Place:Clatt, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

The following description is condensed from that for the parish in Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1851) available on GENUKI)

Clatt is a parish in the northwestern part of Aberdeenshire, 10 miles south of Huntly, containing 524 inhabitants. The Gaelic word "Cleith", or "Cleit", signifying "concealed", appears to have given the name to this place, in consequence of its secluded situation, it being hidden from view on all sides. The parish measures about 4 miles in length, and from 2 to 3 in breadth, comprising 5,130 acres, of which 2800 are under cultivation, 250 pasture, 200 wood, and the remainder waste and undivided common. It consists of an uninterrupted plain, with the exception of a portion of hilly ground on the northwest, and some rising grounds on the declivity of the Suie and Coreen hills, which bound it on the south, and which belong to a mountain range extending from east to west for more than twenty miles. The Water of Bogie separates the parish on the north from that of Rhynie; and it is also indebted, for a considerable relief to its generally uninteresting aspect, to the meandering course of the Gady stream, which receives numerous mountain rivulets. This stream turns twelve threshing-mills and a meal-mill, within the distance of two miles, and after traversing a well-cultivated country falls into the River Urie.

The village of Clatt, beautifully ornamented with many old ash and plane trees, is a decayed burgh of barony, containing only a few houses. It received its erection from James IV., in 1501, with power to appoint bailies and other officers, and to hold fairs every year, and a weekly market, which latter has long since fallen into disuse, though some of the inhabitants remember the ancient cross. There are fairs still held at Whitsuntide [late May] and Martinmas [September], the former for the sale of sheep and black-cattle, and the hiring of servants, and the latter for grain. The mansion-house of Knockespoch is the residence of the principal heritor.

The parish is bounded on the north by the parishes of Rhynie and Kennethmont; on the east by the parish of Leslie; on the south by the parish of Tullynessle and Forbes; and on the west by the parish of Auchindoir and Kearn.

Population Growth

Populations 1801-1951 from A Vision of Britain through Time (http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk).
2001 population from Scotland’s Census (https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk).
The pre-1900 area quoted is from Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland of 1851. In 1875, in his New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith states the area was 8,320, but in 1877 John Bartholomew gives a figure of 5,711 which almost matches the post-1900 area.

Research Tips

There was formerly a note on this page that the parish was linked to the Presbytery of Alford, Synod of Aberdeen, Scotland. It would appear that since 1975 the organization of the presbyteries and synods has been revised. Readers are reminded that the Church of Scotland is Presbyterian in nature while in England the Church of England is Episcopalian. (See Wikipedia. )

• Scotlands People, the website of the Scottish Register Office provides

• official civil (from 1855) and parish registers (from when first produced) for births, marriages and deaths for all of Scotland
• original census images for all years available (1841-1911).
• references to wills and property taxes, and
• an extensive collection of local maps.

This site is extremely easy to use. There are charges for parish register entries and censuses. The charges are reasonable and payable by online transfer.

• The Statistical Accounts of Scotland Online provides access to digitised and fully searchable versions of both the Old Statistical Account (1791-99) and the New Statistical Account (1834-45). These uniquely rich and detailed parish reports, usually written by local Church of Scotland ministers, detail social conditions in Scotland and are an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Scottish history.
• Scotlands Places
• Gazetteer of Scotland includes descriptions of individual parishes from F. H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4)
• The FamilySearch Wiki
• GENUKI which provides, amongst other data, complete quotations from A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1851) by Samuel Lewis, John Bartholomew's A Gazetteer of the British Isles (1877), and A New History of Aberdeenshire edited by Alexander Smith (1875)
• A list of Burial Grounds in Scotland is now available on the website of the Scottish Association of Family History Societies.
• Aberdeenshire and Moray Records. Town Council minutes, accounts, letters, plans and harbour records provided by Aberdeenshire Council plus other local records.
• Aberdeen and North-East Scotland Family History Society is one of the largest and most reputable family history societies in Scotland and has a long list of publications referring to individual parishes.