Balbarton
Balbarton KGH S NT235913 2 70m
de duabus Balbretanis 1369 RRS vi no. 425 [part of the royal lands, with the mill, granted to Sir James Douglas; see Seafield KGH below]
terris de Balbritan 1329 x 1371 RMS i app. 2 no. 1072 A [16th c. index; Balbritan, Balbardie (Balbrady), Tirveny # (Torwenny) etc.]
Balbyertane 1329 x 1371 RMS i app. 2 no 1072 B [17th c. index]
(the two) Balbretanis 1372 RMS i no. 415 [cf RRS vi no. 425]
(the two) Balbretanys 1386 Morton Reg. ii no. 177 [with the mill]
Estir-Balbartanis 1459 RMS ii no. 699 [mentioned with Westir Balbartanis, with their mill]
Westir-Balbartanis 1459 RMS ii no. 699 [mentioned with Eastir Balbartonis, with their mill]
terris iv quarteriorum de Balbertane estir 1531 x 1532 Dunf. Reg. no. 516 [the lands of the four quarters of Balbarton Easter, amongst a long list of lands held by the Scott of Balwearie family]
(the two) Babertanis 1540 RMS iii, no. 2213
Balberton 1642 Gordon MS Fife
V. Balberto&# 363 ; 1654 Blaeu (Pont) West Fife [suspension for n; V probably for Vester or the like, i.e. Wester]
E. Balbertoun 1654 Blaeu (Pont) West Fife
Balbertoun 1654 Blaeu (Gordon) Fife
Balbarton 1753 Roy sheet 17, 5
E. Balbartown 1753 Roy sheet 17, 5
E Bowbarton 1775 Ainslie/Fife
W Bowbarton 1775 Ainslie/Fife
East Balbarton 1828 SGF
West Balbarton 1828 SGF
G baile + G breatan
‘Estate of the Briton or Britons’. See Watson 1926, 14–5, 208. It presumably referred to a settler or settlers from Strathclyde, which did not become incorporated into the Scottish kingdom until the eleventh century (see Broun 2004).
It is perhaps significant that the estate immediately to the north, on the other side of the burn which forms the boundary between KGH and KXY, was called Pitconmark #. This contains the common British personal name ‘Conmarch’, and raises the possibility that Balbarton might mean ‘estate neighbouring lands held by a British-speaker’ (see Pitconmark # KDT, KXY).
In 1369 the two Balbartons (Easter and Wester) formed part of a group of royal lands in the constabulary of Kinghorn which King David II gave to James Douglas. For more details see Seafield below.
Roy (1753) shows the two farms as Balbarton (which appears to be OS Pathf. West Balbarton) and East Balbartown, suggesting that OS Pathf. West Balbarton was the original centre of the estate before division. Sibbald (1803, 316), writing in 1710, names this place simply Balbarton, confirming the suggestion that West Balbarton is the original centre, and states that it is the dwelling of Mr Walter Boisvill (Boswell). The NGR given is therefore for OS Pathf. West Balbarton. OS Pathf. also shows Balbarton Brae.
/balˈbartən/ or /bəlˈbartən/
This place-name appeared in printed volume 1