Nancy Auchinachie McKidd writes from Old Aberdeen, Scotland...

Couldn't let the end of the year pass without sending you an Aberchirder (very basic) calendar. As you will see, the photographer was my dad's cousin, William Auchinachie who was very enterprising and adopted photography before the end of the last century. He was born in 1883.

This calendar photo is over 100 years old. Apart from the water pump on the right, the little single story house on the right which my grandmother had demolished so that she could have our granite property built, and the house and shop on the immediate left, everything else still stands. The far building centre left is the Fife Arms Hotel. It stands on the village square, the centrepiece of which is the Auchinachie fountain erected for Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1897.

In most towns and villages, this was commemorated by public subscription but a lot of these villages were poor and couldn't really afford monuments, so in Aberchirder, Wm. Auchinachie (the photographer's father) then the Provost (ie. Mayor) paid for it himself. The house behind the fountain was where the Auchinachies lived. My grandfather was born there.

Using an old photograph, I had these calendars printed for Marnan Fair Day, held on October 25, 1996. I was the one that suggested reviving this event (originally a horse fair held in March - it died out in 1931). Our local Saint is St. Marnan and my church, St. Marnan's, the parish is Marnoch and there is an old well in the nearby wood which in centuries gone by was considered a healing (!!) well. Anyhow, St. Marnan's Day falls on October 25th, which this year fell on a Saturday so it was a good excuse for a revival of old times. The "in" thing in the U.K. is heritage at the moment.

Alas, on October 25th, I was laid up with bronchitis but understand the fair was a huge success. They had blacksmiths shoeing horses, women making pancakes on old iron griddles, lace makers, weavers and displays of old toys, christening gear, etc. People had come from far and near. I do hope it's made a regular event.

Also enclosed is a photo of the aforesaid fountain. That is the end of the Auchinachie house (they moved there in 1838) behind and slightly to the right of the fountain. The two Victorian lamps are not there now but the shop on the left of the picture is the present day butcher's and the little shop behind the boy is the meat cutting place. When this picture was taken, it was the baker's. You cannot read the name "Auchinachie" in this picture because it appears on the back of the fountain.

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