Sure As Death Bank
Sure As Death Bank FLK C NO2621 1 351 0m
Sure as Death Bank 1855 OS 6 inch 1st edn
While it might be reasonable to suppose that this ominously named sand-bank in the Tay posed a deadly danger to shipping, the explanation given in OS Name Book (39, 4) is humorous and benign: ‘A small sand bank visible at low water; and is insulated. It is so called from the fisherman who first fished on it having asserted that he caught fish on it; and then confirmed it by the common phrase “Sure as death, I have”’.
The OS Name Book places it in FLK, although its position on the north side of the Tay suggests rather that it belonged to Errol PER.
This place-name appeared in printed volume 4