Auchtermuchty

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Auchtermuchty
Scottish Gaelic: Uachdar Mucadaidh
Scots: Auchtermuchty, Muchtie
Auchtermuchty shown within Scotland
OS grid reference	NO235115
Council area	Fife
Lieutenancy area	Fife
Constituent country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CUPAR
Postcode district	KY14
Dialling code	01337
Police	Fife
Fire	Fife
Ambulance	Scottish
European Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	North East Fife
Scottish Parliament	North East Fife
List of places: UK • Scotland

Coordinates: 56°17′23″N 3°14′15″W / 56.289754, -3.23745

Auchtermuchty (Gaelic: Uachdar Mucadaidh - English interpretation: "Field of Boars") is a town in Fife, Scotland, situated beside Pitlour Hill nine miles north of Glenrothes. Until 1975 it was a royal burgh, established under charter of King James V in 1517. There is evidence of human habitation in the area dating back over 2,000 years, and the Romans are known to have established a camp in the southeast corner of the town. In the past, the linen industry was a major source of work in the town, but in the early 18th century the firm of John White was established, bringing the town its first foundry (there were two eventually). There was even a distillery in operation from 1829 to 1929, when Prohibition in the U.S.A. led to its closure. The town nowadays is a quiet but thriving community, situated in the Scottish countryside, where there are several local recreational footpaths. There is a modest range of local industry, but most people of working age travel outwith the town for employment. The population of Auchtermuchty at the 2001 Census was 2,010.

There is a festival held each year in August.

The town was used as the location for Tannochbrae in the 1990s TV series Dr Finlay's Casebook.

The town's church is mentioned in James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner.

The town gets a mention in The Family Ness theme song, You'll Never Find A Nessie In The Zoo, in the refrain "You can go to Auchtermuchty and to Drumnadrochit too, but you'll never find a Nessie in the zoo". It also appears in Rich Hall's joke; he appears wearing a fox-fur hat, and says "When I told the folks back home I was coming to Auchtermuchty, they said 'wear the fox hat'". The town, which is on the main road to the world famous golf courses at St. Andrews, was frequently mentioned in a light-hearted manner by the journalist Sir John Junor, but although he was a frequent visitor, he did not come from or live there.

[edit] Notable people

John Glas - founder of the Glasite religious sect
Charlie and Craig Reid - musicians and founders of folk/rock group The Proclaimers
Sir Jimmy Shand - musician
Sir John Arnott MP and founder of Arnotts department stores in Dublin and elsewhere