Auchtermuchty

Coordinates: 56°17′23″N 3°14′15″W / 56.289754°N 3.237450°W / 56.289754; -3.237450

Auchtermuchty
Scottish Gaelic: Uachdar Mucadaidh
Scots: Auchtermuchty, Muchtie
Auchtermuchty  Auchtermuchty shown within Fife
Population	2,010 [1] (2001 census) est. 2,070[2] (2006)
OS grid reference	NO235115
Council area	Fife
Lieutenancy area	Fife
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CUPAR
Postcode district	KY14
Dialling code	01337
Police	Fife
Fire	Fife
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	North East Fife
Scottish Parliament	North East Fife
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Auchtermuchty ( listen (help·info); Gaelic: Uachdar Mucadaidh - English interpretation: "Field of Boars") is a town in Fife, Scotland, situated beside Pitlour Hill nine miles north of Glenrothes. Until 1975 it was a royal burgh, established under charter of King James V in 1517. There is evidence of human habitation in the area dating back over 2,000 years, and the Romans are known to have established a camp in the southeast corner of the town. In the past, the linen industry was a major source of work in the town, but in the early 18th century the firm of John White was established, bringing the town its first foundry (there were two eventually). There was even a distillery in operation from 1829 to 1929, when Prohibition in the U.S.A. led to its closure. The town nowadays is a quiet but thriving community, situated in the Scottish countryside, where there are several local recreational footpaths. There is a modest range of local industry, but most people of working age travel outwith the town for employment.

There is a festival held each year in August.

The town was used as the location for Tannochbrae in the 1990s ITV series Dr. Finlay.

The town's church is mentioned in James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner.

The town gets a mention in The Family Ness theme song, You'll Never Find A Nessie In The Zoo, in the refrain "You can go to Auchtermuchty and to Drumnadrochit too, but you'll never find a Nessie in the zoo". The town, which is on the main road to the world famous golf courses at St. Andrews, was frequently mentioned in a light-hearted manner by the journalist Sir John Junor, as a paradigm of British ordinariness, but although he was a frequent visitor, he did not come from or live there.^[3]

Notable people

Statue of Jimmy Shand in Auchtermuchty

• John Glas - founder of the Glasite religious sect
• Charlie and Craig Reid - musicians and founders of folk/rock group The Proclaimers
• Martin Stewart - Bad Manners keyboard player
• Sir Jimmy Shand - musician
• Sir John Arnott MP and founder of Arnotts department stores in Dublin and elsewhere
• Captain George Moodie the first captain of the Cutty Sark who oversaw the building of her in 1869 and served as her Captain until 1872, lived his final years in Auchtermuchty in MacDuff House on the High Street.

References

External links

• Auchtermuchty Community web portal

See also

• List of places in Fife