Laurencekirk
Laurencekirk is a village in the historical region of Kincardineshire, Scotland, just off the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen main road, which bypassed it in 1985. It is administered as part of Aberdeenshire. It is the largest negotiation in the Howe o' the Mearns area as well as houses the local secondary school; Mearns Academy, which was awarded the Charter Mark in 2003. Its old name was Conveth, an anglification of the Gaelic Coinmheadh, referring to an obligation to provide cost-free food and board to passing troops. Laurencekirk remains in the valley between the Hill of Garvock and the Cairn O' Mount. The popular site of the Johnston Tower can be seen on the top of the Garvock. Laurencekirk was, in the past, understood for making snuff boxes with a special sort of airtight hinge (called a "Laurencekirk joint") designed by James Sandy. Laurencekirk Golf Club (currently inoperative) first appeared in the very early 1900s. The club shut at the time of WW2. Lewis Grassic Gibbon created much concerning The Mearns as well as the bordering area in his book Sunset Song. A tribute centre can be visited at Arbuthnott a few miles from Laurencekirk. Fred Urquhart worked with the land at Laurencekirk in the Second World War, as well as his narratives take advantage of his observations of country life here.
