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The County of Kincardine, also known as Kincardineshire or The Mearns (from A' Mhaoirne meaning 'The Stewartry') was a local government
Local government of Scotland

Local government in Scotland is organised through 32 unitary authority consisting of councillors elected every four years by registered voters in each of the Council Areas of Scotland....
 county
Counties of Scotland

The counties of Scotland were the principal subdivisions of Scotland of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current Lieutenancy areas of Scotland and registration counties are largely based on them....
 on the coast of northeast Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. It was bounded by Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (historic)

Aberdeenshire or the County of Aberdeen is a registration county of Scotland. This area is also a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland.Until 1975 Aberdeenshire was one of the counties of Scotland, governed by a county council from 1890....
 on the north and west, and by Angus
Angus

Angus is one of the 32 Local government in Scotland council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland. The council area borders onto Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and the Dundee City....
 on the south.

The Kincardineshire name is retained for a lieutenancy area
Lieutenancy areas of Scotland

The Lieutenancy areas of Scotland are the areas used for the ceremonial Lord Lieutenant, the British monarch's representatives, in Scotland. They are different from the local government of Scotland council areas, the committee areas, the sheriffdoms, the registration counties, the former Regions and districts of Scotland, the former counties...
, and Kincardine and Mearns
Kincardine and Mearns

Kincardine and Mearns is one of six area committees of the Aberdeenshire council area in Scotland. It has a population 38,506 . There are significant natural features in this district including rivers, forests, mountains and bogs ....
 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
Kincardine O'Neil

Kincardine O'Neil is one of the oldest villages in Deeside, in the northeast of Scotland. It is situated between Banchory and Aboyne. The village is known locally as Kinker....
, which was in the County of Aberdeen).






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The County of Kincardine, also known as Kincardineshire or The Mearns (from A' Mhaoirne meaning 'The Stewartry') was a local government
Local government of Scotland

Local government in Scotland is organised through 32 unitary authority consisting of councillors elected every four years by registered voters in each of the Council Areas of Scotland....
 county
Counties of Scotland

The counties of Scotland were the principal subdivisions of Scotland of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current Lieutenancy areas of Scotland and registration counties are largely based on them....
 on the coast of northeast Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. It was bounded by Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (historic)

Aberdeenshire or the County of Aberdeen is a registration county of Scotland. This area is also a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland.Until 1975 Aberdeenshire was one of the counties of Scotland, governed by a county council from 1890....
 on the north and west, and by Angus
Angus

Angus is one of the 32 Local government in Scotland council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland. The council area borders onto Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and the Dundee City....
 on the south.

The Kincardineshire name is retained for a lieutenancy area
Lieutenancy areas of Scotland

The Lieutenancy areas of Scotland are the areas used for the ceremonial Lord Lieutenant, the British monarch's representatives, in Scotland. They are different from the local government of Scotland council areas, the committee areas, the sheriffdoms, the registration counties, the former Regions and districts of Scotland, the former counties...
, and Kincardine and Mearns
Kincardine and Mearns

Kincardine and Mearns is one of six area committees of the Aberdeenshire council area in Scotland. It has a population 38,506 . There are significant natural features in this district including rivers, forests, mountains and bogs ....
 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
Kincardine O'Neil

Kincardine O'Neil is one of the oldest villages in Deeside, in the northeast of Scotland. It is situated between Banchory and Aboyne. The village is known locally as Kinker....
, which was in the County of Aberdeen). The town of Kincardine, however, ceased to exist during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
. The only visible sign of its previous existence is the ruin of Kincardine Castle, 2 miles north-east of Fettercairn
Fettercairn

Fettercairn is a small village in northeast Scotland It is located northwest of Laurencekirk in Aberdeenshire on the B966 from Edzell. Fettercairn is also reached via the Cairn O' Mount road from Deeside....
 . In 1296, King John Balliol wrote a letter of surrender from the castle to Edward I of England
Edward I of England

Edward I , popularly known as Longshanks, the English Justinian, and the Hammer of the Scots , was a House of Plantagenet King of England who achieved historical fame by conquering large parts of Wales and almost succeeding in doing the same to Scotland....
 after a short war which marked the beginning of the wars of Scottish independence
Wars of Scottish Independence

The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries....
. In 1600 Parliament caused the government of Kincardineshire to be conducted at the Stonehaven Tolbooth
Stonehaven Tolbooth

The Stonehaven Tolbooth is a late sixteenth century stone building originally used as a courthouse and a prison in the town of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland....
. The county used to go as far north as the River Dee
River Dee, Aberdeenshire

The River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It source in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen....
 but in 1891 the Royal Burgh of Torry
Torry

Torry is an area within the city of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom....
 was incorporated into Aberdeen
Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous City status in the United Kingdom and one of Scotland's 32 Local government in Scotland Council areas of Scotland....
.

