Transactions

OF THE

BANFFSHIRE FIELD CLUB.

THE STRATHMARTINE BanffshireTRUST Field Club

The support of The Strathmartine Trust toward this publication is gratefully acknowledged.

www.banffshirefieldclub.org.uk 41

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1887.

MEETING AT BANFF. THE monthly meeting of the Banffshire Field Club was held on the evening of Wednesday—Mr Ramsay in the chair. After routine business, and election of mem. bers, a paper was read by Mr Runcieman, Auchmill, on • Old Roads.' Mr Runcieman's paper was as follows :— OLD ROADS. Nothing more clearly shows the social and material progress of a country than the progress of the means of transport and locomotion. In the olden time, little communication existed between different parts of the country. Communities lived and died much within their own immediate circle. They had few or no material wants beyond what the natural produce of the soil sup- plied. Competent authority informs us that the com- mon food of the country people for a large part of last century ' was oatmeal, milk, and vegetables, chiefly red cabbage in winter, and colworts in spring and summer,* flesh never being seen in the houses of the common farmers except on great occasions, and that only within a few miles of a town. They brewed their own ale— one would think, if properly used, not the least nourish- ing part of their dietary—if it be true, as asserted by a writer of the first quarter of last century, that the common people boozed and got glorious on it when what seemed fit occasion, public or private, offered. Their shoes were made of leather tanned by themselves, and their hodden grey they manufactured from their own wool. Agricultural improvement had not begun, rents for most part were paid in kind and service, and very little money circulated in the community. Any- thing like heavy traffic Was very small. Even between Edinburgh and Glasgow, so late as 1760, the whole traffic was carried by ten or twelve pack horses going and returning once a week. In these circumstances, there was little or no inducement to road improve- Banffshirement. Roads were roads onl y Fieldin name, the bes t Club of them being mere tracks made by the hoofs of the horses and cattle that traversed them. Their chief merit was the direct course they invariably pursued, generally taking high ground and diverging only to escape soft boggie places. No better proof of the 42

wretched state of the roads and means of transport conld be had than what is recorded as having been the case during what is known as the ' bad years' at the close of the 17th century, that while in the earlier districts of there was bread enough and to spare, in the later men were actually dying for want. Writing of that time the minister of says of his parishioners' that most of them reduced to misery had not the money to purchase or the means to carry victual from the and district,' where we are told seed and bread abounded. Till 1719 it would appear no organised provision existed for mending the roads. In that year an Act was passed empowering the Commissioners of Supply to call npon every honseholder to give six days' work in the year towards the making and maintenance of the roads. Up till this time, and for a considerable time after, wheeled vehicles were scarcely known. The state of the roads admitted only of transport or personal touring on foot or horse back, the curracks and crooksaddle for goods, the saddle and pad for travelling. Gentlemen and their wives, as indicated by the saddle and pad, generally travelled on the same horse, a mode of travelling not necessarily so sociable as one might suppose, if the story I have heard of a gentleman from and his wife be worthy of credence. They had intimated a visit to a friend in , and setting out in this fashion .the gentleman duly arrived, bnt minua his better half. On being asked why he had not brought her with him, looked over his shoulder saying—' Isn't she there ?' Finding she was not, exclaimed—* Preserve me, it had been her cried clyte at Auld Rain.' Notwithstanding the Act of 1719, empowering the Commissioners of Supply to enforce statute labour for the maintenance of the roads, and though the following year, after ' due advertisement at the several Paroch Churches,' the county gentlemen met, and having read the Act of Parliament, 1719, relative to highways and bridges within the said county, unani- mously agreed that ' the whole highways and bridges should be repaired, amended, and built with all con- venient diligence;' very little improvement would seem to have taken place in the roads for a considerable time. The statute labour was very reluctantly given. The Commissioners, however, began more rigorously to enforce it, calling it out, by employing the precentors in the Parish Churches to read a notice from the Lectern before the blessing was pronounced, or the bellman to • scry' at the kirk door as the people ' scailt' to take Banffshirenotice that their service were needeFieldd at a certain plac eClub on such a day to work under some J.P.'s orders on the roads. They also appointed persons in each parish as overseers to look after the roads, and, in 1721, appointed • Al. Jaffray of Kingswells general surveyor of all the highways, causeways, and bridges within the county of Aberdeen, who is to ride and run the same and make 43

