The parish of Abdie is situated in the north of Fife, about two miles
south from Newburgh. It was originally called the parish of Lindores,
but that name was appropriated by the abbey, which was also founded in
the same parish. The loch of Lindores, on the south bank of which the
ruins of the church of Abdie stand, still retains the ancient name. The
church was of much earlier date than the abbey, and Mr. Laing[111]
states that there can be little doubt that the church of Lindores (now
Abdie) was of Culdee origin, and was one of the earliest religious
settlements in the country. The name Lindores signifies the “church by
the water,” a peculiarly appropriate designation in this instance. “In a
writing of the thirteenth century on a fly-leaf of a volume preserved in
the Imperial Library, Paris, it is recorded that the consecration of
‘Ebedyn’ church by David de Bernhame, Bishop of St. Andrews, took place
on the 5th day of September A.D. 1242, a date which corresponds with the
style of its architecture.”[112]
[Illustration: FIG 719.--St. Magridin’s Church. Plan.]
From the foundation charter of the abbey of Lindores we find that the
first bequest it received was the church of Lindores, and the lands
belonging to it.
The existing structure consists (Fig. 719) of a plain oblong chamber,
which has been greatly rebuilt, but part of the walls of which may be of
the thirteenth century. The building measures internally 88 feet in
length by 17 feet 6 inches in width. The east end or chancel is the most
ancient part. It is about 30 feet in length, and has first pointed
buttresses and small lancet windows in the side walls. One of the
lancets remains in the south wall (Fig. 720), and two in the north wall
(Fig. 721). There is also a pointed priests’ doorway in the south side
wall. The three pointed windows in the east end seem to have been
altered. The broad
[Illustration: FIG. 720.--St. Magridin’s Church. View from South-East.]
skew, with cross on the gable, and its remarkable footstone are
restorations. The nave or western portion of the church, which is of the
same width as the chancel, has been rebuilt at different times, and much
of it shows in its windows, buttresses, &c., work of a very late period,
probably the sixteenth century. There is a south porch near the west
end, with a stone bench on each side. The entrance is by an elliptic
arch, with plain splay on edge. The belfry is plain, but picturesque. A
wing or north aisle has been added at a late date. It is called the
Denmiln aisle, and was erected by Sir Robert Balfour in 1661, and bears
his arms and the date over the doorway. In the choir there is a slab
with a fine cross carved on it, and also a recumbent effigy (see Fig.
721), considerably worn away by the weather.
[Illustration: FIG. 721.--St. Magridin’s Church. Effigy in Choir.]