Kincardine Castle

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Kincardine, an estate, with a romantic glen, a modern mansion, and a ruined castle, on the E border of Blackford parish, Perthshire. The glen extends 2½ miles north-eastward to the vicinity of Auchterarder; is traversed by Ruthaven Water and by the Scottish Central section of the Caledonian railway; and contains stupendous railway works, including a six-arched viaduct rising nearly 100 feet above the level of the stream. Modern Kincardine Castle, 1 ¼ mile S of Auchterarder, is approached by an avenue that passes along the copse-clad banks of the glen; it is a neat edifice in the castellated style. The ancient castle, farther up the glen, crowned a promontory overlooking scenery similar to that around Hawthornden House. It formed a strong and spacious quadrangle; but, having been dismantled by the Earl of Argyll in 1645, it is now represented by a mere fragment of wall and some vestiges of a moat. About the middle of the 13th century Malise, Earl of Strathearn, conferred the lands of Kincardine on Sir David de Graham, to whose descendant, the Duke of Montrose, they give the title of Earl of Kincardine (cre. 1644).—Ord. Sur., sh. 39, 1869.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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