This original village or fermtoun was in the area of the present Busby railway station. For centuries the occupants had worked the surrounding land from this central settlement. However, by the 1780s the landowner was in process of sweeping away the old fermtoun. The occupants were moved to the newly established farmsteads of Easter Busby, Wester Busby, Busbyside and Ryat. Busby as a village name could have disappeared, had it not been for events on the opposite side of the River Cart.