CAMBRI DGE C OU NTY GEOGRAPH I ES

SCOTL A ND

G : . M U R I SON M . A . eneral Editor W ,

A B ER D EENS H I R E CAM B R I D GE UNK V E RS I TY P R ES S

F ETT E R ANE Zl o nh o n : L ,

AY M ANA C . F CL , GE R

'' Qs r o o P R I NCE S S TR E ET nmb urgb : ,

: A . A S H E R A ND B trlin CO.

3Lcip3i g : F. A . B ROC K H AU S

’ 1}! c 38 0t h : G . P . PU TNA M S S ONS

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B n l ta : AC I L L AN AND CO. L r n . umba g a t! Ql a rut M M , o h W C66 i

’ Ca m ér zdg e Co u n ty Geog r a p h er

A B E RD E E N SH I RE

AL E ! AND E R M ACK I E M . A . ,

L a e Exa m n e in E n li sh A b e r de en U n er s a n d t i r g , iv ity, a u th o r o f Na tu r e K n ow/edg e I n M oder n Poetry

With M aps, D iagrams and Illustrations

C a m b r idge

a t th e U n i v e r si ty Pr e ss flamil ringc

PR N . I T E D B Y J OH N CL A Y, M . A

A T T H E U N IV E RS ITY F REQ S CONTE NTS

County a n d Shire . The Origin of Aberdeenshire

General Charac teristi c s

z Si e . Shape . Boundaries

S c S a n d F urfa e , oil General eatures

c Watershed . Rivers . Lo h s Geology Natural H istory Round the Coast

Weather and Climate . Temperature . Rainfall . Wi n ds — c The People Ra e , Language , Population

Agri c ulture The Granite Industry fl CONTENTS

History o f the County — C c Sc S C Antiquities ir les , ul ptured tones , rannogs , Forts 1 1 2 — Arc hitec ture (a ) E c c lesiasti c al I 2 ] — Arc hitec ture (b) Castellated — Arc h itec ture (c ) Muni c ipal — Arc hitec ture (d) Domesti c — C c ommuni ations Roads , Railways

Administration a n d Divisions

The Roll o f Honour

The Chief Towns a n d V illages o f Aberdeensh ire lL L U ST RAT I ONS

‘ 1 n e lone Kirkyard , Gamrie H A Town ouse , Old berdeen Consumption Dyke at K i n g swe lls

c o f u o ic h The Pun h Bowl , Linn Q , Braemar W w N. . S n o ld a n d n e o Pennan , looking howi g h uses Tro up

o a — L c h Avon n d Be n M a c dh u i .

B e n a c h ie

o f D B Linn ee , raemar

o f D I n ve r c a u ld Old bridge ee , V iew from o ld bridge o f I n v e r c a u ld

F o f M u ic k alls , Ballater Birc h Tree at Braemar Fi r Trees at Braemar

Do n o S c C The , l oking towards t Ma har athedral ’ o o Brig Balg wnie , Aberdeen

c M u ic k Lo h , near Ballater

c C a lla ter Lo h , Braemar Lo c h o f Skene ILLUSTRATIONS

Sa n d Hills at Cruden Bay ” ’ Po t o c The , Bullers Bu han B u c han Ness Lig hthouse F Kinnaird Lighthouse , raserburgh ’ n c to Pitsli o s C o Entra e Lord g ave , R sehearty W S i n N. . A berdour hore , look g Inverey near Braemar Aberdeen - Angus Bull Aberdeen Shorthorn Bull

( u a r r Granite L y, Kemnay

Granite Works , Aberdeen

o o c n Making sm ked hadd ks , Aberdee Fi sh Market , Aberdeen Fi G A shwives , The reen , berdeen H North arbour , Peterhead

H n F erri g boats at raserburg h .

F F o m o u t ishing leet g g , Aberdeen

A o c A t the d ks , berdeen w White C o Wood Cairn Circ le ; V iew fro m the S W Palaeol ithi c Flint Implement Neol ithi c Celt o f G reenstone

S o i n G o c t ne at Logie , the ari h ” “ ” c o r B H Pi ts irde ouse at M igvie , Aberdeenshire Loc h K i n n o r d i Fr o m Tb e Bo ok of Deer

S c C A t Ma har athedral , Old berdeen St Mac har Cathedral (interior) ’ n Co U m ver srt Ki g s llege , Aberdeen y

E a n d C c ast West hur hes , Aberdeen Kildrummy Castle The Old House o f G ig h t

C r a i iev a r C Do n side g astle ,

C r a th e s C c astle , Kin ardineshire ILLUSTRATIONS i x

Castle Fraser F C S F yvie astle , outh ront

c a n d C Muni ipal Buildings , Aberdeen , Town ross

c C Maris hal ollege , Aberdeen

U n n c a n d o f io Terra e Gardens , before widening Bridge

Sc o Grammar ho l , Aberdeen ’ C n Gordon s ollege , Aberdee

o f Do n Bridge , from Balgownie

o f D n Old B ridge ee , Aberdee Balmoral Castle Cluny Castle Hadd o H o use M idmar Castle Spittal o f Gle n shee

D . D . Professor Thomas Reid ,

Sc Sc h o o lh ill The Old Grammar hool ,

Bi r se m o r e c a n d C r a i e n di n n ie Lo h g , Aboyne Mar Castle

B V n c allater , iew from Pa nani h Braemar from Craig Co yn a c h

D o o H C The rway , untly astle I The Bass , nverurie The White Horse o n M o r m o n d Hi ll Diagrams

MAPS Orographi c al Map o f Aberdee n shire Geologi c al Map o f Aberdeenshire Rainfall Map o f Sc otland

i u o n . 1 2 62 6 o The ll strations pp 3 , , , 3 are from phot g raphs

. o n . I 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 6 2 8 by W Norrie ; those pp 5 , 9 , 4 , 9 , , , 3 , 4 , , , x ILLUSTRATIONS

1 2 1 2 8 1 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 7 , , 9 , 3 , 3 3 , 4 , 4 , 44 , 4 6,

1 1 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 8 4 7 , 49 , 5 , 5 , 5 , 5 3 , 5 5 , 5 7 , 3 ,

1 8 1 8 6 1 8 8 a n d 1 8 . V a i a n d 4 , , 9 , are from photographs by J lent ne o n Sons ; that p . 7 from a photograph by J . Watt ; that o n

o o D . B o n . 8 p . 4 7 fr m a phot g raph by r W rown ; that p 4 from

A o n . 1 o o a photog raph by . Gordon ; that p 9 3 from a ph t graph by A . Gray .

to . D . Co ll n ie fo r i Thanks are due W uthie , Esq , y , perm ssion C to c o n . 8 2 to . M G . . reprodu e the illustration p ; J Petrie , Esq ,

- fo r e r n n ssro n to o c o n . 8 1 to Glen Log ie , p repr du e that p Messrs

. a n d . a n d S fo r to c o n T R Annan ons , permission reprodu e that

to o o f o f S c fo r p . 1 7 5 ; the S c iety Antiquaries otland permission t n d 1 1 a n d to o reproduc e th o se o pp . 1 1 3 a n 8 ; Alexander

r . A fo r o to c Walker , J . , Esq , berdeen , permissi n reprodu e that o n p . 1 7 9 . 1 f . Cou nty and S h i re . Th e Orig i n o

Ab erd een sh i re .

