Newbyth

   NEWBYTH, a village, and lately a quoad sacra parish, in the parish of King-Edward, district of Turriff, county of Aberdeen; containing 1396 inhabitants, of whom 335 are in the village, 2½ miles (N. N. E.) from Cuminestown. This place, comparatively of recent origin, takes its name from the estate of Byth, of which the proprietor, James Urquhart, Esq., in 1764, granted various allotments of land upon feu for its erection. The village, which is situated on gently-rising ground, in the south-eastern portion of the parish, consists of two regularly formed streets intersecting each other nearly at right angles: the houses are neatly built, and to many of them are attached small pieces of land. A public library is supported by subscription; and there are two good inns, and several shops amply supplied with different kinds of merchandise for the adjacent district. No manufactures are carried on, except the weaving of linen dowlas for a house in Aberdeen, in which fourteen handlooms are employed; the only public work is a distillery on a moderate scale, which has been established for some time. There is a post-office under that of Turriff; and a fair, chiefly for cattle, is regularly held in the village on the Tuesday after the 11th of May. A chapel, now in connexion with the parish church of King-Edward, was purchased by subscription of the inhabitants of the district, about the year 1792, and adapted to a congregation of 400 persons. The minister receives a stipend of £80, one-half paid by the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, and the other mostly by seatrents; he has also a manse and a glebe of five acres. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship. There is a school in the village, of which the master has a salary of £6, with a house and garden, from the heritors, in addition to the fees.