Autumn morning: Buchan

Welcome to you, rich autumn days.

On Monday it was a benign jewel of an autumnal morning here in Buchan whilst torrential rain doused the west of Scotland and 99 mph winds flattened trees in Kew Gardens and caused havoc in the south of England.

Monkshood at  the Mains of Pittulie roadside. Occasional squadrons of gannets flew past, parallel to the shore, gleaming intensely  white in the sunshine.

Kuehneromyces  mutabilis?

Part of  an area of fungi as large as  a dustbin lid growing on the remains of gorse, chopped and then shredded by the council during the summer. If correctly identified the species is edible.

Sunlight catching the trunks of bare trees, sycamores and ash, at Peathill where a blackbird sang as if it were high summer, rooks cawed and  a robin jinked about the dyke. 

The verges are brightly studded with a second flowering of dandelions which were attracting insects including hover flies and  late wasps

Longside Kirkyard

Whilst walking along the Formartine Buchan Way near Longside recently Grey Granite noticed the bellcot of what turned out to be Longside Parish Church and  a tall tower, that of St John's Longside Episcopal Church. The link below is to an account of this walk.

http://greygranitewalkingtheline.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/longside-and-haughs-of-rora.html

Longside kirkyard contains the present Parish Church which was built in 1836 when it replaced an older, now roofless, church dating from 1620 the year the parish was created. When the old church was built it was designated as the 'ower Kirk of Petrugie', Peterugie being the old name for Peterhead. However, since the farm on which it was built was called Longside both the church and the village which grew up round it became known by this name.

The present parish church with the tower of St John's Episcopal (1853) church in the distance on the right. 

There are several patches of Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis lutea) growing on the kirkyard dyke. This attractive little plant also appears on several old walls in Old Deer but seems not to grow closer to the Buchan coast.

The entrance to the old kirk is through the lychgate  from which a now sunken cobbled path leads across the kirkyard to the old kirk, now filled with graves. This dates from about 1620 and is one of only two lychgates in Scotland though many English examples still exist, many of them wooden. The lychgate was essentially a shelter over the gate to the kirkyard and was intended to provide some shelter for the coffin and pall bearers or mourners as they waited  to be met by the clergyman officiating at the burial. The recesses in the inner walls were probably seats for the pall bearers, English examples often have a stone block in the middle of the gateway on which the coffin could be rested.

The lychgate from within the kirkyard, note the path paved with large pebbles and below the level of the  kirkyard. It is thought that there may originally have been a bellcote on top of the gateway.

Beautifully carved and well preserved mortality symbols on  a grave slab in the oldest part of the kirkyard. Clockwise from the top left these are an open book, probably a Bible or the Book of Life, a winged skull representing the soul leaving the body, an hour glass represents the passing of time and would be similar to the hour glass on the pulpit, a died bell, this was the small hand bell rung to announce the death and at the funeral, next to this is a coffin and below that crossed long bones (like the skull nothing to do with pirates!), the gravedigger's tools and  a skull beneath a banner carved with the legend Momento Mori, 'remember you must die'. The initials of the deceased and their spouse are in the centre.

The family tomb of the Keiths of Ludquharn built into the east dyke of the kirkyard.  Jervais considers this to be the oldest monument in the graveyard

On the left of the lychgate is this elegant, crisply carved, well preserved mural monument to Reverend John Lumsden who was minister of the parish for 15 years prior to his death, aged 47, in 1732.  Again the open book, winged skull and hour glass. The rosettes were  a popular form of decoration in the 18th century.

The grave of Rev John Skinner an Episcopalian whose ministry at Longside lasted for an astonishing 64 years. The tablet beneath commemorates his wife, Grissell Hunter. Rev Skinner became parson  of Longside in 1742. Following the defeat of the Jacobites in 1746, there was little tolerance of  Episcopalian clergy and many, including Skinner who disguised himself as a miller to avoid capture were hounded by government troops. On the night of 29th July 1746 his parsonage was raided by the troops who set fire to the Episcopalian chapels in both Longside and  Old Deer. Skinner continued his ministry by preaching from the window of his house at Linshart, the congregation sheltering in the lee of the two wings of his house. The Penal Act of 1748 forbade Episcopalian clergy from preaching to more than four people but Skinner defied this and continued to preach freely until May 1753 when he was imprisoned in Aberdeen for six months. His eight year old son John who was destined to become Bishop of Aberdeen insisted on being incarcerated with him. On his release Skinner was extremely circumspect and successfully avoided further sanctions. He continued to live at Linshart but, like many of his colleagues, who needed to supplement their reduced incomes, he turned to farming  taking on the farm of Mains of Ludquharn in 1758. This venture was not a success and he abandoned it after seven years. By 1760, following the accession of George 3rd, toleration of Episcopalians began to increase and Skinner was subsequently able to build a new chapel near Linshart, this was first used for worship on 7th August 1763.  Thereafter Skinner began to record the history of the Episcopalian Church producing the Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, completed in 1788. Skinner was also a much respected poet, one of his works, Tullochgorum was considered by Robert Burns to be 'the  best Scotch song Scotland ever saw'. Tullochgorum, written at the suggestion of Mrs Montgomery, wife of  the Inland Revenue Officer in Ellon, contains the lines:

