Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Lordscairnie

Lordscairnie, a quondam lake in Moonzie parish, Fife, 3½ miles NW of Cupar. Nearly 2 miles long, and in some parts ¼ mile broad, it presented features which occasioned it to be sometimes called Lordscairnie Mire, and about the year 1803 was so drained as to be converted into arable ground. Lordscairnie Castle, on a slight eminence, once an islet surrounded by the lake, was built in the time of James II. by the third Earl of Crawford, popularly called Earl Beardie. Though it has suffered much demolition, in modern times, by being used as a quarry, it still partly stands to the length of 54 feet, the breadth of 40 feet, and the height of four stories; has walls nearly 6 feet thick, consisting of many kinds of stones, and very strongly cemented; and is often popularly designated Earl Beardie's Castle. Lordscairnie estate, comprising the farms of Lordscairnie, Moonzie, Torr, and Bridgend, belongs now to the Earl of Glasgow, and is sometimes called Moonzie estate.—Ord. Sur., sh. 48, 1068.


(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a quondam lake"   (ADL Feature Type: "lakes")
Administrative units: Moonzie ScoP       Fife ScoCnty

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