Carrick, Scotland

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Modern map of Carrick (red) within South Ayrshire (pale yellow).

Carrick (from the Scottish Gaelic carraig, meaning 'rock') is a former comital district of Scotland which today forms part of South Ayrshire.

History

The district of Carrick originally formed part of the 11th- to 12th-century

Marjorie of Carrick
) inherited and became Countess of Carrick.

Upon her death in 1292 the earldom passed to her son

Robert I of Scotland
(r. 1306–1329).

Carrick saw some involvement in the Scottish wars of independence under the said Robert the Bruce, which culminated in his victory over the English at Bannockburn (1314). It witnessed much inter-family feuding during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with various branches of the powerful Kennedys contending for land and honour.[1]

The ruins of Turnberry Castle on the Carrick coast, former seat of the Earls of Carrick

Carrick's scattered villages and rugged terrain made it a favourite haunt of the persecuted

Covenanters in the seventeenth century, and its rocky coastline with its many hidden coves and inlets has made it a favourite location for smuggling.[1] Robert Burns made his living as an exciseman along that coastline in the late-eighteenth century.[2]

In 1469, the title "Earl of Carrick" became one of the lesser titles of the heir-apparent to the Scots (later British) throne; as of 2022, this title is borne by William, Prince of Wales, whose principal Scottish title is "Duke of Rothesay".

The name Carrick comes from the

Gaelic word carraig, meaning 'rock' or 'rocky place',[3][unreliable source] and may preserve an earlier name from Brittonic carreg, which has a similar meaning (cf. modern Welsh carreg).[4] Compare the English crag, from the Celtic.[5]

counties of Scotland. A major reorganisation took place in the wake of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889; this Act established a uniform system of county councils and town councils in Scotland, and restructured many of Scotland's counties. (See History of local government in the United Kingdom
.)

Kyle and Carrick was the former name (1975–1996) of a local-government district in the Strathclyde region of Scotland. In 1996, it was re-constituted as a council area, but renamed South Ayrshire.

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9781840335095. Archived from the original
    on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  2. ISBN 9780907526438. Archived from the original
    on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  3. ^ "Carraig". 7 March 2024.
  4. ^ James, Alan G. "A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence - Guide to the Elements" (PDF). Scottish Place Name Society - The common Brittonic Language in the Old North. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  5. ^ Harper, Douglas. "crag". Online Etymology Dictionary. - "probably from a Celtic source akin to Old Irish crec 'rock', and carrac 'cliff', Welsh craig 'rock, stone', Manx creg, Breton krag".

External links

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