Willie’s View: Crimond and Portsoy
Willie finds a bit of extra time in the day on a visit to Crimond and Portsoy.
There are some days you just wish would never end but, as Robert Burns once put it, ‘Nae man can tether time or tide.’
There is one place, though, where we can at least stretch the day by 24 minutes. It’s the wee village of Crimond, just a few miles inland from Fraserburgh.
Take a close look at the clockface on the Parish Church and you’ll notice something odd. There are six minutes instead of five before the hour. In other words, every hour in Crimond takes 61 minutes to pass, giving those who live here more than six extra days in a year!
There’s more time in a Crimond day.
In the old fishing village of Portsoy to the north west they can go one better. When its clockmaker added the numerals to the seaward face of the church clock, either he wasn’t too sure of his Roman numerals or just had a senior moment as, when it came to the 9, he got his X and I’s mixed up. As a result, the face has two 11’s. So, in Portsoy you could say time stands still for four hours a day!
Lovely Portsoy.
Anyway, next time you’re passing through Crimond, why not stop for a minute.
Take in more quirky stories of Scottish history with Willie’s travels.
