Kincardine, Aberdeenshire

[2] By 1532, the castle was a secondary residence of William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal, and appears to have been at the centre of the small town, occupying about two hundred yards between gates on the main road.

[3] The Earl petitioned for Kincardine to be declared as a free burgh and county town for the Mearns.

[4] The petition claimed that the sheriff courts for the Mearns were already being held in the town, and that it was reputed to have previously been made a free burgh, but that the charter had been lost.

[5] By 1600, the burgh was in decline, and the sheriff and his deputes complained to the king that the accommodation for them was unsuitable, no tolbooth having been constructed; they were successful in having the county town moved to Stonehaven.

[3] Without county town status, Kincardine quickly dwindled, and the castle fell into ruin.