Polharrow Burn

Polharrow Burn is a small watercourse in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire. It rises in Loch Harrow and flows towards St John's Town of Dalry before joining the Water of Ken.[1][2]

Polharrow Burn
The Polharrow Burn and Green House
Location
CountryUnited Kingdom, Scotland
RegionDumfries and Galloway
DistrictKirkcudbrightshire
Physical characteristics
SourceLoch Harrow
 • locationKnocknalling, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
 • coordinates55°09′09″N 4°18′42″W
 • elevation250 m (820 ft)
Mouth 
 • location
Water of Ken
 • coordinates
55°08′02″N 4°11′30″W
 • elevation
83 m (272 ft)
Length8.6 km (5.3 mi)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftLumford Burn, Polcardie Burn
 • rightBurnhead Burn, Largvey Burn, Crummy Burn

Etymology

Polharrow is a Gaelic name formed from the words poll 'stream' and airbhe 'wall, fence'. The Scots word burn has been added later, when the meaning of poll in the name became opaque. The word airbhe is also found in Loch Harrow. It is not clear if the loch gave rise to the name of the burn or vice versa.[3] Maxwell proposed a derivation meaning 'the bull's burn', taking the second element to be thairbh 'of a bull'.[4][3] This derivation is considered to be 'unlikely'.[3]

Dance

It gives its name to a Scottish country dance by the cryptographer and Scottish country dance deviser Hugh Foss, which appeared in his Glendarroch Scottish Country Dance Collection in 1966. He published several volumes of these from his own impress, Glendarroch Press. He lived in his retirement at Glendarroch in St John's Town of Dalry and died in 1971.[5][6]

References
  1. "Polharrow Burn from The Gazetteer for Scotland". Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  2. "Walk of the week: Polhallow Bridge to Corserine". The Scotsman. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  3. "Polharrow Burn". Place-names of Kirkcudbrightshire. 2020. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  4. Maxwell, Herbert (1991) [1930]. The Place Names of Galloway: Their Origin & Meaning Considered. Wigtown: G. C. Book Publishers Ltd. p. 230. ISBN 1872350305.
  5. "Polharrow Burn". Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  6. McKay, Sinclair. Bletchley Park Brainteasers. Headline. ISBN 9781635061192. OCLC 1081423214.


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