A burgh town in NE Fife at the junction of the A91 and A983 roads, 7 miles (11.2 km) west of Cupar; pop. (1991) 1990. Originally named Uachdarmuc, after the Gaelic Uachdar-muic, meaning the 'high ground of the wild boar', its adjacent woods and swamps were the scene of royal boar hunts in ancient times.
The town was granted a royal charter in 1517 and in the 18th and 19th centuries it was a flourishing centre of weaving, bleaching, distilling, and sawmilling. Today its industries produce knitwear, furniture, postcards, structural steelwork, electro-chemical sensors, electronic weighing equipment, crafts, and food products.
Amidst a townscape of red pantiles, crow-stepped gables, and the occasional thatched roof (originally using the rushes of Lindores Loch), fine buildings include Macduff House (1597), the Town House (1728), the Parish Church (1779-81), and the Boar's Head (a 19th-century coaching inn now called the Forest Hills Hotel).
The old-world streets of Auchtermuchty feature in the TV series 'Dr Finlay's Casebook' and amongst the town's most famous sons are the accordionist and band leader Jimmy Shand, and twins Craig and Charlie Reid, better known as the internationally-popular singing duo The Proclaimers.
