Parish of Boat of Garten, Carrbridge and Kincardine
Although plain and simple, Kincardine is of considerable historic interest. Though the patron saints of many of our neighbouring parishes were the famous Gaelic monks from Ireland – Columba, Moluag, Kenneth – Kincardine’s Tomhaldaich was of unique local importance: no other dedications to him exist anywhere else in the world. Visitors to the Kirk will note the hollowed-out granite block by the front door. One of a series across northern Scotland, this is thought to have been a font used at the time of conversion to Christianity and may predate any building on the site.
There has been a church on this site since the 12th Century and the narrow ‘Lepers Squint’ window indicates that the current walls were built prior to the Reformation.
The iron frame on the wall is a mortsafe – a relic of the times of Grave robbing at the end of the 18th century.
Kincardine’s history has not always been so calm and peaceful as its location. Towards the end of the 15th Century a raiding party of Cummings were trapped in it by their arch enemies the Grants and the kirk was set afire and destroyed along with its incumbents.
Looking through the graveyard gives a wonderful insight into what was once a very populous area. Worshippers came from throughout the Kincardine foothills, from Pityoulish itself and even through the Sluggan from Glenmore. Perhaps the most interesting of the gravestones is that near the Kirk door dedicated to the Stewarts, Barons of Kincardine, who held that Barony from 1374 until 1683 (the Barony itself encompassed the whole of Glenmore and the Kincardine Hills).
The wonderful gnarled old tree by the entrance to the graveyard is a dwarf elder – a tree common in Lochaber but not here. On her deathbed the wife of the 5th Baron – a Cameron – wanted to be buried in the soil of her beloved Lochaber. Soil
containing the seeds of this dwarf elder was therefore brought from her homeland for this purpose and the tree has been here ever since.
If you choose to visit please stop awhile, enjoy the tranquillity and sign the Visitors Book.
The parishes are now linked with the parish of Abernethy under the guidance of our minister, Rev Graham Atkinson.
A local charity, Kincardine Forward SCIO, exists to further knowledge of the history and heritage of Kincardine and can be contacted via: kincardine.fw@gmail.com
Find out more about Boat of Garten, Carrbridge and Kincardine Churches Here.