Rathen is a parish and hamlet near
Fraserburgh
Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aber ...
,
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. In
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
, its name means ''fort on the river''.
[''Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Graphic and Accurate Description of Every Place in Scotland'']
Frances Hindes Groome (1901), p. 1363
On the coast is
Cairnbulg
The villages of Inverallochy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Aileachaidh'') and Cairnbulg (from the Gaelic ''càrn builg'' meaning 'gap cairn') lie some east of Fraserburgh, in North East Scotland. It formerly consisted of the three fishing villages ...
Point, flanking the eastern side of Fraserburgh Bay.
[ ]Mormond Hill
Mormond Hill (Scottish Gaelic A' Mhormhonadh, meaning the great hill or moor; known as ''Mormounth'' in Old Scots) is a large hill in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, not far from Fraserburgh. Its peak is .[Strichen
Strichen is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It sits on the A981, connecting it to New Deer to the southwest and Fraserburgh to the north-northeast, and the B9093, connecting it to New Pitsligo about due west. The village got its name f ...]
and Lonmay
Lonmay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Lòn Magh'') is a village and parish in the Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It lies along the A90 road, between Peterhead and Fraserburgh, near to the junction with the A952 road at Cortes. The parish, formerly k ...
.[ Rathen Burn runs through the parish for three miles.][
The old ]kirk
Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it.
Basic meaning and etymology
As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...
, St Ethernan
Ethernan (or Ithernan, Etharnan, Itarnan) was a 7th century Scottish martyr and saint.
Life and death
Almost nothing is known about Ethernan's life. It has been speculated that he may have been a monk of Iona due to his death being mentioned ...
's,Marjory, Countess of Buchan
Marjory, Countess of Buchan, also known as Margaret de Buchan, was a Scottish noblewoman.
She inherited the earldom from her father, Fergus, Earl of Buchan, who died without male issue. Marjory was married to William Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, th ...
, to Arbroath Abbey
Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to the deceased Saint Thomas Becket, whom ...
in the 13th century.[ In 1328, ]Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...
, a year before his death, granted it to the college and canons of Old Machar.[ A ]sundial
A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...
was added in the kirkyard
In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...
in 1625,Memsie
Memsie, Aberdeenshire, is a small community near Fraserburgh, Scotland. On Memsie Moor there is a very large stone cairn, Memsie Cairn, which has been opened, but nothing found inside.Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...
.[
There is also a ]free church
A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...
, Inverallochy and Rathen East Church,Inverallochy and Rathen East Church official website
/ref> two miles northeast of Rathen.[''Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Graphic and Accurate Description of Every Place in Scotland'']
Frances Hindes Groome (1901), p. 1364
At the end of the 19th century, the main residence was Mormond House (formerly Cortese House),[
]Rathen railway station
Rathen railway station was a railway station in Rathen, Aberdeenshire,[Formartine and Buchan Railway
The Formartine and Buchan Railway was a railway company operating in the north-east of Scotland. It was built to link the important fishing ports of Fraserburgh and Peterhead with Aberdeen. It had a junction with the main line of the Great Nort ...]
.
Gallery
File:Rathen Parish Church, Aberdeenshire.jpg, Rathen Parish Church
File:Rathen Old Kirk (geograph 6597581).jpg, The remains of Rathen Old Kirk
File:Former Rathen East Kirk (geograph 6334708).jpg, The former Rathen East Kirk in nearby Mosstown
File:Inverallochy and Rathen East Church (6585857).jpg, Inverallochy and Rathen East Church
File:Rathen War Memorial, Aberdeenshire.jpg, Rathen War Memorial
References
External links
Rathen
at Scottish-Places.info
Photographs of Rathen at
Geograph.org.uk
Villages in Aberdeenshire
{{Aberdeenshire-geo-stub