Friarton
Friarton FGN S NO426258 2 35m
tribus acris terre de Frereton 1230 x 1240 St A. Lib. 274 (1) [rubric; ‘3 acres of the land of Friarton’, granted to St Andrews Priory by Richard de Lascelles]
Frereton’ 1230 x 1240 St A. Lib. 274 (1) [see FGN Intro.]
Rogero de Frereton’ 1230 x 1240 St A. Lib. 274 [see FGN Intro.]
Johannis yberniens<is> de Frertun’ 1288 St A. Lib. 346 [‘John the Irishman of Friarton’; see Inverdovat FGN]
de Freirtoun Maiore 1437 St A. Cop. no. 74 [to Thomas Tilty, chaplain, half of our lands of Greater Friarton, with all their pertinents ... with half of all teinds of the toun of Friarton (ville de Freirtoun); now Wester Friarton]
a ferd parte of oure landis of the Freretoun 1441 St A. Cop. no. 116 [to William Watson, an assedation of a quarter of the priory’s lands of the Friarton]
(land of) Freretoune 1452 RMS ii no. 1444
terram de Freretoune 1471 RMS ii no. 1039
(John Bonar of) Frerton 1487 NAS Calendar of Charters no. 525
(Andrew Bonnar in the) Freretoun 1512 Laing Chrs. no. 290 [see *Leightonslands FGN]
terras de Nethir Freirtoun 1560 x 1564 RMS iv no. 1553
Litil Freirtoun 1573 x 1574 RMS iv no. 2266 [barony of Naughton]
Freirtoun c.1560 s Assumption, 10 [identified in index as South Friarton]
(teind sheaves of) Little Freirtoun 1587 Assumption, 14 [leased for 3 b<oll> bere, 10 b<oll> oats]
terras de Nethir Freirtoun 1592 RMS v no. 2026 [feued to the Crichtons]
Freirtoun 1593 RMS v no. 2273 [among St Andrews Priory lands]
(four fifths of the toun and lands of) Over Freirtoun 1597 RMS vi no. 637 [Balfours of Baledmond FGN; lands of St Fort FGN, 4 fifths ‘of toun and lands of Over Friarton along with salmon fishing of Byrehills-Over Friarton in the water of Tay, with common pasture in the Swanlie Mire, *Swanlie Muir and Knock Hill, and with salmon fishing on Tay called *Braid Heuch’ (ville et terrarum de Over Freirtoun una cum piscatione salmonum de Byrehillis-Over Freirtoun in aqua de Taia, cum communi pastura in the Swanlamyre, Suanlamure et Knokhill, et cum salmonum piscaria super Taia vocat. Braidheuch)]
terras de Nether Freirtoun 1606 RMS vi no. 1746 col. 2 [feued to David Lord Scone]
Freirtoun cum decimis 1611 RMS vii no. 464 [teinds formerly paid to St Andrews Priory]
terras de Litill Over Friertoun 1615 RMS vii no. 1321 [see Baledmond FGN]
terras de Freirtoun 1625 Retours (Fife) no. 364 [James duke of Lennox]
Littill Ovir Freirtoun 1627 RMS viii no. 1089 [worded as RMS vii no. 1321]
Little Freertoun c.1636 x 1652 Gordon MS 54A
Freerton 1642 Gordon MS Fife
Litill Ovir Friertoun 1643 Retours (Fife) no. 635
Freertoune 1654 Blaeu (Pont) East Fife
Little Freertoune 1654 Blaeu (Pont) East Fife
Freertoun 1654 Blaeu (Gordon) Fife
Little Over-Freirtoun 1656 Retours (Fife) no. 859 [Nairn of St Ford]
Litle Ovir Freirtoune 1670 Retours (Fife) no. 1070 [Nairn of St Ford]
Mickle Frierton 1775 Ainslie/Fife [= OS Pathf. Wester Friarton]
Little Frierton 1775 Ainslie/Fife
Mickle Friarton 1827 Ainslie/East Fife
Lit<tle> Friarton 1827 Ainslie/East Fife
E. Friarton 1828 SGF
W. Friarton 1828 SGF
Little Friarton 1828 SGF
South Friarton 1896 OS 1 inch 2nd edn [OS Pathf. Knockhill House NO427256]
South Friarton 1888 x 1914 OS 6 inch 1st revision [building c.400 metres to the south-east of Knockhill House, at NO432251, not named on OS Pathf., but shown as South Friarton on OS 1:10,000 (2007)]
Sc friar + Sc toun
‘Friar’s or friars’ farm’. The friars were the Augustinian canons of St Andrews Priory.[216] It had the earlier name of Melcrether (q.v., below). The evidence for this identification is as follows. Around 1160 Malcolm IV granted the priory a carucate (c.100 acres) of land in Naughton called Melcrether (RRS i no. 228). Apart from various confirmations of this grant, the name next occurs in a charter from the first quarter of the thirteenth century (St A. Lib. 275), when the canons’ land of Malcrether is mentioned as one of the boundaries of two acres of land granted by Alan de Lascelles (son of Walter de Lascelles)[217] to St Andrews Priory. The exact phrasing is ‘the said canons’ land of Melcrether’ (terram predictorum canonicorum de Malcrether), and in fact terram canonicorum could be a Latin translation of Friarton.[218] At all events it is clear from this charter that Melcrether, like Friarton, lay in the parish of Forgan near the boundary with the lands of Cowbakie LEU. Apart from Alexander II’s general confirmation charter of 1228, which mentions it, the canons’ large holding of Melcrether is never mentioned again.
Furthermore, in the 1230s Richard de Lascelles gave to St Andrews Priory three acres on the east side of Friarton (St A. Lib. 274).[219] There is no record of the important lands of Friarton coming into the possession of the canons (friars) of St Andrews, nor is there any record of their ever losing the equally important lands of Melcrether. The best way to explain this is that Melcrether and Friarton are one and the same place, the former the Gaelic, the latter the Scots name.
One of the witnesses of this later charter of Richard de Lascelles was Roger of Friarton (Frereton’) (St A. Lib. 274). In the earlier charter of Alan de Lascelles, one of the witnesses is Roger of Malcrether, along with Lambin (Lambin<us>) his brother (St A. Lib. 275). Given the likelihood that Melcrether is the older name of Friarton, it is probable that Roger of Melcrether of this earlier charter is the same person as Roger of Friarton of Richard de Lascelles’s charter.
Friarton included OS Pathf. Easter Friarton and Wester Friarton (formerly Meikle Friarton) as well as Knockhill, formerly South Friarton or Little Friarton. See Easter Friarton, Wester Friarton and Knockhill FGN for details.
/ˈfriərtən/
This place-name appeared in printed volume 4