conversion of the former weigh-house and adjoining cottages through an initiative by Cupar & North Fife Preservation Society. A fundraising campaign in 2003-4 enabled a £395,000 project to renovate the Museum. Origin of the name The village name signifies "place to the west" from the Scottish Gaelic Siar meaning "west", probably in relation to St Andrews Locational endings in -es are common in East Fife. Suggestions that the name originated from an early dedication of the local kirk, such as to "Saint Siris", Saint Cyrus or Saint Cyricus are now discounted. Ceres was the name of the Roman goddess of agriculture and grain. The name has led to contact with Ceres, Italy (visited by the local pipe band in the 1970s) and Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa (with which gifts were exchanged in the 1990s). The parish of Ceres has some biblical place names: Babylon near Muirhead, south of Craigrothie, and Sodom and Gomorrah (locally pronounced Gemorrie) and Purgatory on the road to Pitscottie. There are now no dwellings at these locations. On the other hand, there is a place called Paradise, which is inhabited, just over the boundary in Cults parish. Ceres Games The Ceres Games are said to have been held every year since 1314 after Robert the Bruce granted the village permission to hold them in commemoration of its men's participation in the Battle of Bannockburn. Now staged in the form of Highland games, they are the oldest free games in Scotland. Craighall Craighall lies about south-east of the village; it was the historic seat of the Clan Hope. Parish church The current parish church was built in 1806 to a design by Alexander Leslie, replacing a medieval building. A tower and octagonal spire were added in the 1850s. Apart from the addition of electric lighting and two early 20th-century stained glass windows (either side of the central pulpit), the interior is substantially unaltered from when first built and retains the gallery and original wooden box pews. Within the vestibule of the church a late medieval effigy of a knight which was originally in the ancient church is preserved on a modern stand. It is extremely well preserved and shows interesting details of 15th-century armour. There is a mausoleum in the cemetery which was established by the widow of Robert 9th Lord Lindsay and is called "Lady Boyd's House" as she subsequently married the 6th Lord Boyd