report what bridges or causeways may be necessary to be built or repaired within the county. His salary was 200 merksf with half-a-crown of riding charges for each day he has served or shall serve the shire.' They further intreated the ministers to' prompt all concerned to forward so good a work/ But the people did not see why the roads that were good enough for their fathers were not good enough for them. Thev hated and scamped the statute labour, and this ultimately led to its being commuted for a payment of 3d. a day. For the hired roadman 9d. a day was given; thus two days voluntary labour was considered equal to six of invol- untary. For all this the ordinary roads continued to be narrow unmetalled tracks, the only improvement, if it could be so called, being that in some cases ditches were cut along the sides, and what came out of them thrown on the road. In wet weather, this speedily became a muddy slough, rendering the road almost im- passable. In 1720, Sir Archibald Grant of complains • I could not in Chariote get my wife from Aberdeen to Monymusk.' Thirty years later so little improvement had taken place that at a county meeting in June 1751 • Meldrum * produced a letter 4 from my Lady Dowager of Forbes, representing that the public road 'twixt Inverury and is quite im- passable in several parts thereof, particularly that part twixt Pittodery's dykes and Overhall, which is dangerous to pass, especially with wheel carriages, and that lately her Ladyship's chaise had stuck there and broke the graith; and therefore craving the Commissioners to allow her a share of the highway money, and power to call out the country people to give their assistance, which, being considered, the meeting thought the re- quest of my Lady Forbes just and reasonable,' and ordered accordingly. It had been further represented to the Commissioners that many of the roads were * so narrow they will not permit wheel carriages to pass by one another, or even loaded horses with curracks and creels.*

Taking this into consideration, the Commissioners, in 1756, passed an act enjoining all public highways to be made ' 20 feet in breadth, and where broader they are to be kept so.' The roads were directed to be raised in the middle, so as water might run off them. Tenants who had arable lands adjacent to the public roads were enjoined to make * head rigs next to the highway,' and to cease the abuse that prevailed of ploughing across the roads. This act of the Aberdeenshire Commis- sioners, with the formation, in 1759, of eight separate Banffshireroad districts corresponding t o Fieldthe eight presbyteries ,Club may be said to be the starting point of better roads in Aberdeenshire, though some impetus in improvement had been given shortly before by the Government, after the rebellion, beginning to construct roads and bridges for wheeled vehicles, having a hard bottom of stones. The first of these lines of 44

road made by the military was the road from Brechin by , the Cairn o' Mount, Bridge, Kincardine O'Neil, , Alford, Tullynessle, Clatt, Kinnethmont, to (Cairney, Birkenburn to Keith), made about 1746. The next, named after Gen. Wade, from the Spittal of Glenshee, , and Tomintoul to the Spey, near Grantown, finished in 1754. About this time, also, our own old or King's road from Banff to Aberdeen was reconstructed, mostly on the line of the old currack road, as were most of the main lines of road, to suit the .wheel age, which began to develop about the middle of the century, and these continued to be the main roads till superseded by the turnpikes, which put Rome of them out of existence altogether. Every year is diminishing the number of individuals who know anything of these old out-of-existence roads, and our wish is, in this paper, to delineate some of them before they are altogether forgotten and lost sight of. Before I speak of any of those reconstructed roads, for the most part still in existence, I would refer to some which have been entirely superseded and mostly ploughed out of existence. Chief among these was a road from Banff to Aberdeen via Alvah, passing Turriff, through and , leaving Banff by the east side of the old Sandyhill Park, through the Deer Park, down past Mill of Alvah, on by Sandlaw, Auchin- badie, Bagrie, Newton, to Burreldales, where stands the 7th milestone. The last three miles have been recon- structed mostly on the old line. At the Den of Newton, a deep ravine had to be crossed, in which, farther down, stood the Mountblairy distillery. In this ravine at one time, the water to the distillery, taken from a spring on the farm of South Burreldales, crossed above the road in wooden spouts, the tenant of Burreldales' compensation for the water being one cask of whisky per annum. At Burreldales the road divides — one descending towards the river, called the Balreavie road, so named from its passing an old castle of that name, which Btood near the present hours of Mountblairy, below which the road passed j the 8th milestone being still to the fore on the haugh of Mountblairy. From this, it passed by Todlaw to the Factor's Ford, before reaching which, opposite the Boat of Ashogle, stands the 9th milestone. Ford- ing the river, this branch proceeded by Little Haughs, Tillyfar, and Shannochs, joining the Banff and Turriff road by King-Edward. Returning to Burreldales, the other road pursued Its way past Maryhill, where is the 8th milestone; and on to Scotstown, where is the 9th Banffshiremilestone — going on by Carnousi Fielde and Netherdal Clube towards Huntly. Along this road had travelled your once townsman the author of * Antiquities and Scenery of the North of ,' when he set out from Banff to explore Castle. He says—'The road through Strathava, along the banks of the Deveron, is 45 .

