Rankeilour
Rankeilour MML S NO3312 2
Patricium de Rankeloch 1293 SHS Highland Papers 2 no. 3, p. 128 [o.c.; the son ‘of the late Duncan of that same vill’ (quondam Duncani eiusdem ville)][338]
Adam filium Dauid de Rankeloch’ 1293 SHS Highland Papers 2, no. 3, p. 128
Ad<am> de Rankeloch’ 1293 SHS Highland Papers 2, no. 3, p. 128
in Renkelouch c.1340 Dunf. Reg. no. 325 [Patrick dwelling in Rankeilour one of the men of Dunfermline Abbey; see PNF 5, App. 1, for full details]
Nethir’ Ramkelo 1466 Dunf. Reg. no. 458 [w. ‘David Rankeilour of Nether Rankeilour’ (Dauid Ramkelo de Nethir’ Ramkelo)]
Ovirrankelour 1506 ER xii, 719 [Over Rankeilour, q.v.]
Nethir Rankelour 1533 RMS iii no. 1298 [to John Rankeilour (Rankilour) of that ilk and Janet Pitbladdo, spouse, Nether Rankeilour with mills etc.]
Uverrankelo 1538 St A. Rent. 7 [in parish of Monimail (Monymeill)]
Nethirrankelo 1538 St A. Rent. 7 [in parish of Monimail (Monymeill)]
Ovir-Rankelo 1540 RMS iii no. 2136
terras de Rankelour-Ovir 1540 RMS iii no. 2167
Nethir Rankelour 1554 RMS iv no. 900 [David Rankeilour of that ilk sells Nether Rankeilour to James Makgill, burgess of Edinburgh, and his wife Janet]
Rankelour c.1560 s Assumption, 78 [David Sibbald, laird’s brother]
Jacob<us> Makgill senior de Rankelour-Nethir 1601 RMS vi no. 1132
(lands and barony of) Rankillor-over 1602 Retours (Fife) no. 123
Jacob<us> Makgill de Rankelour-Nether 1606 RMS vi no. 1777
terras de Nether Rankelour 1606 RMS vi no. 1777
infra baroniam de Rankelor 1623 Retours (Fife) no. 332 [Patrick Balfour, in the lands of Pitcullo (Pitcullow) LEU ‘in barony of Rankeilour’]
O. Rankellour 1642 Gordon MS Fife
N. Rankellor 1642 Gordon MS Fife [sic]
N. Rankellour 1654 Blaeu (Pont) East Fife
Ronkelour 1654 Blaeu (Pont) East Fife [sic]
O. Rankeilour 1654 Blaeu (Gordon) Fife
N. Rankeilour 1654 Blaeu (Gordon) Fife
Rankillar Hope 1723 Geog. Coll. i, 303 [Over Rankeilour belonging to the earl of Hopeton; ‘a very handsome house with a good deall of inclosures and regular planting about them is one mile east from the church or house of Melvell’]
Rankillar Mackgill’s 1723 Geog. Coll. i, 303 [Nether Rankeilour; ‘quarter mile south of Rankillar Hope’]
Rankeeler 1753 Roy sheet 18, 2
Nether Rankeeler 1753 Roy
Mill of Rankeeler 1753 Roy
Nether Rankieler 1775 Ainslie/Fife [‘Maitland Esq.’; in MML]
Rankieler Mill 1775 Ainslie/Fife [at c.NO329115, on the Rankeilour Burn]
Upper Rankieler 1775 Ainslie/Fife [‘Earl of Hopton’]
N<eth>er Rankeillor 1828 SGF [in CLS]
Upper Rankeillor 1828 SGF
Over Rankeilour 1855 OS 6 inch 1st edn [also shows un-named buildings at the site of OS Pathf. Over Rankeilour Farm]
Nether Rankeilour 1855 OS 6 inch 1st edn [in CLS, west of Rankeilour Burn, at NO325118]
Rankeilour Mains 1855 OS 6 inch 1st edn
G roinn + pn Cellach
‘Division or share (OG rann) of Cellach’. The personal name Cellach was borne by at least one bishop of St Andrews in the tenth century, and it is possible that the eponymous Cellach was one of these, a possibility increased by the fact that it marches with the lands of Monimail, which is closely associated with the bishops of St Andrews from its earliest appearance in the record.
The expected development of final –ach to –o (for which see Ó Maolalaigh 1998, 38–44) is entirely eclipsed in the sixteenth century by the ending –er/or/ur. This unusual development may perhaps be explained as having come about under the influence of the initial r, and been reinforced by such names as Inverkeilor (parish) and Keillor, Kettins ANG.
The lands of Rankeilour were extensive, occupying the southernmost part of the parish of Monimail. They were divided into two separate holdings, Over and Nether Rankeilour, by the mid-fifteenth century. Given the tendency for affixes such as Over and Nether to be quite unstable, in the case of Rankeilour they have proved remarkably consistent (apart from the occasional Upper for Over), although Nether Rankeilour has not survived on the modern map, being represented by OS Pathf. and OS Explorer Rankeilour Mains and Rankeilour House. OS 6 inch 1st edn (1855) Nether Rankeilour is in CLS, however, on the west side of the Ballantagar Burn which forms the CLS/MML boundary, at NO325118. This probably represents an extension of the lands of Rankeilour westwards over the Rankeilour Burn into CLS.
Besides Rankeilour Mains and Rankeilour House, OS Pathf. shows Over Rankeilour (q.v.), Over Rankeilour Farm (now the Falconry and Deer Centre), and Rankeilour Burn, the lower reaches of the Ballantagar Burn before it flows into the River Eden, and which is further discussed under Daftmill CLS, above.
/ranˈkilər/ or /rənˈkilər/
This place-name appeared in printed volume 4