Kirriemuir
Encyclopedia
Kirriemuir, sometimes called Kirrie, is a burgh
in Angus
, Scotland
.
, a series of late Pictish
cross slabs are now on display at the Meffan Institute in Forfar
.
Kirriemuir has a history of accused witches back in the 16th century. Many of the older buildings have a witches stane built in to ward off evil. This is a hard grey stone set into the local red sandstone which the buildings were built from. A pond on the outskirts of town, known as the Witch Pool, was where the supposed witches were meant to have been drowned but the alleged pool was in fact the mill pond of the 19th Century Meikle Mill. Local amateur historians tend to think this referred to a small mill but the reference is to the fact that the mill contained one of John Meikle's patented chaff separating machines which was based on ideas he picked up in Holland. The adjacent "Court Hillock" was shown, on excavation to make way for a housing development, to be nothing more than the spoil heap left from the excavation and cleaning of the pond.
Though its importance as a market town
has diminished, its former jute
factories (now manufacturing synthetics) echo its past importance in the 19th century as the centre of a home weaving
industry.
Historic features near Kirriemuir include a carved Pictish stone known as the Eassie Stone
, found in the bed of a burn
near the village of Eassie
.
The family estate of Sir Hugh Munro
, who created Munro's Tables of Scottish mountains over 3000 ft in elevation (and which are now called "munro
s") is also located near the town, as is Kinnordy House, the seat of the Lyells. The current Lord Lyell
is an active member of the House of Lords
and frequently refers to his home town in his speeches to the House.
á
and these artifacts are now in the Richard Moss Memorial Collection at the Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre. There is a camera obscura
, which was donated by Barrie, on the Hill and it offers views to the south and south-west and of the higher hills to the north. Also on the Hill and offering views from its southern slopes is the town cemetery, where Barrie is buried in a simple grave. There is a silver granite war memorial in the centre of the cemetery, a column surmounted by a kilted soldier looking down across the town and over the broad fields of Strathmore
to the Sidlaws.
Every August, a local music organization holds a music festival called Live In The Den which features local guitar bands. It takes place in The Den, hence the name. In 2011 the festival was not held due to large flooding.
and the Sidlaws over Strathmore (one of the most fertile fruit growing areas in Scotland). Its position at the base of the Angus glens makes it an attractive centre for hill-walking on nearby Munros, fishing, partridge, pheasant and grouse shooting and deer-stalking. There is also a 18-hole golf course with views north to Glen Clova and Glen Doll.
The town comprises mainly two areas, Northmuir and Southmuir.
The Den can be split into 2 parts. The east Den lies to the east of Bellies Brae (The Commonty) and the west Den lies to the west of Bellies Brae. This park has a paddling pool, which tends to be cold but warms in the sunshine. The Den can be prone to flooding as it is located in a deep valley and this last happened in August 2011. In the far west Den, there is a large waterfall, often called the Den Waterfall, and the Cuttle Well.
The Hill, as it is called by locals, is located in Northmuir. A playpark was built in November 2010 which has a Peter Pan theme. The park is very popular with children.
Smaller parks include Davidson Park in the Southmuir and Martin Park which is off Slade Road.
football
club Kirriemuir Thistle
. Kirriemuir also has a wheeled sports area in Martin Park and an all-weather sports pitch at Webster's Leisure Centre adjoining Webster's High School.
It is well known as the birthplace of Peter Pan
creator and Rector of the University of St Andrews
, J.M. Barrie, who immortalised this "wee red toonie" as "Thrums" in his popular (pre-Pan) novels Auld Licht Idylls, A Window in Thrums, and The Little Minister
. His birthplace still stands on the Brechin Road. "Red" refers to the local reddish sandstone from which the town's older properties are built. The town became a minor Victorian tourism destination in response to Barrie's novels, and his birthplace is now a museum
owned by the National Trust of Scotland. A statue of Peter Pan stands in the town square in front of the old toll booth. This was one of two commissioned by either the now defunct Angus Milling Company Limited or its associated company Hamlyn Milling Limited.
Kirriemuir was the home town of Bon Scott
from AC/DC
from his birth in nearby Forfar in 1946 until his family emigrated to Australia in 1952. A plaque has been unveiled in Cumberland Close, Kirriemuir to celebrate the memory of the singer.
