Place Name in Letter

[SandySandilands]

Trying to decipher an address on a letter from 1831 - hard to read.

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb4 ... AG0117.jpg

The letter mentions that the writer recently visited Peebles where he collected a letter (which had been written some time before) from the person to whom this letter is addressed.

[-o<
Sandy

[johnniegarve]

Sandy, I think this is meant to be a farm called Candieburn/Candyburn, Peebles. Johnnie.

[alex19canteen]

Old way of spelling Cowdenburn, just north from Peebles, see it on google maps.

[SandySandilands]

Thanks Johnnie & Alex

Never heard of Candieburn/Candyburn - busy looking into it


From a brief google Cowdenburn fits a few boxes. There were Sandilands (who I suspect were connected to my own) at Newlands and it looks like Cowdenburn would be in that parish?

Cowdenburn may also have once come under Renfrewshire or would this have been a different Cowdenburn?

Sandy

[AndrewP]

Cowdenburn may also have once come under Renfrewshire or would this have been a different Cowdenburn?

Hi Sandy,

I would take these to be different places called Cowdenburn. Renfrewshire and Peebles-shire are a good distance apart.

All the best,

AndrewP

[AndrewP]

Hi Sandy,

There is a farm called Candyburn in what was Peebles-shire. It is by the hamlet of Candy Mill, a few miles north of Biggar. It was in Skirling parish, Peebles-shire, right beside the boundary of Lanarkshire (Biggar parish). It can be seen on a modern map and an old map at the following places:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=30 ... 41707&lm=0

http://maps.nls.uk/os/view/?sid=74400780

For the 1890s map on the NLS website, click on Skirling parish (the pale blue one mid way between the centre of the map and the left edge of that map). Keep clicking on that until you can read the place names. Candyburn can be found in the north-west of the parish beside its boundary with Biggar parish (on its left, coloured pink).

In Google streetview, the farm can be seen to the east of the road behind the hazard signs on the bend.

Google streetview showing Candyburn

All the best,

AndrewP

[SandySandilands]

Thanks Andrew.

Enjoyed looking at those maps. Just got to love Google Street View too -- remote viewing at its best

Now I need to see if I can narrow it down to either one or the other.

[Montrose Budie]

Variations in the spelling of placenames can be an absolute b****r ! (Even more so if The Gaelic is involved !!)

Two tools which can help are, -

1. The database at http://www.origins.net based on every place name in the 1881 census, searchable on just a fragment of the placename, and ..

2. http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk

In this case, the latter gives the earlier Peeble reference, but the former doesn't help.

Incidentally, I read the place name in the letter as ' Candanburn '.

Witness also the fact that ....

Old way of spelling Cowdenburn, just north from Peebles, see it on google maps.

...changing the 'e' to an 'a' produces something closer to Candaburn !

mb

[AnneM]

I would agree with mb that it reads Candanburn or even at a pinch Caudanburn, though Candanburn is more likely. It might be clearer on the original.

Anne

[SandySandilands]

Thank you MB and Anne