Lacesston
Lacesston SLO S NO178083 1 372 115m NWF
(lands of ) Myddil-Urquhart alias Lausounstoun 1538 RMS iii no. 1877 [in barony of Parbroath CRC; 3 merks annually to support chaplains at Creich]
Lawsonestoun c.1560 s Assumption, 69 [joint assessment with Lappie SLO]
villa et terris lie Lowsoneis-landis nuncupatis 1572 RMS iv no. 2033 [Herings; lands of Urquharts, ‘with the toun and lands called the *Lawsonslands’]
Lawsounistoun 1581 RMS v no. 287 [one of the three Urquharts SLO, q.v.]
Lawsounstoun 1643 RMS ix no. 1462 [part of Urquhart SLO, q.v.]
Lawsons Town 1775 Ainslie/Fife [with Nether Orphit and Upper Orphit only]
Laucestoun 1828 SGF
Laceston 1856 OS 6 inch 1st edn
pn Lawson + Sc toun
‘Toun or farm held by a family called Lawson’; note the variation in the generic element in the 1572 form, where Sc landis replaces Sc toun, echoing the preceding terre (pl.) ‘lands’ rather than villa ‘toun’.
According to RMS ii no. 3756 (1512) Middle Urquhart was part of the barony of Parbroath, belonging to the Setons. Lawsons were burgesses of Falkland FAL in 1459 (RMS ii no. 709, despite the fact that there are no Fife Lawsons mentioned in the indices to RMS i–iii 1306–1546), and there is a Lawson’s Knowe between the farms of Falklandwood and Woodmill FAL (first mentioned in a Sasine of 1788) (see Lawson’s Knowe Plantation FAL, PNF 2). There were also Lawsons at Drumclop # MML and in Dysart DSX in the early sixteenth century (Fife Ct. Bk.).
While in the 1538 record Middle Urquhart is given as an alias of Lacesston, in 1643 both are listed as being quite distinct (RMS ix no. 1462).
/ˈlɔ:sɪstən/ is the commoner local pronunciation, especially among older people, but /ˈlasɪstən/ is also heard.[404]
This place-name appeared in printed volume 4