Storm brewing over Strathmore and the Braes of Angus. Field names around Kirriemuir were one of the topics for the Dundee conference.
Morag Redford: Place-names and the Abbey of Coupar Angus
Summary of a talk given to the Dundee conference.
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The Cistercian Abbey of Coupar Angus owned large and productive estates in Strathmore; not only do these lie behind some place-names formed then but its records preserve valuable forms of older names still in use. Paradoxically these fragile records have survived the centuries better than the stone and mortar of the monastic buildings. (Photos Morag Redford)
The rich farmland of Strathmore was the impetus for this piece of research about the place-names in the vicinity of Coupar Angus linked directly to the abbey. Little remains of the abbey today but it was a wealthy Cistercian house where the farming was usually based upon large scale sheep farming. The land was farmed by the monks themselves or by lay brothers who managed the outlying Granges. The Abbey itself was a daughter House of the Cistercian house in Melrose and founded by Malcolm IV from Melrose 1166 x1171.
The charters of the Abbey record many place- names which are still extant as farms today. The foundation charter has 3 names which demonstrate the many strata of place-name developments in the area. Aberbothrie (P aber + existing name *Bothrie) possibly the mouth of the noiseless burn. This farm is situated on the peninsula of land between the rivers Ericht and Isla. Two Scots names appear beside it; Boglea and Haugh and it seems likely that these farms with Scots names are later and that this whole area was once the land of Aberbothrie, becoming the Grange of Aberbothrie when the land was owned by the Abbey. Couper Grange (*conber) is a water name meaning a river / burn confluence, in this case of the Ericht and the Isla. This name is similar to that of Coupar, Fife; Coupar Angus itself and Cupar-Macnulty, now Couttie near Coupar Angus, all lie at the confluence of rivers or burns. Other place-names surviving as grange names are Balbrogie (G baile (town/ village) + ? bròg ‘shoe’`), the town or village of the shoes. This name may indicate a community dedicated to providing footwear for the abbey, there is a parallel in Fife, Pittenbrog ‘holding of the shoes’ in Abernethy. Drimmie (G druim (ridge) + ie ‘place of’ ) and Tullyfergus (G tulach ( hillock /knoll) + Fergus, Gaelic personal name, local saint connected with the Columban Church, or Pictish U(u)rgust. Keithick, which may be from early Celtic *caito, wood, the Grange of Airlie and an unidentified Kincreich (G ceann (head) + ? creach, creich (plunder ‘stripped bare’). Carse Grange (Scots cars / kers(e) – low lying land along a river) was the heart of the lands the abbey held in the Carse of Gowrie.
The abbey held lands across a wide area, but most of the Grange lands were found within a day’s walk of the abbey. They represent a mixture of Gaelic and Scots names with hints of earlier religious links, through Fergus in Tullyfergus and first references to the Grange of Airlie as an apdaine, the abbot’s lands within the earlier Celtic church.
This initial look at the place-names recorded in the Cartulary of Coupar Angus confirms the strength of influence of the abbey on the farm names in the immediate vicinity, many of which are still in use today. It also shows, through the language of the names, that the abbey was one link in the history of farming in this area.
Leslie Fraser: Betwixt Almond and Tay - exploring the place-names of Perthshire's west Stormont
First steps in an exploration of the Perthshire place-names of West Stormont – summary of part of a talk at the conference.
For the past few hundred years Stormont has been thought of as only the area (actually East Stormont) to the north of the Tay around Caputh and Clunie, between Dunkeld and Blairgowrie. However, 16th and early 17th century references are quite clear that the Stormonth was then divided almost equally into East and West. It was decided to resurrect the name in the year 2000 when a local history society came into being covering almost exactly the lands south-west of the Tay described as “West Stormonth” 400 years before.
This district extends for some 100 square miles immediately north of Perth (or in reality Inveralmond) as far as the southern slopes of Birnam Hill, near Dunkeld, and from Logiealmond in the west to Kinclaven in the east. The rivers Almond and Tay form the natural south, east and north-east boundaries of this area which is enclosed all along its north-west by the Grampian Mountains immediately north of the Highland Boundary Fault.
Starting out on an amateur’s toponymic exploration of the area I have first looked at some modern names. Later I will attempt to peel back, layer by layer, the various strata of place-names left by previous inhabitants.
