Redgorton is a settlement in

Gowrie Gowrie () is a region in central Scotland and one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It covered the eastern part of what became Perthshire. It was located to the immediate east of Atholl, and originally included the area aroun ...

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...

, Scotland. It lies a few miles from the

River Tay The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...

and the

A9 road This is a list of roads designated A9. * A009 road (Argentina), a road in the northeast of Santa Fe Province * ''A9 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A9 (Sydney), a road linking Windsor and Campbelltown ** Port River Expressway, a limi ...

, across the latter from

Luncarty Luncarty (; pronounced ''Lung''-cur-tay ) is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, approximately north of Perth. It lies between the A9 to the west, and the River Tay to the east. Etymology The name ''Luncarty'', recorded in 1250 as ''Lump ...

. It lies close to the Inveralmond Industrial Estate.

Etymology

The first recorded spelling of Redgorton was Rochgorton, this can be found in a charter of King David I preserved in the chartulary of

Scone A scone ( or ) is a traditional British and Irish baked good, popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is usually made of either wheat flour or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often ...

. The prefix of the current name, can be seen as translation of the

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

word Roch, or Ruach, which means 'red.' Gorton, or Garton, suggests "a little field;". The name as a whole, Redgorton, can be interpreted as 'the red field or field of blood,' and it has been mooted that it arose on account of the proximity of the Battle of Luncarty, which took place near Redgorton in c. 980AD between the

Danes Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. History Early history Denmark ...

and the Scots. Further weight is added to this interpretation by the name,

Battleby Battleby is a country house in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is in the parish of Redgorton, west of Luncarty and north of Perth. The 19th-century house is occupied by Scottish Natural Heritage, and is protected as a category B listed build ...

given to the

Scottish Natural Heritage NatureScot () is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for Scotland’s natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government on nature conservati ...

centre just outside Redgorton. There is much misinformation about the battle, most of which was propagated by the historian

Hector Boece Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Ancient university governance in Scotland, Principal of King's College, Aberdeen, ...

in his ''Scottish History'' of 1526. It likely the myth was generated at the bequest of the Hays of Errol to increase the legitimacy of them holding substantial lands in the area. Boece's account suggest they gained their lands as a reward from

Kenneth III Cináed mac Duib ( Modern Gaelic: ''Coinneach mac Dhuibh''; c. 966 – c. 25 March 1005), anglicised as Kenneth III, and nicknamed ''An Donn'' ("the Chief" or "the Brown"), was King of Alba (Scotland) from 997 to 1005. He was the son of Dub ( ...

for their services in the battle.

The Redgorton Witches

In 1656 four residents of Redgorton were accused of being

witches Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

, however, no record of their names or alleged crimes remains.

Morthouse

morthouse A morthouse or deadhouse was a specialised secure building usually located in a churchyard where bodies were temporarily interred before a formal funeral took place. These buildings date back to the time when Body snatching, bodysnatchers or resu ...

dated 1832 is located in the churchyard, but as this post-dates the

Anatomy Act The Anatomy Act 1832 ( 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 75), also known as the Warburton Anatomy Act 1832 is an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave free licence to doctors, teachers of anatomy and bona fide medical students to dissect donated ...

it is unconnected to bodysnatching.

Save Redgorton Campaign

In 2010 a campaign was started opposing one of Perth and Kinross Council's proposed routes for a new

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Bypass. The proposed road would run across the

from

to Huntingtower and campaigners suggest that it will result in the demolition of houses in Redgorton and destroy the character of the settlement. The Campaign also led to the establishment of the Luncarty and Redgorton Community Council in late 2010.

References

External links

Redgorton at geo.ed.ac.uk
Villages in Perth and Kinross Parishes in Perthshire {{PerthKinross-geo-stub