Moonzie is a small parish in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

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 ...

, about 3 miles north-west of

Cupar Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fi ...

. It is bounded on the west by

Creich Creich ( gd, Craoich, ) is a substantial parish on the north side of the Dornoch Firth the largest settlement being Bonar Bridge. It lies in Sutherland, Scotland. There is a church (now in ruins) and graveyard for the Parish of Creich. Creich M ...

, on the north by

Kilmany Kilmany (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cille Mheinidh'') is a village and parish in Fife, Scotland. It is located on the A92 between Auchtermuchty and the Tay Road Bridge. In 2001 it had a population of 75. The current name of the village derives from an o ...

, on the south-east by Cupar and on the south-west by Monimail.Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, by Francis Groome, 2nd edition 1896; article on Moonzie

History

Prior to 1238 the parish was called Urhithumonesyn. Afterwards it assumed the name Auchtermonsey. Moonzie, its present name, is generally supposed to be a Gaelic word signifying Hill of the Deer.The New Statistical Account of Scotland by the Ministers of the Respective Parishes, Vol. IX Fife-Kinross. Publ. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, 1845; article on Moonzie Moonzie Church, a simple rectangular building, is of uncertain date, but was renovated in the 18th, and altered in the 19th centuries. It was granted to the hospital of

Loch Leven Loch Leven may refer to: ;Bodies of water in Scotland * Loch Leven (Kinross), a freshwater loch in Perth and Kinross ** Loch Leven Castle, a fortress on the loch ** William Douglas of Lochleven, later the 6th Earl of Morton * Loch Leven (Highlands ...

in about 1214 and passed in 1250–1 to the Red Friars of

Scotlandwell Scotlandwell is a village in Portmoak, Kinross-shire, Scotland. It is within the Perth and Kinross council area. It lies to the east of Loch Leven, at the junction of the A977 and B920 roads, approximately west of Glenrothes and east of Kin ...

, who maintained a hospital in Scotlandwell between 1250 and 1587. It was re-dedicated to the Holy Trinity in 1245 but no regular minister was appointed until 1608.Historic Environment Scotland (merger of Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland) web site https://canmore.org.uk/event/686782 retrieved May 2016 In 1564, the parish of Moonzie was united to that of Cupar, but, in 1625, it was disjoined and again made a separate parish, James Wedderburn being admitted as minister. Ministers for the parish of Moonzie continued to be chosen until 1929. After 1929 charge was served by a lay missionary under the supervision of the parish of Creich until 1939, when a modified ministry was granted and then Moonzie was linked with Creich from April 1947. The parish congregation was dissolved on 5 December 1971 rather than be linked with Creich, Flisk and Kilmany University of St Andrews Library Archive Catalogue, Church of Scotland Kirk Session records Moonzie www.st-andrews.ac.uk/specialcollections/archives (search Moonzie) retrieved May 2016 The parish is a Community Council area of Fife, but the council is currently not active. The civil parish has an area of 1258 acres.Gazetteer of Scotland, publ, by W & AK Johnston, Edinburgh, 1937. Article on Moonzie. Places are presented alphabetically From a population of 201 in the year 1801, this declined to 138 in 1901,Eleventh Decennial Census, Population of Scotland 1901, Vol. 1, Table IX, p.238 to 120 in 1931 and is now under 30 (in 2011).Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by National Records of Scotland. Web site http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved March 2016. See “Standard Outputs”, Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930 (population is below the threshold for separate publication) Lordscairnie Castle - geograph

Antiquities within the parish include

Lordscairnie Castle Lordscairnie Castle is a ruin situated near Moonzie, north-east of Cupar, in Fife, Scotland. It is protected as a scheduled monument. History Cairnie was a property of the Lindsay family, later Earls of Crawford, from 1355. The tower was constru ...

and Colluthie House, at the foot of Colluthie Hill.The Topographical, Statistical and Historical Gazetteer of Scotland, Volume 2, publ. A. Fullarton And Co.,Edinburgh, 1853; article on Moonzie In the estate of Lordscairnie there was formerly a loch or myre nearly two miles long and up to a quarter of a mile wide. In the early 19th century it was drained and converted into arable ground. The only significant watercourse in the parish is Moonzie Burn, which rises from the area of Lordscairnie Myre and after winding its way eastwards through several parishes, flows into the estuary of the River Eden at Guardbridge.

References

{{authority control Villages in Fife Parishes in Fife