Chapel of St Mary, Rattray

The Chapel of St Mary dates from the 13th century  (the  red granite  stone dated 911 AD is of no significance and arrived in the 19th century),  and is thought to have been built as a private chapel to commemorate a son of William Comyn,  Earl of Buchan and founder of Deer Abbey,  who had drowned in  a nearby well. Between 1214 and 1233 the founding Earl bestowed on the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary an annual rent  of two stone of beeswax from the lands and mill of Strichen and Kindrought - to be paid at Whitsunday. The wax would have been used to make candles to light the church during services. Later, probably at the time of the Reformation in 1560,  this became  monetary rent.

The bleak sandy field on the shore of the Loch of Strathbeg is the site of the lost village of Rattray which lay between the kirk and Castle Hill, the grassy mound on the right. The present road roughly follows the line of the medieval road through the village.

Castle Hill of Rattray which lay to the east of the lost settlement of Rattray  was the site of an ancient castle, probably built as defence against Viking raiders by the Comyn earls, at that time one of the most powerful families in Scotland. The castle ceased to be occupied around 1308 when the Comyns were defeated by Robert the Bruce in battle near Old Meldrum and rapidly fell into ruin.

Nothing remains of the small settlement of Rattray which grew up on the bleak windswept area between the castle and the kirk.  The dwellings were  built from turf, and the inhabitants probably made a living by combining  farming with fishing, the chief catch being cod, much of which was dried and cured.  In 1342 when Sir Archibald Douglas received the Lordship of Rattray  a harbour, known as Stranakeppie  provided a safe anchorage in the bay which at that time was open to the sea but sheltered by a shingle bar. 

Rattray  was raised to  royal burgh status by a Charter of 1563. This was granted by Queen Mary as a means of solving a dispute  between the Keiths (Earls Marischal) and the Hays, (Earls of Errol) over ownership of the settlement. The charter urged the inhabitants to replace their houses with stone dwellings and granted them the rights to build a market cross, to hold a weekly market and two fairs each year.  Despite having Royal Burgh status the settlement failed to flourish,  the turf houses were never replaced by stone dwellings and in 1696 only 17 adults were recording as living there.

The west gable looking out over the loch.

The small rectangular chapel had whinstone walls which were about 1 metre thick and was 17.5 metres long and 5.5 metres wide. The windows were originally faced with sandstone from Dundarg but this has largely disappeared. 

 According to the writer of the Old Statistical Account, in 1720 a furious storm and easterly gale blew huge amounts of sand from the neighbouring dunes into the channel which gave access to the sea from the harbour in the bay. This blocked the entrance to the bay and formed what became the Loch of Strathbeg. The catastrophic storm trapped a vessel loaded with tiles or slates in the loch, much to  the advantage of the farmer at Mains of Haddo who salvaged them  for roofing on the farm. Without the sheltered harbour it became very difficult to earn a living by working boats from the exposed open shore. The village began to decline. Efforts to revive its fortunes were made by Alexander Harvey, who in 1788 bought the Broadlands Estate including Rattray  with money derived from the family plantations in  Antigua and Granada. He  attempted to found a new fishing village at Seatown of Rattray on the seaward side of the mediaeval village. This settlement was so isolated that it rapidly became known as Botany Bay and the inhabitants, who struggled to make a living from the sea,  acquired a reputation for piracy - earned by stealing cargo from ships grounded on the notoriously treacherous Rattray Briggs.  Gradually the Seatown was abandoned. The ruins of the chapel and the surrounding graveyard now form the only real remaining evidence of the burgh. Over the centuries many ships have come to grief on  this dangerous stretch of coast.  Seafarers  who are buried buried in the kirkyard include, 'Thomas McLauchlan, second mate of the Genoa who on Sunday 12 April 1863 at the age of 22 along with John Murray and Robert Morrison lost his life attempting to save the lives of other crew members.' A lighthouse was built at Rattray Head in 1895, reducing the vast number of ships which came to grief on Rattray Briggs.

The three graceful lancet windows in the east gable. The windows would have had wooden shutters which would often have had to be kept closed during services - hence the need for beeswax to make candles. The east end of the rectangular building is railed off and is the burial place of several of the Cumines (Comyns) of Rattray.

It is likely that St Mary's became disused when the first parish church was built at Crimond around 1576.

