Lands of Pitforthie

The Lands of Pitforthie are a historic Scottish estate located approximately 1.5 miles northeast of Brechin in Angus (historically Forfarshire). Throughout the 15th to 17th centuries, the estate was notably owned by several prominent land-owning families (lairds), amongst others most notably the Dempster's and the Guthrie's (Guthrie). Originally owned by the Cathedral of Brechin, the estate was granted by charter from James II to David Dempster of Careston in 1450 (Warden, 1885). The owners were local lairds and ministers rather than Scottish barons, and the Lands of Pitforthie are historically distinct from the Barony of Guthrie.

At the beginning of the 17th Century the Lands of Pitforthie were bounded in the west by Barrie's Burn as it meandered down from Unthank, making its way to the river South Esk. In the northwest, the boundary was Unthank. In the north, Cairnbank (formerly Boders and today Templehill) and in the east Leightonhill. To the south, the merchant’s road to Montrose.

In terms of individual farms (either owned outright or tenanted), the Lands of Pitforthie comprise:

• Nether (Lower) Pitforthie. The first farm arrived at if you follow Coutts Historical Guide “turn up Pitforthie Loan, and passing under the railway bridge notice Drumachlie on the right”. Last changing hands in 1935 (Ancestor Abel, 2024), the farm became Drumachlie and is still a working farm today. Pitforthie Loan then became Drumachlie Loan.

• Wards of Pitforthie. Brechin Town Council negotiated the acquisition of the farming land directly from the historical owners of the Pitforthie land in 1949 - 1950. This allowed the Town Council to break ground quickly on the post-war housing schemes that created Wards Road and Pitforthie Place (Brechin Advertiser). All that remains of the farm is a park (Wards Park), an access road through the housing estate (Wards Road), and other areas of the housing development such as Pitforthie Place, and a single storey building on a small connecting pathway between Park Road and Wards Park. The word "Wards" is an old agricultural term for an enclosed grazing area. Pre-Agricultural Revolution very few fences or hedges existed to contain livestock. Because everything was so wide open, livestock wandered freely. This is exactly why a ward (an enclosed grazing area) was so notable at the time. If a farmer managed to build a small turf wall or wooden hurdle to enclose a patch of grass specifically to protect young calves or lambs, that precious, enclosed grazing spot stood out completely from the endless open country (MacKenzie, 1921).

• Loans of Pitforthie. Situated to the north and is still a working farm today. In 1881 the farm was purchased by Mr Hendry Peter and its name changed to Tillygloom (Ancestor Abel, 2024). The word "Loans" is an old agricultural term. Before fences, it was a wide, grassy path left unploughed between the growing crops (the run-rigs). It was used to herd the village cattle from the farmsteads out to the wide-open common grazing lands (Dictionaries of the Scots Language SCIO, 2004). The chief proprietors of land in the parish (of Brechin) in 1867: (includes) Thomas Macpherson Grant of Craigo, Pitforthie & Newton, W.S. (1815-1881) (Ancestor Abel, 2024). The extent of ownership of “Pitforthie” is unclear but it does coincide with the listing of Farmers and Tenants that follows in the reference. This listing indicates the purchase of Loans of Pitforthie by Mr Hendry Peter ("Tilly") [d. 1927]. The change of ownership appears to have taken place upon Mr Grant’s death in 1881 with the name being changed then.

• East Pitforthie. Also a working farm today. There is a verified prehistoric stone circle at East Pitforthie (The Megalithic Portal, 2002) dating back to the Neolithic or Bronze Age. Leightonhill and East Pitforthie both belonged to a Mr Arnot and changed hands into the family that still owns them today in 1935 and 1938 respectively (Ancestor Abel, 2024).

• Mains of Pitforthie. Another working farm with the farmhouse itself being separate in ownership to the farm, it was sold privately some years ago. On older maps sometimes referred to as Upper Pitforthie (National Library of Scotland, 2026). In the feudal system of old Scotland, a massive estate was divided up and a large portion of it was leased out to tenant farmers. However, the Laird always kept the best, most fertile land directly surrounding the castle, manor house, or estate house. This private, central farm was called The Mains (Dictionaries of the Scots Language, 2024).