The burgh
Burgh

A Burgh is an Wiktionary:Autonomy corporate entity in Scotland, usually a town. This type of administrative division has existed since the 12th century, when David I of Scotland created the first Royal burghs....
 of Stonehaven
Stonehaven

Stonehaven is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 9,577 in 2001 census.Stonehave, county town of Kincardineshire, grew around an Iron Age fishing village, now the "Auld Toon" , and expanded inland from the Seaside....
 became the county town
County town

A county town is the 'capital' of a county in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county....
, and the county included three other burghs, Banchory
Banchory

Banchory is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, lying approximately 18 miles west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee, Aberdeenshire....
, Inverbervie
Inverbervie

Inverbervie is a small town on the north-east coast of Scotland, south of Stonehaven, in the Aberdeenshire.The Inverbervie name derives from Inbhir Beirbhe, meaning Mouth of the Bervie Water in Scottish Gaelic....
 and Laurencekirk
Laurencekirk

Laurencekirk is a small town in the ancient county of Kincardineshire, modern county of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, just off the A90 road Dundee to Aberdeen main road....
.

The county was abolished in 1975, and was subsumed into the Kincardine and Deeside
Kincardine and Deeside

Kincardine and Deeside was formerly a local government district inthe Grampian Region of Scotland.In 1996 it was included in the Aberdeenshire unitary area....
 district
Regions and districts of Scotland

The local government areas of Scotland were redefined by the Local Government Act 1973 and redefined again by the Local Government etc Act 1994....
 of the Grampian
Grampian

Grampian was a Local government of Scotland Regions and districts of Scotland of Scotland from 1975 to 1996. It is now divided into the Council areas of Scotland of:...
 region. When the Grampian region was divided into unitary council areas in 1996, the district was absorbed into the Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland.In this present day Aberdeenshire does not include Aberdeen City which is a Council Area in its own right....
 council area.

Notable Structures and sites

  • Allardice Castle
    Allardice Castle

    Allardice Castle is a sixteenth century manor house in Kincardineshire, Scotland. This monument is resided in by the Cowie family and is situated approximately 1.5 kilometres northwest of the town of Inverbervie....
  • Cowie Castle
    Cowie Castle

    Cowie Castle is a ruined fortress in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The site lies at the northern end of Stonehaven near the North Sea coast. To the immediate south is the Cowie Bridge crossing of the Cowie Water....
    , (ruins
    Ruins

    Ruins is a term used to describe the remains of man-made architecture: structures that were once complete but which have fallen into a state of partial or complete disrepair, due to lack of Maintenance, repair and operations or deliberate acts of destruction....
    )
  • Dunnottar Castle
    Dunnottar Castle

    Dunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a precipitous rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles south of Stonehaven....
  • Fetteresso Castle
    Fetteresso Castle

    Fetteresso Castle is a 14th century tower house, rebuilt in 1761 as a Scottish gothic style Palladian manor, with clear evidence of prehistoric use of the site....
  • Fowlsheugh
    Fowlsheugh

    Fowlsheugh is a coastal nature reserve in Kincardineshire, northeast Scotland, known for its seventy metre high cliff formations and habitat supporting prolific seabird nesting colonies....
     Nature Reserve
  • Lewis Grassic Gibbon
    Lewis Grassic Gibbon

    Lewis Grassic Gibbon was the pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell , a Scotland writer.Born and raised in Arbuthnott, Aberdeenshire, Mitchell started working as a journalist for the Aberdeen Journal and the Scottish Farmer at age 16....
     Centre, Arbuthnott
    Arbuthnott

    Arbuthnott is a small village in northeast Scotland, 26 miles south of Aberdeen. It is located on the B967 east of Fordoun and north-west of Inverbervie in Aberdeenshire....
  • Muchalls Castle
    Muchalls Castle

    Muchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of Kincardine and Mearns, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The lower course is a well preserved double groined 13th century towerhouse structure, built by the Frasers of Muchalls....
  • Portlethen Moss
    Portlethen Moss

    The Portlethen Moss is an acidic bog nature reserve in the coastal Grampian region in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Like other Bog, this wetland area supports a variety of plant and animal species, even though it has been subject to certain development and agricultural degradation pressures....
  • The Tolbooth
    The Tolbooth

    The Tolbooth is a 17th century gaol or prison in Aberdeen, Scotland that is now a museum and no longer holds prisoners. It was built 1616 and 1629 and is attached to Aberdeen Sheriff Court....
    , Stonehaven
  • Ury House
    Ury House

    The current incarnation of Ury House is a ruined large mansion built in the Elizabethan style in 1885 by Alexander Baird. It is situated about a mile north of Stonehaven, a town in Aberdeenshire on the North-East coast of Scotland....


