A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1851), Samuel Lewis

TYRIE, a parish, in the district of Deer, county of Aberdeen, 5 miles (S. W. by W.) distant from Fraserburgh; containing, with the village and former quoad sacra parish of New Pitsligo, 2639 inhabitants. This place, the name of which, in the Gaelic language, signifies "the king's house", is of remote antiquity; but very few particulars of its history have been recorded. A religious establishment appears to have been founded here at an early period; it was munificently endowed by one of the Scottish monarchs, and the buildings occupied the site of the last manse of Tyrie. In connexion with this monastery, from which the parish most probably derived its name, a church is supposed to have been erected about the year 1004, which obtained the appellation of the "White Kirk of Buchan", and which, when it afterwards became the parish church, had still an aisle connecting it with the conventual buildings. Towards the close of the tenth century, a sanguinary battle took place between a Danish army, encamped on the neighbouring hills, and the forces of the Thane of Buchan, which terminated in the defeat of the former with great slaughter. The PARISH lies in the north-eastern portion of the county, and is about ten miles in length and four and a half in breadth; it is of oblong shape, and the surface is diversified with hills, some of which attain a considerable degree of elevation. There are no rivers of any importance; the principal streams are the Tyrie water, which runs along the northern boundary, and the Goner, a smoothly-flowing rivulet over which a handsome stone bridge was built near the mill of Tillanamont, by the late Sir William Forbes. Of the numerous copious springs, some are strongly chalybeate. The rivulets abound with small trout.

In the valleys, and in the lower lands, the soil is generally a rich deep loam of a reddish colour; in the higher grounds, shallower, and less fertile; and there are some large tracts of moss, and much waste land that might be reclaimed and brought into profitable cultivation. Among the crops are oats, for which the soil appears to be peculiarly adapted, and which are almost the only grain. Large quantities of potatoes are shipped hence at Rosehearty, Sandhaven, and Fraserburgh; and since the establishment of a horticultural society at New Pitsligo by Sir John Stuart Forbes, vegetables of every kind, and garden produce, have been grown in perfection. At the annual meetings of the Buchan Agricultural Society, some of the farmers of this parish have been successful competitors for prizes, for the best samples of oats for seed. On the hills is good pasturage for sheep and black-cattle, of which considerable numbers are sent to markets in the vicinity and to London; and much attention is paid to the management of the dairy, the produce of which finds a ready sale. The plantations extend over 100 or 120 acres in different detached portions, and consist of ash, mountain-ash, plane, alder, and various kinds of fir: even such trees as are in the most unprotected situation are in a thriving state. In general the substrata are limestone and granite, of which latter the rocks are chiefly composed. The limestone was formerly wrought in the eastern district, but the quarries have been abandoned. Granite quarries have been opened, from which blocks of ten tons' weight are raised without difficulty; the stone is of a very durable quality, and much of it has been used in the dressings of the pier of Fraserburgh, and for the ornamental parts of the public buildings in that town. Iron-ore has been found, but not in sufficient quantity to encourage the working of it. The annual value of real property in the parish is £4442. Here are, Boyndli House, the seat of Alexander Forbes, Esq.; and the ancient houses of Ladysford and Tillanamont. The village of New Pitsligo is described under its own head. The post-office at New Pitsligo has a tolerable delivery; and facility of communication is maintained by good roads, of which the turnpike-roads from Banff to Peterhead and to Fraserburgh pass through the parish. Fairs for sheep, cattle, and horses, are held in the village.

For ECCLESIASTICAL purposes this parish is within the bounds of the presbytery of Deer, and synod of Aberdeen. The minister's stipend is £158. 7. 7., of whic nearly one-fourth is paid from the exchequer; with a manse, and a glebe valued at £9. 10. per annum: patron Lord Saltoun. The ancient church has been some years in ruins, a new church having been erected in 1800, a neat substantial structure containing 400 sittings. A church, to which a district was for a time annexed, and an episcopal chapel, have been erected in New Pitsligo. The parochial school is well conducted: the master has a salary of £25. 18., with £6. 2. in lieu of a house a garden, and the fees; also the produce of two bequests. There is a bequest of the interest of £600 for the benefi of the poor, and many families receive weekly distributions of meal from the granary of Sir John Stuart Forbes, of Pitsligo. In the immediate vicinity of the ancient church, till within the last few years, was a circular mound called the Moat, of which nothing was distinctly known; and in various parts of the parish are barrows, supposed to have been raised over the remains of men who fell in the battle with the Danes. In some of these barrows that have been opened, were discovered coffins of grey flagstones, containing human hones; and near the Law Cairn were found, within the last thirty years, some fragments of ancient armour, thought to be Roman. In digging up the foundations of the ancient church, there was lately found a rude shapeless mass of claystone of a blue colour, on which were some hieroglyphic characters that could not be deciphered.

[From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1851) - copyright Mel Lockie 2016]