Fodderty Cemetery

 What can I expect from Fodderty Cemetery?

Fodderty Cemetery has been in use from medieval times to the 21st century. It is a rural, multi-period graveyard extended several times. There is no redundant or in-use church. However the mound is felt to have been the site of an earlier church, dedicated to St Moluag of Lismore. The mound is terraced on the north side, and has sheer drops in parts on the east. It is now covered in 19th century graves and monuments. The gate is the war memorial of the area.

The site was visited in 2005 due to concerns about imminent danger of wall collapse. The oldest part of the graveyard is on raised ground and is surrounded by stone rubble walls. The gravestones face east in this part. The ground is uneven indicating layers of burials. The gravestones include slabs, table tops, and uprights. This cemetery is depicted on a military map c1746 labelled as burial ground. It lies at the end of a 'coffin road' from Knockfarrel, and is being investigated as part of the Roads through Ross project.. See more

Image from Graveyards of Scotland

The Graveyards of Scotland site states the following about burial customs, referencing Thomas Pennant: A Tour in Scotland, White, London, 1776:

"On the death of a Highlander, the corps being stretched on a Funeral board, and covered with a coarse linnen wrapper, the friends lay on the breast of a the deceased a wooden platter, containing a small quantity of salt and earth, separate and unmixed; the earth, an emblem of the corruptible body; the salt , an emblem of the immortal spirit. All fire is extinguished where a corps is kept; and it is reckoned so ominous for a dog or cat to pass over it, that the poor animal is killed without mercy".

Another image from Graveyards of Scotland

This great site by passionate burial ground photographer Nellie Merthe Erkenbach, provides this story:

"In Fodderty people have lived since the earliest times. The remains of a Pictish hill-fort on a ridge next to the graveyard are still visible for those who are energetic enough to climb the crag called Knock Farrill. Nothing is left to be seen but remains of walls and ditches, there definitely were look-out posts from where warnings could be given by fire signals should enemies approach Strathpeffer. Below the Pictish fort spreads the parish burying ground of Fodderty".

Find-a-Grave

At Find-a-Grave I should be able to a list of who is known to be buried there. This site says there are 1,321 memorials in this cemetery. 15 are Bains!

Alick Bain (1873 - 1 Sep 1953)

Annie Tolmie Bain (? - 1926)

Elizabeth Mackenzie Bain (1850 -23 Dec 1915)

Elizabeth Catherine Sinclair Bain (1901 - 5 Jan 1980)

George Bain (1889 - 1978)

Henry Bain (1884 - 11 Mar 1964)

John Bain (1895 - 2 May 1967)

John Bain (1842 - 20 Aug 1917)

Kate Bain (? - 1905)

Kenneth Bain (1891 - 1892)

Sgt Lachlan Bain (1887 - 28 Feb 1921)

Mary Mackenzie Bain (? - 1986)

Mary MacLennan Bain (? - 9 Apr 1853)

Robertina Miller Bain (1880 - 22 Nov 1943)

Roderick Bain (1801 - 5 Mar 1856)

Other images of the Cemetery can be found here.