Kirriemuir

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small town in the Angus council area of eastern Scotland, known as the birthplace of the author J. M. Barrie
2. A market town located in Angus on the east coast of Scotland, associated with the writer who created Peter Pan
3. A Scottish settlement in the county of Angus, noted as the hometown of the playwright and novelist J. M. Barrie

Etymology: Kirriemuir is a small town in Angus, on the northern edge of the Scottish Lowlands, and its name is Scottish Gaelic in origin. It comes from "Cill Chrìomair" or a similar form, usually glossed as "church of Cromar" or "church of the great hill", though the exact sense is debated and the name is only loosely attested in its earliest recorded forms, so the precise meaning should be treated with caution. The town grew up around a church dedicated to a local saint, and the name gradually shifted in pronunciation and spelling as English-speaking Scots took over the Gaelic-speaking region. The town's most famous connection lies outside its name. J. M. Barrie, author of "Peter Pan", was born there in 1860 and grew up in the town, and it provided the setting for his early sketches of Thrums, the fictional village in his novels. Barrie's writing made the town known far beyond Scotland, and it remains the source of the town's literary identity.