extremely pleasant. It runs through fields in a high state of cultivation—the prospect all the way enriched with seats amidst extensive plantings.* Returning to Scotston, near which the road from Banff joined the road from Cullen by Glassaugh, Auchip, Culphin, Blacklaw, and Crannah, and passed on by Church of Forglen, near which in these old days a market was held—the stance can still be shown. From the church the road descended to the Deveron at a cottage on the Turriff and Aberohirder road, about a hundred yards west of the entrance to Forglen House. Below the cottage, it crossed the river, and up through the farm of Rosehall, by Kinnermit and Bridgend, where it crossed the main road from Banff to Aberdeen through Turriff; proceeding south of turnpike along the brae through the farms of Millmoss and Bogieshalloch, where in some places the track can still be seen ; on by Darra, Woodtown, to Broadford, the historical ' Broade Foorde of Towie,' where was a public-house, thence passing near the ancient Towie-Barclay, an inscription over the principal entrance of which has it— 'Sir Alexander Barclay of Tolly, foundator, decessit A.D. 1136/ and on the same stone is carved—* In time of valth all men sims frendly: an frind is not knawing but in adversitie—1593.' This fine old place is said to have remained pretty entire till 1792, when, to suit the ideas of an unromantic occupying tenant, rnde hands were laid upon it. The roof, turrets, and embrasures were removed, the height reduced to two stories, and on it placed a common roof. At the suggestion of an occupier of different taste, the proprietors had this roof removed some 12 years ago, and, for its better protection, and to be more in harmony with its original form, an embattled parapet has been put on, with flat headed tnrrets at the four corners, and cement roof. Inside, the old baronial hall with arched ròof is very fine. A house in keeping with the place has been built near, and the whole place has been greatly beautified by the present occupier.

Passing from Towie, the road proceeded by Camalyns, Cardenwell, grounds to Lewes, a mile beyond whichit crossed the Ythan, on a little to east of West Crichie, by Tullo to Oldmeldrum. On this road, no doubt, travelled Edward I. in the course of his famous expedition through Scotland in 1296. We are told he spent a night at Fyvie, and next day came to Banff Castle. By this road from ' The Broade Foorde of Towie' rode Huntly when ' sometime before sunset * he ' breake upp his rendevouze/ 1 riding hard under the Banffshiredyckes of the churchyarde westwarde Field/ having peaceabl yClub passed by and dissolved his company, * ilk man to go home,' ' himself that night going to Forglen pertaining to the Laird of Banff.' Disbanding his men about Kinnermit, he would himself cross the Deveron by the ford near the cottage we described. Another of these extinct roadu is the one from Cummingston joining the 46

Banff and Aberdeen road near Danahillock. Leaving Cummingston by Mill of Pot, np by Cairnhill, over the Hill of Cotburn, down by Slap to Mill of Fintray, where it crossed by ford the Craigston burn, and np paBt Midtown, joining the Craigston road, and on to the ford at the bnrn of King-Edward at Bridgend. Here also another old mostly extinot road joined, one leaving the Fyvie and Turriff road about Woodtown, coming aoross by Mill of Delgaty, Delgaty, Crossbrae, and Crossfields, Fernystrype, below which it crossed tbe barn of Craigston, where once on a time * a four 'ous' wain' with lime was npset, to the great destruction of the trouts for miles below. From the ford, the road proceeded through- the farm of Craig of Garnieston (the ancient Craig Garnieston), passing the then farm of Drakemyre, and through the now parks of Strocherie to the said ford of Bridgend. From this road at Strocherie, a road passed down to Mill of King-Edward and up by Auchmill to the Turriff road. Here, tradition has it that Drakemyre's daughter was drowned, crossing the water on her way to the old Church of King- Edward to be married, and a stone lies at tbe ford with this inscription :— brak e Hear. lyes. the. monumont. Corrse d of mortefication: which, a.

man. named. John Taylor: in thi s

Draksmyrs. who mortefid. to. b e the. Kirk. of. King Eadvard. memorea l

Fiftie. merks. of. the. date. 1686. he y years, ordening : the interest,

to. be. emproven. yearly, for wh o the wpholding. o. vs. Bridge of Strotarie" Fording the bnrn. tbe road ascends the rather steep incline past Bridgend and over the ' heigh corse' where in feudal times a passing traveller might have, no doubt, seen the neck ' pitten into the mink to please the guid laird.' From the ford of Bridgend another old road diverged, passing Mill of Blackton and joining the road near Fortrie. A little below the ' heigh corse' the road joined the Banff and Aberdeen road, which was one of the reconstructed roads we shall now delineate, and which, with the exception of bits here and there to be noted, is still extant. At first, when this was the main road to the South, there was no bridge across the Deveron at Banff. The river had to be forded. There were two fords—one, the King's ford, a little above the month of the Gellyburn; the other, the Scurry ford, at Kirkside. The road to the Banffshireformer originally passed the sout hField front of Duff House .Club To the latter, the road was by the east side of the Sandy, hill park; but, in order to complete the laying ont of the park around Duff Honse, Lord Braco in 1756 acquired from the Town of Banff power to shut up and divert both these roads, one condition being that bis 47