“ The term shire , which means a division (Anglo

sc i r a n : h a s Saxon to cut or divide), in Scotland practically the same meaning as county . In most cases the two names are interchangeable . Yet we do not say O rkney shire nor Ki rkcudbri ghtshire , , Kirkcudbright is a stewartry and not a county , but in regard to the others we call them with equal readiness shires or counties . County

i means originally the d strict ruled by a Count , the N orman equivalent of Earl . It is said that Aberdeenshire is the result of a combination of two counties, Buchan

M a r and , representing the territory under the rule of the

r Earl of Buchan and the Earl of M a . The distinction is in effect what we mean to - day by East Aberdeenshire and West Aberdeenshire ; and the local students of Aberdeen University when voting for their Lord Rector by “ nations are still classifi ed a s belonging to either the Buchan nation or the M a r nation according to their place of birth .

c The ounties, then , are certain areas which it is convenient for political and administrative purposes to

M . A . 2 A BERDEENSHIRE divide the country into for the better and more convenient

- management of local and internal affairs . To day

h a - o f Scotland s thi rty three these divisions . In a public

- 1 0 fi ve . ordinance dated 3 5, twenty counties are named They would seem to have been first defi ned early in the twelfth century , but as a matter of fact nothing very definite is known , either as to the date of their origin or as to the principles which regulated the making of their geographical boundaries . It is certain , however, that the cou n ty divisions were in Scotland an introduction from

England . The term came along with the people who f were locking into Scotland fro m the south . The lines were drawn for what seemed political convenience and

- no doubt they were suited to the times . To day the boundaries seem on occasion somewhat erratic . Banchory, for example, is in Kincardineshire , while Aboyne and Ballater on the same river bank and on the same line of road and railway are in Aberdeenshire . If the carving were to be done over again i n the twentieth century, more consideration would probably be given to the railway lines . A commission of 1 8 9 1 did actually rearrange the f boundaries . O the parishes partly in Aberdeen and partly in B a n fl, some were transferred wholly to Aber

Ga r tl G New M Old deen ( y, lass , achar , Deer and ff St Fergus), while others were placed in Ban shire

k R . (Cabrach , Gamrie , Inver eithny , Alvah and othiemay) How i t happened that certain parts of adjoining counties were planted like islands in the heart of Aberdeenshire may be understood by reference to such a case a s that of COUNTY AND SHIRE 3

St Fergus . A large part of this parish belonged to the ff ff w Cheynes, who being hereditary sheri s of Ban shire ere naturally desirous of having their patrimonial estates under their own legal jurisdiction , and were in fluential enough to be able to stereotype this anomaly . This explains the place of St Fergus in Banffshi re ; it is now very properly a part of Aberdeenshire .

wa stes; e

T h e o K k a G a l ne ir y rd , mrie

The c ounty took its name from the chief town Aberdeen— which is clearly Celtic in origin and means the town at the mouth of either the Dee or the Don . Both interpretations are possible ; but the fact that the

' Latin form of the word h a s always been Aber dam a and

Ab er do n en sis . , favours the Don as the naming river As a

t c Old d ma ter of fa t , Aber een , though lying at no great

I — 2 4 A BE RDEENSHIRE

distance from the bank of the Don , can hardly be said to

D o n m o u th be associated with , whereas a conside rable population must from a remote period have been located at the mouth of the Dee . Whatever interpretation is — accepted , it was this city the only town in the district — conspicuous for population and resources that gave its name to the county as a whole . The whole region between the river Dee and the ff river Spey , comprising the two counties of Ban and

Aberdeen , forms a natural province . There is no natural , or recognisable line of demarcation between the two counties . Their fortunes have been one . The river D e ve ro n might conceivably have been chosen as the dividing line , but in practice it is so only to a l imited extent . The whole district, which if invaded was never R really conquered by the omans, made one of the seven Provinces of what wa s called Pictland in the early middle ages, and it long continued to assert for itself a semi i ndependent political ex i sten c e .

2 . Ge n eral C h aracteri st i cs.

i h a s The county is almost purely agr cultural . It always enjoyed a c ertain measure of maritime activity and

fi of recent years the shing industry , especially at Aber deen , has made immense progress, but as a whole the

is - R area a well cultivated district . ound the coast and is on all the lower levels tillage the rule . In the interior the level of the land rises rapidly, and ploughed fields T o wn H o s Old Ab u e , erdeen 6 A BERDEENSHIRE give place to desolate moors and bare mountain heights in is wh ich agriculture an impossible industry . The surface of the lowland parts, now in regular cultivation , was . - originally very rough and rock strewn . It was covered with erratic blocks of stone , gneiss and granite (locally called left by the melting of the ice fields which overspread all the north - east of Scotland during th e

Ice Age . These stones have been cleared from the fi elds and utilised as boundary walls . Some idea of the extra ordinary energy and excessive labour necessary to clear th e land for tillage may be gathered from a glance at the “ K in swe lls f consumption dyke at g , some ive miles from Aberdeen . This solid rampart stretches like a great

- break water across nearly half a mile of country, th rough

B r im m o n d a dip to the south of the H ill . It is five or six feet in height and twenty to th irty in breadth and contains thousands of tons of troublesome boulders gathered from the surrounding slopes . The disposal of h s these blocks was a serious problem . It a been solved by this rampart . In other parts the stones were built up into enclosing walls and now serve the double purpose of enclosing the fields and providing a certain amount of

B r im m o n d shelter for crops and cattle . The slopes of the Hill are in certain parts still uncleared and the appearance of these areas helps us to realise what this section of the country looked like before the enterprising agriculturist braced himself to prepare the surface for the u se of the plough .

i n The soil , except the alluvial deposits on the banks is of the Don and the Ythan , not of great natural fertility ,

8 ABERDEENSHIRE made it a great and prosperous agricultural region and only those who on a September day have seen from the top of B en a c h ie the undulating plains of Bu c han glitter ing golden in the su n c a n realise what a transformation has been effected on a barren and stony land by the industry of man .

The most easterly of the Scottish counties, i t abuts N like a prominent shoulder into the orth Sea . It has,

se a - d therefore , a considerable board partly flat an sandy , partly rocky and precipitous . The population of the numerous villages dotted along th is coast used in time past to devote themselves to fishing, but the tendency of recent years has been to concentrate this industry in the larger towns, Fraserburgh , Peterhead and Aberdeen . N O ther industries there are few . ext to agriculture m and fishing co es granite , which is the only mineral worthy of mention found in the county . It is the prevailing rock of the district and is quarried to a con side ra b le extent in various parts . A large part of the population earn their living by this industry , and Aberdeen granite , like Aberdeen beef and Aberdeen fish , is a well

c known produ t and travels far . Paper and wool are also manufactured but only on a moderate scale . There is only one other general feature of the county that deserves mention and that is its attractiveness as a health resort . The banks of the Dee , more especially in its upper regions, is a much frequented holiday haunt ; and every summer and autumn Braemar, Ballater and Aboyne are crowded with visitors from all parts of the c ountry . The late Queen V i c toria no doubt gave the

1 0 A BERDEENSHIRE

impetus to this fashion . Her majesty at an early period

- of her reign bought the estate of Balmoral , half way

between Ballater and B raemar, and having built a royal castle there made it her practice to reside for a large part

of every year amongst the Deeside hills . Apart from this

royal advertisement the high altitude of the district, and

a s its dry , bracing climate , well as its romantic mountain

. scenery, have proved permanently attractive Here are

- - - M a c dh u i - Loch na gar (sung by Byron), Ben , Brae riach ,

- -B u ird - Ben na , Ben Avon and othe r Bens, all of them

0 0 0 0 0 0 sea - 4 , or nearly 4 , feet above level , and all of them imposing and impressive i n their bold and massive

forms . These mountains supply elements of grandeur which exercise a fascination upon people who habitually

c live in a flat ountry, and B raemar is not likely to lose its merited popularity .

3 . S i z e . S hap e . B ou n d aries.