For this first part useful guides have been: the 1st edition Ordnance Survey large-scale map surveyed in 1864; a detailed county map of Perthshire published in 1783 by local man James Stobie; and a clutch of military maps published immediately after the Jacobite rising, the best of which was Roy’s survey.
The century covered by all these maps is of particular interest for West Stormont as it saw a period when the establishment of planned villages was in vogue. A glance at the earlier maps makes it obvious there were no distinct villages within this area between Perth and Dunkeld. Today’s tiny hamlet of Airntully (earann tulaich, share of the hillock), now remote from the main roads, was then the largest community in the district with some 80 simple stone and turf dwellings scattered to either side of the old track to the Caputh boat.
All this started to change from 1752 when what was to become one of the busiest bleachworks in the whole country was established alongside the Tay at Luncarty. The planned village here never quite materialised as such and it awaited the establishment of the next textile village, Stanley, founded in 1785 by Richard Arkwright and local landowner the Duke of Atholl, before the new village concept took off.
The name of Stanley comes from the Earl of Derby’s family, one of whom married into the Atholl Murrays in the late 17th century. The modest mansion (now in ruins) on the banks of the Tay was then renamed after the Stanley family almost 100 years before the building nearby of the massive cotton mill complex, now saved for the nation by Historic Scotland.
James Stobie, our local cartographer and estate factor for the Duke, drew plans for the mills and village; thus it was hardly surprising that he was called upon some three years later when adjacent landowner Thomas Graham (later the celebrated Lord Lynedoch of Peninsular War fame) wanted to plan the village of Pitcairngreen to provide housing for a new bleachworks built alongside the nearby River Almond.
In this instance the name simply picked up on the existing pett carn (portion at the cairn) which tells of the massive pre-historic mound of stones a short distance from the new community which was designed around an English-style village green. But next came the even more prosaically-named Bankfoot, founded about 1811 on flat ground below the high tower of Auchtergaven parish kirk (sadly, recently gutted by fire). Several attempts have been made since then to rename the village after the parish but so far to no avail.
Last of the planned villages in this area was Harrietfield which came into existence in 1822 when the then Drummond of Logie laird was renaming various properties in the locality after members of his family; thus we also have Francesfield and Louisafield farms nearby. When the estate was bought in the 1840s by the Scone Palace family, we see names introduced with the Murray prefix. The re-naming fashion had been picked up on by relatives of both these families thus Mukkersy (swinelands) just north of Stanley and Campsie Linn had earlier been euphemistically turned into Taymount. Farther north we later found one of the Airntully farms being called Stewart Tower and another Drummondhall.
Before we leave the 19th century business of re-naming properties it may be worth mentioning James Stobie’s farm near Luncarty which quietly transformed from Marlhaugh – the hollow piece of ground where they excavated marl-filled ground to fertilise the fields – to become Marlehall, making it sound that bit more important. There is a plethora of names just south of Luncarty commemorating the fabled battle here in the 10th century between the Scots and the Danes. Thus Denmarkfield and Denmark Green made their appearance alongside Turn-again Hillock and the farm of Hillside was renamed Battleby when the house there was greatly extended in the 1860s.
David Orr: Field-names around Kirriemuir
Summary of a talk at the Dundee conference.
Names of fields can cheer up any journey by describing the landscape and recording the history of the area as you travel along. So I shall take you on a couple of short journeys on roads north and south from Kirriemuir, locally known to all in its shortened version as ‘Kirrie’ but made more famous by author Sir JM Barrie as “Thrums”. How many other towns have a pseudonym?
Following the A926 road to Forfar we pass the “Signalfield” which shows its heritage as it recalls the location of the railway signal at the top of the railway embankment, which formed part of the Forfar to Kirrie railway line laid in 1854. The signal was removed in 1963 when the line was lifted but the name lives on.
