a few hours (or pounds) there this summer, he would be pleased to hear from them. His address is 18 Roseburn Gardens, Whitfield, Dundee DD4 0UF.
Anyone interested in collecting field-names locally, by whatever means, is encouraged to obtain Field-Name Collection Sheets & Notes on Field-Name Collection (updated November 1997) from the Scottish Place-Name Survey, School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9LN. The Survey has been gathering information on field-names from throughout Scotland for many years, and can supply maps on which to transfer information. Once an area has been completely surveyed, these maps, marked with felt-tip pen, are lodged with them, along with copies of the relevant Collection Sheets. The contact there is Ian Fraser.
An excellent introduction to the study of field-names in general is J. Field, English Field Names: A Dictionary, 1972 (paperback edn 1989, £7.95).