Duncansby, Caithness : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Duncansby. You may be able to find further references to Duncansby in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Duncansbay Head promontory Bartholomew
Duncansbay Head a promontory Groome

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Duncansby within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
Thomas Pennant Appendix V: Of Caithness, Strathnavern, and Sutherland 7
William Camden Scotland: North of the Antonine Wall 3
Thomas Pennant August 18-29: Sutherland and Caithness 3
Thomas Pennant Appendix VIII: Itinerary 2

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
John O Groats 1 2
Huna 1 1
Canisbay 4 2
Stroma 4 1
Freswick 6 1
Bucholly 3 2
Skerries 1 2
Gills 0 2
Pentland Firth 3 2
Swona 1 2
Mey 2 2
Keiss 2 2
Rattar 1 2
Wester 1 1
South Ronaldsay 2 2
Noss 1 1
Sinclair 7 3
Dunnet 3 2
Killimster 1 2
Ackergill 2 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Duncansby. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
BERUBIUM Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
DUNCANS BAY William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DUNCANSBAY HEAD John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).
DUNCANSBY GBHGIS Great Britain Historical GIS Project (, ).
DUNGISBY Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
DUNGSBEY Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
DUNGSBY Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
DUNSBY William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
VIREVEDRUM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.