Brandy galore!

Another gravestone today, this time one that marks the grave of a smuggler, one Philip Kennedy.

With many sea caves in the surrounding cliffs, and with small coves and shingle beaches, Collieston, a small fishing village to the north of Newburgh, was excellent territory for smugglers. In the late 1700s it was estimated by the Excise that up to 8000 gallons of foreign spirits were being illegally landed in the area every month.

This all came to a head on 17 December 1798. Excisemen lying in wait surprised a group of smugglers unloading their barrels of spirit. In the skirmish that followed the most notorious of the smugglers, Philip Kennedy, was felled by a blow from an exciseman's cutlass. He died shortly afterwards on a settle in the kitchen of Slains Farm, adjacent to the kirkyard.

You can read more about the incident here.