Aberdeenshire is one of the large counties in area , l standing fifth i n Scotland . Although nverness contains more than twice the number of square miles in Aberdeen its shire, population is far behind that of Aberdeen , which d in this respect is the thir county in Scotland . I ts W N.E . S. 1 greatest length from to . is 0 2 miles ; its W N. . S E . 0 greatest breadth from to is 5 . The coast 6 is line measures 5 miles and little indented . The whole is 1 0 area of the county 97 square miles, or

6 0 0 . acres, of which 4 are water SIZ E SHAPE BOUNDARIES 1 1 In shape the county might be likened to a pear lying

its - obliquely on side , the narrow stalk end being in the is mountains, while the rounded bulging head the north

- eastern sea board . The flattest portion is the region lying

u north of the Ythan , called B chan , and even this can

b e M o rm o n d hardly called flat , for the level is broken by

8 1 0 . H ill , near Strichen , rising to a height of feet All the way to Pennan Head the contour of the land is W S. . irregularly wavy . The narrower portion in the , c M a r alled , is entirely mountainous, and midway between these two extremes lie the Garioch and Fo r m a t ti n districts which are undulating in characte r . A crescent f line drawn from Aberdeen to Turrif , the convex side W S. . being to the , would divide the county into two parts , which might be described as lowland and highland . The lowland portion contains the lower valley of the Don a s far up as Inverurie , the valley of the Ythan and all the remaining northern part of the county . South of this imaginary line the ground rises in ridge after ridge until it culminates in the lofty Grampian range of the Cairn

c gorms . The bipartite chara ter of the county , which is reflected in th e occupation and pursuits as in the character and language of the two populations, is of some import ance , and yet must not be pressed too far, because the population i n the one half is practically insignificant as

» compared with that of the other . It follows that when Aberdeenshire men and Aberdeenshire ways are referred to, nine times out of ten it is the lowland part of the county that is in question . N The boundaries are , on the east , the orth Sea , and

SIZ E SHA PE BOUNDARIES 13 M on the north as far west as Pennan Head , the oray ff Firth . There Ban shi re and Aberdeenshire meet . From that point inland a wavy boundary separates the two

D eve ro n counties, the being for part of the way the

dividing line . Above Rothiemay the boundary mounts

D e ver o n side the watershed between and Speyside , and keeping irregularly to this line past the Buck of the

Cabrach , and the upper waters of the Don , reaches Ben

- M a c dh u i Avon . Thence the line moves on to Ben with

- B a n flsh ir e Loch Avon on the right , and at B rae riach

ceases to be the boundary . For several miles, almost due south in direction , Inverness comes in as the county on the west . The southern boundary touches three counties,

E a la r Perth , Forfar and Kincardine . At Cairn , which is

dire c the angle of turning and almost a right angle , the tion changes and runs east alongside of Perthsh ire to

Ca ir n well R the oad , and crossing this leaves Perthshire

M . at Glas aol , where it touches Forfarsh ire The line continues east but with a trend to the north , passing on

Glen m u ic k Glen ta n a r the left , and the Forest of Birse ,

P n M in which the eugh takes its rise . O the top of ount

B a tto c k three counties meet, Forfar , Aberdeen and

Kincardine . Henceforth we are alongside of Kincardine shire and the line bends north - west with a semi - ci rcular sweep round Banchory - Ternan and the H ill of Fare to

C r a th es , from a little beyond which , the bed of the Dee becomes the boundary line all the way to Aberdeen . In all this area of high ground the line of march is practically

o ff the watershed throughout, marking the d rainage area of the Don and the Dee from that of the D e ve r o n and

16 ABERDEENSHIRE

grass , which fill up the landscape as with a great patch is work, broken only here and there by belts of trees

- - round some manor house or farm steading . Except in a few places the scenery of this lowland portion is devoid

Pitfo u r of picturesque interest , yet the woods of and of M Strichen , the policies of Haddo House near ethlick, the quiet silvan beauty of Fyvie , which more resembles an

English than a Scotch village , the wooded ridge that

G i h t c overlooks the Ythan at the Castle of g , are harming spots that serve by c ontrast to accentuate the general tameness of this lower area .

- In the higher region , the south western portions of the county , agriculture is, to some extent, practised , but it is necessarily confined to narrow strips in the valleys of the rivers . The hills, which are rarely wooded , and that

sea - only up to fifteen hundred feet above level , are rounded in shape , not sharp and jagged . They are , where composed of granite , invariably clothed in heather and are occasionally utilised for the grazing of sheep , but this is becoming less common , and year by year larger areas are depleted of sheep for the better protection of grouse .

All the heathery hills up to 2 0 0 0 feet are grouse moors . Throughout the summe r these display the characteristic — brown tint of the heather a tint whi c h gives place in early August to a rich purple when the heather breaks

- into flower . Long strips of the heather mantle are systematically burned to the ground every spring . Such blackened patches scoring with thei r irregular outlines the sides of the hills in April and M a y give a certain amount of variety to the prevailing tint of brown . They serve a SURFACE SOIL GENE RAL FEATURES 1 7

very useful purpose . The young grouse shelter in the long and unburnt heather but frequent the c leared areas for the purpose of feeding on the tender young shoots which spring up from the blackened roots of the burned plants .

Further inland still , where the hills rise to a greater

- height, they become deer forests . As a rule these forests are without trees and are often rockstrewn , bare and

i n grassless . It is only the sheltered corries or by the sides of some sparkling burn , that natural grasses spring up in suffi cient breadth to provide summer pasturage for

- the red deer , which are carefully protected for sporting purposes . Here too the ptarmigan breed in considerable numbers . The grouse moors command higher rents than would be profitable for a sheep- farmer to give for the 1 2th grazing, and every year prior to the of August,

- fl when grouse shooting begins , th ere is an in ux of sports men from the south , to enjoy this particular form of sport . The red grouse is indigenous to Scotland ; it seems to fi nd its natural habitat amongst the heather, where in

i sp te of occasional failures in the nesting season , and in ’ spite of many weeks incessant shooting, it thrives and

- multiplies . Deer stalking begins somewhat late r ; in a warm and favourable summer, the stags are in condition early in September . Th is sport is confi ned to a c o m

a ra tive p few . The highest mountain in the B raemar district is Ben

M a c dh u i 2 6 (4 9 feet) . A few others are over 40 0 0

- - - - C a irn to u l. B u ir d Brae riach and Ben na and Ben Avon , which last is notable for the numerous tors or warty knots

M . A. 2 18 ABERDEENSHIRE

— - - 0 0 0 . along its sky line , are just under 4 feet Loch na gar, a few miles to the east and a conspicuous background to “ 8 . Balmoral Castle , is 3 7 9 Byron called it the most sublime and picturesque of the Caledonian Alps, and Queen Victoria writing from Balmoral in 1 8 50 described ’ it as the j ewel of all the mountains here . Its contour lines, which are somewhat more sharply curved than is

l - distr ib u usual in the Deeside hi ls, and the well balanced tion of its great mass make it easily recognised from a

- wide distance . This partly explains the pre eminence which notwithstanding its inferiority of height it u n doubtedly possesses . Due north from Ballater are

M 2 8 8 0 C u lblea n M orven ( ) and , and due south is ount Keen ; a little east and on the boundary line of three i k counties s M ount B a tto c . Perhaps the most prominent hill , and the one most frequently visible to th e great

B e n a c h ie majority of Aberdeenshi re folks, is , which stands as a fitting outpost of the vast regiment of hills . It stands apart and although only 1 440 feet in height is an unfailing landmark from all parts of Buchan , from

D o n side D e ve r o n side . Aberdeen , from , and even from “ ” Its well - de fi n ed outline and proj e c ting mither tap render it an object of interest from far and near , while the presence or abse nce of cloud on its head and shoulders serves as a barometric index to the state of the weather .

