Bagton
Bagton * WMS S NT3094 3
Bagtoun 1484 RMS ii no. 1576
Bagtowne Mos 1512 Fraser, Wemyss ii no. 88 [See WMS Introduction for full details]
Bagtoun 1516 RMS iii no. 119
Bagtoun 1546 RMS iii no. 2359
Sc ? + Sc toun
It lay in the western part of the parish, as Bagtowne Mos is described as forming the boundary between Dysart DSX and WMS (Fraser, Wemyss ii no. 88, for full details of which see WMS Introduction). Fraser, Wemyss i pp. 100, 139, 143 refers to it as ‘Bogtoun’ or ‘Bogtown’, but the charter evidence indicates that the first element was Sc bag ‘bag’, perhaps referring to a rounded feature in the landscape (cf G bolg ‘bag’, as in Bogie KDT, above).
From the approximate position of Bagtowne Mos as understood from the above-mentioned boundary charter, *Bagton might well be represented today by Branxton WMS, further suggested by the fact that there is no chronological overlap in the respective forms, with the earliest recorded form of Branxton being from 1642 (Brankston Gordon MS Fife). The specific elements are so different, however, and the phonological match so fuzzy, that if they are indeed referring to the same place, it has to be assumed that there has been deliberate replacement or reinterpretation.
This place-name appeared in printed volume 1