By 1848 the graveyard had become neglected and was being grazed by livestock from the surrounding farm, the kirkyard wall was, as is recorded on tablets set into its inside face near the gate, rebuilt at the expense of  Alexander Davidson whose father had been tenant farmer at Haddo. Alexander Davidson who had spent several years in both Ceylon and Jamaica died in 1890, and is buried in the kirkyard. 

The kirkyard dyke still has wall steps and horse hooks.

A fine winged soul, representing the soul leaving the body at the moment of death, one of  a pair carved on the ends of a tablestone inside the kirk ruins. The stone is inscribed, 'Here lyes David Tarras son of William Tarras some time in Rottray (sic) and Merchant in and Burgess of Lanark d. Peterhead 18 Feb 1765 in 74th year.'

The Trumpet Shall Sound...

Scattered in graveyards throughout the North East are stones depicting angels blowing trumpets, usually depicted in pairs these represent the angels of the resurrection which will blow their trumpets on the day of judgement 

One of the angels depicted on a flat stone dated 1745  in Fetterangus kirkyard.
'Here lyes waiting a glorious resurrection the corpse of Anna Gordon, spous (sic) to John Wildgoos'

Like the angels on the  stone (below)  in Peathill kirkyard the Fetterangus angels appear to be wearing kilts or feathery skirts.

This Peathill resurrection scene shows two angels of the resurrection flanking a corpse, the crown and position above the skull and crossed bones suggest that this may be Christ triumphant over death. 

The text on this stone reads 'Hear Lyes Anna Sim somtime spous to William Ranney in Rosehearty who departed March 1724 Also Margaret Mitchell Daughter of James Mitchell and Jean Renny in Rosehearty who died April 10th 1820 aged 25 years'

The angels on the stones above and below, both at Ellon are rather more stylised. Both Ellon stones also have a range of mortality symbols, the deid bell, which was rung at funerals, the hour glass symbolising the passing of time, the coffin, skulls and crossed long bones and the book of life.

Trumpet playing cherubs or putti at Lonmay

The quotation is from 1 Corinthians 15:52  'In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed'.

An elegant Victorian version in St Combs kirkyard.
This is on the reverse of  a stone erected in 1862 by James Carle in memory of his mother Bettsie Stephen.

Crimond Kirkyard

Crimond Kirkyard is situated a little under a mile to the north of the village  - close to the Loch of Strathbeg, partly sheltered and surrounded by trees, but with farmland, 'weel vrocht grun' and open countryside sweeping over towards Mormond Hill
.

The imposing ivy clad gateposts

The Hay arms are set into the left hand gate post, this and the coat of arms in the right hand post (below) are possibly to acknowledge the two leading heritors of the parish. In 1471 Gilbert Hay, brother to the Earl of Erroll, who had already received a charter to the lands of Urie, married Beatrice Drummond, daughter of Sir John Drummond of Crimond, and so eventually inherited Crimonmogate.  W Hay of Wry is William Hay the last laird of Urie and IH of CRI MO GAT is John Hay of Crimonmogate

The armorial panel in the right hand gate post 

The gate posts are both topped by two stone balusters and a triangular panel which support a spike finial thought to be from an earlier belfry. 

The original Parish Church of Crimond is thought to have been built in 1576, all that now remains of it are this fragment of the south wall, situated in the centre of the kirkyard and a portion of the cornice which is built in to the kirkyard wall.The cornice is inscribed with 'For in Thy Courts on day excels a thousand other here' Psalm 84 verse 10.

This square window has finely carved rope moulding and heraldic panels on the splays.

This gravestone, probably actually  a flat grave slab, has been repositioned vertically close to the kirkyard dyke so that the death's head symbol  and lettering are upside down.

This granite obelisk is a smaller version of a monument at Crimonmogate commemorating Sir Charles Bannerman and his family. Sir Charles died in 1851, having inherited  the estate from his relative Patrick Milne, who was for a time MP for the Elgin burghs.

Snowdrops, Victorian symbols of purity, in the kirkyard

The present Parish Church in the village was built in 1812, the psalm tune Crimond was composed by Jessie Seymour Irvine 1836 - 1886, daughter of a Crimond minister. 

The clock was presented to the church by  James Laing of Haddo who had amassed vast wealth through tea and tobacco plantations. The clock was taken from nearby Haddo Farm - not to be confused with Haddo House. It is locally famous for having an extra minute between X1 and X11, attempts to have this rectified when the clock was restored caused such an outcry that the additional minute was reinstated.