County town: Stonehaven
Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns, was established as a sheriffdom from the medieval period. Stonehaven replaced Kincardine as its county town in the 19th century after the latter declined in importance.
Kincardineshire occupies the northeast coast between Aberdeenshire and Angus, its coastal cliff scenery some of the most dramatic in eastern Scotland. The Mearns, the county's agricultural hinterland, was the setting for Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Scots Quair trilogy — a fictional portrait of the county's farming community in the early 20th century. Dunnottar Castle, a clifftop fortress of exceptional drama, was where the Scottish crown jewels were hidden from Cromwell's army in 1651. The county's fishing ports and farming communities shaped a character of austere industriousness. Stonehaven's Hogmanay fireball ceremony is one of Scotland's most ancient-looking traditions.
The Statistical Accounts of Scotland — the Old Statistical Account (1791–99) and the New Statistical Account (1834–45) — provide detailed parish-by-parish descriptions of Kincardineshire at two moments of transformation. Aubrey draws on these accounts when generating reports for Scottish locations, providing historical context specific to the parish and county.
Scotland's 33 traditional counties, established as sheriffdoms from the 12th century onward, were the administrative framework of the country until the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 replaced them with regional councils. They remain the reference framework for historical records, genealogy, and cultural identity.
An Aubrey report for a specific location in Kincardineshire draws on historical maps, archaeological records, Domesday data, Statistical Account records, and landscape history to tell the full story of any site in the county.
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