Birnie Craig
Birnie Craig PIT ANR C NO547021 1 374 0m
Birnie Craig 1855 OS 6 inch 1st edn
Sc birny + Sc craig
The Sc adjective birny (birnie, birney) is defined by SND 1 (DSL) as describing ‘land covered with birns’. The same source defines birn (also bern) as ‘the scorched stem of heather which remains after the smaller twigs are burnt’. It was probably applied to this coastal rock because the covering of seaweed was reminiscent of a patch of heather after burning.
This place-name appeared in printed volume 3