Constituency


There was a Kincardineshire constituency
Kincardineshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Kincardineshire, was a United Kingdom constituencies of the British 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....
 of the House of Commons
British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the British monarchy and the House of Lords ....
 of the Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain

The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Act of Union 1707 by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland....
 from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislature in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories....
 from 1801 to 1918, representing the county of Kincadineshire, minus the parliamentary burgh of Inverbervie
Inverbervie

Inverbervie is a small town on the north-east coast of Scotland, south of Stonehaven, in the Aberdeenshire.The Inverbervie name derives from Inbhir Beirbhe, meaning Mouth of the Bervie Water in Scottish Gaelic....
. Inverbervie was a component of the Aberdeen District of Burghs
Aberdeen Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

Aberdeen Burghs was a United Kingdom constituencies in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Having Aberdeen Burghs been a constituency in the Parliament of Great Britain, Aberdeen Burghs was created with the creation of the UK Parliament on 1 January 1801....
 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
West Aberdeenshire (UK Parliament constituency)

West Aberdeenshire was a Scotland county constituency of the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 to 1918 and form 1950 to 1983....
 to form the Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire constituency
Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire was a Scotland constituency of the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1950....
.

In 1950 Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire was divided between the West Aberdeenshire constituency
West Aberdeenshire (UK Parliament constituency)

West Aberdeenshire was a Scotland county constituency of the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 to 1918 and form 1950 to 1983....
 and the North Angus and Mearns constituency
North Angus and Mearns (UK Parliament constituency)

Angus Angus North and Mearns, Scotland, was a constituency represented in the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 1983....
. 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
Angus

Angus is one of the 32 Local government in Scotland council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland. The council area borders onto Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and the Dundee City....
, 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


The ancient Causey Mounth
Causey Mounth

The Causey Mounth is an ancient drovers' road over the coastal fringe of the Grampian Mountains in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This route was developed as the main highway between Stonehaven and Aberdeen around the 12th century AD and it continued to function as the principal route connecting these two cities until the mid 20th century, when mo...
 road was built on high ground to make passable this only available medieval route from coastal points south to Aberdeen
Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous City status in the United Kingdom and one of Scotland's 32 Local government in Scotland Council areas of Scotland....
. This ancient passage specifically connected the Bridge of Dee
Bridge of Dee

The Bridge of Dee or Brig o' Dee is a road bridge over the River Dee, Aberdeenshire in Aberdeen, Scotland. The term is also used for the surrounding area of the city....
 to Muchalls Castle
Muchalls Castle

Muchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of Kincardine and Mearns, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The lower course is a well preserved double groined 13th century towerhouse structure, built by the Frasers of Muchalls....
, Cowie Castle
Cowie Castle

Cowie Castle is a ruined fortress in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The site lies at the northern end of Stonehaven near the North Sea coast. To the immediate south is the Cowie Bridge crossing of the Cowie Water....
 (and effectively Dunnottar Castle
Dunnottar Castle

Dunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a precipitous rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles south of Stonehaven....
). The route was that taken by the Earl Marischal
William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal

William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal was a Scottish nobleman and Covenanter. He was the eldest son of William Keith, 6th Earl Marischal. He joined James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose and twice seized Aberdeen in 1639, including a march with Montrose and 9000 men along the Causey Mounth past Muchalls Castle and through the Portlethen Moss to...
 and Marquess of Montrose
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose , was a Scottish people nobleman and soldier, who initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I of England as the English Civil War developed....
 when they led a Covenanter
Covenanter

The Covenanters formed an important movement in the Religion in Scotland and Politics of Scotland of Scotland in the 17th century. In religion the movement is most associated with the promotion and development of Presbyterianism as a form of church government favoured by the people, as opposed to Scottish Episcopal Church, favoured by Mon...
 army of 9000 men in the first battle of the Civil War in 1639.

