- Fordoun
Fourdoun is a village in
Aberdeenshire ,Scotland . Fothirdun (possibly "the lower place"), as it was historically known, was an important area in the Howe of the Mearns. Fordoun andAuchenblae , together with their immediate districts form the Parish of Fordoun with theParish Church [cite web| url=http://www.mearns.org.uk/stonehaven/fordoun.htm| title=Fordoun and Auchenblae| accessdate=2007-04-29]At one time it had a railway station in the village named Fordoun Station (opened:November 1849 closed: June 1956 [cite web| url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Aberdeen_Railway/frame.htm| title=Aberdeen Railway| accessdate=2007-04-29] ) where there were also a number of shops, but only a pub and a seasonal farm shop remain.cite web| url=http://www.mearns.org/blae.htm| title=Fordoun and Auchenblae| author=Mearn Community website| accessdate=2007-04-29]
Noted people
*
John of Fordun (d. c. 1384), Scottish Chronicler was born in Fordoun.
*James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (1714-99), judge on theCourt of Session lived atMonboddo House , a 17th century house in the parish. He was author of "The Origin and Progress of Man and Language", a study of evolution that predatedCharles Darwin .
* James Beattie (1735-1803), Scottish scholar and writer was born in Laurencekirk and first worked as schoolmaster in Fordoun. He became Professor of Moral Philosophy and Logic atMarischal College and is noted for his "Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth" (1770) and poemThe Minstrel . [cite web| url=http://www.brycchancarey.com/abolition/beattie.htm| title=James Beattie Biography| author=Julie Watt| accessdate=2007-04-239]History
Some of the nearest
Bronze Age archaeological recoveries are situated somewhat to the north nearStonehaven at the Fetteresso archaeological site [ [http://letmespeaktothedriver.com/site/10937/fetteresso.html#fieldnotes C.Michael Hogan, "Fetteresso Fieldnotes", The Modern Antiquarian (2008)] ] and at theSpurryhillock site.There is a Pictish symbol stone, , another carved Pictish stone.In his 1819 "Geography", James Playfair notes that [Citation
last=Playfair
first=James
author-link=
date=1819
editor-last=
editor-first=
contribution=
title=A Geographical and Statistical Description of Scotland
volume=II
edition=
publisher=Archibald Constable and Co.
publication-date=1819
publication-place=Edinburgh
page=37
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Fw0vAAAAMAAJ
access-date=2008-08-03]Fordoun is a mean town, and the seat of a presbytery, noted for being the birthplace or temporary residence of John Fordoun, author of the "Scotichronicon"; and of Palladius, who was sent by Pope Celestine into Scotland, in the 5th century, to oppose the Pelagian heresy. The chapel of Palladius, adjacent to the church, is 40 by 18 feet; at the corner of the minister's garden there is a well still called Pady's well; and an Annual fair in the neighbourhood is styled Pady-fair.
Medieval historical monuments in the general area include
Dunnottar Castle ,Fiddes Castle ,Fetteresso Castle andMuchalls Castle .North of the village is a disused airfield that was active during World War II. A two-runway satellite for Peterhead airfield, Fordoun operated from 1942 to 1944. [cite web| url=http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/6344/fordoun.htm| title=Disused WWII Airfields in N.E. Scotland| accessdate=2007-04-29]
Notes
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