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Features: Scottish Parishes » Historic Shires » Aberdeenshire » Glenmuick, Tullich, & Glengairn

Spittal of Glenmuick by Nigel Corby
Spittal of Glenmuick © 2008, Nigel Corby

GLENMUICK, TULLICH, & GLENGAIRN PARISH

TABLE OF CONTENTS


ALTERNATE NAMES AND SPELLING:

Glenmuick, Tullich, and Inchmarnoch


LOCATION

Location Description:

Glenmuick, Tullich, and Glengairn is a parish in the district of Mar, Aberdeenshire, bounded on the north by Strathdon and Logie Coldstone, on the east by Aboyne and Glentanar, on the south by Forfarshire, and on the west by Crathie and Braemar. Glengairn, the least and most compact of the three districts, lies chiefly to the north-west, on both banks of the rocky Gairns, extending 6 miles north-west of the church, where the upper parts of Tulloch begin, and separate it from the parish of Crathie. A small part of it, called Strathgirnie, lies on the south side of the Dee. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).

Shire, District, and Region Timeline:

  • Shire: Aberdeenshire (Before 1707)
  • County: Aberdeen (After 1707)
  • District: Kincardine-O'Neil (Before 1930)
  • Landward District: Deeside (1930-1975)
  • Region: Grampian (1975-1996)
  • District: Kincardine and Deeside (1975-1996)

Burghs:

  • Name: Ballater
  • Police Burgh (1891)
  • Small Burgh (1929)
  • Burgh system abolished (1975-1996)

Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets:

Abergairn, Ballater, Kirkton, Tullich


PARISH TIMELINE

PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

  • Diocese: Aberdeen
  • Deanery: Mar

POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

  • Synod: Aberdeen
  • Presbytery: Kincardine O'Neil

PAROCHIAL OVERVIEW:

The parishes of Glenmuick, Tullich, and Inchmarnoch were united about the year 1500. Early in the seventeenth century Glengairn was added to the union. It was severed again, quoad sacra, in 1863.
Glenmuick. The church of Glenmuick was dedicated to St Mary. It was removed to Ballater in 1798.
Tullich. The church of Tullich was dedicated to St Neachtan. It belonged to the Knights of the Order of the Temple (Knights Templar) who had a preceptory at Tullich. After the suppression of the Templars, the property was held by the Knights of St John (Knights Hospitaller) at Torphichen.
Inchmarnoch. The parish church was dedicated to St Marnoch of Aberchirder. Its ruins can still be seen on the inch, or island, in the Dee.
Glengairn. The church of the ancient parish of Glengairn was dedicated to St Mungo. The three parishes of Glenmuick, Tullich, and Glengairn were united early in the seventeenth century, but Glengairn was disjoined from the others on 28 January 1863. Its ancient church stands roofless in the churchyard at Abergairn. A tryst was long held nearby and was styled St Mungo's Fair. This parish had another yearly market, St Martin's Fair, at Ballater.

Disjoined Quoad Sacra Parishes:
Dinnet. A priory of the Red Friars was founded at Dinnet in 1297 by Alexander, third Earl of Buchan. The parish of Dinnet was disjoined from Aboyne, Logie-Coldstone, and Glenmuick on 14 March 1886.

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND CLERGY:

Includes ministers, licentiates, assistants, readers, and clerks.

Glenmuick (QO)

  • Archibald Wilson, 1567
  • William Sanderson, 1574
  • John Leslie, 1599
  • Alexander Gordon, 1620
  • John Ferries (or Ferguson), 1651
  • David Guthrie, 1687
  • Gideon Guthrie, 1698
  • James Robertson, 1699
  • William Mackenzie, 1748
  • George Brown, 1791
  • Hugh Burgess, 1817
  • John Middleton, 1849
  • James Robert Middleton (son of John, above), 1884

Tullich (QO)

  • Laurence Coutts, 1567

Glengairn (QO)

  • George Bruce, 1845
  • Robert Neil, 1846
  • James Anderson Lowe, 1891
  • James Robb Allan, 1918
  • Thomas David Watt, 1924

Dinnet (QS)

  • John Grant Michie, 1886
  • William Sawers, 1903

(1928: Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, by Hew Scott, D. D.)


RECORDS

Parochial Registers:

Parish registers turned over to the Registrar-General, as a result of the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Scotland) Act of 1854. The letters B. D. and M. indicate Births (or Baptisms), Deaths (or Burials), and Marriages (or Proclamations of Banns) respectively. Numbers indicate separate volumes or books. Note: These records are by no means complete or without damage; consult the Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland (1872) to learn more about the condition of the records.

