Silverbarton
Silverbarton BUI S NT224870 1 395 130m SEF
(land of) Sybbalbe 1328 Dunf. Reg. no. 371 [Simon of Orrock (Oroc) saised of lands of Orrock and Silverbarton; see also Orrock above]
(land of) Slebalbe 1328 Dunf. Reg. no. 371
(lands of) Slebalbe 1458 Dunf. Reg. no. 453 [occurring five times in this charter]
Slebalbe 1482 Dunf. Reg. no. 485
(Ale ander Orrock of) Selybawbey 1517 Fife Ct. Bk. 73
(Ale ander Orrock of) Selybaube 1519 Fife Ct. Bk. 153
Selybaubye 1519 Fife Ct. Bk. 154
Sillebalbe 1523 Dunf. Reg. no. 511 [rubric]
Selybalbe x 2 1523 Dunf. Reg. no. 511
(Ale ander Orrok of) Syllebalbe 1523 Dunf. Reg. no. 511
Sillebawbe 1531 Dunf. Reg. Ct. Bk. 41
Sillabe 1532 Dunf. Reg. Ct. Bk. 59
(Ale ander Orrock of) Sillebawbe 1534 RMS iii no. 1428
(Ale ander Orrock of) Sillibaube 1540 RMS iii no. 2116
(Ale ander Orrok of) Sillibaube 1539 x 1540 RMS iii no. 2116
(lands of) Silliebalbe 1548 Laing Chrs. no. 546
Sillybalbie 1588 Yester Writs no. 863
Silliebabie 1594 RMS vi no. 75 [part of the lands and barony of Wester Kinghorn, regality of Dunfermline]
Silliebabie 1640 Retours (Fife) no. 588 [Silliebabie and Dunearn (Dunerne)]
Silverbabie 1642 Gordon MS Fife
Syllibabe 1654 Blaeu (Pont) West Fife
Silver-baby 1654 Blaeu (Gordon) Fife
Sillibartone 1672 Blyth 1948, 75
Silly Barton 1775 Ainslie/Fife
Silverbarton 1828 SGF
? G sliabh or G seileach + en Balbie
‘Moor of Balbie’ or ‘Willow Balbie’? If the former, then it refers to an area of upland grazing and moorland attached to Balbie, encompassing Silverbarton Hill and probably part of The Binn. For another name which certainly contains sliabh in west Fife, see Scleofgarmunth # ADN. If the latter, then it was a division of the original estate of Balbie distinguished by either a profusion of willows or by one special willow tree. It is possible that later forms in Silli, Silly, etc. are a result of a reinterpretation of the name as containing Sc silly, ‘poor land’, as in Silverton ADN.
The steading (in ruins) of Silverbarton is c.1.5 km from Balbie, which raises the question as to whether it might not have been a detached part of that estate. This is unlikely, however, given Balbie’s size, which in 1590 was estimated at ‘saxteen oxengait’ i.e. two ploughgates or c.208 acres. This was probably equivalent to a davoch, a respectable size for any Bal-estate (Blyth 1948, 34).
The main settlement of Silverbarton may have been at Hatton, which lies approximately half way between present-day Silverbarton and Balbie. This would be further evidence that the two estates were contiguous, which makes the use of the name of the latter as part of the former more understandable.
If Hatton was indeed the chief residence on the estate of Silverbarton, the name ‘Silverbarton’ would appear to have applied to its present site since at least the seventeenth century. In 1672 one of the six landward divisions of BUI is described as consisting of the Grange, Sillibartone, Lochiebennet and the Windigoates (Blyth 1948, 75; see also BUI Introduction above). The site of Windigoates has been lost, though part of this name may now be represented in Windy Hill which slopes eastward down towards Hatton. Given the position of Lochybennet and the Grange, Sillibartone here seems to refer to OS Pathf. Silverbarton; this is also the site of Silly Barton on Ainslie/Fife (1775) and Silverbarton on SGF (1828).
Alexander Orrock of Silverbarton was appointed master of the mint by James V in 1538. He was responsible for the introduction of a silver coin valued at three, later at six, pennies Scots, which was named after his estate, the bawbee. It was perhaps the similarity of the first element of the estate to Sc siller ‘silver’ which facilitated the adoption of this nickname.
/ˈsɪlɪ bɔˈbi:/ or /ˌsɪlɪbɔˈbi:/
This place-name appeared in printed volume 1