Strathenry
Strathenry LSL S NO224019 1 170m
Strathenry 1179 Inchcolm Chrs. no. 2 [15c copy; 1000 eels granted to Inchcolm Priory from Strathenry by Robert de Quincy]
Strathanret 1226 SHS Misc.iv, p. 314 [this may also be read as Strathanrec; Roger de Quincy grants Strathenry to Roderick son of Gillecrist; see also Inchcolm Chrs. 153]
(Walter of) Strathanry c.1263 Inchcolm Chrs. no. 26 [Walter of Strathenry, described as ‘a cleric’ (clerico) witnesses an agreement between the earl of Buchan and Inchcolm anent the church of Leslie]
Hervi de Strathanry 1304 CDS ii no. 1538 [writ for Hervey of Strathenry, on his returning to the English king (Edward I)’s peace, for his lands there (i.e. in Strathenry) acquired through the infeftment of Johanna of Gibliston (Giblethiston) CBE]
(Hervey and John of) Strathanery 1316 x 1319 Dunf. Reg. no. 352
Johannem de Strathenri 1329 ER i, 237 [John]
Walterus de Strathanry 1354 Inchcolm Chrs. no. 35
terra de Strathenry 1354 Inchcolm Chrs. no. 35 [see discussion]
(William of) Strathanry 1457 Dunf. Reg. no. 452 [William of Strathenry of that ilk takes part in a local perambulation]
the westir part of Strathenry 1474 ADA 32-3 [act pursued by Andrew Strathenry (Andro Strath’enry) on the one part against George earl of Rothes on the other for the ‘wrangwiss occupation of the landis of the westir part of Strathenry’ claimed by the said Andrew to pertain to him by reason of tack (tak) of William of Strathenry of that ilk. The Lords Auditors found in favour of Andrew]
(Thomas Forester of) Strathenry 1508 RSS i no. 1762
(lands of) Strathanery 1512 RMS ii no. 3762 [to James archbishop of Glasgow 30 s. from the lands of Strathenry, which used to belong to George earl of Rothes]
Thomas Forster of Strahenry 1522 Fife Ct. Bk. 271
? Balquhenry 1534 Dunf. Reg. no. 522 [Archbp James of St Andrews and George abbot of Dunfermline confirm a charter dated 6 Nov. 1534 at Dunfermline by George Forrester of Strathenry (Forestar de Strathenry) to Masters Adam Otterburn (Ottirburn) of Auldhame (Aldham) ELO and John Otterburn his son, ‘of two thirds of the lands of Easter Hailes ELO with a two third part of the waulkmill in the barony of Musselburgh ELO in exchange for half the lands of Balquhenry[201] and for the lands of ‘*Arnot’s Croft in the lordship of Leslie’, i.e. the Otterburns gave the lands in Leslie to George Forrester of Strathenry in exchange for land in Lothian][202]
Strathenrie 1542 RMS iii no. 2809 [along with various lands including Balquhomrie (Balchumrie), one of the lands belonging to Norman Leslie son of George earl of Rothes in the barony of Leslie]
lard of Straithenrye 1556 NAS RH2/1/23/3 no. 25 [George Forrester (Froister), ‘laird of Strathenry’, attends an assise outside the ditch of the cemetery of Leslie][203]
Strathenrie 1642 Retours (Fife) no. 619 [John earl of Rothes, in barony of Leslie]
Strahenrie 1642 Gordon MS Fife
W. Strahenrie 1642 Gordon MS Fife
Strahenrie 1654 Blaeu (Gordon) Fife
N. Strahenrie 1654 Blaeu (Gordon) Fife
W. Strahenr. 1654 Blaeu (Gordon) Fife
Strendry 1655 Lamont’s Diary 87 [Strathenry LSL]
Strahendry 1670 Lamont’s Diary 218
Strandry 1753 Roy sheet 17, 5
Strathendry 1775 Ainslie/Fife [‘Coll. Douglas’]
W. Strathendry 1775 Ainslie/Fife [= OS Pathf. Westerton?]
Strathendry 1845 NSA ix, 115 [as a child, the famous economist Adam Smith was ‘stolen by some gypsies’ here]
Strathendry House 1856 OS 6 inch 1st edn [also Strathendry Castle, Strathendry Mill, Strathendry Avenue]
G srath + ? G fàn + ? G ruighe or + ? en Enerly
‘Strath (broad valley) of the sloping stretch’ (G srath fhàn ruighe)? This is the tentative suggestion put forward in Inchcolm Chrs. 252, in consultation with W. J. Watson. The Bal- form of this name (Balquhenry 1534), if it is indeed referring to this place, and not to Balquhomrie LSL, suggests rather an original c in initial position in the second element, perhaps ceann ruighe ‘end or head of (the) sloping stretch’. The element ruighe, which can be translated as ‘slope at base of a hill or mountain’, ‘land sloping up to a hill in ridges’; or ‘sheiling’, while common further north, is otherwise unknown in Fife. Furthermore, specifics comprising two elements, as proposed above, are very rare. All in all this etymology is very unlikely.