lordship should make a new road from the public high, way to the Scurry ford, past the form houses of Kirk- side over the hill of Montcoffer. This ford and road formed the main road to the south till in 1763 a bridge was built over the Deveron a little below the present one, when this Montcoffer road was superseded by the Gavenybrae road; but, on the destruction of this bridge by the flood in 1768, the Scurry road had to be resumed till the completion of the present bridge in 1779. This allowed the completion of the privacy of the noble domain of Duff House. Before passing on to describe the road, let us hear what a traveller, visiting Banff in 1753, says of this fine mansion :— ' Must ford the Deveron before entering Banff, which is a very broad river, on its banks a fine prospect of the town, adjoining which is a most grand modern building of the Laird of Braco's. I thought it the finest piece of architecture I had seen in Scotland, but a great mis- fortune, the inside is not finished, occasioned by a law- suit between the Laird of Braco and his architect about a crack in the building. The architect getting the cause so grieved Laird Braco that he abandoned the pile, and lives among the mountains near Strathbogy, a recluse place and distant from company.' From over the hill of Montcoffer the road pursued its way by Wanford to near the farm of Keilhill. Here it orossed the parks towards Foulzie, below which it waB joined by the road from Macduff, the ancient Donne, coming over the hill by Gellyhffl and Fnnkieston (Netherwood). Here also the Peterhead road diverged going east. From Foulzie the Aberdeen road pursued its way to north-east of railway, dividing the farms of Upper and Nether Poulzie, on by Hotbroth, where was a refreshment house, which took the name ' Hotbroth from having that article on its Bign as what it could supply to travellers, thence by Wood of Balchers, cross- ing the railway where the King-Edward station now is, passing down close to Danshillock, through the den and past the millwright's. A little beyond this, the difficulty of all the roads, old and new, was how best to get over the valley in whioh the bnrn of King-Edward rnns. A little beyond Danshillock the old Currack Road turned sharply to the right, descending the steep decline by what is still the old 'pathe road,' up through the haughs of Castleton till a point is reached opposite Mid Holymill. Here on a small grass haugh by the Waterside was the cadgers resting place, the haugh being known to this day as the • Cadger Haugh. Here, no doubt, many a good fish had been rudely cooked, the broom in the adjoining bi ae affording ample Banffshirematerial for fuel; the ' flint anFieldd fleerish' with drie dClub grass doing duty for our more ready but less safe lucifer match. From this point, slanting up the brae by what is now the farm road, would seem to have been the most direct access from the south to the old Castle of King-Edward. From the cadgers' resting place the 48

road led up the brae through the farm of Mid Holymill, where the track can still be seen in the cultivated land, parallel about eighty yards distant from the den on the eastern boundary of the farm, crossing the Dun- lugas road, a little beyond which it enters the farm of Auchmill, proceeding through the fields over the hill to the small farm on Hill of Luncarty. Returning to Danshillock, the way the currack road crossed the valley, being too steep when wheeled vehicles began to be used, had to be abandoned, and one more suited for them looked for. This was found, though still steep, by going farther up the valley, and instead of turning to the right and descending the • old pathe road,' the improved line kept along to east of turnpike, through the fields till it reached Castleton, where it passed down the brae right in front of the prettily situated farm house. Skirting the northern base of the promontory on which the old Castle of King-Edward stands, crossing the Burn of King-Edward orginally by a ford, but in 1771, what is now the 4 Old Bridge ' was built. There is no date upon it, but the date of its erection I discovered from an interesting manuscript diary kept by John Allardes, tenant in Lower Plaidy towards the end of last century, and now in possession of Mr Dunbar, Union Bank, Turriff. The entry under date 1771 has it, ' This year a bridge was built at Castleton by James Robieson, mason in Banff— a work of great benefit to the public.' At the bridge, on the farm of Castleton, carried out by the present tenant in 1869, may be seen the first application of a water wheel, communicating motion by means of a slight hemp rope running at a high speed, to a thrashing mill at a distance. This idea originated with the late Mr Leslie, Burnside of Delgaty, who was also the first to introduce wire fencing into the north of Scotland. The rope passes over the old ford road, and tbe mill on the top of the brae, at the farm steading, is some 150 yards distant from the wheel below. From the bridge the road ascends to the turnpike, after crossing which it is still the road, passing up through the farm of Auchmill till it resumes the old track at the small farm on Hill of Luncarty, thence proceeding by Luncarty, Dulcerstone, entering Turriff by Market Street, passing through the town, and leaving it on the south between ' The Cross ' and 'The Lodging,' much in the same way but on a higher level than the turnpike road now does.

