Packs of wolves once hunted in the forests of Berwickshire. The wolves have long gone but they have left their mark in the county in the name of a small stream,which is called Wolfcleugh Burn (a cleugh is a narrow gorge or chasm with high rocky sides).
The University of Glasgow's Berwickshire Place-Name Resource allows you to explore and learn more about the names of villages, towns and other locations in the Scottish Borders county of Berwickshire. The resource will be of particular interest into anyone who is interested in toponyms and the definitions and meanings of old British place-names.
The Place-Name Resource allows you to search for place-names in the county using a number of different methods. You can search for place-names alphabetically. Alternatively you can search using a string (for example entering '*hall' to find all place-names ending ....hall). You can also search using the element glossary which allows you to search by different common elements found in Berwickshire place-names.
Once you have completed a search of the Berwickshire Place-Name Resource you can view the results on an interactive map. Clicking on an individual marker on this map will open an information window providing details on the selected location. These details include its entry in the OS Name Book. If you are interested in the meaning of a place-name then the 'elements' section allows you to view a definition (where available) of any unfamiliar parts of the place-name. For example both Kimmerghame (cow's bridge) and Birgham (a settlement beside a bridge) contain derivations of 'brycg' - which means bridge.
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