Abdie

Abdie
Abdie is located in Fife
Abdie
Abdie
Location within Fife
Population421 (2011 Census)
OS grid referenceNO2567416666
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCUPAR
Postcode districtKY14
Dialling code01337
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
56°20′11″N 3°12′14″W / 56.3365°N 3.2038°W / 56.3365; -3.2038

Abdie is a parish in north-west Fife, Scotland, lying on the south shore of the Firth of Tay on the eastern outskirts of Newburgh, extending about 3 miles eastwards to the boundary of Dunbog parish,[1] with which it is now united ecclesiastically[2] and for the Community Council.[3] It is also bounded by Collessie on the south and has a small border with the parish of Moonzie in the south-east.[1][4]

The ruins of the old Abdie parish church, near the shore of Lindores Loch

The civil parish had a population of 421 at the 2011 Census[5] and its area is 4850 acres.[6]

The parish contains the hamlet of Lindores on the north side of Lindores Loch, which is 4 miles in circumference and lies near the centre of the parish.[1]

The present church was built in 1826/27, to a design by William Burn,[7] replacing the pre-reformation church, St Magridin's, which stands as a ruin nearby. That church was consecrated by Bishop David de Bernham in 1242 and in pre-Reformation days was controlled by Lindores Abbey, whose remains lie just outside Newburgh.[2][8] Abdie and Dunbog parishes became a united charge under one minister from December 1965, with the church building in Dunbog closing in 1983 upon the ecclesiastical parish of Abdie and Dunbog being linked with Newburgh.[2]

The parish seems originally to have had the name Lindores.[2][9] However, when Lindores Abbey was granted a charter in 1178, the monks kept the old name and thereafter called the parish Abdie (or Abden), from the Gaelic, apainn (earlier apdaine), meaning "abbacy; abbey land".[2][10]

The parish was originally wider in extent and included the parish of Newburgh, but this was disjoined in 1633. Further in 1891 a detached portion of Abdie in the west was annexed to Newburgh, while another detached portion in the east was united with Dunbog, leaving the main portion as the present parish.[1]

In September 1598 James VI came to Abdie to arrest John Arnot, Goodman of Woodmill, for the murder of John Murray, a servant of Lord Lindores.[11]

  1. ^ a b c d Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, by Francis Groome, 2nd edition 1896; article on Abdie
  2. ^ a b c d e Church of Scotland web site for Abdie and Dunbog Parish www.abdiedunbog-newburgh.org.uk/about/abdie-and-dunbog-parish/ retrieved May 2016
  3. ^ Fife Community Council web site showing Abdie and Dunbog community council area www.fifedirect.org.uk/CommunityCouncils retrieved May 2016
  4. ^ Ordnance Survey 1 inch to 1 mile Sheet 48 Perth, publication date 1901 available from National Library of Scotland maps.nls.uk as at May 2016
  5. ^ Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usual Resident Population, published by National Records of Scotland. Web site http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved March 2016. See “Standard Outputs”, Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930
  6. ^ Gazetteer of Scotland, publ, by W & AK Johnston, Edinburgh, 1937. Article on Abdie. Places are presented alphabetically
  7. ^ Buildings of Scotland: Fife by John Gifford
  8. ^ Third Statistical Account of Scotland, Fife volume, ed. A. Smith, publ. 1952; article on Abdie
  9. ^ The New Statistical Account of Scotland by the Ministers of the Respective Parishes, Vol. IX Fife-Kinross. Publ. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, 1845; article on Abdie
  10. ^ "Abdie". Fife Place-name Data. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  11. ^ John Duncan Mackie, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 13 part 1 (Edinburgh, 1969), pp. 297, 323.