Inverurie
Inverurie is a
burgh in
Aberdeenshire,
Scotland, approximately 16 miles north west of
Aberdeen along the
A96 road.
Inverurie straddles the
River Don and the
River Ury. Although the part of the town south of the Don is actually called
Port Elphinstone, it is common to hear the title "Inverurie" used to refer to the entire conurbation.
The word "Inverurie" comes from the
Scottish Gaelic Inbhir Uraidh meaning "Mouth of the Ury" after the river which joins the Don just south of the town.
It was commonly spelt "Inverury" until the late 1800s when it was altered to avoid confusion with
Inveraray in
Argyll, on the south west coast of
Scotland because it was felt that "a" and "u" were particularly hard to distinguish in handwritten addresses.
Inverurie is said to have been founded by David of Huntingdon, Earl of the
Garioch, brother of
Malcolm IV and great-great-grandfather of
Robert the Bruce who defeated the
Comyns nearby at the
Battle of Barra on
Christmas Eve 1307. The town's earliest known charter dates from
1558, but its modern development occurred after the building of the
Aberdeenshire Canal linking Port Elphinstone with Aberdeen Harbour in
1806. The Inverurie
Locomotive Works (
1905-
1969) led to a modest increase in size and prosperity, but it was not until the "
Oil Boom" of the last quarter of the
20th century that the town developed into much of its present form. The nearby Easter Auchquhorthies
recumbent stone circle is a fine example of the rich history of the North East of Scotland, an ancient monument dating back to the 3rd Millennium BC.
Inverurie is a thriving
market town, with many small shops, businesses and services. Its main industries other than service and commerce are
agriculture,
oil and
paper manufacture. Agriculture continues to be a mainstay of Inverurie's economy, as it has done since the town's inception. Thainstone Mart, to the south east of the town, is the biggest livestock market in Scotland, and rents out commercial units to various agricultural support services. Lying beside Thainstone Mart, the paper mill is also a big employer.
Following the discovery of
North Sea oil in the mid
1970s, several oil service companies appeared in Inverurie. Many residents who work in this sector do so on offshore oil installations in the North Sea on a "two week on- two week off" basis in addition to those who work in the town itself.
In recent years, Inverurie has also seen increasing numbers of Aberdeen commuters going to live there.
Inverurie natives speak the Aberdeenshire
Doric dialect of
Scots.
Inverurie Doric has become weaker in recent years due to an influx of residents from England, and southern Scotland, as well as nearby Aberdeen, not to mention the introduction of
television to the area, and the state curriculum, yet it is still spoken to a greater or lesser degree. The range of the Doric vocabulary in Inverurie is more limited than in the more rural parts of Aberdeenshire.
Historically,
Pictish is the ancient language of the area, which can be found in many placenames. It appears to have been a
Brythonic language. There is also evidence of
Scottish Gaelic having been spoken in the area, both in words in the Doric, and placenames, such as Inverurie itself. The
Book of Deer originates from a few miles to the north east.
Inverurie has churches for each of the following
Christian denominations:
Church of Scotland (
Presbyterian),
Roman Catholic,
Episcopal Church of Scotland (
Anglican),
Baptist and
United Presbyterian.
Inverurie Loco Works F.C. are the local
Highland League football team and
Aberdeen F.C. are the nearest
Scottish Football Association affiliated team.
Divorce Rate
At 10.4% Inverurie has Scotland's lowest divorce rate (Source: Claritas, 2002).
Population
10,885 (Source: General Register Office for Scotland, 2001)
