BERVIE, or INVERBERVIE, a parish and burgh (royal), in the county of
Kincardine, .S'^^ miles (N. N. E.) from Edinburgh; containing,
with the village of Gourdon, 134'2 inhabitants.
This place is named from the small river Bervie, on its
north-eastern boundary, and the stream is so called from
an ancient British word signifying a boiling or ebullition,
and descriptive of the peculiar course of the water. The
town appears to have been of importance in early times,
and to have attracted some attention. The fine old
castle of Hallgreen, which is romantically situated on
the shore, a little to the south of the town, and has been
recently repaired with due attention to its original style,
has a date on the west front, which, though partially
effaced, is traced to the year 13*6. The walls of this
building are massive, and perforated with arrows; and
it seems to have been formerly surrounded by a moat,
with a drawbridge and a portcullis near the outer gate
of the court. Above one of the doors in the court, the
date of 1687, with the initials of the proprietor of that
period, is still visible. In one of the principal rooms,
on the stucco ceiling, is a coat of arms, with the motto
spero meliora, and the date 1683; and on the old wainscots
are some Dutch paintings, consisting of two landscapes
and a flower-piece. A spacious mansion indicating,
like the castle, the ancient residence of important
personages, and which is said to have belonged originally
to the Marischals, and was recently in the possession of
the noble family of Arbuthnott, was removed about
twenty or thirty years since, to make way for improvements
of building and agriculture j and several other
old buildings are still pointed out as having been the
town residences of neighbouring lairds. There was also,
in former times, a religious establishment of White
friars j and the discovery of some graves, in the construction
of a turnpike-road, near a place called Friar's
Dubbs, is supposed to mark the spot where this monastic
order had a burying-ground.
At the time of the Rebellion in 1*4.5, the troops of
the Duke of Cumberland, suspecting that the inhabitants
of the neighbouring parish of Benholme had transported
provisions, by means of the Bervie boats, for the use of
the Pretender's troops who were passing by sea, began
to destroy and plunder the village of Johnshaven, in
Benholme jjarish, and to burn the boats of the Bervie
fishermen. The minister of Bervie, Mr. Dow, upon
hearing of this, repaired to the bridge of Benholme,
three miles distant, where he met the army, headed by
the royal suite, and so satisfied the duke of the loyalty
of his parishioners, that his royal highness went with
the minister to his house, and became his guest for the
night. An unusual occurrence took place here in the
year 1800, when a French privateer made its appearance
off the coast, and pursued several merchant vessels,
which were compelled to take shelter in the port of
Gourdon. A small body of volunteers belonging to the
place were immediately assembled, and marched down
to the beach in two divisions, to face the enemy; and
one party, stationed among the rocks on the shore,
exchanged several rounds of musketry with the guns
of the sloop; upon which the crew, suspecting that a
battery was about to be opened upon them by the other
division, who had proceeded in the direction of the old
castle of Hallgreen, crowded sail and made off.
The TOWN is situated at the eastern extremity of the
parish, near the small bay of Bervie, on the shore of the
German Ocean. The approach on the north-east is by
an elegant bridge over the river Bervie, of one arch, the
height of which from the stream is about eighty feet. A
meal and barley mill stands on the haugh below the
bridge, and near it a small spinning-mill; on the upper
side of the bridge is a spinning-mill of three stories,
the first that was erected in Scotland for yarn and
thread. At the north entrance to the burgh stands
the head inn, commanding a fine view of the scenery
above the bridge, the remote distance being adorned
by the old castle of Allardice, with its trees and shrubbery,
in the parish of Arbuthnott. Water of the best
description, from springs in the parish, is conveyed into
the town by leaden pipes, and deposited in reservoirs of
metal for general use. The chief manufacture is that of
the hnens usually called duck and dowlas, which is
carried on to a considerable extent through the medium
of agents, who superintend for merchants in Aberdeen,
Dundee, and Arbroath. A kelp manufacture existed for
some time; but, like most others of the same description,
it was given up when the duty was taken off foreign
barilla. The small port and fishing-village of Gourdon,
upwards of a mile distant, but within the parish, is a
place of some trade: vessels, however, are not chartered
here, but have to clear out at the custom-house in
Montrose. Two shipping companies are connected w-ith
the place, and vessels frequently come in with coal, lime,
pavement, wood, tiles, slates, and sometimes Orkney
and Shetland cattle and ponies; and in return take
ballast or grain, grain being the only article exported
from Gourdon.
The principal fisheries are of salmon, cod and ling,
and haddock. The first of these is carried on in the
bay, commencing on the 2nd of February, and ending
on the 14th of September; and the fish taken are considered
of superior quality. The cod and ling fishery
begins on the 1st of October, and ends on July 15th:
about 300 cwt. are shipped every year, at Montrose, for
the London market. The haddocks which are caught
are dried and smoked, and consigned by a company
established here, to dealers in Glasgow and London,
with whom an extensive traffic is maintained. Six boats
are also engaged in a turbot and skate fishery, which
begins on the 1st of May, and ends on the l.'ith of July.
A herring-fishery formerly carried on was some time
since broken up, in consequence of the shore being deserted
by the fish. Crabs and lobsters are taken in
great numbers among the rocks near the bay, and there
is a good supply of shrimps on the sands.
A market for corn was established a few years ago,
which commences at the close of harvest, and is open
every Wednesday afterwards for six months. It is in a
very flourishing state, being frequented by
corn-merchants from Montrose, Brechin, and Stonehaven, and
by farmers and millers from all the neighbouring parishes.
About 40,000 quarters of grain are purchased
yearly, and the greater part of it shipped at Gourdon.
Two fairs have long been held annually for the sale of
cattle, one on the Thursday before the 19th of May,
and the other on the Thursday before the 19th of September.
