Brunton

Brunton MAI S NO304019 1 80m

the Burntoun 1435 NAS GD15/390 [Dalginch (Dalgynche) and the Brunton; see Dalginch KWY, MAI]
Burntoun 1511 RMS ii no. 3642 [see KWY Introduction]
Burnetoun 1512 RMS ii no. 3738 [see KWY Introduction]
Burntoun 1522 Fife Ct. Bk. 251
apud Burnetoun 1531 RMS iii no. 1004 [Wardlaw of Torry TOB]
apud Brontoun 1536 RMS iii no. 2922
Burnetoun 1546 RMS iv no. 3 [Wardlaw; ... Brunton, Dalginch (Dalginche) and two parts of Easter Newton (Estir Newtoun) MAI]
apud Bruntoun 1547 RMS iv no. 47 [Wardlaw]
Brontoun 1555 NAS RH2/1/23/3 [John Wardlaw and Elizabeth Beaton (Betoun), ‘franctenementaris [216] of Brontoun and Dalginche’]
apud spinam de Brontoun 1556 NAS RH2/1/23/3 no. 26 p. 28 [solemn business conducted ‘at the thorn-tree of Brunton’]
(lands of) Bruntoun 1558 Retours (Fife) no. 39 [Henry Wardlaw of Torry (Torrie) TOB, lands and barony of Wester Lochoreshire (Wester Lochorschyre) BGY; lands of Brunton and Dalginch (Dalginche) with the mill]
Bruntoun c.1560 s Purves 155 [Brunton and Dalginch (Dalginche); ?12]
(lands of) Brountoun 1562 RMS iv no. 1415 [Andrew Wardlaw, son of Henry; in the barony of Wester Lochoreshire]
Bow of Brontoun 1556 NAS RH2/23/3 no. 50 [see Bowes # KWY, above]
Brountoun 1587 Assumption 15 [teind sheaves of St Andrews Priory; Brunton and Dalginch (Dallginche)]
Bruntoun 1605 RMS vi no. 1658 [Andrew Wardlaw, lands of Brunton, Dalginch (Dalginche) and the loch of Balfarg (Balfarg) MAI]
Brunton 1606 Cunningham 1907a, 9 [citing ‘the edition of the Regiam Magestatem [sic] anno 1606’; see discussion]
terris de Brountoun 1614 Retours (Fife) no. 230 [in the lands of Brunton and Dalginch (Dalginsche), with the mill]
Bruntoun 1621 RMS viii no. 195 [in the lordship of Dalginch KWY, q.v.]
Brunton 1642 Gordon MS Fife
Bruntoun 1654 Blaeu (Pont) East Fife
Bruntoun 1654 Blaeu (Gordon) Fife
Bruntoune 1663 Retours (Fife) no. 938 [John Preston (Prestoun) of Airdrie CRA, the lands of Brunton and Dalginch (Dalginche)]
(James Law of) Bruntoun 1665 Retours (Fife) no. 978 [in the lands of ‘Brunton, Dalginch, Bighty MAI and Pitenchagal MAI in the lordship of Dalginch, with the marshes called Brunton Moss’ (Bruntoun, Dalginsch, Bightie et Pittinhaggilis in dominio de Dalginsch cum maresiis vocatis Bruntoun moss); also lands of Treaton (Treatoun), Easter Newton (Eister Newtoun) MAI, Wester Newton (Wester Newtoun) MAI, and lands of Over and Nether Markinch (Ovir et Nether Markinsche)]
Bruntoun moss 1665 Retours (Fife) no. 978
Brunton 1681 Retours (Fife) no. 1196 [James Turnor, in the lands and barony of Brunton and Dalginch (Dalginch), ‘in MAI and KWY respectively’ (infra parochias de Markinch et Kennoway respective)]
Brountoun 1684 Adair/East Fife [also shows Brountoun Moss for OS Pathf. Star Moss]
Bruntounland 1685 NAS GD26/3/950
(James Law of) Bruntoune 1694 Retours (Fife) no. 1355 [lands of Bruntoun and Dalginsch, with the moss called Bruntone moasse; lands of Treatoune; lands of Easter Newtoune, Wester Newtoune, Over Markinch and Nether Markinch; lands of Bighty (Bighvie) MAI and Pitenchagal (Pittinghalls) MAI, all united in the burgh of barony of Markinch, in the parishes of Markinch and Kennoway respectively]
Bruntone moasse 1694 Retours (Fife) no. 1355
Brunton 1753 Roy sheet 18, 1
Brunton 1775 Ainslie/Fife [in MAI]
3 portions of Brunton 1799 Sasines no. 5328 [in the lordship and barony of Balgonie MAI, the 3 portions called ‘3 Lochs, 3 Myres or 3 Butts, with part of Brunton Land called Brunies Haugh, [217] and acres of Brunton Land’]
Brunton 1802 Sasines no. 6206 [‘Bighty, Pittenchagaib (for Pittenchagail i.e. Pitenchagal # MAI) & Inchinnie; Treaton and Mosses and Muirs thereof, three portions of Brunton called the three Lochs, three Myres or three Butts, viz. Eastmost, Middle and Westmost Butts, with part of Brunton land called Brunieshaugh & acres of Brunton in the highway from Markinch to the house of Brunton’]
the Star of Brunton 1804 Sasines no. 6832 [‘27 ruids (roods) of ground in the Star of Brunton, with a piece of ground in that place called the Boug’; for Star see Star KWY, though note that this Sasine places it in MAI]
the Star of Brunton 1812 Sasines no. 9614 [‘a Brewstead in the Star of Brunton called Plunkie’]
Barnslee 1828 SGF [shown in MAI, = OS Pathf. Brunton House (possibly Brunton Barns)]
lands of Brunton 1845 NSA ix, 378 [Mrs Paxton of Barnslee, proprietor of lands of Brunton]
Barnslee 1856 OS 6 inch 1st edn [sic. = OS Pathf. Brunton House, not the site of Barnslee MAI]