The second proposal is more plausible. Most Strath-names have the names of water-courses (hydronyms) as their second element (see Elements Glossary, PNF 5, under srath), and there is nothing in the early forms to indicate that this is not a genuine Strath-name. The most likely candidate for such a hydronym is the Enerly Burn, a small burn which runs down through the western part of the lands of Strathenry and drains into the Leven at NO223012. Even before this was straightened (for which see s.n., above), there can be nothing along its course which might be described as a strath or broad valley. In contrast, the land on either side of the River Leven, which forms the southern march of the lands of Strathenry, well fits such a description, with steep land to the south, but open, gently sloping land on the north (Strathenry) side. It is therefore possible that the hydronym Enerly applied to a stretch of the Leven in its upper course between, say, Auchmuir and Prinlaws. Alternatively, the name may always have applied to the small Enerly Burn, but was attached to the strath at this point since the name Strathleven was already in use (by the twelfth century at the latest) to refer to the area around Markinch (for which see MAI Introduction, Early Importance: Secular, and s.n.). If it is indeed the case that the second element of Strathenry derives ultimately from the burn-name which later became Enerly, then this name can be reconstructed as earlier *Enry, *Anret or *Anrec, and *An(e)ry. Other names which should perhaps be considered in connection with the analysis of Strathenry are Drumhendry ANG and Ledenhenrie ANG (Ladynhenry 1487 RMS ii no. 1691), both names of Gaelic origin whose second element has been assimilated to the pn Henry.
It would appear from Inchcolm Chrs. nos. 2, 35 that the land of Strathenry was held by secular tenants of the bishop of Dunkeld, the condition of tenure being the yearly payment of 1000 eels, two pigs and one cow (later commuted to 38 s., then increased to 40 s.) to the monastery of Inchcolm.[204] The catching of eels in the River Leven remained an important source of food into the modern period: the local minister, writing in 1793, remarks: ‘about Michaelmas (29 September), great numbers of eels are taken in their passage from Lochleven to the sea’ (OSA, 591).[205] The catching of eels is reflected also in the mention of eel cruives (eel traps) as an integral part of the lands of Strathenry in a Sasine of 1821.[206]
The 1534 form Balquhenry may be Strathenry, showing generic element substitution or variation (for which see Taylor 1997), or it may represent Balquhomrie LSL, q.v.
For later subdivisions of the lands of Strathenry, see Newton and Westerton.
The above NGR is of Strathenry Castle, the sixteenth-century tower shown as an antiquity on OS Pathf. north-west of OS Pathf. Strathenry House (NMRS NO20SW 4). OS Pathf. Strathendry (sic) applies to a small settlement and works on the Leven over a kilometre south-east of Strathenry House (NGR NO234011); it is shown on OS 6 inch (1856) as Strathendry Mill. On OS 1:25,000 (1956, reprinted 1968) the Tower is named Strathendry Castle (sic), while the house is Strathenry House; on this same map Walkerton is the name attached to OS Pathf. Strathenry, on the river.
There appears to have been a stone circle or other megolithic monument on the lands of Strathenry. A single Standing Stone is marked on OS 1:25,000 (1956, reprinted 1968) at NO230014, west of Farmlands, but ‘Standing Stones’ are shown here on Ainslie/Fife (1775), and in 1793 the Rev. George Willis describes them as ‘four large stones’, beside one of which, in about 1760, was found a stone coffin and an urn (OSA, 590 footnote). On OS 6 inch 1st edn ‘Standing Stones’ are marked here, and in the corresponding OS Name Book (91, 5) these are described as two ‘between 3 and 4 feet high and are irregular shaped without any marks – they are said by the authorities quoted (i.e. those named in the column headed ‘Authority for these other modes of Spelling when known’) to mark the places where chiefs killed in battle between the Danes and Caledonians are buried’. The above-quoted OSA also states that near to these stones stood the Gallant Know, clearly a prehistoric burial mound (590 footnote, where details of the finds are given). This is marked as Gallant Knowe (‘site of’) on OS 6 inch 1st edn (1856), described in OS Name Book 91, 36 as follows: ‘A slight eminence at the west end of Long Hill. The top of it called Gallant Knowe has long since been removed. In doing so some bones etc. were found.’ It lay c.400 metres to the south-west of the Standing Stone, but already in 1933 no trace was visible (RCAHMS 391; see also NMRS NO20SW 6). As it stands it would seem to mean ‘large or grand knowe’ (Sc gallant ‘large, excellent, grand’ SND). However, it may be a conscious adaptation of the frequently occurring place-name Gallows Knowe, that is a knowe on which a gallows stood. Its proximity to and visibility from the old road from Scotlandwell and Auchmuir to Leslie would support this interpretation, as gallows were usually erected at conspicuous sites near old thoroughfares.
/straˈɛnrɪ/ or /strəˈɛnrɪ/
This place-name appeared in printed volume 2