Fordyce is a village in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

, Scotland that is slightly inland from the point where the Burn of Fordyce meets the sea between Cullen and

Portsoy Portsoy () is a small town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Historically, Portsoy was in Banffshire until 1975. The original name may come from ''Port Saoithe'', meaning "saithe harbour". Portsoy is located on the Moray Firth coast of northeast Scotl ...

. It has existed since at least the 13th century. In 1990,

Charles McKean Charles McKean FRSE FRSA FRHistS FRIBA (16 July 1946 – 29 September 2013) was a Scottish historian, author and scholar. Biography McKean was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 16 July 1946. He was educated at Fettes College, the University of P ...

wrote that Fordyce was "a sheer delight to discover, concealed as it is from the passing eye by hills and rolling countryside". The Kirkton of Fordyce was erected into a Burgh of Barony in 1499 by Bishop

William Elphinstone William Elphinstone (143125 October 1514) was a Scottish statesman, Bishop of Aberdeen and founder of the University of Aberdeen. Biography He was born in Glasgow. His father, also William Elphinstone, later became the first Dean of the Facu ...

of Aberdeen. Fordyce Parish Church, a fair distance from the village centre, dates to 1804. Its predecessor, St Talorgan Parish Church, has a belfry dating to 1661.

Fordyce Castle

Fordyce Castle, a T-plan structure built in 1592 and extended in 1700, lies in the centre of the village.

Fordyce Academy

Until 1964, the village had a notable secondary school called Fordyce Academy, which although small achieved high standards. Old boys of the school included the physicist and meteorologist Alexander Geddes, the zoologist William Dawson Henderson, and the 18th-century antiquary William Robertson. The brothers

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

and James Smith, who both played for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in the first football international of 1872, were educated at the school.

Sources

;Specific ;General
Fordyce
in the ''

Gazetteer for Scotland The ''Gazetteer for Scotland'' is a gazetteer covering the geography, history and people of Scotland. It was conceived in 1995 by Bruce Gittings of the University of Edinburgh and David Munro of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and co ...

''.

External links

Village website
(inactive) *Experience Fordyce , Fordyce Village
Fordycevillage.co.uk
(current website) {{authority control Villages in Aberdeenshire Banff and Buchan