 The ounceland system seems to have become widespread down the west coast including much of Argyll and this is just as true of most of the south west apart from land adjacent to the inner Solway Firth.In Dumfries and Galloway the place name evidence is complex and of mixed Gaelic, Norse and Danish influence, the last most likely stemming from contact with the extensive Danish holdings in northern England.One feature of the area is the number of names with a "kirk" prefix followed by a saint's name such as Kirkoswald.