20 ABERDEENSHIRE

5 . Watersh ed . Ri vers. L och s.

c o As we have already pointed out, the watershed incides to a large extent with the boundary line of the county . The lean of Aberdeenshire is from west to east so that all the rivers flow in an easterly direction to the

- North Sea . On the west and north west of the highest

- mountain ridges, the slope of the land is to the north east, and the Spey with its se veral tributaries carries the rainfall to the heart of the M oray Firth .

The chief river of the county is the Dee . It is the

- longest, the fullest bodied , the most picturesque of all its Aberdeenshire waters . Taking rise in two small

- streams which drain the slopes of B rae riach , it grows d in volume an breadth , till , after an easterly course of 1 0 0 nearly miles , it reaches the sea at Aberdeen . The

- G a rra c h o r r head stream is the y burn , which flows through

- irn to u l the cleft between Brae riach and Ca . A more romantic spot for the cradle of a mighty river could hardly be found . The mountain masses rise steep , grim

— o n C a ir n to u l and imposing one side conical in shape ,

- on the other Brae riach broad and massive , a picture of 60 solidity and immobility . The Dee well is 40 feet — above sea level and 1 3 0 0 above the stream which drains — the eastern side of the L a r ig the high pass to Strathspey .

L a r i As it emerges from the g, it is a mere mountain torrent but presently it is joined at right angles by the

G eldie - from the south west, and the united waters move eastward through a wild glen of rough and rugged slopes WATERSHED RIVERS LOCHS 21

fi rs 63 and ragged , gnarled Scots to the Linn of Dee , } miles

e a . abov Br emar There is no great fall at the Linn , but here the channel of the river becomes suddenly contracted by great masses of rock and the water rushes through a

L i o f D e e B a nn , raem r

narrow gorge only four feet wide . The pool below is deep and black and much overhung with rocks . For 0 0 3 yards stretches this natural sluice , formed by rocks

u with r gged sides and jagged bottom , the water racing

. e is e b past in small cascades Th river here spann d y_ 22 A BERDEENSHIRE a handsome granite bridge opened in 1 8 57 by Q i e e n

V ictoria .

As the river descends to Braemar, the glen gradually

c widens out , and the open , gravelly, and sinuous chara ter of the bed , which is a feature from this point onwards, is

. c very marked Pool and stream , stream and pool suc eed

Old b o f D e e I n v e r c a u ld ridge ,

one anothe r i n shingly bends, clean , sparkling and beauti

1 0 66 a - ful . At Braemar the bed is feet above se level . Below I n ve rc a u ld the river is crossed by the picturesque G h is old bridge built by eneral Wade , when he made well - known roads through the H ighlands after the rebel

o f 1 . G a r ra wa lt lion 7 45 Here the , a rough and obstructed

24 A BERDEENSHIRE

I n ve rc a u ld tributary , joins the main river . From past ' Balmoral Castle to Ballater is sixteen miles . Here the

bottom is at times rocky , at times filled with big rough

stones, at other times shingly but never deep . The aver is age depth only four feet, and the normal pace under

ordinary conditions 3 3 miles an hour . From Ballater ,

F s o f M u i c k B a l all , later

G M u ic k where the river is joined by the airn and the , the Dee maintains the same characte r to Aboyne and

Feu h Banchory , where it is joined by the g from the

. C a i rn to n forest of Birse Just above Banchory is , where the water supply for the town of Aberdeen , amounting

8 OH on an average to 7 or million gallons a day , is taken . The course of the river near the mouth was diverted WATERSHED RIVERS LOCHS 25

0 some 4 years ago to the south , at great expense , by the

Town Council , and in this way a considerable area of

land was reclaimed for feuing purposes . The spanning

of the river at this point by the V ictoria bridge , which — superseded a ferry boat, has led to the rise of a moderately sized town (Torry) on the south or Kincardine side of the

river .

The scenery of Deeside , all the way from the Cairn

gorms to the old B ridge of Dee , two miles west of the is centre of the city, is varied and attractive . It well

wooded throughout ; in the upper parts the birch , which

would seem to be indigenous in the district , adds to the

- beauty of the hill sides, while the clean pebbly bed of the

river and its swift, dashing flow delight th e eyes of those who are familiar only with sluggish and mud - stained

waters . It is not surprising therefore that the district

has attained the vogue it now enjoys . The Don runs parallel to the Dee for a great part

of its course , but it is a much shorter river, measuring only 78 miles . It rises at the very edge of the county close to the point where the Avon emerges from Glen

Avon and turns north to j oin the Spey . It drains a valley which is only ten or fifteen m i les separated from the

valley of the larger river . In its upper reaches it some what resembles Deeside , being quite highland in character ; its but lower down the river loses rapidity , becoming slug

a s gish and winding . Strathdon , the upper area is called , is undoubtedly picturesque , but it lacks the bolder features d of Deesi e , being less wooded and graced with few hills

h a s c on the grand scale . It not, therefore , be ome a popular B i rc h T ree at B raem a r WATERSHED RIVERS LOCHS 27

summer resort, but its banks form the richest alluvial agricultural land in the county

’ ’ ’ A mile 0 Don s worth twa 0 Dee

c fo r o a n d . Ex ept salm n , stone tree

This old couplet is so far correct . The Dee is a great

fi r st- salmon river, providing more class salmon angling than any other river of Scotland , while the Don , though owi n g to its muddy bottom a stream excellent beyond measure and unsurpassed for brown trout, is not now , partly owing to obstruction and pollution , a great salmon

D o n side river . But the agricultural land on , which for is the most part rich deep loam , about Kintore , Inverurie and the vale of Alford is much more kindly to the farmer

so than the light gravelly soil of Deeside , which is apt to be burnt up in a droughty summer . In the matter of stone , th ings have changed since the couplet took shape . The granite quarries of D o n side are now superior to any on the Dee ; but the trees of Deeside still hold thei r own ,

B a llo c hb u ie the Scots firs of forest , west of Balmoral ,

being th e finest specimens of their kind in the north . The nether- Don has been utilised for more than a

century as a driving power for paper an d wool mills . Of these there is a regular su c cession for several miles ’ of the river s course , from Bucksburn to within a mile ld of O Aberdeen . After heavy rains or a spring thaw l the lower reaches of the river, especial y from Kintore f downwards, are apt to be looded , and in spite of embank ’ ments which have been erected along the river s course,

’ fe w ea rs pass witho u t serious damage being done to the b y

WATERSHED RIVERS LOCHS 29

- D o n side crops in low lying fields . Some parts of scenery, M k notably at onymus (called Paradise), and at Seaton Old House j ust below the Cathedral of Aberdeen , and before the river passes through the single Gothic arch

c of the an ient and historical bridge of Balgownie , are very

fi n e — wooded and picturesque , and beloved of more than one famous artist .

The next rive r is the Ythan , which , rising i n the low hills of the Culsalmond district and flowing through the parish of Auchterless and past the charming hamlet of

vie M c k Fy , creeps somewhat sluggishly through ethli and ’ Lord Aberdeen s estates to Ellon . A few miles below Ellon it forms a large tidal estuary four miles in length a - notable haunt of sea trout , the most notable on the east coast . The river is only 3 7 miles long . It is slow and wi nding with deep pools and fe w rushing streams ; more over its waters have never the clear , sparkling quality

i h t h a s of the silvery Dee . Yet at Fyvie and at G g it pi c turesque reaches that redeem it from a uniformity of tameness . 2 0 The Ugie , a small stream of miles i n length , is t h e only other river worthy of mention . It joins the sea north of the town of Peterhead . In character it closely resembles the Ythan , having the same kind of

- deep pools and the same sedge grown banks .

