INVERURY, a parish and burgh (royal), in the district of Garioch, county of
Aberdeen, 16 miles (N. W.) > from Aberdeen, and 137 (N. N. E.) from Edinburgh;
containing 2020 inhabitants, of whom 1619 are in the burgh.
This place, which derives its name from its situation at
the confluence of the river Don, is of antiquity, and, as part
of the lordship of Garioch, was granted by William the
Lion to his brother David, Earl of Huntingdon, youngest
son of David I.; from whom King John Baliol, King
Robert Bruce, and the present royal family are descended.
Of the baronial castle of the earl, which occupied
a site near the Bass, and appears to have been the
first stronghold erected in the county, there are no remains
existing; but a charter of the date of 11*8 is still
extant, by which the earl granted the church of Inverury,
with several others, to the abbey of Lindores. During
the wars with England in the reign of Edward I., Robert
Bruce, who had removed to this place from Sliach, in
Strathbogie, in a state of ill health, was attacked by the
English army under Cumyn, over whom he obtained a
signal victory, in acknowledgment of which he erected
the town of Inverury into a royal burgh. In 1745, a
battle occurred here between the forces of the Pretender
and the Macleods, the latter of whom Lord Loudon had
sent from the north, with a body of men, to relieve the
city of Aberdeen, at that time in the possession of the
rebels, who had imposed upon the inhabitants a tribute
of £1000. The Macleods, on their arrival at this place,
were attacked by Lord Lewis Gordon, who, with a force
of 1200 men, crossing the river Dry, surprised and
defeated them: there was, however, a sharp encounter,
in which many were killed and taken prisoners on both sides.
The TOWN consists of irregularly built and detached
houses, scattered along the turnpike-road from Huntly
to Aberdeen. From the difficulty of access previously
to the existence of the bridge over the Don, which was
built at a cost of £2000 in 1791,the place was not much
more than an obscure village, and had neither any manufacture
nor trade. Upon that event, however, it
became of some little importance. The construction of
the Aberdeen and Inverury canal, which was completed
in IS07, at a cost of £44,000, gave an additional impulse
to its trade; and the subsequent erection of three bridges
at different points on the river Ury has supplied all that
was wanting to its prosperity in respect to means of
communication. Considerable improvements have since
taken place in the town, which is now lighted with gas.
The manufacture of linen is pursued to some extent,
affording employment to more than sixty of the inhabitants.
Various handicraft trades, also, are carried on for
the accommodation of the adjacent district; and there
are several shops in the town well supplied with goods.
The increase of trade since the completion of the canal
has been very great; and large quantities of grain, lime,
coal, salt, and other produce, are now sent to, or received
from, Port-Elphinstone, where the canal terminates, near
the bridge over the Don, on the opposite bank of the
river, in the parish of Kintore. The post-office has two
deliveries daily. Branches of the Aberdeen, the Town
and County, and the North of Scotland Banks have been
established; and facility of communication is afforded
by good roads, and by the canal, on which an iron boat
for passengers and light goods plies daily to Aberdeen.
Fairs for cattle, sheep, horses, and grain are held monthly,
those at Whitsuntide and Martinmas being likewise for
hiring servants; also every alternate Tuesday from the
first Tuesday in November till March. After the loss of
its original charter, the town was created a royal burgh
by charter of novodamus by Mary, Queen of Scots, in
1558: the government is vested in a provost, three bailies,
a dean of guild, a treasurer, and four councillors,
chosen under the regulations of the Municipal Reform
act. There are no incorporated trades; but the guild
burgesses have an exclusive privilege of trading, and are
exempt from the payment of custom dues. The magistrates
possess jurisdiction over the whole of the royalty,
and hold courts for civil actions to an unlimited amount,
and for the trial of petty delinquencies. Inverury is associated
with Banff, CuUen, Elgin, Kintore, and Peterhead,
in returning a member to the imperial parliament;
the number of qualified voters is 115.
The PARISH, which is bounded on the south by the
river Don, and on the north and east by the Ury, is
about four miles in extreme length and two miles in
breadth, comprising an area of 5100 acres, of which
3000 are arable, 1000 woodland and plantations, and the
remainder moorland pasture and waste. Its surface,
though level near the banks of the rivers, rises gradually
towards the west, terminating in the three nearly equidistant
hills of Manar to the south, Knockinglew in the
centre, and Drimmies to the north, between which arc
some fine tracts of fertile vale. On the lower grounds
the soil is a rich light mould, superincumbent upon sand,
but on the higher grounds of less fertility; the chief crops
raised are oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips, with the
usual grasses. The system of husbandry is improved,
and a rotation of crops is duly observed; lime and bone
dust, for which the canal affords facility of conveyance,
are applied to the soil, and some of the unprofitable land
has been brought into cultivation. The Aberdeenshire
breed of cattle is that most prevalent, but on some farms
a few of the short-horned are reared; a cross between
the short-horned and Aberdeenshire breeds is also in
high favour, and is rapidly increasing. No regular flock
of sheep is pastured; some sheep of English breeds are
kept by different farmers for domestic use, and chiefly for
their wool. The annual value of real property in the
parish is £6395. The plantations are well attended to,
and are generally in a thriving state: there are considerable
remains of ancient wood. The rocks are chiefly of
granite. Manar House is a substantial modern mansion,
beautifully situated on the southern acclivity of Manar
hill, commanding a fine view of the river Don, and surrounded
with plantations.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposcs the parish is within the
limits of the presbytery of Garioch, synod of Aberdeen.
The minister's stipend is £257- IL, with a manse, and a
glebe valued at £15 per annum; patron, the Earl of Kintore.
Inverury old church, built in 1775. contained only
400 sittings, a number very inadequate to the increased
population; and consequently, a new church, containing
1330 sittings, has been erected on its site by the heritors
and the burgh magistrates. The present structure is of
beautiful granite, in the later English style of architecture.
The burial-ground is situated near the river, where
the church stood previous to 1775. There are places of
worship for members of the Free Church, Independents,
and Wesleyans; and an episcopal chapel. A Roman
Catholic seminary, formerly at Aquhorties, in this parish,
has been removed to Blairs, in the parish of Maryculter,
county of Kincardine; and the building, beautifully situated,
is at present a farm-house. Inverury parochial
school is attended by about ninety children; the master
has a salary of £30, with a house and garden, and the
fees average £35 annually. The chief monuments of
antiquity are two tumuli, one of which, called the Bass,
and situated at the southern extremity of the town, is in
the form of a truncated cone, and is supposed to have
been a seat for the administration of justice; the other,
called the Conyng hillock, is traditionally said to have
been raised over the remains of one of the Pictish kings.
There is also a very complete Druidical temple in a field
about two miles west of the burgh. Inverury gives the
title of Baron to the Earl of Kintore.