Garshake Avenue, Bellsmyre

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 2 Dec 2010

The photograph was taken from Garshake Road, which is visible in the foreground, and which forms the boundary of Bellsmyre on this side. The street comes to a dead end about 150 metres from this junction, but a Image begins there. The name Garshake, associated with this area, is fairly old. For example, the Pont/Blaeu map of the Lennox (surveyed 1580s-90s) shows "Garshoak" here, next to "Ouertoun". The area of housing on the other side of Garshake Road, behind the photographer's viewpoint, is called High Overtoun. Image is nearby. The name Garshake was recorded in the form "Gartschavok" in 1466. It is thought to mean "gart (field or enclosure) of the hawk (Gael. 'seabhog')" [Simon Taylor in "Changing Identities, Ancient Roots"]. - - • - - On a very different note, I will relate here an incident from around the 1990s: the occupant of one of the houses in this area had workmen in to replace his living-room window (a large, front-facing, downstairs window) and his bathroom window (upstairs). I saw for myself the new living-room window that they had installed: it was a huge pane of frosted glass. I did not get to see the new bathroom window, but (as the owner explained) it was of clear glass. It would take an astonishing level of stupidity to carry out this work without suspecting that something was amiss; to me, it seems more likely that this was an example of "malicious compliance", the workmen following accidentally-garbled instructions, perhaps in the hope that they could get away with charging extra to set things right.

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