Kincardineshire

Kincardineshire
Kincardine
—  County (until circa 1890)  —
Country Scotland
County town Stonehaven
Area
 – Total 985 km2 (380.3 sq mi)
  Ranked 22nd
Chapman code KCD

The County of Kincardine, also known as Kincardineshire or The Mearns (from A' Mhaoirne meaning 'The Stewartry') was a local government county on the coast of northeast Scotland. It was bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and west, and by Angus on the south.

The Kincardineshire name is retained for a lieutenancy area, a registration county of Scotland and Kincardine and Mearns is a committee area of the Aberdeenshire Council.

The county town was originally the town of Kincardine (not, as many believe, the village of Kincardine O'Neil, which was in the County of Aberdeen). The town of Kincardine, however, ceased to exist during the Middle Ages. The only visible sign of its previous existence is the ruin of Kincardine Castle, 2 miles north-east of Fettercairn.[1] In 1296, King John Balliol wrote a letter of surrender from the castle to Edward I of England after a short war which marked the beginning of the wars of Scottish independence. In 1600 Parliament caused the government of Kincardineshire to be conducted at the Stonehaven Tolbooth. The county used to go as far north as the River Dee but in 1891 the Royal Burgh of Torry was incorporated into Aberdeen.

The burgh of Stonehaven became the county town, and the county included three other burghs, Banchory, Inverbervie and Laurencekirk.

The county was abolished in 1975, and was subsumed into the Kincardine and Deeside district of the Grampian region. When the Grampian region was divided into unitary council areas in 1996, the district was absorbed into the Aberdeenshire council area.

Contents

Notable Structures and sites

Constituency

There was a Kincardineshire constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918, representing the county of Kincardineshire, minus the parliamentary burgh of Inverbervie. Inverbervie was a component of the Aberdeen District of Burghs from 1708 to 1832 and of the Montrose District of Burghs from 1832 to 1950.

In 1918 the Kincardineshire constituency was merged with part of the Western Aberdeenshire constituency to form the Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire constituency.

In 1950 Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire was divided between the West Aberdeenshire constituency and the North Angus and Mearns constituency. North Angus and Mearns then covered the whole of the county of Kincardineshire, including the former parliamentary burgh of Inverbervie, and part of the county of Angus, the latter being previously within the Forfarshire constituency.

In 1983, eight years after the abolition of the local government county of Kincardineshire, North Angus and Mearns was replaced by new constituencies.

Historic transportation routes

Map of Scotland showing roughly the historic district of The Mearns

The ancient Causey Mounth road was built on high ground to make passable this only available medieval route from coastal points south to Aberdeen. This ancient passage specifically connected the Bridge of Dee to Muchalls Castle, Cowie Castle (and effectively Dunnottar Castle). The route was that taken by the Earl Marischal and Marquess of Montrose when they led a Covenanter army of 9000 men in the first battle of the Civil War in 1639.[3]

Elsick Mounth is a prehistoric trackway used by the Caledonian tribes as well as the Roman army in their northern invasion of the Scottish Highlands.[4]

Notable people

The author Lewis Grassic Gibbon, born James Leslie Mitchell, was a Scottish writer. His book Sunset Song is one the most important Scottish novels of the 20th century. It was voted Scotland’s favourite book, in a poll announced at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2005.[5] The book, set in a fictional village in the Mearns, drew heavily from Mitchell's upbringing in Arbuthnott. One of the key features of the book (and some of his other writing) is the balanced and immersive use of the local Doric / Scots dialect mixed with standard English, in a manner to make it both easily and enjoyably accessible to someone unfamiliar with the North East of Scotland.

  • See also Category:People from Kincardine and Mearns

Natural features

There are numerous natural features within Kincardineshire. Among the rivers are Cowie Water, Carron Water, Luther Water, Burn of Muchalls, Burn of Pheppie, Burn of Elsick, Burn of Monboys and the lower reaches of the River Dee.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Fettercairn, Scotland". http://www.fife.50megs.com/fettercairn-anecdote.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-08. 
  2. ^ "Lewis Grassic Gibbon Centre". http://www.grassicgibbon.com/. Retrieved 2007-04-29. 
  3. ^ Archibald Watt, Highways and Byways around Kincardineshire, Stonehaven Heritage Society (1985)
  4. ^ C.Michael Hogan, Elsick Mounth, Megalithic Portal, A. Burnham ed. (2005)[1]
  5. ^ Canongate Books (29 August 2005). "Sunset Song - Scotland's Best Read". Archived from the original on 2007-04-24. http://web.archive.org/web/20070424212853/http://www.canongate.net/News/Sunset-Song-Scotlands-Best-Re. Retrieved 2007-04-29. 

External links

v · d · eTraditional provinces and districts of Scotland
v · d · eFormer local government counties of Scotland

Coordinates: 56°55′N 2°30′W / 56.917°N 2.5°W / 56.917; -2.5


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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • Kincardineshire —    KINCARDINESHIRE, or The Mearns, a maritime county, in the east of Scotland, bounded on the north west by the river Dee and part of Aberdeenshire, on the east and south east by the German Ocean, and on the south west by the county of Forfar. It …   A Topographical dictionary of Scotland

  • Kincardineshire — Lage von Kincardineshire in Schottland Kincardineshire ist eine der traditionellen Grafschaften von Schottland, gelegen an der Nordsee südlich von Aberdeen. Sie ist nach der nicht mehr existierenden mittelalterlichen Stadt Kincardine benannt. Die …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kincardineshire — Localisation du Kincardineshire sur une carte de l Écosse. Le Kincardineshire était un comté d Écosse jusqu en 1975. Sa capitale était Stonehaven …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kincardineshire — ▪ former county, Scotland, United Kingdom also called  Kincardine  or  the Mearns        historic county in northeastern Scotland, along the North Sea coast south of Aberdeen. It is part of the Aberdeenshire council area. Kincardine is the… …   Universalium

  • kincardineshire — kə̇nˈkärdənˌshi(ə)r, kiŋˈ , shər adjective or kincardine Usage: usually capitalized Etymology: from Kincardineshire or Kincardine county, Scotland : of or from the county of Kincardine, Scotland : of the kind or style prevalent in Kincardine …   Useful english dictionary

  • Kincardineshire (UK Parliament constituency) — UK former constituency infobox Name = Kincardineshire Type = County Year = 1708 Abolition = 1918 members = oneKincardineshire, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament… …   Wikipedia

  • Kincardineshire — geographical name see Kincardine …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • KINCARDINESHIRE —    (35), east coast Scottish county, lying between Aberdeen and Forfar, faces the North Sea, with precipitous cliffs; has much fertile soil under corn, green crops, and small fruit, also pasture and grazing land where cattle are reared; the… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • kincardineshire — kin·car·dine·shire …   English syllables

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