Etymology. A combination of Pictish (Pit) and Gaelic (Forthie) words, Pitforthie translates roughly to "portion of land by the road" or "farm near the trackway" (BBC Education Scotland, 2014). The prefix Pit (Pictish pett): a "share of land" or a "farmstead" or “a defined portion of land”. The suffix Forthie: derived from the Gaelic word "fóthair" or "fothar", which historically refers to a road, trackway, or a terraced slope running through an area (BBC Education Scotland, 2014).

Other examples in this area of Angus include:

Pittendreich: The prefix: Pit (Pictish pett), a defined portion of land. The suffix: dreich (or dreigh), is widely accepted by topographers like W.J. Watson to derive from the Gaelic dreach, meaning "aspect," "face," or "countenance." This directly contradicts later suggestions with a druidical connection. 19th century writers claimed that Pittendriech was from Pitt-an-Druidh or Pittan-druidh, which they claimed meant ‘Druid’s Grave’, and mention this in connection with a supposed ‘druidical circle’. There is no basis, linguistic or archaeological, for these claims (University of Glasgow, 2026).

Pitmedden: The prefix: Pit (Pictish pett), a defined portion of land. The suffix: this derives from the Gaelic meadhon (or meadhan), which means "middle" or "mid-part." So, Pitmedden literally translates to the "middle share" or "middle portion" of the land (Milne, 1912).

Pitmuies: The prefix: Pit (Pictish pett), a defined portion of land. The suffix: likely mòine (Gaelic for moss/bog), reflecting the land's natural tendency to flood or hold water (Nicolaisen, 1986).

Works Cited

Ancestor Abel. Brechin (Angus). 2024. 14 June 2026. <https://ancestor.abel.co.uk/Angus/Brechin.html#tnt>.

BBC Education Scotland. Scots and Picts. 2014. 15 June 2026. <https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/sysm/scots/teachers/noflash/placenames/index.shtml>.

Brechin Advertiser. Ferguson & Hood. 1950. 15 June 2026. <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1950-01-01/1950-01-31?basicsearch=wards%20of%20pitforthie&exactsearch=false&county=angus%2c%20scotland&retrievecountrycounts=false&mostspecificlocation=angus%2c%20scotland&sortorder=score>.

Coutts, Walter. Historical Guide Brechin and Neighbourhood. Brechin: Black and Johnston, 1889.

Dictionaries of the Scots Language. Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. 14 June 2026. <https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/mains>.

Dictionaries of the Scots Language SCIO. Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2024. 14 June 2026. <https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd00075785>.

Guthrie, Ann. The People and Places associated with the Guthries of Pitforthie. 12 November 2025. <https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:The_Guthries_of_Pitforthie>.

MacKenzie, Osgood Hanbury. A Hundred Years in the Highlands. 2. London: Edward Arnold, 1921.

Milne, John. Celtic Place-Names in Aberdeenshire. Aberdeen: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 1912.

National Library of Scotland. County maps of Angus (Forfarshire). 2026. 14 June 2026. <https://maps.nls.uk/counties/angus.html>.

Nicolaisen, W.F.H. Scottish Place Names. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1986.

The Megalithic Portal. Easter Pitforthie - Stone Circle in Scotland in Angus. 2002. 14 June 2026. <https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=895>.

University of Glasgow. Pittendriech. 03 July 2026. <https://fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk/placename/?id=1982#:~:text=Nineteenth%2Dcentury%20writers%20claimed%20that,%CB%88p%C9%AAt%C9%99n%20drix%2F%20or%20%2F%CB%8Cp%C9%AAt%C9%99n%CB%88drix%2F>.

Warden, Alexander J. Angus or Forfarshire: the land and people, descriptive and historical. 1. Vol. III. Dundee: C. Alexander & Co, 1885.