Inverbervie (from or Biorbhaigh, "mouth of the River Bervie") is a small town on the north-east coast of Scotland, south of Stonehaven. Etymology The name Inverbervie involves the Gaelic Inbhir Biorbhaigh, meaning "mouth of Bervie Water". Historic forms, such as Haberberui from 1290, demonstrate that Gaelic inbhir, "estuary", has succeeded the original Brittonic element aber, with the same meaning (c.f. Welsh aber). History Inverbervie appears in written history at least as far back as the 12th century AD; in a document relating to Arbroath Abbey, Simon of Inverbervie is noted as having witnessed a charter transferring the lands of Balfeith to the Abbey. The settlement was formerly a royal burgh from 1342 to 1975 and a parliamentary burgh from 1708 to 1950, the former status being conferred by David II of Scotland for hospitality he and his Queen received when shipwrecked there the previous year when returning from exile. The burgh council was based at Inverbervie Town House which was rebuilt in 1840. A small harbour in the town was important in early years but despite improvements by Thomas Telford in 1819, disappeared by 1830 owing to the buildup of the shingle bar at the river mouth. The first flax spinning mill in Scotland was established here at the Haughs around 1790 and by 1910 there were nine in operation employing 500-600 workers. As a result of this, the population of the settlement peaked at over 2,500 around the turn of the 20th century but has since declined owing the downturn in that industry. The town was within the county of Kincardineshire until 1975, when the county was merged into the Grampian Region. The Aberdeenshire unitary council area, which now includes Inverbervie, was created when the region system was eradicated in 1996. Aberdeenshire is also the name of another former county which was merged into the Grampian Region in 1975. Prominent local buildings include Hallgreen Castle, founded in 1376, standing on a bluff overlooking the sea towards the southern end of the town. Climate Like most of the United Kingdom, Inverbervie has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb). with warm summers, cool winters and few extremes of temperature. Parliamentary burgh The parliamentary burgh which existed from 1708 to 1950 was a component of the Aberdeen district of burghs of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. In