Crimond Church is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

Presbyterian church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, located on the east side of the A90 road in the centre of the village of

Crimond Crimond is a village in Aberdeenshire, in the northeast of Scotland, located northwest of the port of Peterhead and just over from the coast. Geography The main A90 road runs through Crimond and is lined by Crimond Church with a villag ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at location . It was built in 1812, to a design by Robert Mitchell, and is a Category A listed building. It is associated with the popular hymn tune "Crimond". The church celebrated its bicentenary in 2012 with a special service led by The Very Rev. Prof. Alan Main, a former

Moderator of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Asse ...

(1998–99).

Architecture

The church clock, bearing the inscription "The hour's coming", has an extra minute between the eleven and twelve making for 61 minutes in the hour. The clock was gifted by Dr James Laing from his Haddo Estate in the early 19th century. The clock is now powered by electricity, but the original mechanical movement is displayed in the church in memory of late councillor Norman Cowie OBE who raised the funds for the electrification of the clock. In 1949, when the clock was being repainted, the extra minute was removed, but thus caused such a furore that it was restored. The church's fish-shaped

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

was lost for many years but was found in the 1990s and reinstalled at the top of the spire. The vane had previously been the target of vandalism, showing bullet holes from an air rifle. The

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

is a two-manual instrument built by Conacher and Co., one of only two in Scotland (the other is in St Mary's Cathedral, Aberdeen). It was restored in 1985.

The Lord's my Shepherd

The

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

The Lord's my Shepherd "The Lord's My Shepherd" is a Christian hymn. It is a metrical psalm commonly attributed to the English Puritan Francis Rous and based on the text of Psalm 23 in the Bible. The hymn first appeared in the ''Scots Metrical Psalter'' in 1650 traced ...

", a metrical paraphrase of

23rd Psalm Psalm 23 is the 23rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The Lord is my shepherd". In Latin, it is known by the incipit, "". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a bo ...

, is traditionally sung to the

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

. It is thought that this tune was composed in 1871 by

Jessie Seymour Irvine Jessie Seymour Irvine (26 July 1836 – 2 September 1887) was the daughter of a Church of Scotland parish minister who served at Dunottar, Peterhead, and Crimond in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. She is referred to by Ian Campbell Bradley in his 19 ...

(1836–1887), daughter of the minister, Rev. Alexander Irvine (1804–1884). The tune was first published in ''The Northern Psalter'' (1872) but was attributed to David Grant. According to some accounts, Grant had only provided the harmonisation and that it was Irvine who wrote the melody, although this claim has been disputed by some scholars. Hymnals now generally now credit the hymn to Irvine. A set of four

etched glass Glass etching, or "French embossing", is a popular technique developed during the mid-1800s that is still widely used in both residential and commercial spaces today. Glass etching comprises the techniques of creating art on the surface of glass ...

panels inside the church commemorate Jessie Seymour Irvine as the composer. The panels were installed in 2002 in memory of a previous minister, Rev James E Lyall (d.2002) and are illustrated with imagery of Jesus as the

Good Shepherd The Good Shepherd ( el, ποιμὴν ὁ καλός, ''poimḗn ho kalós'') is an image used in the pericope of , in which Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23 ...

and with musical notation from the first line of the hymn tune. Both Jessie and her father Alexander are buried in the family grave in the churchyard of St Machar's Cathedral in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Church Ministers

*Rev Dr Alexander Irvine (1855-?1884) *Rev Hamish Lyall (1993–2002) *Rev George Baird (1972–1984) *Rev Spencer (1960s) *Rev John Cardno (1505-) *Rev William Boyd (1799-1839) *Rev John Calder (early 20th century)

References

External links

{{commons category
Crimond Church Profile on the Church of Scotland website
Churches in Aberdeenshire Category A listed buildings in Aberdeenshire Listed churches in Scotland 1812 establishments in Scotland