Criffel

File:Criffel summit.jpg and Douglas's Cairn, at the summit of Criffel]]

The name Criffel is recorded in 1273 as Crufel.{{Cite journal|last=Brooke|first=Daphne|date=1987|title=The Deanery of Desnes Cro and the Church of Edingham: Churches and Saints Before 1120 AD|url=http://www.dgnhas.org.uk/tdgnhas/3062.pdf#page=66|journal=Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society|volume=LXII|pages=61|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729191428/http://www.dgnhas.org.uk/tdgnhas/3062.pdf#page=66|archive-date=29 July 2019}} The second element, -fel, is either Older Scots or Northern Middle English fell or Old Norse fjall 'mountain'. Because Old Norse fjall had been borrowed into Middle English by the twelfth century, it is not possible to determine whether or not the name was coined by Scandinavian speakers. There have been a number of proposals for the etymology of the first element. The name is recorded as Crofel in 1319{{Cite journal|last=Brooke|first=Daphne|date=1987|title=The Deanery of Desnes Cro and the Church of Edingham: Churches and Saints Before 1120 AD|url=http://www.dgnhas.org.uk/tdgnhas/3062.pdf#page=53|journal=Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society|volume=LXII|pages=48|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729191428/http://www.dgnhas.org.uk/tdgnhas/3062.pdf#page=66|archive-date=29 July 2019}} and in 1330 as Crefel.{{Cite book|last=Mills|first=A. D.|title=A Dictionary of British Place Names|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2011|location=Oxford|pages=138}}{{Cite book|last=Maxwell|first=Herbert|title=The Place Names of Galloway: Their Origin & Meaning Considered|publisher=G. C. Book Publishers Ltd.|year=1991|isbn=1872350305|location=Wigtown|pages=94|orig-year=1930}}{{Cite book|last=Johnston|first=James B.|url=https://archive.org/details/placenamesofscot00johnuoft/page/77/mode/1up|title=Place-Names of Scotland|publisher=David Douglas|year=1892|location=Edinburgh|pages=77}} (Drummond also gives the form Crafel in 1330;{{Cite book|last=Drummond|first=Peter|title=Scottish Hill Names: Their origin and meaning|date=2010|publisher=Scottish Mountaineering Trust|isbn=978-0-907521-95-2|edition=Revised 2nd|pages=176|oclc=148288097}} it is not clear if this refers to the same source.) In 1892 Johnston proposed Gaelic crich 'boundary' + Icelandic fell in Place-Names of Scotland. However, by the second edition of 1903 he thought a derivation from Icelandic kryfja 'to split' was more probable.{{Cite book|last=Johnston|first=James B.|url=https://archive.org/details/placenamesscotl01johngoog/page/n202/mode/1up|title=Place-Names of Scotland|publisher=David Douglas|year=1903|edition=Second|location=Edinburgh|pages=89}} In the third edition in 1934 this is the only derivation offered.{{Cite book|last=Johnston|first=James B.|url=https://archive.org/details/placenamesofscot0000john/page/145/mode/1up|title=Place-Names of Scotland|year=1934|location=London|pages=145|publisher=Wakefield, S.R. Publishers|isbn=9780854096343}} Mills also takes the name to be Old Scandinavian kryfja + fjall but adds that the first element is 'doubtful'. In 1930 Maxwell proposed Scandinavian kraka fjall 'raven's or crow's hill' or Lowland Scots Craw Fell. William J. Watson rejected a derivation from kraka fjall on the grounds that it would develop into a form like Crackel.{{Cite journal|last=W. J. W.|date=1932|title=[Review of] The Place-Names of Galloway: Their Origin and Meaning Considered by Herbert Maxwell; Scottish Place-Names by W. C. MacKenzie; Place-Names of Glengarry and Glenquoich and Their Associations by Edward C. Ellice|journal=The Geographical Journal|volume=79|issue=5|pages=419|doi=10.2307/1783944|jstor=1783944|issn=0016-7398}} Geoffery Barrow suggested that Criffel incorporates the name Cro, which also appears in Desnes Cro, the name of a deanery located between the rivers Nith and Urr. Here Cro represents the Gaelic word for sheepfold.

• List of places in Dumfries and Galloway
• List of Marilyns in the Scottish Lowlands

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{{Commons category|Criffel}}

Category:Marilyns of Scotland

Category:Mountains and hills of Dumfries and Galloway

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