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

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“pool, deep place in a river”. Scots dialect pool often means “a watery or marshy place, a
swamp” (EDD, s.v.), cf the Pools, which defended one flank of the Scottish army at
Bannockburn: the Polles, in Hemingburgh (Bannockburn, 43). See also Bannockburn Myth,
24 ff.
DUMFRIESSHIRE
COCKPOOL (Rth): (88, 13 G):
Cokpule, 1487 (16 th ) APS; 1507-8 RMS; 1592 CBP; Cockpole, 1570 CSP; Cockpowlle, 1581
CBP. Cockpool is on the edge of an area of swampy land which must have been once a
considerable morass. Cock- here probably denotes Moorcock or other game fowl.
“Lost” are:-
Hum Pulles, 1198-1214 (c 1320) Kelso; Pullys, 1268 ib; Pollys, ib; Hunpul, c 1300 (1434)
Cdstr. This denotes the marshes at Hume.
le Pullis, 1426, in Ewes, Dmf. There are also Doorpool (Sdn); Shiningpool Moss (Lgf) and
Stirkpool (Ann). The last contains ModSc stirk, “bullock between one and three years old”
(Jam, s.v.).
/274/ LXXIX ONb wælla,
(WS wiella), “well, spring”, gives ModSc wall, which is difficult to distinguish from wall
(from Lat. vallum). Forms in well appear quite early and may be due to a dialect tendency to
front [æ] to [ε]. It is notable that forms in wall do not appear in North-East England although
they are common in South-East Scotland. EDD gives the dialect area for wall as Scotland and
the West of England from Cumberland to Shropshire.
ROXBURGHSHIRE
BILLERWELL (Hbk): (86, 2 A):
Bullerwell, 1598 CBP; Blaeu; Bullarwall, 1662 Mel Reg Rec. ModSc buller may be “loud
gurgling noise”, or “bubbling circle or whirlpool” (SND, s.v.), denoting either a fiercelybubbling
spring or one with an eddy in it. The source of the term must be Fr bouillir, “to
boil”. Compare the Bullers of Buchan (Bnf).
WELLS, OVER and NETHER (Jed):
Walls, Blaeu.
WELLS (Hbk): Welles, 1380 CDS. The second spelling shows that a form with medial -ewas
current as early as the 14 th century.
/275/
BERWICKSHIRE
CRAIGSWALLS (Edr):
Craigiswallis, 1621 HMC (Wed).
Craig, in this case, must be a family name.
HOARDWEEL (B & Pr): (75, 8 H):