May Williamson: The Non-Celtic Place-Names of the Scottish Border ...

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SUNLAWS (Rxb):
Sinlawis, 1476 RMS; 1566 ib; Syndlawis, 1493 ib. Compare Synton (No V) for the first
element which may be an OE personal name *Sind. An early use of ModSc, sine, sind, “to
rinse, swill”, might be seen /123/ here in the sense of “well-watered”.
WHITE LAW (Mrb): Whitelawe, 1222 CDS.
WHITLAW (Hwk): Whitelawe, 1547-8 CSP. “White hill”.
WILLIAM LAW (Mel):
Williamlaw, 1568 RMS. This must be a MSc formation with the personal name William.
BERWICKSHIRE
BANGLAW (Oxt): is so spelt c 1535, c 1540, c 1545 etc, Dryb. Possibly “bank law”, or ON
band, used in a transferred sense as “long, narrow hill”. The compound may however
represent Gael beinn glo: cf Ben y Gloe (Perth.). Compare Bangelaye, 1153-78 L Ch, near
Athelstaneford, ELth.
BUTTERLAW (Cld):
Bowtyr law, c 1415 Kelso. Compare Butterlaw Nb, (PN NbDu, 35), “hill which yielded plenty
of butter”.
CHALKIELAW (Duns): (75, 9 K):
Caklaw, 1543 RMS; Cakylaw, Blaeu. MSc Cauk, from OE Ċælc, with Scandinavian influence
seen in the initial back consonant, may be the first element, although there is no trace of -u- in
either spelling. The substitution of Chalkie- in the modern /124/ form makes it probable that
this was the original form.
CHEEKLAW (Duns): (75, 8 K):
Cheiklaw, 1546-7 RMS; 1572 HMC (Var Coll v). Perhaps a hillside resembling a cheek; OE
ċēce.
COLLIELAW (Chan): (74, 12 K):
Colilawe, 1206 (c 1320) Kelso; 1296 Inst Pub; Culi- (P), 1296 CDS; Collelaw, 1571 RMS.
The first element is a personal name – either OE Cola or ON Kóli. Collie, “sheep-dog” (of
obscure origin: DOST) might be considered.
DOWLAW (Cld): (75, 10 E):
Dowhill, 1547 RPC; Dula, 1579 HMC (March); Doula, Blaeu. OE dūfe, ModSc doo,
“pigeon”, and law.
EARNSLAW (Cdstr): (75, 8 M):
Ernislaw, 1533 RMS. This is not a situation in which eagles are likely to be found and so the
first element cannot be OE earn unless the word is used as a personal name. Its appearance in
the genitive case makes this possible.
ELWARTLAW (Grn):
Elwaldlaw, 1542 RMS. This must be a MSc formation: cf Johannis Elwald, 1436 HMC
(Wed). OE Alfwald or Aldwald is /125/ the origin of the surname.