In 1834 three additional markets were established,
for the hiring of servants and the sale of cattle:
that for cattle in general, and for hiring servants, is on
the Wednesday before the '2'2nd of November, and those
for fat and other cattle are on the Wednesday before
Christmas (O. S.), and the Wednesday before the 13th
of February. The Aberdeen turnpike-road runs directly
across the parish, and affords considerable facility of intercourse.
Bervie was erected into a royal burgh in 136*2, by
charter from King David II., who, having been forced
by stress of weather to land on a rock in the parish of
Kinneff, still called Craig-David,vvas received by the inhabitants
of Bervie with so much kindness and hospitality
that he raised the town to the dignity of a royal burgh
as a mark of his gratitude and esteem. In the year
1595, James VI. renewed the charter, and confirmed
the privileges before granted. The public property is
distinctly marked out by the charter, comprehending
nearly the whole extent of the parish; but the lands
now belonging to the town consist only of a piece of
moor, a few acres of haugh ground, and a range of braes
about a mile in extent: the revenue is about £1'20 a
year. The burgh is governed by a provost, three bailies,
a dean of guild, nine councillors, a treasurer, and a
clerk; and, with Montrose, Brechin, Arbroath, and
Forfar, returns a member to parliament. The town-hall
is an edifice of two stories, the upper of which consists
of a hall and council-room, and the lower contains the
flesh and meal market, with a small arched vault for the
confinement of prisoners, which is very deficient as a
place of security. On the top of the building is a handsome
belfry, with a bell which is rung four times every
day. Near the town-hall is a market-cross of great antiquity,
formed of a column of stone that measures
about fourteen feet high, with a ball on the summit, and
a flight of steps surrounding the base.
The PARISH, which was formerly joined to that of
Kinneff, but was separated from it about the time of the
Reformation, is of quadrilateral figure, and contains
about 1800 acres, of which 1'2'2'2 are under cultivation,
about 70 planted, and 500 acres waste. It is bounded
on the south-east by the German Ocean, and embraces
about a mile and a half of coast, which, with the exception
of the part near the town, is covered with rocks,
mostly hidden at high water. The craig where King
David landed, also called Bervie Brow, bordering on the
parish, is a conspicuous landmark for mariners; and
Gourdon Hill, in the parish, is also seen at a great distance.
The interior of the parish is consideraljly diversified
in its surface, rising gradually from east to west,
and being marked by two ranges of hills parallel to each
other. The ground is flat near the southern and eastern
boundaries, but the vicinity of the latter is ornamented
with a small fertile valley, through which the water of
Bervie (well stocked with trout) runs to the sea, and on
each side of which the land is elevated and varied. The
streams are, the Bervie, which rises in the Grampians,
and falls into the sea at the eastern extremity of the district;
and the burn of Peattie, which runs from the
north-east boundary into the Bervie, and, though small,
is of very considerable benefit to the tenants through
whose farms it pursues its course.
The soil in the lower lands is a deep fertile loam,
resting on a gravelly subsoil; the haugh lands adjoining
the sea consist of black earth, mixed with large quantities
of pebbles, upon which they are said to be dependent
for their great fertility. In the upper district of the parish,
some of the land is a stnmg soil, upon a clay bottom;
but on the surface in the highest part, which
reaches an elevation of about 400 feet, very little earth
is to be seen, the ground chiefly consisting of naked
rock. AH kinds of corn and green crops are produced,
of excellent quality; the plantations are flourishing,
though of recent growth, and comprise every variety of
trees usually to be met with. The system of husbandry
is of the most approved kind, and the highest state of
cultivation is indicated by the abundance and quality of
the produce. Improvements have been carried on to a
considerable extent within the last few years, especially
in draining and reclaiming waste land; and the farmhouses
and offices, which are roofed with slate or tiles,
are in good condition. The annual value of real property
in the parish is £3344. The predominating rock is
sandstone, which in some places is marked by veins of
trap, between one and two feet in thickness. Boulders
of quartz, granite, mica-slate, gneiss, &c., are to be seen
upon the shore, and near the village of Gourdon the
beach consists of masses of small pebbles of jasper, porphyry,
slate, and agate, of the last of which beautiful
specimens are sometimes found among the loose soil on
the higher grounds, as well as on the beach. Several
quarries of sandstone are wrought in the parish, supplying
an excellent material, of which the church and most
of the new buildings in this and the neighbouring parishes
were constructed.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposcs the parish is within the
bounds of the presbytery of Fordoun, synod of Angus
and Mearns; the patronage belongs to the Crown, and
the minister's stipend is £141. 12., with a manse, and a
glebe worth £18 per annum. Bervie church, which was
opened on the 1st of January, 1837, and contains 900
sittings, is an elegant structure, with a square tower more
than 100 feet in height, ornamented with carved minarets.
The site, which is gently elevated, at a small distance
from the street, is highly advantageous; and the main
entrance and imposing outer gate heighten the general
effect of an object that has greatly contributed to improve
the aspect of the town. There are places of worship
belonging to the Free Church and the Independents.
The parochial school affords instruction in the classics,
mathematics, and the usual branches of education; the
master has a salary of £29. 18. 9., with an allowance of
£2. 2. 9. in lieu of a garden, and between £15 and £20
fees. A bequest of £500 was left to the poor, who receive
the interest, by the late James Farquhar, Esq., of
Hallgreen. The burgh confers the title of Baron on Lord
Viscount Arbuthnott, whose ancestor Sir Robert Arbuthnott
was knighted for his faithful adhesion to the fortunes
of Charles I., and was afterwards raised to the
peerage by the style of Baron Inverbervie and Viscount
Arbuthnott, Nov. I6th, 1641: he died in 1655. The
present peer is the eighth viscount.