Kincardine was a

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

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 ...

, near the present-day village of Fettercairn. It gave its name to and served as the first

county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire or the County of Kincardine, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the stewartry"), is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area on the ...

. The settlement gradually developed around Kincardine Castle. The origin of the castle is not known, although it has been popularly identified as the place of death of Kenneth II. The Carnegies were made stewards of the castle during the reign of

William the Lion William the Lion (), sometimes styled William I (; ) and also known by the nickname ; e.g. Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1214.6; Annals of Loch Cé, s.a. 1213.10. ( 1142 – 4 December 1214), reigned as King of Alba from 1165 to 1214. His almost 49 ...

. In 1296, it was the location where

John Balliol John Balliol or John de Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as Toom Tabard (meaning 'empty coat'), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...

confessed to rebellion against

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

. It was kept in good repair over the following centuries, and was visited by

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

. By 1532, the castle was a secondary residence of William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal, and appears to have been at the centre of the small town, occupying about two hundred yards between gates on the main road. The Earl petitioned for Kincardine to be declared as a free burgh and county town for the Mearns. The petition claimed that the

sheriff court A sheriff court () is the principal local civil and criminal court in Scotland, with exclusive jurisdiction over all civil cases with a monetary value up to , and with the jurisdiction to hear any criminal case except treason, murder, and ra ...

s for the Mearns were already being held in the town, and that it was reputed to have previously been made a free burgh, but that the charter had been lost. He was successful, and on 27 January 1531/2, Kincardine became the county town of the newly created county of Kincardineshire. By 1600, the burgh was in decline, and the sheriff and his deputes complained to the king that the accommodation for them was unsuitable, no

tolbooth A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scotland, Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of th ...

having been constructed; they were successful in having the county town moved to

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( ) is a town on the northeast coast of Scotland, south of Aberdeen. It had a population of 11,177 at th2022 Census Stonehaven was formerly the county town of Kincardineshire, succeeding the now abandoned town of Kincardine, Aberd ...

. Without county town status, Kincardine quickly dwindled, and the castle fell into ruin. By the 1830s, it was described as a "mere hamlet" and it was noted that "only the foundations of the astlewalls can be traced", and by 1870 there were no surviving houses. The castle foundations survive today, forming a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. The cemetery of the former St Catherine of Siena Chapel also survives, with part of its wall and an 18th-century gravestone.{{cite web, title=St Catherine's Chapel and Burying Ground, url=http://www.scottishchurches.org.uk/sites/site/id/9496/name/St+Catherine%27s+Chapel+and+Burying+Ground+Fordoun+Grampian, website=Places of Worship in Scotland, publisher=Scottish Church Heritage Research, accessdate=16 February 2018

References

Former county towns in Scotland Geography of Aberdeenshire Ghost towns in Scotland Kincardineshire