Boharm is a rural parish in the Speyside area of north Scotland, midway between Aberlour and Fochabers, and north of Dufftown. It lies on minor roads to either side of the A95. The main settlements in the parish are Maggieknockater and Mulben.
Despite its tiny size it is linked to two men who have been Moderator of the General Assembly, the highest position in the Church of Scotland.
A distinctly rural parish it consists mainly of farm estates and has no village centre as such. The parish has an area of .
History
The settlement was originally called Bocharin, meaning a bow-shape around a cairn or rocky hill, the hill in question being Ben Aigan, east of the River Spey and Rothes.
In his article on the parish for the Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791–9, Rev Lewis Forbes describes it thus: The length, between the parish of Mortlich, at the west, and the parish of Bellie, at the east, is from 7 to 9 English miles; the breadth, from the parish of Botriphnie, at the south, to the highest cultivated land on the mountain, northward, is from 2 to 3 English miles; but the figure of the parish is so irregular, that these measures are to be regarded as the mean, rather than the particular length and breadth.
The general appearance of the country may be conceived as an extensive valley from east to west, having all the arable land hanging on the declivities of both sides, there being little or no plain on the banks of the brooks, which, rising in the hills, bend their courses to either hand; to Fiddich, on the west; and, by the east, turning by the north-west to Spey. From this general description, Airndilly, the seat of David M‘Dowall Grant, Esq; falls to be excepted, being delightfully situated on a rising ground, above a pretty extensive plain, half encircled by the Spey, in the south-western end of the parish, near to which, a little farther down the river, lie the haughs of Kailymore, a part of the same estate, signifying the great wood; which epithet, in some degree, it still comparatively merits. The soil here is sandy, warm, and fertile; but, in general, over the rest of the parish, it is a stiff, rich, deep clay, generally on a bed of limestone, and very retentive of water, with which it is too frequently supplied, the summit of the mountain attracting or intercepting the clouds borne along from the ocean by the north and north-westerly winds, on which account the harvests are rather late; and, though the air be moist, yet there is no distemper generally prevalent. The historical population has never been more than 1500 and fell below 1000 between the world wars.
Mary, Queen of Scots came to Boharm in 1562. She was travelling from Aberdeen to Elgin and on to Inverness Castle from Aberdeen, and crossed the River Spey at "Bowame" by ferry boat. The boat cost 40 shillings and her almoner gave money poor folk in Boharm. There was a wayside Hospital dedicated to St Nicholas at Boat o'Brig, a Spey crossing where there had been a wooden bridge in the middle ages.
Churches
In Pre-Reformation times the parish and three chapels connected to three different estates: St Nicholas at Boat of Brigg; the chapel at Galival (Gaildwell); and the chapel at Artendol (Arndilly). St Nicholas dated from pre-1232 but was removed when a bridge was built in 1830. The Chapel of Galival dated from pre-1222 and was built by William de Moravia. The burial ground was used until 1740. Arndilly House was built on the site of the third chapel.
In 1618 a new parish church and burial ground was established at the expense of King James VI about 2 miles to the north east, near Maggieknockater. Gravestones in the churchyard date from 1692 onwards.
In 1783 the adjacent parish of Dundurcas was annexed to Boharm by the Court of Teinds, except for the lands of Aikenway, which were transferred to Rothes. The 1618 church fell into disuse in 1793, when a new church was constructed near the centre of the new enlarged parish. Portions of the east wall substantially remodelled (possibly by William Robertson of Elgin) in earlier 19th century as a burial enclosure for families of Arndilly and Auchlunkart who are commemorated by mural plaques.
The 1793 church was a simple rectangular building, with porches and a vestry added by William Robertson in 1828. The building, originally listed in 1972 as Category B, was recategorised in 1988 as C(S)
In 1946 Boharm Parish church united with the former United Free Church congregation of Boharm Mulben. In 1970 a link was established with Botriphnie, with one minister serving both parishes. The 1793 building ceased to be used for worship in 1974, with the former Free Church in Mulben (built around 1850) being used thereafter.