The next name is “Checkiefield” which you may assume is descriptive of the landscape but stems from the site of the old ‘check toll’ on the junction off the main road between the Logie Toll at Kirriemuir and the Campbellton Toll at Forfar, to prevent the avoidance of toll payments on the road. We then pass “Jenny Millar field”, which commemorates the name of the woman who was thought to be “ a bit saft in the head” and who ultimately drowned herself in the adjacent quarry. This quarry is now in-filled and returned to agriculture but the name lives on in the “Quarry Field”
We then come to the “Cow Park” in front of the big house for Ballinshoe as it is on the maps, but known to all as ‘Benshie’ We then pass the “West Field” which is the west-most field of the Benshie estate and on to the “Smithy Park” which takes its name from the former Benshie Smiddy. And on to the “Redford field” which takes its name from the adjacent farm of that name. Opposite Redford is the “Fletcherfield” which is clearly seen by the walled burial ground of the Fletchers. And on we go down the hill past the old school at Padanaram - this village was formerly known as Ellenorton before it changed its name to the biblical ‘Padanaram’. We then pass “Dragonhall” which was the name of a former Dragonhall farm whose fields are now incorporated into one large field. The next field we come to is “McComies Field” and this is one of the more interesting names I have come across. This is the only field, locally, which has a stone pillar and plaque displaying a cast iron sign plate naming the field. This plaque commemorates the deaths of the sons of John McIntosh better known as “McCombie Mor” on 28th January 1673, on the Muir of Forfar, whose family home was at Crandart in Glenisla. The full story is recorded in detail in David Grewar’s book “The Story of Glenisla” written in 1926.
Now the story of Glenisla leads us to our second journey from Kirrie today, this time northward on the B951 road to the Glenisla home of McCombie Mor at the head of Glen Isla. This takes us on down the Bellaty brae to the field known as “Barn Yard of Newton” at East Mill and then we pass the old shooting lodge of Knockshannoch, which is notable as the main house and all the cottages are built circular in plan to prevent the devil hiding in a corner.
We then pass the “Kiln Field” where the large limekiln is still evident on the far bank; the “Postage Stamp” which is a bit of irony as the field is less than an acre, small even for the glen farms; the “Black Newton” – in front of the site of the former castle, hence new town; “Dam Park” which recognises the Mill Dam for the Mill at East Mill; and the “Post Office”, named after the Woodend village Post Office building that fronts it. Similarly the “Hotel Fields” are named after the village Hotel at the Kirkton of Glenisla.
“Holmiry Haugh” is named after the 50-acre farm of Holmiry which also lives on as the name of the House, and continuing northward we pass the fields of the farm Doldy. This name replicates the name found at the top of the neighbouring glen, Glen Clova: ‘Doll’ meaning meadow.
“Brewlands Haugh” recalls the old Brewery that stood in the area. Then on to “Dalnakebbock” (house of the cheese) and to “Airlie’s Acre”. This commemorates the feuds which existed between the houses of Argyll and Airlie and seems to stem from the events following the death of Lord Ogilvy at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547. We continue on our journey alongside the following fields: “Braes” – self-explanatory; “Gamie’s” – next to the Gamekeeper’s house; “Folda” – next to the village of the same name; “Clach” – on the stony banks of the river; and finally “Dalronnach” – said to be the original site of the Glenisla Games, a small haugh alongside the river.
Simon Taylor: From Tay to Motray - place-names of north-west Fife
Summary of a talk given to the Dundee conference.
Explanation of symbols: # = obsolete place-name; *= hypothetical word or place-name
Looking down the course of the Kethyn Burn, south over Easter Kinnear and the Motray Valley in North East Fife. (Photo by Simon Taylor)
The Motray drains the north-east corner of Fife, flowing through some of the best arable land in the country into the Eden Estuary near Guardbridge at Innerbrig, where the ‘harbour of Motray’ was, the official port for the royal burgh of Cupar.
I am working on a multi-volume work on Fife place-names, and have had much help from a group of volunteers in gathering data. Concerning this north-east corner of Fife I would like to acknowledge a large debt to Mr Mike Henderson of Easter Kinnear, who has shared with me his in-depth knowledge of the area, and been a superb local guide. Mike and I collaborated on an article which appeared in 1998 (Taylor, S., and Henderson, J.M., 1998, 'The Medieval marches of Wester Kinnear, Kilmany Parish, Fife', Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal 4, 232-47 (hereafter Taylor and Henderson 1998).
Map of north-east Fife showing the Motray and medieval parishes (From Taylor and Henderson 1998, 234)
Glen Doll with the White Water, tributary of the South Esk. River names were another of the subjects at the autumn 2003 conference.