Note 280 — Chapter IV · ETHNOLOGY OF BRITAIN. (continued 2)

Pette is the form of this word in the Book of Deer, and it appears to mean a portion of land, as it is conjoined with proper names, as Pette MacGarnait, Pette Malduib. It also appears connected with Gaelic specific terms, as Pette an Muilenn, ‘of the mill.’ With the article it forms Petten, or Pitten, as in Petten-taggart, termed in a charter of the church of Migvie (St. Andrews Chartulary, preface, p. 21) ‘terra ecclesiæ.’ It is Pettan t-saguirt, the priest’s land. In the same Chartulary (114) the ‘villula quæ dicitur Pettemokane’ is afterwards apparently called ‘domus cujusdam viri nomine Mochan.’ It is synonymous with Both, a dwelling, as we find Bothgouanan, near Elgin, has become Pitgownie, and Badfodullis, near Aberdeen, Pitfoddles. Dr. Stuart points out, in his introduction to the Book of Deer, p. lxxxiv., that Pit and Bal are frequently used indiscriminately.