Kennethmont / Kinnethmont

"KINNETHMONT, a parish, in the district of Alford, county of Aberdeen, 2 miles (N.) from Clatt; containing 1107 inhabitants. This place is thought by some to have taken its name, formerly Kennethmont, from the supposed circumstance of one of the Kenneths, kings of Scotland, having been interred in the churchyard, which is an eminence similar to a mount. Others, regarding the present orthography of Kinnethmont as more correct, derive the name from two Gaelic words signifying "head" and "moss", which express the proximity of the high ground of the church site to a mossy tract in the vicinity. The parish consists of Kinnethmont properly so called, and of the old parish of Christ's- Kirk, which has been annexed to it from time immemorial. It is situated at the western extremity of the fertile district of the Garioch. . . Houses built of stone and lime, and roofed with slate, are gradually displacing the old turf tenements; the scythe has entirely superseded the sickle in the cutting of corn, and on the larger estates threshing operations are performed by machinery. . . A turnpike-road, finished a few years ago, runs through the parish from east to west, affording facilities of communication with Aberdeen, Huntly, Inverness, and other parts. . . Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery of Alford, synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of Sir Andrew Leith Hay: the minister's stipend is £195, with a manse, and a glebe of twelve acres valued at £15 per annum. Kinnethmont church, a neat and commodiou structure, was built in 1812, and is capable of accommodating 600 persons. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship. The parochial school affords instruction in the ordinary branches; the master receives a salary of £25. 13., with a house, about £10 fees, and an allowance from the Dick bequest. . . More"
[From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1851) - copyright Mel Lockie 2016]