Aberchirder known locally as Foggieloan or Foggie, is a village in Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, situated on the A97 road

A97 road

The A97 is a major road in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It runs south from Banff on the north coast through Aberchirder, Huntly, Rhynie and Mossat before terminating at its junction with the A93 road at Dinnet....

 six miles west of Turriff

Turriff

Turriff is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It is approximately above sea level, and has a population of 5,708.Turriff is known locally as Turra in the Doric dialect of Scots...

.

History

There is some uncertainty as to how the nickname "Foggie" originated. There are various theories; the most likely is that there is a stretch of moorland north of where the farm town existed (and, now, north of the village) which was named Foggieloan Moss from two Gaelic words foidh (peat moss) and lòn (meadow), so Foggieloan means peaty or boggy meadow.

Aberchirder was originally a small Royal Burgh

Royal burgh

A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished in 1975, the term is still used in many of the former burghs....

 but the main town was founded in 1764. Kinnairdy Castle, belonging to the Crichton family is 2 miles to the south west, where the River Deveron

River Deveron

The River Deveron , known anciently as the Dovern, is a river in the north east of Scotland. The river has a length of 60 miles, and has a reputation for its salmon, sea trout and brown trout fishing...

 joins the Auchintoul Burn.

Aberchirder, which has several church buildings, was associated with the Disruption of 1843

Disruption of 1843

The Disruption of 1843 was a schism within the established Church of Scotland, in which 450 ministers of the Church broke away, over the issue of the Church's relationship with the State, to form the Free Church of Scotland...

 that created the Free Church of Scotland

Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900)

The Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish denomination which was formed in 1843 by a large withdrawal from the established Church of Scotland in a schism known as the "Disruption of 1843"...

. Saint Marnan (d. 620) is supposedly buried here.

Notable musician Irvin Duguid

Irvin Duguid

Irvin Duguid is a Scottish musician and composer.He studied piano and violin at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow before going on to become keyboard player in the live line-up of Stiltskin, a rock band with the number 1 hit single "Inside" in the UK in 1994.Duguid went on to...

 was born in the village in the Police Station house on the 18 December 1969.

The village is also the birth place of European Cup winning footballer Des Bremner. Bremner was part of Aston Villa's European Cup winning side in 1982 and made 174 appearances for the club.

External links

• Foggieloan
• Gazetteer for Scotland
  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 contains 15,500 entries as of January 2008, making it one of...
  
  , 2002-2004: Aberchirder
• Gazetteer for Scotland, 2002-2004: Aberchirder history