Dairsie, or Osnaburgh, is a village and parish in north-east

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, Scotland. It is south-southwest of

Leuchars Leuchars (pronounced or ; "rushes") is a town and parish near the north-east coast of Fife in Scotland. The civil parish has a population of 5,754 (in 2011) Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by Nati ...

Junction, and east-northeast of

Cupar Cupar ( ; ) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fife, and the ...

on the A91

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

road. The village grew out of two smaller settlements (called Dairsiemuir and Osnaburgh), and developed principally around the industry of

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

. Since the late twentieth century it has become a dormitory settlement for nearby towns. The village may have derived its name of Osnaburgh from weaving

osnaburg Osnaburg is a general term for coarse, plain-weave fabric. It also refers specifically to a historic fabric originally woven in flax but also in tow or jute, and from flax or tow warp with a mixed or jute weft. Historic osnaburg Osnaburg fab ...

, a coarse linen or cotton, originally imported from

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

in Germany. The civil parish has a population of 387 (in 2011).Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by National Records of Scotland. Web site http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved March 2016. See “Standard Outputs”, Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930

Historic buildings

Dairsie Bridge, south of the village, dates from the early sixteenth century, although it has been modified since. Nearby Dairsie Castle (now restored) dates from the early seventeenth century, and was briefly the residence of

John Spottiswoode John Spottiswoode (Spottiswood, Spotiswood, Spotiswoode or Spotswood) (1565 – 26 November 1639) was an Archbishop of St Andrews, Primate of All Scotland, Lord Chancellor, and historian of Scotland. Life He was born in 1565 at Greenbank in ...

(1565-1639),

Archbishop of St Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews (, ) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews (), the Archdiocese of St Andrews. The name St Andrews is not the town ...

. King James VI stayed at Dairsie Castle following his escape from the

Raid of Ruthven The Raid of Ruthven, the kidnapping of King James VI of Scotland, was a political conspiracy in Scotland which took place on 23 August 1582."Ruthven, William", by T. F. Henderson, in ''Dictionary of National Biography'', Volume 50 (Smith, Elder, ...

in June 1583. Dairsie Old Parish Church

St Mary's Church was built by Archbishop Spottiswoode in 1621. The church is some distance from the village and ceased to be used for worship in 1966. It is now in private hands, the parish worshippers were using the former St Leonard's Church in the village. This, however, has now been sold into private hands. The congregation is united with St John's Church in Cupar. Local businesses include a small Village Shop and Post Office, a Petrol Station and Garage (also selling second hand vehicles) and The Dairsie Inn, recently trading as Rumbledethumps Restaurant but currently closed. It has a small locals bar, a conservatory restaurant and a small function room / additional restaurant.

History

In 2014 a

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of Roman

hacksilver Hacksilver (sometimes referred to as hacksilber) consists of fragments of cut and bent silver items that were used as bullion or as currency by weight during the Middle Ages. Use Hacksilver was common among the Norsemen or Vikings, as a result ...

was found in a field at Dairsie. It is thought that the hacksilver was used by Roman soldiers to pay off the local Pictish tribes when they travelled through the area.

Notable People

*Rev Patrick Scougal (later

Bishop of Aberdeen The Bishop of Aberdeen (originally Bishop of Mortlach, in Latin Murthlacum) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Nech ...

) was parish minister 1636 to 1645

References

External links

Entry at Fife Place-name Data
{{authority control Villages in Fife Parishes in Fife