From David Devereux – 29 June 2020
Morning Alan
Thank you very much for notes on the Ingleston names gathered by Rachel.
Walltrees caught my immediate attention as I have copies of early/mid 19th century documents relating to the property when the McCourtie / McCourty family were owners. Please find attached a scan of a section of John Gillone’s plan of Kirkcudbright parish (1792) prepared for the 1st Statistical Account. As you can see, fortunately for us he strayed across the border to include Twynholm and Walltrees. The map shows how Walltrees stands at the head of a burn which runs southwards, so a derivation of the p-n to include wælle or wella with the meaning ‘spring’ would seem to be appropriate geographically here. But your suggestion of a Celtic origin for the name is very interesting, and perhaps it may be historically significant that the site lies on the same watershed ridge (with the eastward flowing Kirk Burn to the north) as the church and motte.
best wishes
David