Coupar Angus

Coordinates: 56°32′49″N 3°16′01″W / 56.547°N 3.267°W / 56.547; -3.267

Coupar Angus /ˈkʊ.pərˈæŋ.əs/ (Gaelic: Cùbar Aonghais) is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, situated four miles south of Blairgowrie.

The name Coupar Angus serves to differentiate the town from Cupar, Fife. The town was transferred from the county of Angus to Perthshire in 1891, but retained its traditional name.

It is located on the A94 Perth-Forfar road, although the town centre itself is now bypassed.

History

Sites

Clock Tower - The Steeple

Coupar Angus Abbey

In the Middle Ages it was the site of the major Cistercian abbey of Coupar Angus, one of Scotland's most important monasteries, founded by Malcolm IV (1153–65) in the 1160s. Of the abbey, only architectural fragments, preserved in the 19th-century parish church (which is probably on the site of the monastic church), or built into houses and walls throughout the town, survive, along with part of one of its gatehouses.

Historical Maps

National Library of Scotland

Angus

Angus (Scottish Gaelic: Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agriculture and fishing. Global pharmaceuticals company GSK has a significant presence in Montrose in the north of the county.

Angus was historically a county, known officially as Forfarshire from the 18th century until 1928. It remains a registration county and a lieutenancy area. In 1975 its administrative functions were transferred to the council district of the Tayside Region, and in 1995 further reform resulted in the establishment of the unitary Angus Council.

History

Prehistory

The area that now comprises Angus has been occupied since at least the Neolithic period. Material taken from postholes from an enclosure at Douglasmuir, near Friockheim, about five miles north of Arbroath have been radiocarbon dated to around 3500 BC The function of the enclosure is unknown, but may have been for agriculture or for ceremonial purposes.

Angus (given name)

Angus is a masculine given name in English. It is an Anglicised form of the Irish and Scottish Gaelic Aonghas, which is composed of Celtic elements meaning "one", and "choice". A variant spelling of the Scottish Gaelic name is Aonghus. The Irish form of the Scottish Gaelic name is Aengus. A pet form of the given name Angus is Angie, pronounced "an-ghee", which represents the Scottish Gaelic Angaidh. A short form of the given name Angus is Gus, which may be lengthened to Gussie. The feminine form of Angus is Angusina.

The earliest form of the given name Angus, and its cognates, occurs in Adomnán's Vita Columbae (English: "Life of Columba") as Oinogusius, Oinogussius. This name likely refers to a Pictish king whose name is recorded variously as Onnust, Hungus. According to historian Alex Woolf, the early Gaelic form of the name, Oengus, was borrowed from the British Pictish Onuist, which appears in British as Ungust. Woolf noted that these names are all derived from the Celtic *Oinogustos. Linguist John Kneen derived this name from two Celtic elements the following way: *Oino-gustos, meaning "one-choice". Woolf also stated that between about AD 350 and AD 660, the Insular Celtic dialects underwent changes which included the loss of the final syllables and unstressed vowels, which affected *Oinogustos thus: *Oinogustos.

Angus cattle

Angus cattle, known as Aberdeen Angus in most parts of the world, are a breed of cattle commonly used in beef production. They were developed from cattle native to the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland.

Angus cattle are naturally polled and solid black or red although the udder may be white. The native colour is black, but more recently red colours have emerged. The UK registers both in the same herd book, but in the US they are regarded as two separate breeds – Red Angus and Black Angus. Black Angus is the most common breed of beef cattle in the US, with 324,266 animals registered in 2005. In 2014, the British Cattle Movement Service named Angus the UK's most popular native beef breed, and the second most popular beef breed overall.

History

Scotland

Aberdeen Angus cattle have been recorded in Scotland since at least the 16th century in the country's North East. For some time before the 1800s, the hornless cattle in Aberdeenshire and Angus were called Angus doddies. In 1824, William McCombie of Tillyfour, M.P. for South Aberdeenshire, began to improve the stock and is regarded today as the father of the breed. Many local names emerged, including doddies or hummlies. The first herd book was created in 1862, and the society was formed in 1879. This is considered late, given that the cattle gained mainstream acceptance in the middle of the eighteenth century. The cattle became commonplace throughout the British Isles in the middle of the 20th century.