Duncansby, Caithness : Place names

Names from historical writing:

The following appear as names for Duncansby. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
BERUBIUM Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
DUNCANS BAY William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DUNCANSBAY HEAD John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).
DUNCANSBY GBHGIS Great Britain Historical GIS Project (, ).
DUNGISBY Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
DUNGSBEY Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
DUNGSBY Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
DUNSBY William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
VIREVEDRUM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.

    • Every name listed here is linked to the particular historical source in which it appears, but we cannot claim that these are all the historical names of Duncansby, or that our references are to the first usage of the names. Similarly, we have tried to ensure that names included here are not transcription errors by ourselves, but it is possible they are the result of errors made when the historical sources were printed, or the result of visiting authors or census officials mis-hearing local names.