Snipe Loch (NS385173) or Loch Snipe is a freshwater

loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spelling ...

. It is situated in a low-lying area close to the B742 road next to Clocaird Farm in the Parish of

Coylton Coylton ( sco, Culton) is a village and civil parish in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is east of Ayr and west of Drongan, on the A70 road, A70. Sundrum Castle Holiday Park is to the west of the village, in the grounds of Sundrum Castle, which ...

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire ( sco, Aest Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir an Ear) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headq ...

, Scotland. The loch lies to the north of

Martnaham Loch Martnaham Loch (NS 396 172) is a freshwater loch lying across the border between East and South Ayrshire Council Areas, from Coylton, in the parishes of Coylton and Dalrymple, from Ayr. The loch lies along an axis from northeast to southwest. T ...

, 5 miles (7 km) east of Ayr.

History

Snipe Loch is a post-glacial 'Kettle Hole' fed by the outflow from

Loch Fergus Loch Fergus (NS 3932 1823) is a freshwater post-glacial "Kettle Hole" sometimes recorded as Fergus Loch. It is quite visible and is situated in a low-lying area close to the B742 road between the farms and dwellings of Trees, Lochfergus and Bowma ...

and its outflow running into Martnaham Loch. The early OS maps show a sluice on the outflow, allowing the water level to be controlled. The loch was fed by springs situated near the lane at Cloncaird Farm. The early OS maps show an arm of the loch running almost as far as the lane to old Glencaird (sic). ;Etymology The name could appropriately refer to the bird,

snipe A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/ camouflaging plumage. The '' Gallinago'' snipes have a n ...

, ''Lymnocryptes minimus'', however in

Scots Scots usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: * Scots language, a language of the West Germanic language family native to Scotland * Scots people, a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland * Scoti, a Latin na ...

the word can refer to a featureless place, lacking significant characteristics, something long and thin, or a boggy place. In Scots the snipe is variously known as a "bluiter wheep, earn-bleater, heather-bleat, mire-snipe, or moss-bleater." Nearby Loch Fergus and Martnaham Loch are larger and have clear defining features such as castles, islands, etc. The farm was known as Glencaird on the early OS maps and Old Glencaird id now marked as Cloncaird Cottages.

Uses

The loch is a popular angling loch and is a bird watching site. It is stocked with rainbow trout and also contains perch. pike, and eels, and are frequented by wild-duck, teal, and widgeon.Ayrshire Roots
Retrieved : 2011-06-19 Nearly half of the lochshore is dominated by deciduous woodland.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Love, Dane (2003). ''Ayrshire : Discovering a County''. Ayr : Fort Publishing. .

External links

Snipe Fishing Loch

WeBS Count {{Commons category, Snipe Loch Lochs of East Ayrshire History of East Ayrshire Freshwater lochs of Scotland

History

Uses

See also

References

External links