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Nigg Memorial Inscriptions

The parish of Nigg in Kincardineshire was originally served by the now-ruined kirk of St Fittick, down near the shore.  However, by the early 19th century, this had become too small to accommodate a growing population, and was replaced in 1829 by the new Nigg Kirk, near the summit of Tullos Hill.  Burials continued at first in the old St Fittick’s kirkyard, the first burial beside the new church being in 1878.

Nigg Kirkyard contains more than 1,000 stones, many of them commemorating members of the old fishing and sea-faring families of Nigg, Cove and Torry – Wood, Main, Guyan, Masson, Leiper and more.  The dead of both World Wars are remembered on a war memorial in the form of an obelisk and on 22 individual Commonwealth War Graves.

The Memorial Inscriptions of Nigg Kirkyard are now published: code AA075, price £7·50.  The MIs of St Fittick’s were published in 2006 as AA156 (£2·40).

A searchable index to the published MIs of St Fittick’s, Nigg Kirk, and over 130 other burial grounds in North-East Scotland will be found at:

Memorial Inscription Index

 

Gavin Bell (MI Co-ordinator) No. 4085

 

Nigg Kirkyard Cover

 

 

Ordering Information

 

The Kirkyard of Nigg - Item Code: AA075 - £7.50 plus postage and packing

In addition to the above title, check out our online Publications List which has a wide range of family and local history titles particularly relating to Aberdeen and the North-East.

 

To place your order, please visit:  How to Order Publications

Fordyce Memorial Inscriptions

The Kirkyard of Fordyce

ANESFHS & Portsoy Salmon Bothy

 

A treat of strawberries and Portsoy ice-cream was the form of celebration chosen by elated volunteers when the final gravestone in historic Fordyce kirkyard had been checked. Work there was carried out over some five years by a team from Portsoy Salmon Bothy, with additional input from local ANESFHS stalwarts, all conscious of the thousands of researchers worldwide whose roots go back to Fordyce. MI volunteers at work

The prominence of Fordyce as a parish had already inspired local historian William Cramond to record all the visible gravestones as long ago as 1880, but the venerable Cramond didn't draw up a plan of the stones at the time of his survey. An appreciable number of the inscriptions he transcribed are no longer visible and some stones are no longer standing, so a great deal of thought went into the publication of the latest survey, in order to include every known inscription, even if the location of the stone cannot be determined with certainty.

As always, there were a few surprises along the way. A chance beam of sunshine on an early visit led to the unexpected discovery of a 20th century stone lurking among the dense foliage of a yew tree, which seemed to have grown up around it. Then the long dry summer of 2018 revealed suspicious rectangular patches of dead grass, hinting at the existence of buried stones. Inevitably this added to the complexity of the task. So, all those folk with Fordyce ancestors, you have good cause for celebration, even if Portsoy ice-cream isn't available where you are!

- Alison Smith

   

 

AA076

 

 

 

Ordering Information

 

The Kirkyard of Fordyce - £3.00 plus postage and packing

In addition to the above title, check out our online Publications List which has a wide range of family and local history titles particularly relating to Aberdeen and the North-East.

 

To place your order, please visit:  How to Order Publications

 

The Kirkyards of Forbes, Kearn and Tullynessle

Kirkyards of Forbes, Kearn and TullynessleThe Society is pleased to announce that the Memorial Inscriptions for the Kirkyards of Forbes, Kearn and Tullynessie are now available.
 
In the hilly country to the north-west of Alford there were originally four separate parishes: Auchindoir, Forbes, Kearn, and Tullynessle.  The original boundaries between these parishes are not recorded, but such evidence as we have puts Auchindoir to the west and Tullynessle to the east, separated by Forbes, running westward from Bridge of Alford, close to the north bank of the River Don, and Kearn, running northwards from Lumsden, and passing to the east of Rhynie.   
 
Not being large enough, in terms of population, to be financially viable as separate units, these four parishes have, over the centuries, undergone various attempts at amalgamation and rationalization, culminating in 1808, when they were consolidated into just two:  to the northwest, “Auchindoir and Kearn”, and to the southeast, “Tullynessle and Forbes”.  
 
This has resulted in some confusion in the written records and more particularly in the memorial inscriptions, since, whatever  the “official” position, people continued to use their families’ traditional burial grounds long after the individual kirks were abandoned and their congregations assigned to new parishes.
 
The MIs of Auchindoir (the Old and New Kirkyards, but not the modern Cemetery) were issued by ANESFHS some years ago with the catalogue code AA110.  The present publication (AA078) now adds the inscriptions from Forbes, Kearn and Tullynessle Kirkyards (but not the adjacent Tullynessle Cemetery, which is still in use). 
 
The booklet may be purchased online by contacting our Publications Department or at our Research Centre at 158 King Street, Aberdeen. In addition to this latest Memorial Inscription booklet, you can browse all of our Publications here in this fully searchable, filterable list.