D e ve r o n ff The is more particularly a Ban shire river, yet in the Huntly district, it and its important tributary the Bogie (which gives its name to the well - known h is toric region called Strathbogie) are wholly in Aberdeen shire . The D e ve ro n partakes of the character of the Dee

WATERSHED RIVERS LOCHS 3 3

he ld by ant i quarians to be the seat of an ancient city

— - Devana the town of the two lakes . In pre historic times there dwelt on the shores of these lakes as also in the valleys that converge upon them a tribe of people

who built forts, and lake retreats, made oak canoes, and by means of palisades of the same material created arti

fi c ia l islands . The canoes which have been recovered from the bed of the loch are hollowed logs thi rty feet in

— a length . O ther relics bronze vessel and a bronze spear k— head , together with many beams of oa have been fished

up , all proving the existence of an early Pictish settle

ment . d — Besides these , there is in the same istrict but south

o f - - east Loch na gar , another and larger lake called Loch

i k f M u ic k— a M u c . From it lows the small river tributary

- of the Dee , which it joins above Ballater . South west of

- — C a lla te r Loch na gar is Loch , which drains into the Clunie ,

another Dee tributary , which joins the main river at Cas

tle to n n of Braemar . O the lower reach es of the Dee are

the Loch of Park or Drum , and the Loch of Skene , both

of which drai n into the Dee . Both are much frequented

- by water fowl of various kinds .

Stra thb e The Loch of g, which lies on the east coast R not far from attray Head , is a brackish loch of some

. interest Two hundred years ago, we are told , it was in direct communication with the sea and small vessels

were able to enter it . In a single night a furious easterly gale blew away a sand - hill between the Castle - hill of

R sea h W i - attray and the , with the result that t e nd driven sand formed a sand- bar where formerly there was a clear

M . A .

WATERSHED RIVERS LOCHS 3 5

- - water way . Since that day the loch has been land locked and though still slightly brackish may be regarded as an inland loch .

6 . Geol og y.

Geology is the study of the rocks or the substances of which the earthy crust of a district is composed . Rocks are of two sorts ( 1 ) those due to the action of 2 heat, called igneous , ( ) those formed and deposited by water , called aqueous . When the earth was a molten ball , it cooled at the surface , but every now and again liquid portions were ejected from cracks and weak places . The same process is seen in the eruptions of M ount

Vesuvius , which sends out streams of liquid lava that

i n eau : gradually cools and forms hard rock . Such are g rocks . But all the forces of nature are constantly at k wor disintegrating the solid land ; frost, rain , the action of rivers and the atmosphere wear down the rocks ; and

sea th e tiny particles are carried during floods to the , where they are deposited as mud or sand - beds laid flat k one on the top of the other li e sheets of paper . These

a s are a qu e u rocks . The layers are afterwards apt to be tilted up on end or at various angles owing to the con ’ to r tio n s of the earth s crust, through pressure in particular

so directions. When tilted they may rise above water and immediately the same process that made them now begins to unmake them . They too may in time be so worn away that only fragments of them are left whereby we may interpret thei r history .

GEOLOGY 3 7 To these may be added a th ird k ind of rock called

’ m eta m ar b zc so p , or rocks altered by the heat and pressure

of other rocks intruding upon them , that th ey lose their

original character and become metamorphosed . They

may be either sedimentary , laid down originally by water , or they may be igneous, but in both cases they are entirely changed or modi fied i n appearance and structure by the ff treatment they have su ered . The geology of Aberdeenshire is almost entirely con

cerned with igneous and metamorphic rocks . The whole back- bone of the county is granite which has to some extent been rubbed smooth by glacial action ; but in a great part of the county th e granite gives place to meta

morphic rocks, gneiss , schist, and quartzite . A young geologist viewing a deep cutting in the soil about Aber

deen finds that the material consists of layers of sand ,

a re gravel , clay , which loosely piled together all the way

down to the solid granite . This is the glacial drift , or

boulde r clay , a much later formation than the granite

and a legacy of what is called the great Ice Age . Far back i n a time before the dawn of h istory all the north

f i - east o Scotland was bur ed deep under a vast snow sheet . The snow consolidated into glaciers j ust as in Switzerland

— c to day , and the gla iers thus formed worked their way

down the valleys, carrying a great quantity of loose

material along with them . When a warmer time came, the ice melted and all the sand an d boulders mixed u p in the ice were liberated and sank as loose deposits on

the land . This is the boulder c lay which in and around is Aberdeen the usual subsoil . It consists of rough , 3 8 A BERDEENSHIRE

- half rounded pebbles, large and small , of clay, sand , and shingle , and makes a ve ry cold and unkindly soil , being diffi cult to drain properly and slow to take in warmth .

Below this boulder clay are the fundamental roc ks . At Aberdeen these are pure granite ; but i n other parts

a s of the county they are , we have said , metamorphic, that is , they have been altered by powerful forces, heat and pressure . Whether they were originally sedimentary , before they were altered , is doubtful ; some geologists think the crystalline rocks round Fraserburgh and Peter

M o r m o n d a s head were aqueous . Hill w once a sand stone , and the schists of Cruden Bay and Collieston were clay . The same beds traced to the south are found to pass gradually into sedimentary rocks that are little altered .

Whether they were aqueous or igneous origi nally, they

- c No have to day lost all thei r original haracter . fossils are found in them . These rocks are the oldest and lowest in Aberdeenshi re . After thei r formation , they were invaded from below by intrusive masses of molten

n o w igneous rock, which in many parts of the county is near th e surface . This is the granite already referred I ts to . presence throughout the county has materially i nfluenced the character and the industry of the people .

u Wherever granite enters, it tears its i rreg lar way through the opposing rocks, and sends veins th rough its cracks where such occur . The result of forcible entrance in a molten condition is that the contiguous rocks are melted , blistered , and baked by the intrusive ff matte r . Why granite should di er from the lava we

40 ABERDEENSHIRE

ff thick . A visitor to the town of Turri is struck by th e red colour of many of the houses there , a most unusual variant

- upon the blue grey whinstone of the surrounding districts . The explanation is that a convenient quarry of Old R ed ff Sandstone exists between Turri and Cuminestown . Kil drummy Castle , one of the finest and most ancient ruins in the county, is not like the majority of the old castles built of granite but of a sandstone in the v icinity . The

Au c h in do i r same band extends across country to , where it is still quarried .

R c The next geological group of o ks, the Secondary

M — i n or esozoic, includes orde r of age

Triassic,

Jurassic ,

Cretaceous .

b u t These are not at all or barely represented . A patch of clay at Plaidy , which was laid bare in cutting the rail way track, belongs to the Jurassic system and contains ammonites and other fossils characteristic of that period . O ver a ridge of high ground stretch ing from Sterling H ill south - eastwards are found numbers of rolled flints belong

c ing to the Cretaceous or halk period , but the probability is that they have been transported from elsewhere by moving ice and are not in their natural place . The Tertiary epoch is just as meagrely represented is as the Secondary . Yet this the period which in other parts of the world possesses records of the most ample s kind . The Alps, the Caucasus, the H imalaya were all upheaved in Tertiary times ; but of any corresponding GEOLOGY 41

— is activity in the north east of Scotland , there no trace . It is only when the Tertiary merges in the Quaternary i period that the history s resumed . The deposits of the

Ice Age , when Scotland was under the grip of an arctic climate , are much i n evidence all over the county and have already been referred to . It is ne c essary to treat the subj ect in some detail .

