Parish of
ABERNETHY & KINCARDINE
Parish Number - 90a
Births: (Film # 990793) 1737 to 1854 [No entries from Feb. 1749 to Sept. 1765 and from Nov. 1776 to May 1780.]
Marriages: (Film # 990793) 1737 to 1854 [No entries from May 1749 to Nov. 1765]Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, 1868
ABERNETHY. A highland parish, partly in Morayshire and partly in Inverness-shire. It is bounded on the north, by the parishes of Duthill and Inverallan; on the east, by Banffshire; on the south, by Braemar; and on the west, by the river Spey. It's post-town is Grantown; it has a sub-office of its own. It comprises the old parish of Abernethy and the parish of Kincardine or Kinchardine - the latter united to it about the time of the Reformation and lying wholly in Inverness-shire; and it is sometimes known as the united parish of Abernethy and Kinchardine. The name is descriptive of the situation of the kirk-town with respect to the Nethy, being within a mile of the fall of that stream into the Spey... The parish is about 15 miles in length, measured from Cromdale on the north to Rothiemurchus on the south; and from 10 to 12 miles in breadth. The surface is highly diversified with haughs, woods, and mountain. A stretch of about 3 miles of low land and meadow, along the bank of the Spey, is often overflowed by that river, which here runs smooth and slow. The arable ground bears but a small portion to the uncultivated. A great proportion of the surface is covered with woods.... The only river of any note, besides the Spey, is the Nethy, which, rising on the northern side of the hills to the east of Cairngorm, known as the Braes of Abernethy, flows in a north-west direction through the forests, and empties itself into the Spey, 4 miles above Grantown. It is about 12 miles in length, and is a rapid running stream; after rain, or thaws, it swells so as to bring down the timber that has be cut in the forest of Grant ot the Spey, whence it is sent in rafts to Garmouth...Of the mountains of this parish, Cairngorm, or "the Blue Mountain", is the most remarkable. It commands an extensive view. The shires of Ross, Sutherland and Caithness, are seen from its summit....A vast business in the cutting down of timber in the mountains, and floating it down the Nethy and the Spey, was commenced by the York Building Company about the year 1730 and resumed at a later period....The chief landowner is the Earl of Seafield...The parish is in the presbytery of Abernethy and synod of Moray. Kirk Session Records
The Kirk Session of a parish consists of the the minister of the parish and the elders of the congregation. It looks after the general well-being of the congreation and, particularly in centuries past, church discipline within the parish. These records can sometimes provide invaluable information that is available nowhere else. An example would be the case of an illegitimate child. In many cases, the fornication resulting in the birth of the child would be a matter of church discipline and would thus be recorded in the minutes of the Session. It has been known ot occur that the parish register recorded the name of the mother of an illegitimate child in error, such error being brought to light by examing the Kirk Session records dealing with the birth of the child. There is also a possibility that other valuable information concerning the parents might be contained in the Kirk Session records. Kirk Session records are generally held at the Scottish Record Office in Edinburg. These records have not in most cases beeen microfilmed by the LDS Church.