The 'Cross o' Turra' is of considerable antiquity. It stands at the mouth of Castlehill, and was the place where sometimes the Sheriff held his court. There is Banffshirean account of an inquest being helFieldd at it in 1557, whe nClub among the jurors were Patrick Mowat of Balquholly : James Dempster of ; George Crichton of Little Forg; Alexander Con of Auchry; Thomas Con, his son ; John Grant of Ballindalloch ; Patrick Grant of Dalvey; and John Irvine in Turriff. The cross, which had become very much dilapidated, was re-erected in 49

1865, and is now more elegant looking than ancient. 'The Lodging" was so called from its being the hotel or lodging of the Earls of Errol, who were for about 350 years superiors of Turriff. From the town the road crossed near where the Railway Station now stands, and passed up the brae on opposite side of den at Bridgend from present road, till it resumes itself near the farm of Upperton, proceeding with Gask on left, which in the days when we were young was the fox-hunting seat of the Earl of Kintore. It is now the property of the Chief Magistrate of Turriff, Mr Hutcheon. Through the Den of Gask and on by Craigytocher and Woodhead, where crossing the little burn the road enters the parish of Auchterless, going on by Kingsford, Ordley, turning sharply to the left at Thomastown, descends towards the Ythan, crossing which by a bridge erected in 1840, when a new channel for the river was cut, it enters the farm of Chapel of Seggat, tenanted by Mr Wallace. The former bridge by which the road crossed was some 40 yards nearer the farm house. Here built in 1762 was a famous inn, which still stands as part of the farm house. The Estate of Towie, on which Chapel of Seggat farm is, then belonged to the Earl of Findlater, who built the inn for the present respected tenant's great-grandfather, John Wallace, as the following extracts from the copy of lease show:— 'It is agreed betwixt the Earl of Findlater and Seafield and the said John Wallace, that the Earl shall grant to him, and, failing him by decease, to his eldest son in life at that time (but secluding all assignees and sub-tenants, except one married servant, to whom he may sot one acre of land or thereby), a nineteen years' tack, commencing at Whitsunday next, of the farm and possession of Chapel of Seggat, as presently possessed by Andrew Collie. And the Earl engages to repair sufficiently the two chambers on the said possession, which were built for the said Andrew Collie, and to lay out to the extent of sixty pounds sterling for building a house, which is to consist of four fire rooms for the entertainment and accommodation of travellers. And the said John Wallace is to be bound to pay the rents after-mentioned yearly, viz.:—One stone of tallow or four pounds Scots, twelve poultry fowls or one pound four shillings Scots, both at the term of Martinmas, beginning the first payment at Martinmas next, and it being in his Lordship's option to take the said tallow and poultry or the above-mentioned conversions; as also the sum of one hundred pounds Scots of money Banffshirerent, including therein servic e Fieldmoney at the term of Club Martinmas yearly, beginning the first payment thereof at Martinmas in the year M v.c.c. and sixty-three: together with three bolls two firlots and two lippies of meal (including therein sid and ly meal) all made of great white oats, 'twixt Yule and Candlemas yearly, beginning the first payment 'twixt Yule in the year 50

M.v.c.c. and sixty-three and Candlemas immediately thereafter, which meal he is to transport on his own expences to or any place of the like distance. And the said John Wallace is also to be obliged to pay seven and an half per cent, on the sum which shall be depnrsed in building the foresaid house, and that yearly at Martinmas, by way of additional rent/ John "Wallace must have been a man of note. By a diploma in possession of the family, dated 1761, he was admitted a Burgess of Guild of Aberdeen, being at that time amanuensis to Lord Deskford, and was on the best of terms with and highly esteemed by the then Earl of Findlater, which is shown by the following letter from my Lord's Commissioner to John Wallace, relating to the carrying out of the tack shows:— ' Cullen House, 8th Augt. 1762. 'John,—I received yours yesterday, and communi- cated the contents to my Lord Findlater, who desires me to write you that he gives you liberty to take from his trees at Towie what will be sufficient for watling your stable and barn, providing it can be got without hurting the trees. As you understand something of pruning, my Lord expects that you will be careful not to do harm in taking what is necessary for your purpose. _ 'M r Munro was here to-day, and has got very par- ticular orders about finishing your house. He is ordered to lay a wooden floor under one of the beds, to get locks to the doors and presses, to finish the roof as soon as possible, and to do anything else that, may be necessary to compleat the two rooms. Mr Munro has also got orders to accommodate you with a seat in the kirk, and I suppose he will be soon at Towie to settle these matters. You may talk to him particularly about all these things, and if any difficulty occurs, you may inform me of it. My Lord is desirous that you be well accommodated, as he has no doubt of your doing very well. Lord Kinnoul, Lady Betty, and the Collector spoke much in praise of Mrs Wallace, which I'm convinced she deserves. 'I will always be glad to do you any service in my power. For I am, very sincerely your real well-wisher and humble servant, (Signed) 'JA. Ross.' At this interesting place, as the name would indicate, once were a chapel and burial ground, with holy well (the well of the Virgin Mary), all visible from the road. Only a fragment of the chapel now remains, and the burial ground, the last interment in which tradition says, was a lady of note, has not been used for a Banffshirelong time, and is now a garden Field, the present tenan tClub remembering when it was trenched up that many bones were found. The well, which is now neatly built and covered, was supposed to have great virtue in it. The chapel and well were much frequented for superstitious worship, and on this 51

