The Packman’s Grave, Kirwaugh

Ninety nine times out of a hundred, there is a grizzly story behind place-names which contain CHAPMAN ‘pedlar’ or PACKMAN ‘a man who carries wares or merchandise in a pack; chiefly, an itinerant packman, chapman or pedlar’. The entry for Chapman’s Thorn, Tongland KCB gives an impression of what you’ll find written for other Packman and Chapman place-names in the Ordnance Survey Name Books: “A thorn which points out the spot where a packman was murdered & subsequently interred.” OS1/20/109/18

Haunted Place-Names in Wigtownshire

Here’s the article I wrote for the Stranraer and Wigtownshire Free Press. It appeared on October 28, 2021. I’ve added a notes section below with links to each name’s entry in the OS Name Books and links to the photos used.

Chinney Field

Chinney Field is an open area in Mabie Forest, Troqueer KCB. The name was a bit of a mystery. An old information board, if remember correctly, suggested that there was a china works on the site of the field. I’m not sure if china or chimney was the implied root of Chinney. In any case, there doesn’t seem to have been a china works or chimneys here at any point in the past and neither word is a particularly good fit for Chinney. That said, I couldn’t think of anything better.