What is "pittenweem"

Pittenweem is a fishing village and civil parish in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,747.

The name derives from Pictish and Scottish Gaelic. "Pit-" represents Pictish pett 'place, portion of land', and "-enweem" is Gaelic na h-Uaimh, 'of the Caves' in Gaelic, so "The Place of the Caves". The name is rendered Baile na h-Uaimh in modern Gaelic, with baile, 'town, settlement', substituted for the Pictish prefix. The cave in question is almost certainly St Fillan's cave, although there are many indentations along the rocky shores that could have influenced the name.

Pittenweem in Fife was a royal burgh that returned one commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland and to the Convention of Estates.

After the Acts of Union 1707, Pittenweem, Anstruther Easter, Anstruther Wester, Crail and Kilrenny formed the Anstruther Easter district of burghs, returning one member between them to the House of Commons of Great Britain.