Mugdrum Island

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Mugdrum, an estate in Newburgh and Abernethy parishes, NW Fife, comprising Mugdrum island in the Tay and lands on the S side of the river, all contiguous to the Perthshire boundary. Mugdrum island measures 7½ furlongs in length, 1¼ furlong in extreme breadth, and about 32 acres in area; and is mostly under cultivation. Mugdrum House, opposite the middle of the island, immediately W of Newburgh town, is a plain massive edifice of 1786, with extensive and finely-wooded grounds. Its owner, Edmund de Haya Paterson-BalfourHay, Esq. (b. 1849; suc. 1868), holds 2917 acres in Fife and Perthshire, valued at £7872 per annum. Mugdrum Cross, within the grounds, comprises a large oblong stone base, and a square stone pillar; displays, on its eastern face, in four compartments, very curious ancient sculptures; and is believed to have originally l ad arms, making it literally a cross.—Ord. Sur., sh. 48, 1868.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer