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

Cairnie. 215
quhanyoquhy' i.e. Bothchanyochy, and in the hill
name Cairn-a-cheannaiche — probably so called
from a commemorative cairn. If these letters,
ch, really belong to Auchanachie, then the name
would read Achad/i-cheaiinaic/ie, ' the field of the
merchant,' or of the ' buyer or seller,' possibly in-
dicating the field where in former times Caral
Fair may have stood. So far as I see at present,
this is the only explanation I can suggest. The
latter part of the name seems to be common
in other compound words, and it is probable
that further light may be cast upon it. Perhaps
we are apt, in regard to such places, to expect a
name corresponding to the character of the place
at the time it becomes known to us, while in fact
the name may have originated when the place
was of no importance.
The high ridge of land in front of Auch-
anachie, overlooking the Burn of Cairnie, is
called Drummyduan, which in the form of Drum-
duan I have had occasion to notice. If duaii
means ' black-water,' it is appropriately used to
describe the Burn of Cairnie. On Auchanachie
was Clerkneuk, called in the Rental Clerkhouse,
no doubt the residence in old times of the priest
of Ruthven.
Auchindroyne {ach-an-droighinn), ' the field
of the thorn or sloe,' is now only remembered as
a small possession, but it formerly extended to 4
ploughgates, and included all the small holdings