Is the name Cumills of Curcagarth remembered in Waas?
I would be grateful for some information about a place name and an ancient monument in Shetland.
In 1774 George Low, a minister from Orkney, inspected a site in Waas. He called it the Cumills of Curcagarth, on the east side of the loch. He said that it was a Pict’s Castle, that it was in sight of the broch of Culswick (which had had also visited), and that both had the same ground plan.
100 years later the Ordnance Survey looked at the site, and concluded (with local advice) that it was a medieval chapel and burial ground. The Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments took this identification on board.
However, I am inclined to believe Low, who generally knew what he was speaking about in the antiquarian line. The name ‘Cumill’ suggests a prehistoric building rather than a chapel, and no doubt more of it was extant in 1774 than today.
To make things even more complicated, in volume one of his Dictionary, Jakob Jakobsen refers to a place ‘de Kummels o’ Korkigert’ which he says was near Culswick. I am fairly sure that he has the Waas place in mind, perhaps even after reading Low, and made an error.
To sum up: is the name Cumills of Curcagarth remembered in Waas? And, much less likely, is the same name known in the vicinity of Culswick?
Brian Smith
Weisdale
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