Actor David Niven
claimed Kirriemuir as his birthplace, but was actually born in London.
, famous for its mineral water. Kerrimuir
, a small area in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne
, Australia, is named after this town.
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
in Angus
Angus
Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...
, 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...
.
History
The history of Kirriemuir extends to the early historical period and it appears to have been a centre of some ecclesiastical importance. The Kirriemuir Sculptured StonesKirriemuir Sculptured Stones
The Kirriemuir Sculptured Stones are a series of Class II and III Pictish stones found in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland. Their existence points to Kirriemuir being an important ecclesiastical centre in the late first millennium AD.-Location:...
, a series of late Pictish
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
cross slabs are now on display at the Meffan Institute in Forfar
Forfar
Forfar is a parish, town and former royal burgh of approximately 13,500 people in Angus, located in the East Central Lowlands of Scotland. Forfar is the county town of Angus, which was officially known as Forfarshire from the 18th century until 1929, when the ancient name was reinstated, and...
.
Kirriemuir has a history of accused witches back in the 16th century. Many of the older buildings have a witches stane built in to ward off evil. This is a hard grey stone set into the local red sandstone which the buildings were built from. A pond on the outskirts of town, known as the Witch Pool, was where the supposed witches were meant to have been drowned but the alleged pool was in fact the mill pond of the 19th Century Meikle Mill. Local amateur historians tend to think this referred to a small mill but the reference is to the fact that the mill contained one of John Meikle's patented chaff separating machines which was based on ideas he picked up in Holland. The adjacent "Court Hillock" was shown, on excavation to make way for a housing development, to be nothing more than the spoil heap left from the excavation and cleaning of the pond.
Though its importance as a market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
has diminished, its former jute
Jute
Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....
factories (now manufacturing synthetics) echo its past importance in the 19th century as the centre of a home weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
industry.
Historic features near Kirriemuir include a carved Pictish stone known as the Eassie Stone
Eassie Stone
The Eassie Stone is a Class II Pictish stone at the village of Eassie, Angus, Scotland. The stone was found in Eassie burn in the late 18th century and now resides in a purpose-built perspex building in the ruined Eassie church.-Location:...
, found in the bed of a burn
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
near the village of Eassie
Eassie
Eassie is a village located along the A94 road in Angus, Scotland. The church in Eassie is dedicated to Saint Fergus, a monk who worked at nearby Glamis...
.
The family estate of Sir Hugh Munro
Hugh Munro
Sir Hugh Thomas Munro, 4th Baronet of Linderits was a Scottish mountaineer who is best known for his list of mountains in Scotland over 3,000 feet , known as the Munros....
, who created Munro's Tables of Scottish mountains over 3000 ft in elevation (and which are now called "munro
Munro
A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over . They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet , who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3,000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain...
s") is also located near the town, as is Kinnordy House, the seat of the Lyells. The current Lord Lyell
Charles Lyell, 3rd Baron Lyell
Charles Lyell, 3rd Baron Lyell is a British politician and Conservative member of the House of Lords.Lord Lyell is the son of Charles Anthony Lyell, 2nd Baron Lyell and Sophie Mary Trafford. He succeeded to the peerage in 1943 at the age of 4 when his father was killed in action during the Second...
is an active member of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
and frequently refers to his home town in his speeches to the House.
á
Culture
The town once had a museum of aviationAviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
and these artifacts are now in the Richard Moss Memorial Collection at the Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre. There is a camera obscura
Camera obscura
The camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side...
, which was donated by Barrie, on the Hill and it offers views to the south and south-west and of the higher hills to the north. Also on the Hill and offering views from its southern slopes is the town cemetery, where Barrie is buried in a simple grave. There is a silver granite war memorial in the centre of the cemetery, a column surmounted by a kilted soldier looking down across the town and over the broad fields of Strathmore
Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross
Strathmore is a strath in east central Scotland running from northeast to southwest between the Grampian mountains and the Sidlaws....
to the Sidlaws.
Every August, a local music organization holds a music festival called Live In The Den which features local guitar bands. It takes place in The Den, hence the name. In 2011 the festival was not held due to large flooding.