  • (1) B. and M. 1744-1820
  • (2) B. and M. 1820-54

OPR and RD Numbers
Date RangeNameNumberType
1683-1854Tullich201OPR
1744-1854Glenmuick, Tullich and Glengairn201OPR
1855-1967Glenmuick, Tullich, and Glengairn201RD
1968-1971Ballater201RD
1972-2006Ballater329RD
2009Aberdeenshire, Ballater329RD
2026Aberdeenshire Council; Glenmuick, Tullich & Glengairn Community Council
2026(Ballater) Aberdeenshire Council; Ballater & Crathie Community Council

(2009: Parishes and Registration Districts of Scotland - Old and New, National Records of Scotland)

Local community councils (2026) are provided as a potential source of additional information for settlements within the original boundaries of the parish. (Source)

Population:

Statistics from informal and official censuses

  • 1755: 2,270
  • 1791: 2,117
  • 1811: 1,894
  • 1831: 2,279
  • 1841: 2,118
  • 1851: 1,984
  • 1861: 1,668
  • 1881: 2,089
  • 1901: 2,347
  • 1911: 2,210

RESIDENTS


Common Surnames:

Glenmuick & Tullich: Anderson, Coutts, Duncan, Forbes, Gordon, Grant, Mitchell, Ritchie, Stewart, Stuart

Glengairn: Emslie, Ewen, Fleming, Fyffe, Gauld, Grant, Knowles, Reid, Smith, West

Land-owners, teachers, and other professionals:

Note: Names appearing in research materials, other than censuses. Simple names (First name, surname only) have been omitted unless they appear associated with large properties. All women's names, and men's names with occupations, military ranks, or peerage titles are included.

  • William FARQUHARSON, Esq., of Monaltrie
  • George GORDON, Marquis of Huntly
  • Michael GORDON, Esq., of Abergeldie

Other residents:

By the Reverend Mr George Brown.
"At present the population is 2117: 965 males, 1152 females. There are 1763 Protestants and 354 Papists. That the number of males should be so much less than that of females, is owing to many of the young men going to the South and Low Countries to service, because they cannot get employment at home. There are in this parish 63 men servants, 87 maid servants, 4 masons, 16 square wrights, 8 millers, 15 tailors, 18 weavers, 4 shoemakers, 7 blacksmiths, 9 merchants, and 3 schoolmasters. A Popish Priest resides in this parish, and performs divine worship every 2d Sunday, in a chapel built for the purpose.

The people are honest, economical, sober, contented, and hospitable; very regular in attending upon divine workshop, and warmly attached to their country; their language is English, except in the upper parts of the parishes of Tulloch and Glengairn, where some of them use a barbarous dialect of the Gaelic among themselves, but they all understand the English. Their size, in general, is from 5 feet 5 inches, to 5 feet 8 inches high; they are stout made, healthy, and capable of great fatigue."
(This section contains excerpts, at times restructured or paraphrased, from an article appearing in Statistical Account of Scotland, Sir John Sinclair, 1791-1799)


NOTES:

Primary Sources:
Statistical Account of Scotland (1791-1799), Volume 12, p. 215
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 12, p. 772

See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.


Photo credits: (Featured) Spittal of Glenmuick, © 2022 Nigel Corby, used under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 2.0, (Related Resources) Aberdeenshire Locator Map, © 2005, Brythones, used under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related Resources
Map of Scottish highland clans and lowland families
Aberdeenshire locator map
See more maps at Wikimedia Commons
Glossary
  • Burghs:
  • Royal - Towns on royal lands
  • Regality - Towns granted to noblemen/landowners
  • Barony - Towns granted to tenant-in-chief (laird)
  • Police - Towns with elected officials
  • Small - Population under 20,000
  • Large - Population over 20,000
  •  
  • Chapel-of-Ease: Small church for those living far from the main church
  • Collegiate church: See What is a Collegiate Church?
  • Commune kirk: Owned by a larger church
  • Court of Teinds: Controlled funds for support of clergy
  •  
  • Friars:
  • Black - Dominican
  • Grey - Franciscan
  • Red - Trinitarian
  • White - Carmelite
  •  
  • Iron chapel: Building made of corrugated galvanized iron
  •  
  • Landward District: Rural part of a district
  •  
  • Mensal: Source of income to support clergy member (Roman Catholic)
  •  
  • OPR: Old Parochial Register
  •  
  • Pre-Reformation: Before 1560
  • Prebend: Source of income to support a clergy member
  •  
  • QO: Quoad Omnia - Civil and church control
  • QS: Quoad Sacra - Church control only
  •  
  • RD: Registration District - Civil control
  •  
  • Tryst: Large-scale market or fair, particularly for livestock
  •  
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