Blair Collection > Place names in Strathbogie, with notes historical, antiquarian and descriptive

Cairnie. 1 8 1
the Court-Books of the County. Apart from
this we would scarcely have known of their ex-
istence, and our loss would have been very small.
Whatever changes in nominal ownership there
may have been, it is sufficient for us to know
that what we now call Cairnie formed part of the
original lands of Strathbogie, and of the lordship
of Huntly.
To the X.W. of Broadland is Bogforth, to
which I have no references older than two or
three hundred years. Forth in old Scotch writ-
ings means occasionally a ' fort,' and sometimes a
' ford ;' but although there may, at one time, have
been a fort at this place, as indeed anywhere else,
we know nothing about it ; and the name could
not possibly have had any reference to a ford.
It seems much more likely to mean the bog-
fourth, or quarter, — probably two oxgangs, or the
fourth of a plough-gate. This extent of holding
was common, and in Gaelic times was called a
rath, a word which occurs in place names, such
as Rawgown, ' the smith's fourth, or quarter '
(Celt. Scot, III. 243).
On the west side of the bridge of the Burn of
Cairnie is a point or face of a knoll having the
curious name Gillgatherbus, or as generally pro-
nounced Gillgetherbus, which it has been sug-
gested is a nickname; but there is no explan-
ation how it could be so, or how it originated.
Before we can say that a place name is a nick-