- Location: 53 School Wynd, Abernethy, Perth PH2 9JH
- Opening times: First Saturday in May to last Sunday in September; Wednesday to Sunday 1.00pm – 4.00pm
- Entry: Free admission
- Access: Roadside parking.
My only knowledge, if such it can be called, of the village of Abernethy is the phrase ‘Abernethy Biscuits th-th-th’, which was quoted by people, including possibly me, in the sixties and seventies. Even the mighty Google can find no trace of the phrase online, but I suspect it came from an old television advert for the biscuits. Why it was quoted, and in what circumstances, is more difficult to determine.
However, it just took a couple of clicks to find out that Abernethy Biscuits have nothing to do with the village but are in fact named after a London surgeon who suggested his local baker add caraway seeds to his biscuits to promote good digestion. What a waste of two perfectly good opening paragraphs that turned out to be.
And so to Abernethy’s Round Tower. Round towers were a common feature of the Irish landscape, with approximately sixty still existing in varying conditions, and another two dozen known to have existed but of which no trace remains. In Scotland there are only two, this one and another adjoining Brechin Cathedral; Great Britain’s only other example is in Peel on the Isle of Man.
Abernethy’s tower is approximately 73 feet (22.5m) tall, with a lower circumference of 15 ft (4.57m) tapering to 13 ft (3.96m) at the top. The key to the tower is available from the nearby Museum of Abernethy (see opening times above), and visitors can climb the 100 steps to the top to take in the views. The current iron spiral staircase replaced a wooden nineteenth century one, but for most of its life access to the top was via a set of ladders connecting six floors.
Its precise origins are obscure – the bottom ten feet or clearly predate the rest of the tower – but as with the Brechin tower it is assumed it once formed part of an ecclesiastical centre. A church is believed to have been here since the 700s, and by 1100 CE, from when the tower dates, Abernethy was the site of a Culdee abbey or monastery that was an important centre for learning. Such was the significance of this place it was chosen as the site of Malcolm Canmore’s meeting with William the Conqueror in 1072, when the Scottish king submitted to his southern counterpart.
The current bell (left) dates from 1782, with the clock (right) being added nearly a century later. The initials VR stand for Victoria Regina, Victoria being British monarch at the time of the clock’s installation.
Left: Jougs hanging on the Round Tower. Jougs were instruments of punishment commonly used in Scotland and were often attached to churches and mercat crosses. Consisting of an iron collar and short chain, the accused would be locked into the collar and left to endure a period of public shaming. Cromwell found the practice barbaric when he occupied Scotland in 1650 and ordered his army to destroy them wherever they were found, but many examples survived. Right: A carved Pictish stone at the foot of the tower. Several have been found in the area, with this example discovered beneath the foundations of a house on School Wynd in the early half of the 20th century.
Two views from the top. Left: Looking down on the Kirk of St. Bride and its graveyard, with School Wynd running down the left. The Museum of Abernethy is just beyond the tree next to the church. Right: Looking down on the town’s war memorial.
The Museum of Abernethy is located just a short walk down School Wynd from the tower. This small volunteer-run operation is housed in an 18th century farm building and depicts life in Abernethy and the surrounding area from prehistory to the present day. Several carved Pictish stones are on display – Abernethy was once a major centre of the ancient Kingdom of the Picts, with some sources claiming it was the capital – and another exhibit covers Roman life in the fort that once stood in nearby Carpow, where a 3,000-year-old log boat was also discovered; it is now on display in the Perth Museum. Carpow was also the location of a now vanished Roman fort, and Roman life there is covered in the museum. I tried taking a photograph of a paving stone with the imbedded footprint of a young dog but couldn’t get a decent shot without either my reflection or reflected light glare.
On my Brown Sign Bagging journey, I have come across various sites associated with witchcraft in Scotland (see here, here, here, and here) and have become interested in that period of history. At the museum I picked up a booklet called Witchcraft in Abernethy: Truth and Legend, and it appears even this little village was not spared the mania that spread through 16 and 17th century Scotland. In 1662, three women – Elspeth Young, Janet Christie, and Margaret Mathie – were accused, and although their fate is unknown, the fact they confessed suggests they were probably executed in the prescribed manner; death by strangling, either by hanging or garrotting, and their bodies cremated so that the devil couldn’t reanimate them.
I also picked up a leaflet suggesting two walks associated with witch hunts in Abernethy, but both were at least an hour and a half long and I had to get back home to walk the dogs. However, some further research once home informed me that Abernethy has a more ancient literary ‘witch’ connection, as it is believed to be the ‘Afarnach’s Hall’ mentioned in the early mediaeval Welsh poem Pa Gur, where King Arthur battles a sorceress.
Destination or Diversion?
Both the tower and the museum can be done in an hour, so can be classed as a diversion only.