Elsick Mounth
Elsick Mounth

The Elsick Mounth is an ancient trackway crossing the Grampian Mountains in the vicinity of Netherley, Scotland. This trackway was one of the few means of traversing the Grampian Mounth area in prehistoric and medieval times....
 is a prehistoric trackway
Trackway

A trackway is an ancient route of travel for people and/or animals. In biology, a trackway can be a set of impressions in the soft earth, usually a set of footprints, left by an animal....
 used by the Caledonian
Caledonian

Caledonian is a Geography term used to refer to places, species, or items in or from Scotland, or particularly the Scottish Highlands. It derives from Caledonia, the Roman name for the area of modern Scotland....
 tribes as well as the Roman army
Army

An army , in the broadest sense, is the land-based armed forces of a nation. It may also include other branches of the military such as an air force....
 in their northern invasion
Invasion

An invasion is a Offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitics entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a territory, altering the established government or gaining c...
 of the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands

The Scottish Highlands include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east....
.

Notable People

The author Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Lewis Grassic Gibbon

Lewis Grassic Gibbon was the pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell , a Scotland writer.Born and raised in Arbuthnott, Aberdeenshire, Mitchell started working as a journalist for the Aberdeen Journal and the Scottish Farmer at age 16....
 born James Leslie Mitchell, was a Scottish writer. His book Sunset Song
Sunset Song

Sunset Song is a 1932 novel by the Scotland writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon. It is widely regarded as one of the most important Scottish novels of the 20th century, if not the most important....
 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. The book, set in a fictional village in the Mearns, drew heavily from Mitchell's upbringing in Arbuthnott
Arbuthnott

Arbuthnott is a small village in northeast Scotland, 26 miles south of Aberdeen. It is located on the B967 east of Fordoun and north-west of Inverbervie in Aberdeenshire....
. One of the key features of the book (and some of his other writing) is the balanced and immersive use of the local Doric
Doric dialect (Scotland)

Doric was formerly used to refer to all dialects of Scots language but is now usually used as a name for the dialect spoken in the north-east of Scotland....
 / Scots
Scots language

Scots or Lowland Scots refers to the Germanic Variety derived from Middle English spoken in parts of Lowland Scotland, Northern Ireland and the border areas of the Republic of Ireland....
 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
Cowie Water

The Cowie Water is a river rising in the Grampian Mountains in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that discharges to the North Sea in the northern part of Stonehaven....
, Carron Water
Carron Water, Aberdeenshire

Carron Water is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.Carron Water rises in Fetteresso Forest on the eastern edge of the Grampian Mountains . It flows past Fetteresso Castle and discharges into the North Sea at Stonehaven Bay....
, Luther Water
Luther Water

Luther Water is a generally southerly flowing river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that discharges to the River Esk, Angus; this watercourse rises in the Kincardineshire somewhat south of Drumelzie Forest....
, Burn of Muchalls
Burn of Muchalls

The Burn of Muchalls is an easterly flowing stream in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that discharges to the North Sea. Its point of discharge is on a rocky beach set with scenic sea stacks....
, Burn of Pheppie
Burn of Pheppie

The Burn of Pheppie is an easterly flowing coastal stream in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that discharges to the North Sea immediately north of the village of Muchalls....
, Burn of Elsick
Burn of Elsick

The Burn of Elsick is a coastal burn in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that discharges to the North Sea. This watercourse drains primarily agricultural lands and enters the North sea at Newtonhill....
, Burn of Monboys
Burn of Monboys

Burn of Monboys is a stream that rises in the Mounth, or eastern range of the Grampian Mountains, northwest of Stonehaven and south of Netherley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland....
 and the lower reaches of the River Dee
River Dee, Aberdeenshire

The River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It source in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen....
.

See also

  • Richard Henry Brunton
    Richard Henry Brunton

    Richard Henry Brunton FRGS from Scotland was the so-called "Father of Japan lighthouses". Brunton was born in Muchalls, Kincardineshire, Scotland....
    , born in Kincardine
  • James Murdoch
    James Murdoch (Scottish journalist)

    James Murdoch was a Scotland scholar and journalist, who worked as a teacher in the Empire of Japan and Australia. From 1903?1917, he wrote a massive three-volume History of Japan, which was not published until 5 years after his death....
    , born in Stonehaven
  • Lewis Grassic Gibbon
    Lewis Grassic Gibbon

    Lewis Grassic Gibbon was the pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell , a Scotland writer.Born and raised in Arbuthnott, Aberdeenshire, Mitchell started working as a journalist for the Aberdeen Journal and the Scottish Farmer at age 16....
    , Author, brought up in Arbuthnott
    Arbuthnott

    Arbuthnott is a small village in northeast Scotland, 26 miles south of Aberdeen. It is located on the B967 east of Fordoun and north-west of Inverbervie in Aberdeenshire....
  • List of pre-1975 counties of Scotland


External links