Nochnary
Nochnary KTT S NO264097 1 373 38m
Nochnarie 1630 RMS viii no. 1528 [‘Peathill and the vaccary called Nochnary’ (Peithill et Bowhous vocat. Nochnarie)]
Lochnary 1753 Roy sheet 18, 1
Nochnary 1797 Sasines no. 4979 [‘Nochnary or Lochnary, parish of Kingskettle or Lathrisk’]
Knocknara 1775 Ainslie/Fife [shown in FAL]
Nochnary 1828 SGF
G cnoc + G an + G àirigh
‘Hillock of the sheiling or cattle-station’. While G àirigh is more usually associated with summer exploitation of upland areas, it can also occur, as here, in low, boggy areas which would have been flooded in winter. For a nearby example of a shieling on higher ground, see Nochnarie SLO (PNF 4), which is the same name applied to a site close to the 200 m contour. The cnoc element of Nochnary refers to the very slight rise on which the farm buildings sit, on the southern side of the River Eden’s flood-plain. Other names on this flood plain, before the river was straightened and the land drained, show that it was used for summer pasture, especially for cattle. Nochnary itself is described as a Bowhous (1630), a vaccary or cattle station. Three fields on that farm are called North, South and Mid Bowhouse or Booze (pronounced /b¬z/),[139] although these probably refer to the farm of Bowhouse CLS, which lies immediately across the river from Nochnary. The neighbouring farm of Raecruik SLO (PNF 4) was also described as a bowhouse in 1580 (RMS v no. 1788), while a mile to the east of Nochnary lies Shiells CLS (also PNF 4), which contains the Sc word for shieling, or summer grazing with huts attached. See Taylor 2006 for further discussion of transhumance in the Howe of Fife.
RMS viii no. 1528 (1630) shows that Nochnary was part of Wester Lathrisk (now Lathrisk House). It is very probable that the bowhouse (Bowhous) mentioned in 1599 in connection with the lands of Wester Lathrisk is Nochnary, although it is not named as such (RMS vi no. 895). See Lathrisk for more details.
/nɔxˈnerɪ/
This place-name appeared in printed volume 2