Continued entries/extra info

[Page] 49B

"Before the Reformation the church of the parish
of Mains, under the name of Strathdighty,
as well as Mains, belonged to the Benedictine
Abbey of Arbroath, having being granted by
one of the old Earls of Angus, the cure
being served by a vicar-pensioner under the
Abbey-chapter. In the year 1799, the adjoining
parish of Strathechtyne Martyne or Strathmartine
was annexed to Mains; and in 1801, a new
church and manse were erected beside Trottick,
about a mile to the west of the Old Church
and Tower, for the accomodation of the people
of the united parishes. The Old Church,
which stood a number of years after the junction
of the parishes, was a low mean building.
It retained to the last its ancient baptismal
font which was used before the abolition of
of Popery; and in the north wall there was
a small recess furnished with an iron-door,
which had likely been used for preserving some
of the ecclesiastical utensils. Two stone coffins
lay long in the churchyard, each formed of
four stones, and strongly secured at the corners
with iron cramps. They were both of the
usual length and breadth, and two feet and
half deep; and tradition says, that in the
time of the plague, some of the infected
who died were buried in these coffins.
At present they are locked up in the burial
vault of the Grahames. Until lately the
bier was preserved, which in ancient times was
used for carrying the dead to the churchyard
for interment. Extract from Forfarshire illustrated
page 32.