Setting
Kirriemuir sits looking south towards GlamisGlamis
Glamis is a small village in Angus, Scotland, located four miles south of Kirriemuir and five miles southwest of Forfar. It is the location of Glamis Castle, the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.-History:...
and the Sidlaws over Strathmore (one of the most fertile fruit growing areas in Scotland). Its position at the base of the Angus glens makes it an attractive centre for hill-walking on nearby Munros, fishing, partridge, pheasant and grouse shooting and deer-stalking. There is also a 18-hole golf course with views north to Glen Clova and Glen Doll.
The town comprises mainly two areas, Northmuir and Southmuir.
Schools
Webster's High School is situated in the Southmuir, while two primary schools are located in the Northmuir and Southmuir respectively. The Northmuir Primary School replaced the Reform Street Primary school, which was in the town centre, and was demolished for the building of the Lyell Court Sheltered Housing complex. Southmuir Primary School moved to new premises in 2002 which were built as part of an extension to Webster's High School. The previous Southmuir Primary School building (formally the original Webster's Seminary) was destroyed by fire on Sunday 29 October 2006 and has since been demolished.Parks
The town has 2 main parks - one of which lies in the Gairie Burn valley and the other at the top of Kirriemuir Hill.The Den can be split into 2 parts. The east Den lies to the east of Bellies Brae (The Commonty) and the west Den lies to the west of Bellies Brae. This park has a paddling pool, which tends to be cold but warms in the sunshine. The Den can be prone to flooding as it is located in a deep valley and this last happened in August 2011. In the far west Den, there is a large waterfall, often called the Den Waterfall, and the Cuttle Well.
The Hill, as it is called by locals, is located in Northmuir. A playpark was built in November 2010 which has a Peter Pan theme. The park is very popular with children.
Smaller parks include Davidson Park in the Southmuir and Martin Park which is off Slade Road.
Sport
Kirriemuir is home to the juniorScottish Junior Football Association
The Scottish Junior Football Association is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the Junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "Junior" refers to the level of football played...
football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club Kirriemuir Thistle
Kirriemuir Thistle F.C.
Kirriemuir Thistle F.C. are a Scottish junior football club based in Kirriemuir, Angus. Their home ground is Westview Park.Up until the end of the 2005–06 season, they played in Tayside Division One of the Scottish Junior Football Association's East Region.The SJFA restructured prior to the...
. Kirriemuir also has a wheeled sports area in Martin Park and an all-weather sports pitch at Webster's Leisure Centre adjoining Webster's High School.
Notable people
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
creator and Rector of the University of St Andrews
Rector of the University of St Andrews
The Lord Rector of the University of St Andrews is a university official chosen every three years by the students of the University of St Andrews...
, J.M. Barrie, who immortalised this "wee red toonie" as "Thrums" in his popular (pre-Pan) novels Auld Licht Idylls, A Window in Thrums, and The Little Minister
The Little Minister
The Little Minister is a 1934 American drama film directed by Richard Wallace. The screenplay by Jane Murfin, Sarah Y. Mason, and Victor Heerman is based on the 1891 novel and subsequent 1897 play of the same title by J. M. Barrie. It was the fifth feature film adaptation of the works, following...
. His birthplace still stands on the Brechin Road. "Red" refers to the local reddish sandstone from which the town's older properties are built. The town became a minor Victorian tourism destination in response to Barrie's novels, and his birthplace is now a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
owned by the National Trust of Scotland. A statue of Peter Pan stands in the town square in front of the old toll booth. This was one of two commissioned by either the now defunct Angus Milling Company Limited or its associated company Hamlyn Milling Limited.
Kirriemuir was the home town of Bon Scott
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was a Scottish-born Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...
from AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
from his birth in nearby Forfar in 1946 until his family emigrated to Australia in 1952. A plaque has been unveiled in Cumberland Close, Kirriemuir to celebrate the memory of the singer.
Actor David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
claimed Kirriemuir as his birthplace, but was actually born in London.
Connections with other towns
The town is twinned with French town of VolvicVolvic
Volvic is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-History:The church at Volvic is dedicated to “St Priest” . Projectus was killed here in 676 AD.-References:* -External links:***...
, famous for its mineral water. Kerrimuir
Kerrimuir, Victoria
Kerrimuir is a locality within the suburb of Box Hill North in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is in the City of Whitehorse in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, approximately 15 kilometres from the CBD.The area is mostly referred to as Box Hill North...
, a small area in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia, is named after this town.