 May choicest blessings still attend
Each honest-hearted open friend,
An' calm an' quiet be his end,
Be a' that's good before him!

Rev. John Skinner met his own end quietly but suddenly, after dinner and in the company of three generations of his family, sitting in his chair at the home of his son John, by then Bishop of Aberdeen on 16th June 1807.

James Fleming, affectionately known as Jamie Fleeman, was born at nearby Ludquharn, and christened at Longside on 7th April 1713.  He gained such notoriety as 'fool' to the Laird of Udny that a biography of him written by Rev J Pratt (of 'Pratt's Buchan' fame) was published in 1831, four decades after his death and reprinted in 1980. In the introduction to the biography Pratt explains that 'a century or two ago, a professed fool was considered an necessary appendage to every family of distinction. The primitive elements of his character were the knave, the idiot, the crazed madman. Wit combined with apparent stupidity, unbending fidelity mingled with reckless audacity, and a discriminating judgement concealed by a well dissembled indifference, were indispensable ingredients in his composition.' Pratt considers that the necessary characteristics of the successful fool 'were part real and part feigned'. Jamie was well regarded with great affection during his life time for his ready wit, loyalty, discretion and trustworthiness, even being used by the Countess of Errol as a go between, taking messages to and from the many fugitives, including Lord Pitsligo, who were hiding about the countryside in the terrible aftermath to Culloden. Despite his 'foolishness' he could be relied upon, if interrogated, not to disclose the nature of his mission. Jamie died at the home of his sister at Kinmundy in 1778, his dying words were said to be, 'Dinna bury me like a beast'. He was buried at Longside in what was, for many years, an unmarked grave. However, in 1861 a visitor to the grave of Rev. John Skinner having been told the story of Jamie and his dying wish, collected about £14 in shilling subscriptions to pay for the granite pillar which now stands over the grave. It is inscribed with the words 'Erected in 1861 to indicate the grave of Jamie Fleeman, in answer to his prayer, 'Dinna bury me like a beast'.

A wonderfully elaborate Celtic cross, the memorial of William Randolf Center.
Dr Center was fleet surgeon to the Royal navy and Senior Medical Officer of HMS Russell which was sunk by  a mine about 7 miles off Malta on 27 April 1916. Dr Center died of wounds the following day and is buried on Malta.

The Russell a Duncan class battle ship  was launched in 1903 and was the fastest steamship at the time reaching a speed of 18 knots. It had  a crew of 800 under the command of Captain Bowden Smith and was armed with four 12 inch guns and 12 six inch guns. The ship was heading for Malta for some minor repairs when at about 5.30 a.m she hit two mines which had probably been laid by  a German submarine the previous night. Fire broke out in the aft part of the ship which was rapidly engulfed by flames, but she sank slowly enabling many of the crew to escape in lifeboats however several went down with their ship. About 300 sailors were treated for injuries at Valletta Naval Hospital but many subsequently died of their wounds which included burns and gas poisoning. In total 27 officers and 98 ratings were lost.

St Drostan's Kirkyard, New Aberdour

Grey Granite has made several visits to St Drostan's Kirkyard and the shore at at Aberdour recently. This is a particularly historic and interesting kirkyard; like every kirkyard it is unique, reflecting the character and inter relationships across place and time of the communities it served. There is a sense of continuity and connectedness here, coupled with an awareness of the ultimate insignificance of the individual.

Rufus intent on watching something in the den below the kirkyard, with great enthusiasm he wisely lives for the moment. The boats in the bay were sheltering from recent gales.

Jervise in his classic guide to North East graveyards 'Epitaphs and Inscriptions', says that, 'The ruins of the old church of Aberdour are picturesquely situated within the burial ground, which overlooks the  romantic den and Bay of Aberdour. 

