Downing Point
Downing Point DGY R NT158824 1 394 0m
Dunie 1683 Adair/Forth
Dauny Point 1815 Court of Exchequer [quoted in Drumm 2009, 32; ‘Dauny Point near the House of Dauny Brisal’, i.e. Donibristle DGY
the Downing Point 1811 Moray/1811
The Downing Point 1828 SGF
Downing Point 1856 OS 6 inch 1st edn.
en Downing + SSE point
This name, attached to a promontory forming the south side of Donibristle Bay, bears a striking resemblance to Downans DGY, which lies at the opposite end of the Moray estate, and it may well share a similar etymology, from G dùnan ‘small fort’, the diminutive of G dùn. It is certainly an ideal site for a promontory fort. However, given the lack of early forms, this suggestion must remain extremely tentative, and can perhaps best be proved by archaeological investigation. The possibility exists, however, that the siting of a gun battery on the point in the First World War may have obliterated any traces of earlier structures.
This place-name appeared in printed volume 1