Sc ? burn or ? Sc brunt/burnt + Sc toun

Either ‘toun on or near a burn’ or ‘burnt toun’, i.e. one cleared by burning. As the lands of Bruntoun are bordered on their south side by the large burn called the Back Burn or the Markinch Burn, the former derivation is more likely.

    The reference to Brunton in 1606 given above is from a marginal note in a version of the Regiam Maiestatem text about the judicial centres for the provinces of Scotland. A note on Dalginch KWY, MAI, the centre for Fife, it states that ‘the lands of Dalginch once belonged to James Cockburn during the reign of King James II; now they are called the lands of Brunton, and are held by Wardlaw, laird of Torry, and they are adjacent to the lands of Markinch’.[218] For Dalginch see MAI Introduction, Early Importance: Secular; and KWY s.n.

    Brunton was obviously a subdivision of the ancient estate of Dalginch. Since the farm of Dalginch still exists, immediately east of Brunton, the comment in Regiam Maj. implies rather that Brunton had become the main manor or messuage. This seems to be the case already in the early sixteenth century, when the Wardlaws were issuing charters at Brunton (e.g. RMS ii no. 3738). See also KWY Introduction.

    Brunton itself has a tri-partite piece of land referred to variously as ‘lochs’, ‘mires’ or ‘butts’, which appear in the Sasine of 1802. See The Mires MAI/KWY Section 1 (Linear Features), above, for discussion.

    There seems to have been an unsuccessful attempt in the early nineteenth century to change the name of the estate to Barnslee (RHP3263 and 4460); see also SGF (1828). Barnslee is the name given by OS 6 inch 1st edn to the big house now called Brunton House MAI. Beside it, but now in KWY, is OS Pathf. Brunton Barns, called simply The Barns on OS 6 inch 1st edn and 1 inch 2nd edn Barnslee is now the name of a settlement in MAI, 500 m south of Brunton House.

    Today most if not all the lands of Brunton lie in KWY, to which they were transferred along with Dalginch sometime in the nineteenth century (see MAI Introduction). OS Pathf. Brunton House, however, lies in MAI.

    On OS 1 inch 2nd edn (1890s) Brunton is shown in KWY, at a place where today no buildings are marked, at NO310018, near the Back Burn or Markinch Burn. This is in fact the site of Brunton Mill #, so called on OS 6 inch (1856), also in KWY. This is called Delginch Mill on a 1768 estate plan (RHP23533), for more details of which see under Dalginch KWY, above.

    It will be easier to see how the names of various parts of Brunton have changed by looking at them in tabular form. Here the names on various maps and plans are shown beneath the corresponding sites on OS Pathf.

                              Brunton House   Brunton Barns Barnslee  (Brunton Mill #)

                                     MAI                     KWY                      MAI                        KWY

Ainslie/Fife (1775)Brunton                  ? Braes            Backside     

RHP3263 (1805)  House                Farm                 S. Farm                  

SGF (1828)            Barnslee             Barnslee          Mains

OS 6 inch (1856)   Barnslee             The Barns           Backside         Brunton Mill

RHP4460 (1865)  Mansion House North Barnslee South Barnslee

OS 1 inch (1899)   Brunton House  The Barns           Barnslee          Brunton

    /ˈbrʌntən/

This place-name appeared in printed volume 2