Lhanbryde

Lhanbryde (Gaelic: Lann Brìghde) is a village that lies four miles (six kilometres) east of Elgin in Moray, Scotland. Previously bisected by the A96, it was bypassed in the early 1990s and now lies to the north of this busy trunk road. It had a population of 1,880 at the 2011 Census. The origin of the name "Lhanbryde" is thought to be Pictish, meaning the "Church Place of St Bride". Why the name has emerged in modern times in its very Welsh form is unclear. The village name was recorded as Lamanbride in 1215; Lambride at the end of the 14th century; Lambry in 1600; and Longbride in 1750. One possibility might have been with the arrival of a post office in the village in 1839, a process that elsewhere fixed names in place — and sometimes changed them. Another might have been the arrival in 1858 of the railway from Elgin to Keith, on which Lhanbryde had a station. Little remains of the church after which Lhanbryde is named. A churchyard stands above the north side of the main road in the centre of the village, but by 1796 the church that stood here — itself probably only the last in a series on the site — was in a state of ruin and was demolished.