During the glacial period , the snow and ice accu m u la te d c fl on the west side of the ountry , and over owed into Aberdeensh ire . There were several invasions owing to the re c urrence of periods of more genial temperature

- when the ice sheet dwindled . O n e of the earlier inroads probably brought with it the chalk flints now found west of Buchan Ness ; another brought boulders from the dis M ff triet of oray . South of Peterhead a drift of a di erent character took place . M ost of Slains and Cruden as well a s Ellon , Foveran , and Belhelvie are covered with a red dish clay with round red pebbles like those of the Old d Re Sandstone . This points to an invasion of the ice

m i sheet fro Kincard ne, where such deposits are rife .

Dark blue clay came from the west, red clay from the south , and in some parts they met and intermixed as at

St Fergus . A probable third source of glacial remains is Scandinavia . I n the Ice Age B ritain was part of the N continental mainland , the shallow orth Sea having been

- formed at a subsequent period . The low lying land at the north - east of the county was the hollow to wh ich the glaciers gravitated from west and south and east, leaving

débr is their on the su rface when the ice disappeared . So muc h is this a feature of Buchan that one well - known A BERDEENSHIRE geologist has humorously described it a s the riddling heap of creation . Both the red and the blue clay are often buried under the coarse earthy matter and rough stones that formed

the residuum of the last sheet of ice . This has greatly ffi increased the di culty of clearing the land for cultivation .

M su b - oreover a clay soil of this kind , which forms a hard

c bottom pan that water annot percolate th rough , is not ffi conducive to successful farming . Drainage is di cult but absolutely necessary before good crops will be pro ffi du c e d. Both di culties have been su c c essfully overcome

by the Aberdeenshire agriculturist, but only by dint of

great expenditure of time and labour and money .

The district of the clays is associated with peat beds . is There peat, or rather there was once peat all over

Aberdeenshire , but the depth and extent of the beds are

greatest whe re the clay bottom exists . A climate that is moist without being too c old favours the growth of

so peat and the Buchan district, projecting far into the North Sea and being subj e c t to somewhat less sunshine

than other parts of the county , provides the favouring is dis conditions . The rainfall is only moderate but it

tributed at frequent intervals , and the clay bottom helps to retain the moisture and thus promotes the growth of

those mosses which after many years become beds of peat . These peat beds for long provided the fuel of the p o p u la

tion . In recent years they are all but exhausted , and the facility with which coals are transported by sea and by rail “ ” is gradually putting an end to the casting and drying

of peats . GEOLOGY 43 M oraines of rough gravel— the wreckage of dwindling — glaciers are found in various parts of the Dee valley . The soil of Deeside has little i ntermixture of clay and is thin and highly porous . It follows that in a dry season the crops are short and meagre . The Scots fir , however, is partial to such a soil , and its ready growth helps with the aid of the natural birches to embellish the Deeside landscape . In the Cairngorms brown and yellow varieties of quartz called “ cairngorms ” are found either embedded in cavities of the granite or in the detr itu s that a c cu m l tes u a from the decomposition of exposed rocks . The stones, which are really crystals, are much prized for j ewellery , and are of various colours, pale yellow (citrine),

O brown or smoky , and black and almost paque . When

d i n well cut an set silver, eithe r as brooches or as an s adornment to the handle of dirks, they have a brilliant ff wa s du e ect . Time when they were systematically g and searched for, and certain persons made a living by thei r finds on the hill - sides ; but now they are more rare and come upon only by accident .

7 . Natu ral Hi st ory . As we have seen in dealing with the glacial move ments, B ritain was at one time part of the continent and

N . sea there was no orth Sea At the best it is a shallow , — and a very trifl ing elevation of its floor would r e c onnect

Scotland with Europe . It follows that our country was 44 ABERDEENSHIRE inhabited by the same kind of animals a s inhabited M Western Europe . any of them are now extinct, cave

- bears, hyaenas and sabre toothed tigers . All these were starved out of existence by the inroads of the ice . After the ice disappeared this country remained joined to the continent, and as long as the connection was maintained the land - animals of Europe were able to c ross over and occupy the ground ; if the c onnection had not been ff severed , there would have been no di erence between ou r fauna and the an i mals of Northern France and N Belgium . But the land sank, and the orth Sea filled w up the hollo , creating a barrier before all the species in Northern Europe had been able to effect a footing in our country . This applies both to plants and animals . G While ermany has nearly ninety species of land animals,

G . reat B ritain has barely forty All the mammals, rep tiles and amphibians that we have , are found on the continent besides a great many that we do not possess .

Still Scotland can boast of its red grouse , which is not seen on the continent .

se a With every variety of situation , from exposed board to sheltered valley and lofty mountain , the flora of Aberdeenshi re shows a pleasing and interesting variety .

sea - The plants of the shore , of the waysides, of the river

- banks , and of the lowland peat mosses are necessarily different in many respects from those of the great moun tain heights . It is impossi ble here to do more than indicate one or two of the leading features . The sandy tracts north of the Ythan mouth have characteristic

sea - - plants , wild rue , th rift , rock rose , grass of Parnassus, NATURAL HISTORY 45

- i en m a i t m a catch fly (S l e r i ) . The waysides are brilliant

- S V with blue bells, peedwell , thistles, yarrow and iolas .

- - The peat mosses show patches of louse wort , sundew , ’ - St John s wort , cotton grass , butterwort and ragged

- robin . The pine woods display a n undergrowth of blae

- berries, galliums, winter green , veronicas and geraniums .

L i n n a ea ber m /is The is exceedingly rare , but has a few localities known to enterprising botanists . The whin and the broom in M a y and June add conspicuous colouring to the landscape while a di fferent tint of yellow shines

-fi e lds in the oat , which are throughout the county more or less crowded with wild mustard or charlock . The h granitic hills are all mantled with eather (common ling,

C a l/u n a er ic a 0 0 0 ) up to 3 feet , brown in winter and Spring but taking on a rich purple hue when it breaks

- into flower in early August . The purple bell heather does not rise beyond 2 0 0 0 feet and flowers much earlier . - d Through the heather trails the stag moss, an the pyrola and the genista thrust their blossoms above the sea of

- purple . The cranberry, the crow berry and the whortle

Ru bu s berry, and more rarely the cloudberry or Avron (

e r u c b a ma mo s) are found on all the Cairngorms . Th e — is Alpine rock cress there also , as well as the mountain

Via/a lu tea violet ( ), which takes the place of the hearts

- ease of the lowlands . The moss campion spreads its cushions on the highest mountains ; saxifrages of various species haunt every moist spot of the hill -sides and the ’ - Alpine lady s mantle , the Alpine scurvy grass, the Alpine

S c Cam u s peedwell , the trailing azalea , the dwarf ornel ( su ec ic a ), and many other varieties are to be found by those who care to look for them . 46 A BERDEENSHIRE

As . we have said , no trees thrive near the coast The easterly and northerly winds make their growth

precarious, and where they have been planted they look

a s so c if shorn with a mighty scythe , de isive is the slope of their branches away from the direction of the cold

blasts . Their growth too i n thickness of bole is pain

fully slow, even a period of twenty years making no

appreciable addition to the circumference of th e stem . C o n vm c m g evidence exists that in ancient times the

- county was closely wooded . In peat bogs are found the root- stems of Scots fir and oak trees of much larger

bulk than we are familiar with now . The resinous roots

of the fir trees, dug up and split into long strips, were the

fi r- candles of a century ago, the only artificial light of

the time .

The district is not exceptional or peculiar in its fauna .

The grey or brown rat, which has entirely displaced the k d smaller blac rat, is very common an proves destructive — to farm crops a result partially due to the eradication of

a s birds of prey , as well of stoats and weasels, by game

keepers i n the interest of game . Th e prolific rabbit is in certain districts far too numerous and plays havoc with ’ c the farmer s turnips and other growing rops . B rown hares are fairly plentiful but less numerous than they

were in the days of thei r protection . Every farmer h a s now the right to kill ground game (hares and rabbits) on his farm and this helps to keep the stock low . The white or Alpine hare is plentiful in the hilly tracts and is shot along with the grouse on the grouse moors . The otter is occasionally trapped on the rivers, and a few foxes

48 ABERDEENSHIRE as it certainly is the most exacting of all forms of Scottish

- sport . The pole cat is rarely seen ; he is best known to the present generation in the half- domesticated breed called

- the ferret . The hedge hog, the common shrew, and the

- water vole are all common .

