Abernethy and Kincardine

for the village and monastery in Perthshire.

Abernethy derives its name from the local River Nethy ("abar" is Scots Gaelic for a river mouth or junction). The original village [Bridge of Nethy. Ordnance Survey Grid.Ref. NJ 001 206.] (now more well known as Nethy Bridge) was located around the junction of the River Nethy and the Duack Burn and earlier growth of the village was mostly upriver along the banks of the Nethy.

Kincardine is a name of mixed Gaelic and Pictish origin, "ceann" being Scots Gaelic for head and "cardden" the Brythonic/Pictish for a wooded area; the latter element also features as "garten" in other nearby placenames.

The Ecclesiastical Parish

The Church of Scotland parish was created in the 16th century by the combination of the parishes of Kincardine and Abernethy. Both parish churches (and associated burial grounds) remain in use.

The baptism registers (up to 1856, since deposited with the Registrar General with microfilm copies at a number of places) have poor coverage around the 1820s, apart from those events not recorded if the parishioners were members of other churches. The pre-1855 marriage registers are in a similar condition but also contain some "extra" entries concerning parishioners who married in other parishes or denominations, including some Roman Catholic marriages (indicated as "married by a priest").

Changes in modern church-going habits have led to Church of Scotland ministers usually covering more than one of the original parishes, in this case resulting in the once "United Parish" of Abernethy and Kincardine becoming separated again and the parts joined to neighbouring parishes; the 2006 circuits for the area are now advertised [Strathspey and Badenoch Herald, 15 Nov 2006.] as "Abernethy, Cromdale and Advie" and "Boat of Garten and Kincardine with Duthil Carrbridge".

Abernethy Kirk

This church [Abernethy Kirk. Ordnance Survey Grid.Ref. NJ 006 218.] is on the West side of the Nethy Bridge to Grantown-on-Spey road, beside the ruins of [http://www.nethybridge.com/html/community/castleroy.php Castle Roy] .The burial ground has been extended in recent years and is in current use for new lairs. Most pre-1855 inscriptions have been recorded and published [ Pre-1855 gravestone inscriptions from Speyside by Alison Mitchell, pub. Scottish Genealogy Society 1977.] A rough-surfaced roadside parking area with space for a number of vehicles gives level access to the church and also serves Castle Roy (to which casual pedestrian access is officially not recommended for safety reasons).

Kincardine Kirk

This church [ Kincardine Kirk. Ordnance Survey Grid.Ref. NH 938 155.] is on a small knoll set back from the road between Auchgourish and West Croftmore. It is somewhat smaller than Abernethy Kirk and few new lairs have been created in recent years but burials still take place in existing lairs. Most pre-1855 grave inscriptions have been recorded and published [Pre-1855 gravestone inscriptions from Speyside by Alison Mitchell, pub. Scottish Genealogy Society 1977] . The churchyard contains a very old Yew tree as often found where such a site has pre-Christian associations. There is usually room for two or three vehicles to park on a grassed area beside the churchyard gate; the lane leading to the church is gated to protect animals in the adjacent fields but not locked.

The Civil Parish and Registration District

The civil parish (based on the boundary of the ecclesiastical parish) originally straddled parts of Inverness-shire and Morayshire, it was later entirely allocated to Inverness-shire but since abolished as a local government area.

It remains as a registration district generally matching the 19th Century census districts. The Glenmore area was moved to the Rothiemurchus registration district on 1 Oct 1956 [Strathspey Herald, 21 Sep 1956] .

People

Colonel John Roy Stewart (1700-1752), poet, soldier and Jacobite.

Rev. William Forsyth (1825-1907), parish minister and author of "In the Shadow of Cairngorm"

Thomas King (Police Constable) was killed by Allan McCallum, a local poacher, when he and a Constable MacNiven attempted to execute an arrest warrant on 20th December 1898. Allan Macallum was tried in Inverness for murder in February 1899 [Police Review and Parade Gossip, 17 Feb 1899, page 76.] but found guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment; he was released in 1910 [Grantown Supplement, 30th July 1910 p4c1] . Constable King is buried at Abernethy Kirk.

External links

: [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43416#s8 A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1846)] A description of the parish; note that the supposed derivation of "Kincardine" in this book appears fanciful and the implied location of Abernethy Kirk is incorrect.: [http://www.lochiel.net/archives/arch190.html Origin of the Kincardine Camerons] An extract from "In the Shadow of Cairngorm" by Rev. W.Forsyth.: [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/cairngorm/index.htm In the Shadow of Cairngorm (Chronicles of the United Parishes of Abernethy and Kincardine)] The complete text of the book by the Rev.W.Forsyth, published in 1900 and recently re-printed in a limited edition. It describes many features, people and legends of the area as they were at the time of writing and in earlier times.

Footnotes