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National Gazetteer, 1868

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Birnie - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

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"BIRNIE, a parish in the county of Elgin, Scotland, 4 miles to the S.W. of Elgin. It is situated in a hilly country on the banks of the river Lossie, and is the property of the Earl of Seafield. Not more than half the land is under cultivation. The Lossie contains abundance of trout. The living, value £156, is in the presbytery of Elgin, and in the patronage of the Earl of Moray. The church is of considerable antiquity. It stands on a small eminence which is supposed to have been the site of one of the primitive stone circles called Druidic. It is imagined that the large blocks of granite built into the walls are remains of the ancient circle. Birnie was the first seat of the bishopric of Moray, and this church is probably the most ancient still in use in Scotland. The large cairn of Kilforman, 300 feet in circumference, the Bible stone, an old landmark, and some remains of an ancient camp, supposed to be a Danish work, are the other antiquities of the place."

Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)