Abercorn (

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

: ''Obar Chùirnidh'',

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

: ''Æbbercurnig'') is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

, Scotland. Close to the south coast of the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

, the village is around west of

South Queensferry Queensferry, also called South Queensferry or simply "The Ferry", is a town to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Traditionally a royal burgh of West Lothian, it is now administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. It lies ten miles to the nor ...

. The parish had a population of 458 at the 2011 Census.Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usual Resident Population, published by National Records of Scotland. Website http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved Apr 2018. See “Standard Outputs”, Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930, Area: Abercorn

Etymology

Etymologically, ''Abercorn'' is a

Cumbric Cumbric is an extinct Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North", in Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands. It was closely related to Old Welsh and the ot ...

place-name. It is recorded as ''Aebbercurnig'' in c.731. The first element is ''aber'' 'mouth, confluence'. William J. Watson proposed that the second element meant 'horned', from a Brittonic word related to Welsh ''corniog''. The name would thus mean 'horned confluence'.Bethany Fox, 'The P-Celtic Place-Names of North-East England and South-East Scotland', The Heroic Age, 10 (2007), http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox.html (appendix at http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox-appendix.html). However, because Abercorn sits by the Cornie Burn, Alan James has suggested that the name means 'mouth of the Cornie Burn'. The name of the stream itself is also Cumbric and seems to derive from *''kernan'' 'mound, hill' and so to be named after the hill on which Abercorn stands.

History

The English monk and historian

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

mentions Abercorn as the site of a monastery and seat of Bishop Trumwine, who was the only bishop of the Northumbrian see of the Picts. The 7th-century monastery is now known to have existed close to the present-day church. The church itself dates partially from the 12th century, although its most interesting features are the private aisles created for the three major families of the area, the Dalyells, the Hamiltons, and later the Hopes, who had their own enclosure behind the altar built by architect William Bruce. The Hope mausoleum, designed by

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival, often referred ...

, is located adjacent to the kirkyard. Older burial monuments include Norse " hogback" grave markers, and fragments of 7th-century Northumbrian crosses.Abercorn History
from ''The Seton Family'' retrieved 24 May 2013 Adjacent to the churchyard at Abercorn, is a small museum containing prominent examples of medieval gravestones. The lands of Abercorn were granted to Claud Hamilton in the 16th century. His son was later created the

Earl of Abercorn Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

. In the early 17th century, a branch of the Hamilton dynasty moved to

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The family would, henceforth, play a major part in Ulster affairs. Thus, the estate was later sold to the Hope family, who were created Earls of Hopetoun, and built

Hopetoun House Hopetoun House is a country house near South Queensferry owned by the Hopetoun House Preservation Trust, a charity established in 1974 to preserve the house and grounds as a national monument, to protect and improve their amenities, and to pre ...

to the east of the village. On the approach to the church, the Factor's house is a prominent L-shaped building in the

Scottish baronial Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th-century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...

style, built circa 1855. The House of the Binns, seat of the Dalyell family, is within the parish. Abercorn's population was recorded as 1,044 at the time of the 1821 census, although it has since declined.

Abercorn Castle

A castle also existed here, near Hope Burn, from the 12th century, belonging to the Avenel family. It passed through marriage to the

Graham family Graham or Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

in the mid-13th century and to the Mure family in the early 14th century. The

Clan Douglas Clan Douglas ( Gaelic: ''Dùbhghlas'') is an ancient clan or noble house from the Scottish Lowlands. Taking their name from Douglas in Lanarkshire, their leaders gained vast territories throughout the Borders, Angus, Lothian, Moray, and also ...

acquired the castle in about 1400.The Castles of Scotland, by Martin Coventry ISBN 1-899874-00-3 It was besieged and sacked in 1455 by James II in his attack against the "Black Douglases" and their chief

James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, 3rd Earl of Avondale KG (1426–1491) was a Scottish nobleman, last of the 'Black' earls of Douglas. Early life The son of James the Gross, 7th Earl of Douglas, by his wife Lady Beatrice Sinclair, daugh ...

