Laurencekirk
Laurencekirk is a small town in the historical area of Kincardineshire, Scotland, simply off the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen main road, which bypassed it in 1985. It is administered as part of Aberdeenshire. It is the biggest settlement in the Howe o' the Mearns location and also houses the local secondary school; Mearns Academy, which was granted the Charter Mark in 2003. Its old name was Conveth, an anglification of the Gaelic Coinmheadh, referring to an obligation to give cost-free food and board to passing soldiers. Laurencekirk remains in the valley in between capital of Garvock and the Cairn O' Mount. The popular site of the Johnston Tower can be seen on the height of the Garvock. Laurencekirk was, in the past, understood for making snuff boxes with a special kind of impermeable joint (known as a "Laurencekirk joint") developed by James Sandy. Laurencekirk Golf Club (now defunct) first showed up in the very early 1900s. The club closed at the time of WW2. Lewis Grassic Gibbon created much regarding The Mearns and the surrounding area in his book Sunset Song. A tribute centre can be seen at Arbuthnott a few miles from Laurencekirk. Fred Urquhart dealt with the land at Laurencekirk in the Second World War, and his short stories take advantage of his monitorings of rural life below.