Inverkeithny, Banffshire
Historical Description
INVERKEITHNY, a parish, in the county of Banff, 10 miles (N. E.) from Huntly; containing 687 inhabitants. This place takes its name from the large burn of Keithny, which here falls into the river Doveron. The parish lies on the south side of the Doveron, extending along that stream between five and six miles, and measuring from four miles to five in breadth. On the north it is bounded by the parish of Marnoch, on the west by that of Rothiemay, on the south-west and south by Forgue, on the south-east by Auchterless, and on the east by Turriff, the three last parishes in the county of Aberdeen. It is computed to contain 5610 acres, of which 4000 are cultivated, 800 waste or natural pasture, and the same number in woods, plantations, and undivided common. There is scarcely any thing to be met with in the nature of peat or moss. The soil is tolerably good, and a considerable quantity of grain is annually raised; the land is farmed upon the most approved system, and the rents average about 15s. per acre, the annual value of real property in the parish amounting to £3343. The public road from Banff to Huntly, to the former of which towns the agricultural produce is mostly sent, passes through the western portion of the parish. Ecclesiastically the place is within the bounds of the presbytery of Turriff, synod of Aberdeen; and the patronage is vested in Thomas G. Bremner, Esq.; the stipend of the minister is £215, with a manse, built in 1787, and a glebe of nearly six acres, valued at £10 per annum. Inverkeithny church, a very plain edifice, stands in a narrow vale, near the bank of the Doveron, where, also, is the manse. The parochial school affords instruction in the usual branches; the salary of the master is £34 per annum, with about £30 fees, and a house: fifty children are educated.