Lambieletham

Lambieletham CMN SSL S NO503126 2 115m

Lethin 1156 x 1160 RRS i no. 173 [= St A. Lib. 203; royal confirmation of the agreement reached between the Culdees and St Andrews Priory anent Strathkinness (Stradkines) SSL and Lambieletham; no mention of Kininnes, which is presumably included in Lethin][40]
Lethin 1160 RRS i no. 174 [= St A. Lib. 206; ‘Strathkinness and the other Strathkinness in exchange for *Kininnis CMN and Lambieletham CMN, both of which the Culdees have’ (Stradkines et aliam Stradkines pro commutatione de Kynninis et de Lethin quas Kelledei habent)]
Lethin 1160 x 1162 St A. Lib. 131 [Bp Arnold’s confirmation charter]
Lethin 1163 St A. Lib. 54 [papal confirmation charter]
Lethin 1165 x 1169 RRS ii no. 28 [ o.c.; corresponds to St A. Lib. 214, which has the same forms]
Lethin 1165 x 1169 St A. Lib. 143 [Bp Richard’s confirmation charter]
Lethin 1179 x 1184 St A. Lib. 145 [Bp Hugh’s confirmation charter]
Lethin 1189 x 1198 St A. Lib. 150 [Bp Roger’s confirmation charter]
Lethene 1198 x 1199 St A. Lib. 318 [‘Lethene cum Kininis’]
Lethin c. 1220 Terrier [17/18th c. copy; amongst Culdee lands]
(Adam of) Lethyn 1235 RRS Handlist/Alexander II no. 208
Lethyn 1235 RRS Handlist/Alexander II no. 208
Lethin c. 1250 x 1275 Laing Chrs. no. 15 [‘Lethin et Kyninnis’]
(John Lamby laird of) Lambylethin 1406 St A. Cop. 430 [his daughter Marjory married Thomas Arthurson burgess of St Andrews]
(John Lamby laird of) Lambylethin 1419 St A. Cop. 430
Lambeislethin 1452 x 1480 RMS ii no. 1444 [St Andrews Church land]
Lethyn 1481 Laing Chrs. no. 184 [Letham and Carngour (Carnegowre) called Kininnis (Kyninnis) CMN]
Lammelethin 1501 Laing Chrs. no. 2601
Lambilethny 1513 RMS ii no. 3813 [his new ward between the lands of Lambieletham and New Grange (Novam Grangiam) SSL)]
Lambieletham 1517 Fife Ct. Bk. 401 [17th c. copy; Lambieletham and Carngour (Carngowre)]
Lamelathen 1521 Laing Chrs. no. 330 [a third of Lambieletham and Carngour (Cragingour)]
Lambelethame 1576 Laing Chrs. no. 943 [lands of Lambieletham and Carngour (Carnegour) now called Kynnynes]
(principal messuage of) Lambeletham 1576 Laing Chrs. no. 943
Lamelathen 1592 APS iii, p. 549, ch. 20
Lambieletham 1601 Retours (Fife) no. 109 [Mary Scott, a third of the lands of Lambieletham and Carngour and mill]
Lambilethame 1625 Retours (Fife) no. 364 [‘the lands called Beniston’s Third of Lambieletham’ (terras nuncupatas Benistounes Thrid de Lambilethame)]
Lamylathon 1642 Gordon MS Fife
Lambielethane 1645 APS vi (part i), 332 [part of newly formed CMN]
Lambelethem 1646 Retours (Fife) no. 697 [‘in two thirds of the lands of Lambieletham and the mill’ (bina parte terrarum de Lambelethem et molendini)]
Lamming Latthey 1654 Blaeu (Pont) East Fife
Lamy-Lathon 1654 Blaeu (Gordon) Fife
Lamb Lathim 1684 Adair/East Fife
Lamlethem 1753 Roy sheet 19, 5
Lamy Letham 1775 Ainslie/Fife [also shows Bogs, which may be OS Pathf. North Lambieletham]
Lambletham 1800 Cameron Parish Papers [Lambletham & Langraw]
Lambe Lethem 1827 Ainslie/East Fife [also shows Bogs, which may be OS Pathf. North Lambieletham]
N. Lambialetham 1828 SGF
S. Lambialetham 1828 SGF
North Lambie Letham 1855 OS 6 inch 1st edn
South Lambie Letham 1855 OS 6 inch 1st edn

pn Lambie + en Letham

The pn Lambie, or Lambin(us), which forms the first element, occurs frequently in late twelfth- and thirteenth-century charters relating to the burgh of St Andrews (e.g. Black Book of St Andrews fo 35, for which see Barrow 1989, 77; also St A. Lib. 45, 109, 281, 335). In 1235 Alexander II confirms the quitclaim by Adam son of Adam of Letham (de Lethyn) to William son of Lambin of the land of Letham (Lethyn) in exchange for 25 merks and two tenements in St Andrews (RRS Handlist/Alexander II no. 208). The link between the Culdees’ part of the lands of Letham and the descendants of Lambin dates from this time.

This change of tenancy is confirmed by a charter issued many years later by Master Adam of Makerstoun (Malkariston), provost of the Culdee church of St Mary’s in St Andrews c.1249–c.1285 (Laing Chrs. no. 15). In this charter Makerstoun confirms to John son of William son of Lambin all the land of Carngour and (Lambie)letham which Adam son of Gilmur Makmartin had held from their predecessors. This is discussed more fully under *Balmartin SSL.

William appears in several charters as William son of Lambin (Willelmus filius Lambini), e.g. St A. Lib. 268 (1202 × 1238), 316 (1212), and this probably represented a Sc patronymic which may already have developed into the surname Lambie. The Lambie family still held these lands in the early fifteenth century, when the first instance of the name in its modern form is recorded (John Lamby laird of Lambieletham (Lambylethin) 1406 and 1419 St A. Cop. 430). For the name Lambin(us), of Germanic origin, see Black 1946, 411–12.

Lambieletham and Kininnis # (now Carngour) were acquired by the Culdees of St Mary’s from the canons of St Andrews Priory in exchange for part of Strathkinness SSL (see *Balmartin SSL). Since Lambieletham is not mentioned until after the exchange, but Kininnis # is one of Bishop Robert’s original endowments of 1140 (St A. Lib. 122), it is safe to assume that Kininnis # was used loosely to include that part of the lands of *Letham adjacent to it, i.e. Lambieletham. This could work the other way, for example when Letham (Lethin) is used to represent both Kininnis # and Lambieletham in Malcolm IV's confirmation of the exchange (RRS i no. 173).

This exchange between the Culdees and the canons must have taken place between 1156 and 1159 or 1160; see Kininnis # CMN, above. There was another part of the lands of *Letham which came into the possession of the St Andrews Priory 1165 × 1172, and which became known as Priorletham to distinguish it from Lambieletham.

The above NGR is for South Lambieletham, probably the centre of the estate: Ainslie/East Fife shows Lambe Lethem on the south side of the road running from Priorletham to Scooniehill SSL, at a point that seems to correspond to South Lambieletham. Close to the north-west of Lambe Letham Ainslie/East Fife shows a settlement called Bogs, presumably on or near low-lying wet land, and probably referring to North Lambieletham, close to OS Pathf. Lambieletham Reservoir. In addition to this, the name appears on OS Pathf. in North Lambieletham (NO504131) and South Lambieletham (NO503126).

/ˈlambɪ ˈlɛθəm/

This place-name appeared in printed volume 3