account, so late as the middle of the seventeenth cen- tury, were a source of great trouble to the Presbytery of Turriff, not to speak of the minister of Auchterless, as the following extracts from the Presbytery Eecords will show. From the 'Referres from the Provincial Assemblie of Abd.. holden in the College Kirk of New Aberdene, April 17,18, 19, 20, Anno 1649, Mr Andrew Straquhan being Moderator.' ' It being found that the chappell and altar of Sigget wer not demolished, nor yet the well filled up according to ane former ordi- nance. Therefore, the assemblie ordains the p.brie of Tarreff to visit the kirk of Auchterless and demolish the sd. chappell alter and well.' * The visitation of the kirk of Auchterless, Augt. 15, 1649, finds—That the chappell and altar of Sigget is demolishedThe well 6eems to have been left untouched for the time ; bnt at a Presbytery meeting, held Novr. 22, we find it or- dained—:* That a karne of stones be put upon the well of Seggat.' At next meeting, the minister of Auchter- less, Mr Andrew Massie, ' reported that he had agreed with servants to put ane karne of stones upon the well of Sigget.' But as often as it was filled up, ' evil dis- posed persons ' cleaned them out, and the fight went on till the minister and his elders were wearied out, the elders refusing to do anything more in the matter, and the minister reports to the Presbytery on March 31, 1653, as follows:—' Concerning the wel of Sigget, Mr Andrew Massie does declare that he has dealt with the elders thereanent, but cannot get them moved to waire anie more pains in it j but, notwithstanding, he promises for himself that, if no man will take paines in it, he shall yock servants to it at his charges, and that his dilli- gence shall be seene by the brethern as they goe along to the assemblie." Whether the people of Auchterless were more superstitious than their neighbours, I cannot tell ; but that superstition lived long with them, and died hard is evident from the foregoing, and from the fact spoken to by the present tenant's late father, who remembered the time when the servants on Chapel thought it worth their while to clean out the well before May morn, that they might more easily get the offerings left by the worshippers, without which the water had no virtue. Chapel of Seggat Inn was one of the places where fresh horses could be had on the road from Edinburgh to Banff. It may also be worth while to note that it had the honour of harbouring for a night the Duchess of Gordon (Lady Jane Maxwell) when, raising the ' Gordon Highlanders,' she visited Auchterless. BanffshireFrom the farm house of Chape Fieldl of Seggat the roa dClub passes up through the highly cultivated and beautifully laid off fields of the farm, passing Seggat, Burnside, Mill of Rothie, through the wood lying between Rothie and Petty to Baggageford, so called from the Duke of Cum- berland's baggage coming to grief in it, Starbridges, Tulloch, to Old Meldrum. From Old Meldrum to 52

