A link with the past

In the sand dunes cross the river from where we live are to be found the buried remains of the medieval settlement of Forvie. The excavated ruins of the 12th century kirk can be still be seen among the dunes. This is the ancient baptismal font from the kirk, carved from a block of Peterhead granite, it is probably a1000 years old.


The village of Forvie was abandoned after being blanketed in sand during a great storm in 1413. According to local legend, this was the result of three sisters placing a curse on the village. They had, it is said, been cast adrift in a leaky boat, after the death of their father, the Laird, to deny them their inheritance, as heirs to the land. In a fit of rage, they screamed a curse: 

"Let nocht bee funde in Furvye's glebes
Bot thystl, bente and sande" 

(Let nothing be found in Forvie's fields
But thistles, marram grass and sand.)

When the sisters eventually reached dry land their curse whipped up a storm that continued for nine days and nights. By the time that it ended the village and its fields had disappeared under great dunes of sand and were never re-occupied.