Balgillie Burn
Balgillie Burn ~ FAL/LSL W NO241030 1 373 150m
Balgillie Burn 1856 OS 6 inch 1st edn
en Balgillie + SSE burn
The name Balgillie appears only in the name of the Balgillie Burn and in Balgillie Reservoir, created through the damming of the Balgillie Burn (both OS Pathf. names). It never refers to a settlement, and no trace of this name appears in maps or records earlier than the OS Name Book c.1850. An examination of the entry in that source arouses the suspicion that it was in fact an error. It is described accurately as ‘a small stream ... from the junction of two streams a little to the east of Meikle Balgothrie, southwards to its junction with Lothrie Burn’. In the first and third column it is entered as the Balgothrie Burn, the name also given to it by the three informants consulted. However, each of these occurrences of Balgothrie is scored out, and Balgillie written above. Since Balsillie Avenue starts immediately south of the junction of the Balgillie and Lothrie Burns, Balgillie may be a ghost name from an amalgamation of Balgothrie and Balsillie.
OS Name Book 91, 11 reflects this confusion. In the first column (‘List of Names to be corrected if necessary’) it has Balgothrie Burn, with Balgothrie scored out and Balgillie written over it. In the second column (‘Orthography as recommended to be used on the new Plans’) it has Balgillie Burn. In column 3 (‘Other modes of Spelling the same Name’) it has Balgothrie Burn scored out, with Balgillie Burn written over it, and in column 4 (‘Authority for these other modes of Spelling when known’) it gives three names (Mr Skinner, Mr Low and Mr Downy). Finally it describes the feature as ‘A small stream bearing this name from the junction of two streams a little to the east of Meikle Balgothrie, southwards to its junction with Lothrie Burn’.
Mr John Allan informed me that in the 1930s the burn was referred to as The Balgillis (pers. comm.).
Compare also Balgillo, Monifieth ANG and Balgillo #, Kettins ANG (Balgilloquhy 1490 RMS, ii no. 1941).
/bəlˈgɪlɪ/
This place-name appeared in printed volume 2