Aberdeen the road proceeded by Auchenhuve, Leith- field, Straloch, New Macher Church, a little to east of Kinmundy, Rosehall, Parkhill, Scotstown, crossing the Don by the ' Auld Brig of Balgownie,' through Old Aberdeen, the Spittal, and Gallowgate to the city, and through the city by Broad Street, Shiprow, The Green, Windmillbrae, past the Langstane, now Langstane Place, the Hardgate, near which I believe there is the remnant of a little bridge over which the Duke of Cumberland rode on entering Aberdeen on his way to Culloden. On this road from Aberdeen to Oldmeldrum there were six alehouses. Part of Prince Charlie's army marched north by this road from Aberdeen, Charlie himself going from Perth by Cupar, Cortachy, Clova, Glenmuick, , Keith, to the West. Sir John Cope travelled over it on his way south to take ship at Aberdeen. Along this road also came the Duke of Cumberland and part of his army on their way to Culloden. Besting at Turriff, where, it is said, ha and his staff dined with three drums for tables, making the minister partake of the dishes before him. he proceeded on to Banff via King-Edward, crossing the Burn of King- Edward by the ford near the old Castle of Kin Edar, and on by Danshillock, below which a place is shown where tradition says his cannon sunk, and had to be dug out. The appearance of the place corroborates the tradition, and lately an officer of the Royal En- gineers who was in the district, being shown it, was quite interested, calling it in military phrase 'a ramp.' The Duke and his army crossed the Deveron to Banff at the Scurry Ford on the 10th April 1746, and bivouacked between Duff House (which was then building) and the Parish Church. The Duke and his staff were quartered in the old house of Airlie, which then stood where is now the Duff House flower garden. Along this road went Montrose in 1615 when on his plundering march from the West through Banff, Turriff, and he stript the inhabitants to their shirts to cover his ragged Royalists; and also on another occasion, in different circumstances, after his defeat at Inver. carron, he was taken in the disguise of a peasant, and, mounted on a small pony with his feet tied under it, he was marched through the towns he had formerly plundered along the route to Edinburgh. In 1798 a company of French soldiers landed in Ireland to assist the then Irish rebels. They were forced to surrender, and, for safe keeping, were taken to Fort.George. They passed along by this road; and the late Mrs BanffshireDuncan, Balchers, used to tel l Fieldhow she remembere dClub seeing them waving handkerchiefs from the carriage windows as they passed on their way to be interned. Another of these reconstructed roads I shall briefly notice is the road from Banff to Peterhead. Diverging, as I formerly noted, at Foulzie, it passed over the hill 53

by Newton of Foulzie to Fortrie, where once was a meal mill, on by Balgreen, Fauchfaulds, Milton of Fishrie, to Mains of Fishrie. Here stood the ancient house of Fishery. A little south of this is Mill of Fishrie, where, tradition says, once lived a famous Covenanting miller. His exploits had made for him a name in the dis- trict, which had reached Montrose at Banff on his plun- dering march already mentioned. Thinking, no doubt, the Royalist cause would he all the better without such a doughty Covenanter, he commissioned two trusty men to make a detour to Fishrie and bring the miller's head with them. On reaching Mill of Fortrie, where the miller was winnowing the shilling on the ' shillin hill," thinking this was the place and then: man, they proceeded to execute their commission by taking off the miller's head. Their remarks revealing their mistake, news was suddenly carried to Fishrie, when the miller, seizing a handspike, pursued and overtook the men at Strocherie, and, falling upon them, slew first the one and then the other, the people burying them in the brae near Mill of King.Edward. News of what had happened reaching Montrose at Turriff, he sent another detachment to execute vengeance on the miller, who, getting notice of their coming, this time thinking discretion the better part of valour, fled to a pnblic-house near, and prevailed on the landlady to hide him, which she did. Montrose's men, not finding the miller at home, adjourned to the public-house for refreshment, and while enjoying them- selves began to boast, in the miller's hearing, of what they should do on finding him. This rousing the miller, he burst from his hiding in such manner as inspired them with terror, all making for the door, the last to escape doing so only by the miller's dirk finding a sheath in the door-head instead of his body. From Fishrie, after crossing the little burn, the road passed along below Auchlin, by Blakeshouse, crossed the Gamrie and Turriff road at the Congregational Church and Manse of Millseat. The former became a place of worship in 1830, later the Manse was erected and the Church renovated. The property is snugly located in the south angle of the roads. Passing from this, for nearly a mile the old road has been superseded by the proxi- mity of the turnpike on one side, and the Byth and Craigston road on the other. Another half mile and the woods of Byth are reached. Here the road turns to the right, no doubt to escape the moss, which then lay in unbroken swamp in front. Passing through the village of New Byth, a mile beyond which the road divides, one going by Bonnykelly, Sweetie Hillock, Auchnarie, , Kindrought, Hythie, Bora, Inverugie to Peter- head. Along this route came, I believe, the famous tourist, BanffshireMr Pennant, who travelled in th eField North of Scotland in Club 1770. He describes his journey in these terms—' Crossed the country towards Banff over oatlands, a coarse sort of downs and black heathy moors, without a single tree for numbers of miles. See , a good 54