The birds are numerous and full of interest . The

sea - coast is frequented by vast flocks of gulls , guillemots,

T h e D u n b u y R o c k

and cormorants, while the estuary of the Ythan has

c - many visitants such as the ringed plover, the ider duck,

- . O n the shelduck, the oyster catcher , redshank, and tern the north bank of this river the triangular area of sand dunes between New b urgh and Collieston is a favourite

- - nesting place for eider duck and terns . The nests of NATURAL HISTORY 49

— fi v e — the eider duck, with their large olive green eggs embedded in the soft down drawn from the mother ’s breast, are found in great numbers amongst the grassy bents . The eggs of the tern , on the other hand , are laid in a mere hollow of th e open sand , but so numerous are they that it is almost impossible for a pedestrian to

Pu ffi n s sea - avoid treading upon them . or parrots are conspicuous amongst the many sea - birds that frequent

- D u n b u R . y ock This island rock, half way up the

sea - eastern coast , is a typical bird haunt, where gulls,

u ffi n s a re p , razorbills and guillemots to be seen in a state

- of restless activity . A colony of black headed gulls has for a number of years bred and multiplied in a small loch

n near Kintore . A vast umber of migratory bi rds strike the shores of Aberdeenshire every year in thei r westward

fl . ff o c ight The waxwing, the hoopoe , and the ru are c a sio n a l visitors, the great northern diver and the snow bunting being more frequent . The game- birds of the district are the partridge and the pheasant in the agricultural region , and the red grouse

- - on the moors . The high er hills , such as Loch na gar , have ptarmigan , while the wooded areas bordering on the high

- land li ne are frequented by black cock and capercailzie . These last are a r e- introduction of recent years and seem

destru c to be multiplying ; but , like the squirrel , they are tive to the growing shoots of th e pine trees and are not encouraged by some proprietors . The lapwing or green plover ’s wail is an unfailing sound throughout the county in the spring . These useful birds are said to be fewer — than they were fifty years ago a result p r obably due to

M . A. 5 0 A BERDEENSHIRE

the demand for their eggs as a table delicacy . After the

first of April it is illegal to take the eggs , and this partial k protection serves to maintain the stoc in fair numbers .

The starling, which , like the squirrel , was unknown in

this district sixty years ago , has increased so rapidly that flocks of them containing many thousands are now a

common sight in the autumn . The kingfisher is met

- with , very , very rarely on the river bank, but the dipper is never absent from the boulder- strewn beds of the

streams . The plaintive note of the curlew and the shriller whistle of the golden plover break the silence

of the lonely moors . The golden eagle nests in the d s solitudes of the mountains an may occa ionally be seen ,

soaring high in the vicinity of h is eyrie . Of - fresh water fishes, the yellow or brown trout is

plentiful in all the rivers, especially in the Don and the

- Ythan . The migratory sea trout and the salmon are also

is - caught in each , although the Dee pre eminently the

most productive . The salmon fisheries round the coast and at the mouth of the rivers are a source of consider

able revenue . The fish are c aught by three species of

- f - fi net, bag nets ( loating nets) and stake nets ( xed) in the sea - - , and by drag nets or sweep nets in the tidal reaches

- of the rivers . Time was when drag nets plied as far

- n 1 inland as Banchory Terna ( 9 miles), but these have gradually been withdrawn and are now relegated to a short distance from the river mouth , the rights having been bought up by the riparian proprietors further up the river, who wish to obtain improved opportunities

h a s for successful angling . The Dee , in this way , been NATURAL HISTORY 5 1 so improved that it is now perhaps the finest salmon - angling river in Scotland .

The insects of the district call for little remark .

Butterflies are few in speci es and without variety . It is only in certain warm autumns that the red admiral

- puts in an appearance . The cabbage white , the tortoise

d - shell , an an occasional meadow brown and fritillary are the prevailing species .

t h e The waters of the Ythan , th e Ugie , and Don are

- frequented by fresh water mussels which produce pearls . These grow best on a pebbly bottom not too deep and

1 2 2 » are 3 to 7 inches long and 2 to 5 broad . The internal surface is bluish or with a shade of pink . The search for these mussels in order to secure th e pearls they may and do sometimes contain was once a recognised industry . — To day it is spasmodic and mostly i n the hands of vagrants . M any beds are destroyed before the mussels are mature

- fish er and this lessens the chances of success . The pearl usually wades in the river , making observation of the bottom by means of a floating glass which removes the ff disturbing e ect of the surface ripple . He thus obtains

- a clear view of the river bed , and by means of a forked stick dislodges the mussels and brings them to bank , ’ 1 50 making a good day s work . He opens them at leisure and finds that the great majority of h is pile are

without pearls . If he be lucky enough , however , to come upon a batch of mature shells he may find a pearl

2 0 . th e worth J£ As a rule price is not above ten or

twenty shillings . M uch depends on the size and the

colouring . The most valuable are those of a pinkish hue . — 4 2 5 2 A BERDEENSHIRE

8 . Rou n d th e Coast .

The harbour- mouth ,which is also the mouth of the

- is . Dee , the beginning of the county on the sea board d It is protected by two breakwaters, north an south , which shelter the entrance channel from the fury of

- easterly and north easterly gales . To the south , in

Girdle n ess 1 8 Kincardineshire , is the lighthouse , 5 feet f high , lashing a light every twenty seconds with a range of visibility stated at 1 9 miles . To the north of the harbour entrance are the links and the bathing station . The latter was erected in 1 8 95 and has since been ex ff tended , every e ort being made to add to the attractive ness of the beach as a recreation ground . A promenade ,

D o n m o u th which will ultimately extend to , is in great part complete ; and all the other usual concomitants of a watering- place have been introduced with promising

so success far , and likely to be greater in the near future . From D o n m o u th the northward coast presents little of interest . All the way to the estuary of the Ythan is a region of sand - dunes bound together by marum grass and stunted whins, excellent for golf courses, but lacking m in variety . In the sandy ounds in the vicinity of the Ythan have been found many flint ch ippings and amongst

— f - d C them leaf shaped lint arrow hea s, h isels and cores, as well as the water- worn stones o n which these implements were fashioned . These records of primitive man as h e wa s i n the later Stone Age are conspicuous here, and are

5 4 A BERDEENSHIRE

to be seen in ot her parts of the county . In the rabbit

- burrows, which are abundant in the dunes, the stock dove

1 rears her young . In 8 8 8 a migratory flock of sand grouse took possession of the dunes , and remained for one season . — B eyond th e Ythan are the Fo rvie sands a region of hummocks under wh ich a whole parish is buried . The destruction of the parish took place several centuries

- ago , when a succession of north easterly gales, continued for many days, whipped up the loose sand of the coast

c dunes and blew it onward in louds till the whole parish , including several valuable farms, was entirely submerged . The scanty ruins of the old church of Fo r vie is the only — trace left of this sand smothered hamlet . No t far from the site of the Fo r vie church is a beau

- ti ful semi lunar bay called Hackley Bay , where for the fi rst time since Aberdeen was left beh ind , rocks appear, hornblende , slate, and gneiss . At Collieston , a village consisting of a medley of irregularly located cottages ff scrambling up the cli sides, a th riving industry used to “ ” be practised , the making of Collieston speldings .

