Parish of Keith

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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1791-99: Keith 1834-45: Keith

Keith, a parish in the centre of the county of Banff, and occupying for some distance its whole width. It is about 5 miles from the coast. A portion near the centre of the W side crosses the county boundary, and extends into the county of Elgin. It is touched at the extreme NE corner by the parish of Deskford, and is bounded E by the parish of Grange, SE for about 2 miles by the county of Aberdeen, S by the parishes of Cairnie and Botriphnie, W by Botriphnie, Boharm, and Bellie, and NW by Bellie and by Rathven. The boundary is artificial, except for about 5 miles on the E side, between Keith and Grange parishes, where it is formed by the Altmore Burn, and for 2 miles on the W between Keith and Bellie parishes, where it is formed by Forgie Burn. Though the outline is irregular, the parish is compact. The greatest length, from N by E (at the point where it touches Deskford parish) to S by W (at a point about ½ mile SW of Edintore House), is 8¼ miles; and the greatest width, from E (at the point where the Great North of Scotland railway passes into Grange parish) to W (near the Hill of Mulderie), is 6¾ miles. The area is 18, 264.820 acres, of which 16, 381.053 are in Banffshire, and 1883.767 in Elginshire. The surface is very irregular and undulating, and varies in height from 338 feet, at the bridge over the Isla to the NE of the town, to 766 feet (Garral Hill towards the NE end of the parish), 1199 (on the Meikle Balloch Hill to the SE), 967 (at Cairds Wood on the S), and 1020 (at the Hill of Mulderie on the W). The soil is in many places good clay loam, but is often hard, damp, and mossy, and somewhat unkindly. By far the larger portion is under crop or wooded, there being very little waste ground. Two of the woodland sections, one S of Keith, and the other SW of Fife-Keith, have, at the expense of the superiors of the respective villages, been laid out with walks for the use of the public. The drainage of a considerable part of the parish is effected by means of the river Isla, which enters on the SW from Botriphnie parish, and flows with a winding course N and NE, passing between Keith and Fife-Keith, and then turns eastward between Keith and Newmill, and winds E till it passes into Grange parish in its onward course to junction with the Deveron. There are a number of small burns, the principal being the Burn of Newmill, which rises in the NW, flows past the W end of the village of Newmill, and falls into the Isla; and the Burn of Tarnash, which rises in the SE, and flows E of Keith also into the Isla. On three of the streams near Keith there are waterfalls, picturesque, though of no great size; and the rocky glens through which the burns flow are rich localities for botanists, yielding, among other plants, plentiful specimens of the oak, beech, and bladder ferns. Near the centre of the parish, ¾ mile N of Keith village, is Keith Junction station on the Highland and Great North of Scotland railway systems. This is the terminus of the Forres and Keith section of the former, which passes W by S through the parish for a distance of 3¼ miles. Of the latter, it is the junction of the Aberdeen and Keith, and Keith and Elgin sections, of which the former passes E through the parish for 2¾ miles, while the latter follows a winding course to the SW for a distance of 4 miles, Fife-Keith being accommodated by a station at Earlsmill, and the southern part of the parish by a station at Auchindachy, in Botriphnie. A line from Keith station, at present (1883) in course of construction, will pass north-ward to Buckie. It will form part of the Highland system. The parish forms the connecting link between the upper and lower districts of Banffshire, and near the centre it is traversed from E to W by the great road from Aberdeen to Inverness. The underlying rocks are primary, and contain in many places beds of limestone of excellent quality, which are extensively worked at Blackhillock and Braehead. In places grey flour spar is to be found associated with green antimony, and on the bank of Tarnash Burn, SE of the village of Keith, is a small mass of alum shale. The churches and industries are connected with the villages, and most of them are noticed in the following article Keith. Besides Keith and Fife-Keith the parish contains the village of Newmill, about 1¼ mile N of Keith, on a slope facing S. This is now the centre of the quoad sacra parish of Newmill, disjoined in 1877. The church stands at the E end. It was erected in 1870, and is a plain building containing 520 sittings. There is also a Free Church mission house. The population of New mill village was, in 1871, 614; in 1881, 651,-of the parish in 1881, 1431. Besides the public schools at Keith village there are also board schools at Auchauacie, Fife-Keith, Glen of Newmill, Newmill, and Tarrycroys, which, with respective accommodation for 50, 50, 80, 135, and 80 pupils, had (1881) an average attendance of 26, 53, 44, 112, and 52 respectively, and grants of £39, 14s., £41, 12s. 6d., £25, 17s. 4d., £92, 6s., and £49, 10s. The chief object of antiquarian interest is the old tower of Milton near the railway station, once belonging to the family of Oliphant. Mention is made in the old Statistical Account of stone circles on the Caird's Hill, but these have disappeared, as have also the sanative properties of the neighbouring Tober-chalaich or Old Wif 's Well. The old bridge across the Isla is noticed in the following article. The parish anciently extended from Fordyce to Mortlach, and belonged to the Abbey of Kinloss, to which it was granted by William the Lyon. James Ferguson the astronomer (1710-76), a native of the adjoining parish of Rothiemay, was educated here, and was for a time in service at the farm of Ardnedlie, about 1 mile S of the town of Keith. Five proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, and 2 hold between £500 and £100. The Earl of Fife is the largest landowner, but the Earl of Seafield has the largest rental. The only mansion is Edintore House. The sum raised by the parochial board in 1882 was £2448 from assessments. The parish is in the presbytery of Strathbogie and the synod of Moray. The stipend is £352, with a manse and a glebe worth respectively £28 and £32, 10s. a year. Valuation (1883) of Banffshire section £23, 275, of Elginshire section £1087. Pop. (1801) 3284, (1831) 4464, (186l) 5943, (1871) 5891, (1881) 6396, of whom 6163 were in Banffshire, and the rest in Elginshire.—Ord. Sur., shs. 85, 86, 1876.

Keith, an ancient parish on the SW border of Haddingtonshire, now forming the western district of Humbie parish. Keith and ancient Humbie, at the end of the 17th century, were called respectively Keith-Symmars and Keith-Hundeby. Keith Water, formed, at the boundary with Edinburghshire, by the confluence of Earl Water and Salters Burn, runs 1⁷/₈ mile north-eastward, across ancient Keith parish, to a confluence with Humbie Water, 4¼ furlongs N of the present parish church. Keith House, once a seat of the Earls Marischal, and now the property of the Earl of Hopetoun, stands a little to the left of Keith Water, ¾ mile WSW of that stream's confluence with Humbie Water and 3¾ miles NNE of Blackshiels. Once a fine old building, it acquired the timber used in its construction in a gift from the King of Denmark towards the close of the 16th century, and has within its grounds remains of an ancient chapel and graveyard. Places called Keith, Keith Mains, and Upper Keith are within from 3 to 10 furlongs of Keith House; and a fourth called Keith Hill lies 2¾ miles to the SSE.—Ord. Sur., sh. 33, 1863.

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