house, once defensible, seated in a snug bottom where the plantations thrive greatly.' To visit Craigston, which he did, he must have diverged to the Turriff road, -where the Banff road has fallen into disuse a little before coming to Millseat Church. This would bring him past Craigston Castle, from which he would have easy access by the Fernystripe road and Mill of King- Edward branch past Auchmill to the Banff road, passing the old castle of Kinedar, which he proceeds to tell us he saw—' Passed by a small rained Castle on a round hill, in a deep glen, at a place called Castleton. Ford the Deveron to Banff, a fine broad river over which had been a beautiful bridge now washed away by the floods. He proceeded by Boyn House, Portsoy, Cullen, Fochabers. At Belly Church he crossed the Spey, where he tells us the channel was deep, so deep as to take one of the Duke's officers, six feet four inches high, up to the breast, himself being my informer. He had been greatly pleased with his visit to Craigston Castle, " the enchantment of which he had not forgot, he tells us, when he reached the fairy grounds of Forres." Returning to where the roads diverge, a mile beyond Byth, the other road goes on by Hill of Corsegight, Fedderate, Maud, Aikey Brae, Old Deer, Kinmundy, Richmond, to Peterhead. Over this road, as far as Old Deer, had travelled Dr Johnson in his famous tour in 1773. His friend Boswell tells us that, being ' cnrious to see one of those structures which northern antiquarians call a Druid's temple, and I remembering one at Strichen, which I had seen fifteen years ago, we went four miles out of our road after passing Old Deer and went thither." Another road of much interest to the residents in the North during last and a good part of present century, and one I should like to shortly notice if I am not wearying you, is the old Drove Road from Aikey Brae to the South. Whether the legend of ' Aul' Aikey' and his pack be correct as to the institution of this great annual gathering matters little, certain it is Aikey Fair came to be the largest market in the North of Scotland. It is now only a shadow of its former self. In its best days, the North-eastern counties, far and near, were stirred, and poured in their produce of all kinds to Aikey Brae on the Wednesday after the 19th July. As many, it is said, as 10,000 people and 6000 cattle would be assembled in the Brae. M'Combie says, lamenting its decline—' It was a sight I shall never witness more, to see the whole hillside covered with innumerable herds of " Buchan Hummlies."' Most of the cattle were bought to go South, and as many as 6000 in one Banffshirecontinuous drove are spoken oFieldf as passing along thClube road on their way south. Latterly, when agricultural improvement set in, and narrowed the uncultivated margin generally to be found on the old road, the droving became a great trouble to the occupiers along the road, who for the protection of their crops had to 55

tarn out and line the road with every available person till the drove passed. This drove road left Aikey Brae in a southerly direction over the Parkhouse hill. Wind- hill, by Clochcan School, Auchnagatt, Savoch of Deer, to Tangland Ford on the Ythan, , , Oldmel- dram, Inverurie, where the droves were arranged, I believe, on the Borough Muir; then crossing the Don, on by Kintore, Torryburn, the Lyne of Skene, Waterton, Dunecht, Village of Echt, east side of Hill of Fare, Wicker Inn, Kilnduthie, on to -Ternan; there across the Dee, past Brig of Feugh, Kirkton of Strachan, to Cuttieshillock public house, where the cattle were generally rested, there being plenty of rongh pasture. Cuttie was said to be a bit of a character, and on one occasion being rather short of cash, gave a whisky permit for a pound note, and being afterwards accused of it, replied, 'I ken, but Cutties' note will come again,' this orginating the saying, ' Like Cutties' note, it'll come again.' From Cuttieshillock the road proceeded by Bridge of Dye, over the Cairn o' Mount, by Fetter- cairn, to Trinity Muir, where the English dealers would meet them, though they were often taken on to Falkirk. From all this what a change ! A hundred and forty years ago the London mail only reached Aberdeen on the sixth day after leaving the metropolis. Edinburgh to Aberdeen occupied three days ; a hundred years ago there were only, exclusive of the city, eight post towns in Aberdeenshire, these were—Ellon, Peterhead, Fraser- burgh, Kintore, Old Rain, Old Meldrum, Turriff, and Huntly. The advent of turnpikes about the beginning of the century introduced the improved stage coach to be superseded by the railway. From the crooksaddle road to the railway—the Currack to the goods train— the saddle and pad to the express—what a contrast! The London mail to Aberdeen from six days to fifteen hours, Edinburgh to Aberdeen from three days to six hours; every hamlet its Post Office. Perhaps in no direction has progress been more signally manifested than in this of transport and locomotion. In these days produce of all kinds is practically nearer to us from America, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the Continent of Europe, than one part of Aberdeenshire was to another in those old days, and if one result of all this has been to intensify com- petition, and revolutionize the conditions on which the oldest of all our professions has hitherto been carried on, we may comfort ourselves with the thought that it has made it easier for the.great bulk of mankind to live, and we need not fear that the resources of agriculture Banffshireare yet exhausted. Field Club At the close, some discussion took place on the interesting points raised, and on the motion of Rev. Mr Sutherland, Turriff, seconded by Mr Yeats, a cordial vote of thanks was passed to Mr Runcieman for his excellent paper.