The Fife town of Newburgh claims inhabitation for over 1000 years and this
may well be a conservative guess! Just outside Mugdrum House there is a stone
cross (standing 13ft high) of Celtic design. The carvings are considered to
be more than 1300 years old. Although it now appears as a pillar,
originally it most probably had arms as of a real cross.
Newburgh (or New Burgh by the Abbey of Lindores as it was then) received its
Royal Charter from Alexander III in 1266, with later privileges granted by
the Abbot of Lindores in 1457. The town was granted further privileges by
both James VI and Charles I.
On a hill just a little way south of Newburgh, by the road leading to the
Strathearn region of neighbouring Perthshire, stands the MacDuff Cross.
Although badly damaged in 1559 by the Reformers, the cross is still very much
a legendary place of sanctuary for all those of the MacDuff clan who had been
involved in murder.
Such MacDuff clan members could achieve atonement by performing a series of
rituals. Having touched the MacDuff stone, they would then wash themselves
nine times at nearby Ninewells. They would also have to pay a forfeit of nine
cows!
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