OS1/14/39/47

Continued entries/extra info

[Page] 47

Manse of Eassie & Nevay
Eassie, Angus: 13th Mar. [March] 1939.

Dear Sir
Place-names of Eassie & Nevay

I have your letter of 11th inst.
With regard to the derivation of the name "Eassie"
I fear I have no suggestion to offer. Of the two
derivations given in your letter the liklier is "Easgann"
as fen or marsh, the other "Eas" a waterfall is quite
ruled out as there is no waterfall either in the parish or
immediate neighbourhood.
The burns passing through the parish are small, but the
Dean Water the northern boundary of the parish into which they
all fall is a considerable stream taking its rise in Forfar
Loch and joining the Isla near Meigle, neither is there a waterfall
fall on it during its whole course
With regard to the Gaelic "Easgann" a fen or marsh, there
can be no doubt that the northern half of the parish in
early times would come under that description
A well-informed old Elder of my church who died in 1921
aged 85 was told by old people in his boyhood that they
remembered when it would be almost possible to skate in
winter time from Eassie to Forfar. That may indeed seem
today somewhat of an exaggeration, nevertheless it points
to the flat marshy conditions of the land, say, towards
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