'Aberdour is regarded as being one of earliest Christian settlements in Scotland. Christianity is thought to have been introduced to the area by St Ninnian around 400 AD and to have been revived by the arrival of Columba and his follower  Drostan in the 6th century AD. Drostan's remains were said to have been contained in  a stone kist here for several centuries after his death.

Until the founding of New Aberdour village the Kirktown of Aberdour with the kirk, manse, farm and mills was the hub of the community.

The manse, now a private house, is adjacent to the kirk yard was built around 1822-23 and is a typical Regency Buchan manse with a projecting semi circular stair tower to the rear.

The unusual dookit,  partly attractively swathed in cotoneaster  in the corner of the manse garden was probably built from sandstone plundered from the kirk.

 

The oldest part of the kirk, the nave runs from east to west and dates from the 16th century, the roofed aisle was rebuilt around 1760 and became the burial place of the Gordon's of Aberdour. Most of the memorials are aligned east - west with the corpse positioned so as to  be ready to rise facing east on the day of judgement.

Until Auchmedden Kirk was built in 1884, Pennan folk worshipped at New Aberdour walking the three miles along this track to reach the kirk. The  track was once the main route to Banff from Fraserburgh and the first edition of the OS map shows the positions of mile posts along it.

There is no burial ground at Pennan so corpses were carried along the road for burial at St Drostan's. These are two of several Pennan  graves clustered along the dyke overlooking the den on the side of the graveyard nearest Pennan. They are from the 1830s  and are of families with typical Pennan names -West and Gatt

This sandstone slab commemorates ' AD son to WD an indweller in Aberdour who departed out of this life in the year of God 1649' Mortality symbols including crossed long bones beneath a skull can just be made out in the bottom right, slightly above and to the left of the skull there is an animal which looks like a deer but which  probably represents the lamb of God. 

During the Victorian period the nave was used for burials, the imposing stones are typical of the time and reflect the perceived status of the departed. A complete contrast to AD whose very name was not considered to be that significant.

The east end of the nave, the chancel has been partitioned off to form the burial aisle of the Baird's of Auchmedden. The font on the right is thought to have come from  a chapel in Chapel Den which pre dated St Drostan's.
The aisle contains very worn tombstones commemorating various members of the Baird family including George who died in May 1593

 Thomas the Rhymer prophesied that "As long as eagles nested on the cliffs of Pennan, there would be Bairds in Auchmedden." The prophecy was fulfilled right up until 1750, when as is indicated on this tablet commemorating William Baird who took part in the Jacobite rising of 1745, indicate the estate passed out of the possession of the family. Up to that time eagles had nested regularly in the cliffs of Pennan. They did return to Pennan when Lord Haddo, whose family had obtained the lands, married a Miss Christian Baird, but when the estate was later sold  the eagles departed. The old story was revived as recently as the late 19th  century, when a member of the family of Baird of Gartsherrie, the Lanarkshire coal and iron masters, bought the Auchmedden estate. Once again the eagles reappeared on the cliffs of Pennan, but this time the coastguards in the area repeatedly shot at them, and eventually the eagles deserted Pennan apparently for the last time.

A splendid granite memorial to blacksmith William Bruce of Sauchentree who died in 1884 this bears the badge of the Hammermen, one of the 7 Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen.

The 7 Incorporated Trades are an ancient society of crafts men  (weavers, hammermen, glaziers, bakers, wrights, fleshers, shoemakers) .The  Hammermens' Guild was founded in 1519. Members are free Burgesses of Aberdeen who uphold the standards of craftsmanship with the common aim using their work for the good of the burgh. The badge includes an anvil and crowned hammer. Their motto  'finis coronat opus' translates as 'the end is the crown', i.e the end justifies the means.

A table stone inscribed with a splendid set of mortality symbols:
The hour glass, an ornate scroll inscribed MOMENTO MORI surrounding a skull, the book of life, sextons tools and died bell, crossed long bones and a coffin. Even in  a pre-literate age the meaning would be  inescapable. The ornate scroll round  a skull seems to be  a particular characteristic of this kirkyard.

Man that is born of  a woman hath but  a short time to live and is full of misery.

He cometh up and is cut down like a flower and ne’r continueth in one stay.

(The Book of Common Prayer)

St Drostan's kirk was replaced by  a new parish church on a very exposed site in the village of New Aberdour in 1818. The bell from St Drostan's was hung above the door.