Abercrombie Places

Abercrombie Castle

Abercrombie Castle was the seat of the Abercrombie family, it no longer exists and the exact site of it is unknown.

Menstrie house

Menstrie House is a baronial mansion house dating from the 16th century. It was built from the rubble of Menstrie Castle.

A person of note is the distinguished soldier and politician Sir Ralph Abercrombie who was born at Menstrie Castle in October 1734, although he grew up on his father’s Tullibody estate.

Airthrey Castle

During the nineteenth century The Abercrombie Family owned Airthrey Castle. The Castle lies just north of Stirling and is now part of the University of Stirling.

Airthrey Castlewas built in 1791 for the evangelist Robert Haldane (1764 - 1842), whose family had owned the estate since 1759. The castle includes two standing stones which may mark a battlefield where King Kenneth I defeated the Picts to unite Scotland in 839. The estate was sold tin 1798 to Sir Robert Abercromby (1740 - 1827). Abercromby discovered an ancient whale's skeleton at Airthrey in 1819 which he gifted to the Natural History Museum at the University of Edinburgh. Airthrey Castle became a Maternity Hospital during World War II and continued in this role after Stirling County Council purchased the estate in 1946. The property passed to the University in 1966.

Abercrombie People

Sir Ralph Abercrombie (1734 – 1801)
Fought in the Seven years war and became MP for Clackmannanshire. He rose to the rank of Major-General and led the landing at Aboukir Bay but was killed in Action.

John Abercromby, 5th Baron Abercromby (1841 – 1924)
John Abercromby was a Lieutenant with the Rifle Brigade. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, with an honorary Doctorate of Law. He was president of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and succeeded as 5th Baron Abercromby on October 3, 1917.

After leaving the army in 1870 he devoted himself to languages, travel and folklore. In 1904 he introduced the term Beaker into the archaeological lexicon to describe the unusual drinking vessels being found all over Europe. He supported the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and served as its president from 1913 to 1918. His will provided for the foundation of the Abercromby Chair of Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh, a post occupied by Vere Gordon Childe and Stuart Piggott.

His books include A study of Bronze Age pottery in Europe.