. It passed to the Seton family but they did not restore the castle and it was thereafter left to decay, such that it is now only marked by an earth mound. The site was excavated by archaeologists in 1963.

Ecclesiastical history

Bishopric

For a very short time, Abercorn was a residential bishopric. In 681, during the reign of King

Ecgfrith of Northumbria Ecgfrith (; ; 64520 May 685) was the King of Northumbria from 670 until his death on 20 May 685. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Nechtansmere agai ...

Theodore of Tarsus Theodore of Tarsus (; 60219 September 690) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 668 to 690. Theodore grew up in Tarsus, but fled to Constantinople after the Persian Empire conquered Tarsus and other cities. After studying there, he relocated to ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, appointed Trumwine "Bishop of the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

", with his seat at Abercorn. This was part of a more general division of the

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

n church by Theodore, who also created the Bishopric of Hexham by separation from the Bishopric of Lindisfarne. Four years later, Trumwine may have been present at the defeat and death of Ecgfrith at the

Battle of Dun Nechtain The Battle of Dun Nechtain or Battle of Nechtansmere (; ) was fought between the Picts, led by King Bridei Mac Bili, and the Northumbrians, led by King Ecgfrith, on 20 May 685. The Northumbrian hegemony over northern Britain, won by Ecgfrith ...

, after which he was forced to flee from his Pictish bishopric, retiring to the monastery at

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

. The bishopric of Abercorn thus ceased to be a residential diocese.

Titular see

It is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 821 The diocese was nominally restored as a Latin Catholic

titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

in 1973. It must not be confounded with the former Diocese of Abercorn in southern Africa. It has had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank: * Richard Charles Patrick Hanifen (1974–1983) * John Aloysius Mone (1984–1988) * John Charles Dunne (1988–),

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

emeritus of

Rockville Centre Rockville Centre, commonly abbreviated as RVC, is an incorporated village located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 26,016 at the time of the 2020 cen ...

(USA)

Notable burials in Abercorn

*Very Rev

Hugh Meiklejohn Hugh Meiklejohn (12 June 1765 – 11 June 1831) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1810. Life He was born on 12 June 1765, and was the only son of Mary Cree, daughter of Hugh Cr ...

Ian Hamilton Finlay Ian Hamilton Finlay (28 October 1925 – 27 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener. Life Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas, to James Hamilton Finlay and his wife, Annie Pettigrew, both of Scots descent. He was educa ...

, poet *

Sir Robert Dalyell, 8th Baronet Sir Robert Alexander Osborne Dalyell of the Binns, 8th Baronet DL JP (1821 – 1886) was a British diplomat, and one of the Dalyell baronets. In some sources, his middle name is spelled Osborn. He succeeded to the Baronetecy and inherited ...

Gallery

File:Confluence of the Cornie and Midhope burns, Abercorn.jpg, The Cornie Burn where it joins the Midhope Burn and thence passes into the Forth File:Cornie burn near Abercorn.jpg, The Cornie Burn File:Abercorn - geograph.org.uk - 335751.jpg, The village File:Accountancy practice - geograph.org.uk - 547591.jpg, The former school File:Beach, Abercorn - geograph.org.uk - 340493.jpg, The beach at Abercorn File:Abercorn Church seen from the East.jpg, The Church and Hopetoun Aisle seen from the east File:Abercorn Church and Manse.jpg, The Church and Hopetoun Aisle seen from the north-east File:Abercorn Church Entrance.jpg, Detailing of the West Front entrance to the nave File:Abercorn Church from the SE.jpg, Abercorn church seen from the SE File:Abercorn Church, West Lothian.JPG, Abercorn church front seen from towards the main gate

References

Sources and external links

*
Gazetteer of Scotland

Ancient Lothian

{{authority control Villages in West Lothian Parishes in West Lothian