Tyrie

A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed), 1875

Etymology
It is generally believed that the name "Tyrie," which the parish has always borne, is derived from the Gaelic Tighan-righ, meaning "King's-house," and the explanation given in the Old Statistical Account is that the name was taken from a religious house which once stood upon the ground occupied by the old manse, and was endowed by royal munificence. Other derivations have been suggested, but none of them seem to be satisfactory. Assuming Tighan-righ to be the Celtic for King's-house, the probability is that the parish was so called in consequence of some petty Pictish king having resided in it, as we know from the Book of Deir one of these Celtic chiefs dwelt in the neighbouring parish of Aberdour. No trace can be found of any religious house, nor any record of the royal munificence with which it was said to be endowed.

Boundaries
Tyrie is bounded on the north by the parishes of Aberdour and Pitsligo; on the east by Fraserburgh and Rathen; on the south by the detached portions of Fraserburgh and Aberdour, and the parish of New Deer; and on the west by Aberdour.

Extent
The extreme length of the parish, in a direct line from Tyrie Mains to the hills of Bonnykelly in New Deer, is 8½ miles, and the greatest breadth is about 3½ miles. The area, according to the Ordnance Survey, is 11,193.852 acres, which includes 104 two-fifths acres of public roads, and nearly 12 acres under water. In the Old Statistical Account it is stated that the parish was formerly much more extensive; but this is a mistake, for if any portion had been taken away it must have been added to Strichen, New Deer, or Pitsligo, which are adjoining parishes of comparatively late erection; and there are records to show that no part of Tyrie was included in any of these parishes. The boundaries may have been more accurately defined in more recent times, but there has been no important alteration on them since Tyrie existed as a parish.

Topography
The western portion of the parish is hilly, the range extending from the Auchmedden ridges in Aberdour to the hills of Cavock, or Torlundie, and the Bonnykelly Hills in New Deer. The hills or eminences intersecting the parish in the north-eastern division are low outspurs of Mormond, running into each other in such a manner as could not easily be described. The church of Tyrie stands 163 feet above sea level; the bridge over the Tyrie burn, at the end of the Lower Den of Boyndlie, is 179 feet; and the old toll bar is 230 feet. The bridge over the north Ugie, between Tillinamolt and Craigmaud (Lord Pitsligo's hiding place in 1746) is 312 feet above sea level. The school-house of Tyrie, which stands at the intersection of the Banff and Fraserburgh road and the cross road to Strichen, is 351½ feet; the house of Boyndlie is 230 feet; and the well of Cairn Murnan is 257 feet above sea level. The junction of the Fraserburgh with the Banff and Peterhead road at Backburn is 494 feet; and the march with Aberdour on the latter road is 451 feet. The middle of the Square in the Village of New Pitsligo is 459 feet; the junction of the Strichen road with the Buchan turnpike, a little east of the village, is 487 feet; the hill of Torlundie is 640 feet; and the lowest point in the parish, on the Leeches burn, a tributary of the South Ugie, on the Strichen and New Deer Boundary, is 404 feet above sea level.

[A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed), 1875]