The 450 year old Spanish Chestnut tree at Balmerino in Fife

Balmerino is a small village and former monastic centre 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. It is the home of

Balmerino Abbey Balmerino Abbey, or St Edward's Abbey, in Balmerino, Fife, Scotland, was a Cistercian monastic community which has been ruinous since the 16th century. History It was founded from 1227 to 1229 by monks from Melrose Abbey with the patronage ...

and the former abbots of Balmerino who were great regional landlords. It became a secular lordship in 1605 when the abbey's lands were transferred into a Barony and the title of

Lord Balmerino The title of Lord Balmerino (or Balmerinoch) was a title in the Peerage of Scotland; it was created in 1606 and forfeited in 1746 on the attainder and execution of the 6th Lord Balmerino in the Tower of London. The title of Lord Coupar or Cupar w ...

was created. The already fire-damaged abbey was allowed to fall into ruin as it no longer had a function. The Abbey ruins and grounds are managed by the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland ( gd, Urras Nàiseanta na h-Alba), is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organi ...

and are famed for th
ancient sweet chestnut tree
and the display of aconites which flower in February. The village contains a number of 18th and 19th century houses in a local vernacular and is now an official

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

. The name Balmerino derives from

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 ...

. The first element, bal-, is from ''baile'', meaning a farmstead, or in modern Gaelic, a town. The second element is more obscure. It may refer to Saint Merinach or it may derive from ''muranach'' meaning 'of sea-grass', yielding: " hefarm where sea-bent or sea-grass grows." Balmerino Parish Church lies 1 km outside the village and dates from 1811. The manse was added in 1816. Originally a simple Georgian box chapel the church was remodelled in the Gothic style in 1883. The church hall was added in 1887.Buildings of Scotland: Fife by John Gifford Balmerino is also "celebrated" by a poem by

William McGonagall William Topaz McGonagall (March 1825 – 29 September 1902) was a Scottish poet of Irish descent. He gained notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of, or concern for, his peers' opinions of his work. He wrote about 2 ...

– widely recognised to be the English language's worst poet: "Beautiful Balmerino".

External links

Balmerino on geo.ed.ac.uk

Balmerino - History of the Parish

Fife Place-name Data :: Balmerino

References

Villages in Fife Parishes in Fife {{Fife-geo-stub

See also

External links

References