These were small wh itings, split , salted and dried on the rocks . Thi rty years ago they were considered something of a delicacy and were disposed of in great quantities ; now they have lost favour and are seldom to ’ be had . At the north end of the village is St Catherine s

c Dub , a deep pool between ro ks, on which one of the 1 8 8 ships of the Spanish Armada wa s wrecked in 5 . Two of the St Catherine ’s cannon very much corroded

- b ee n b ro u ht sea fl . On e have . g up from the oor of them

ROUND THE COAST 5 7

S the jackdaw and the tarling breed by the thousand .

D u n b u The rock of y, a huge mass of granite , surrounded

sea is by the , and forming a grand rugged arch , a summer

- - haunt of sea birds and rock pigeons .

After this, we reach the picturesque and much visited

— a w - sea Bullers of Buchan ide semi circular cauldron , the sides of which are perpendicular cliffs . The pool h a s no is entry except from the seaward side , and it only in calm is weather that a boat safe to pass through the low, open ff archway in the cli . In rough weath er , the waves rush through the narrow archway with terrific force , sending ff d clouds of spray far beyond the height of the cli s . Un er proper conditions the scene is one of the grandest in

Aberdeenshire , and is a fitting contrast to the sublimely impressive scenes at the source of the Dee , righ t at the other end of the county . Beyond the Bullers, the coast

c consists of high granite ro ks, behind which are wind N swept moors . ear Boddam is Sterling H ill quarry, the

- source of the red hued Peterhead granite . Here too is N Buchan ess, the most easterly point on the Scottish coast , and a fitting place for a prominent lighthouse . The lantern of the circular tower (erected in 1 8 2 7) stands 1 3 0 feet above high - water mark and flashes a white light once every five seconds . The light is visible at a distance 1 of 6nautical miles .

c is At Peterhead , whi h a prosperous fishing centre and the eastern terminus of the bifurcate Buchan l ine of rail

“ a . way, is great convict prison , occupying an extensive range of buildings on the south side of the Peterhead of bay . The convicts are employed in building a harbour ’ T h e P o t B l s o B c a , u ler u h n ROUND TH E COAST 59

refuge , which is bei ng erected under the superintendence of th e Admiralty at a cost of a million of money . The coast is onwards to the Ugie mouth still rocky , but from the

R - river to attray Head , the rocks give place to sand dunes similar in character to those further south . Alongside of

a the dunes is a raised se beach . They form the links of R is St Fergus . attray Head a rather low reef of rock running far out to se a and highly suitable as a lighthouse

r e station . In the course of twelve years, the reef was sponsible for 2 4 shipwrecks . The lighthouse erected in 1 8 95 is 1 2 0 feet high and th e light gives three flashes 0 1 in quick succession every 3 seconds . It is visible 8

sea is m i les out to . Beyond this point a region of bleak

No t and desolate sands . a tree nor a sh rub is to be seen .

The inland parts are under cultivation , but the general is aspect of the country dismal and dreary , and the very hedgerows far from the sea - board lean landwards a s if W ’ cowering from the scourges of the north ind s whip . is l The country undulatory without any conspicuous hil . Beyond Rattray Head is the Loch of Stra th b eg already referred to . The tradition goes that the same gale as blighted Fo rvie silted up this loch and contracted its t c onnection with the sea . O n the lef safely sheltered

se a - C r im o n m o a te from the breezes are g , Cairness and

— - Ph ilo rth all mansion houses surrounded by wooded

- grounds . At the sea edge stand St Combs (an echo of

C a i rn b u l . St Columba), g and Inverallochy Here occurs

ea u r c R another raised s beach . O ourse from attray Head has been north -west and thus we reach the last i mportant — town on the coast Fraserburgh .

ROUND TH E COAST 61

it Fraserburgh lies to the west of s bay . Founded by one of the Frasers of Ph ilo rth (now represented by Lord

is . Saltoun), it like Peterhead a thriving town Like Peter

i a i L o se F a s b K nn rd ighth u , r er urgh

d o f hea too , it is the terminus of one fork the Buchan

Railway and a busy fishing centre . In the month of July “ is which the height of the herring season , the B roch ,

is . as it is called locally, astir with li fe from early morn 62 A BERDEENSHIRE

M ore herrings are handled at F ra se r b u r gh than anywhere else on this coast , from Eyemouth to Wick . Between ’ B ro a dse a Fraserburgh and is Kinnaird s Head . Here we have another lighthouse which has served that purpose for more than a century, an old castle having been con

wa s verted to this use in 1 78 7 . It one of the first three ’ lighthouses in Scotland . Kinnaird s Head is believed to

’ E c to o P i tsli o s C R o se e ntran e L rd g ave , h arty be the promontory of the T a ixa li mentioned by the Alex andrian geographer Ptolemy as being at the entrance of M the oray Firth . Here the rocks are of moderate height but further west they fall to sea - level and continue so past

Pi tu llie to R k Sandhaven and osehearty . A low roc y coast

Old Red carries us to Aberdour bay , where beds of Sand stone and conglomerate rise to an altitude of 3 0 0 feet .

64 ABERDEENSHIRE

The conglomerate extends to the Re d Head of Pennan — once a quarry for mill - stones where an attractive and ff picturesque little village nestles at the base of the cli . The peregrine falcon breeds on the rocky fastnesses of ff these lofty cli s, which continue to grow in height and grandeur till they reach their maximum (40 0 feet) at

Troup Head . Troup Head makes a bold beginning for ff the county of Ban .

9 . Weath er an d Cl i m ate . Tem p e ra !

tu re . Rai n fal l . Wi n d s.

The climate of a county depends on a good many

sea - ro xi things, its latitude, its height above level , its p

a s mity to the sea, the prevailing winds , and especially

' r ega rds Sc o tla n d whether it is situated on the east coast ‘ G or on the west . Th e latitude of reat B ritain if the country were not surrounded by the sea would entitle it to a temperature only comparable to that of Greenland but its proximity to the Atlantic redeems it from such a ° fate . The Atlanti c is 3 warmer than the air and the fact that the prevailing winds are westerly or south westerly helps to raise the mean temperature of the western counties higher than that of those on the east . ° The North Sea is only 1 warmer than the air so that its influence is less marked . °— ° Still , considering its latitude (57 57 Aber de e n shi re enjoys a comparatively moderate climate . It is neither very rigorous in winter nor very warm in E n g li sh M i les

Less th a n 3 0m .

R l M a o f c o l A H S . f D r R . M l ainfal p t and ( ter . il )

M . A . 66 A BERDEENSHIRE

f summer . O course i n a large county a distinction must be drawn between the coast temperature and that of the high lying districts such as B raemar . The fringe round the coast is in the summer less warm than the inland parts, a result due to the coolness of the enclosing se a ff , but in the winter th is state of a airs is reversed and the uplands are held i n the grip of a hard frost while the

- coast side has little or none . The mean temperature of Scotland is while Aber deen has and Peterhead That of Braemar , the most westerly station in the county, though in reality ff very little lower, is arrived at by enti rely di erent figures ; the temperature being much higher during July , August w and September, but lo er i n December, January and

1 1 1 sea - February . Braemar is 4 feet above level and since there is a regular and uniform decline in tempera ° 1 2 0 sea ture to the extent of for every 7 feet above the ,

- the temperature of this hill station should be low . As a ° t is ma ter of fact , from June to Septembe r it only 9 and w in O ctober belo that of London . Yet its maximum ° 1 0 d is higher than is recorded at Aber een , only in winter ° 2 0 its minimum is lower than the minimum of the coast . B raemar and Peterhead as lying at the two extremes of the county may be compared . Peterhead receives the

th e uninterrupted sweep of easterly breezes, for it has no shelter or protection either of forests or mountains . The impression a visitor takes is that Peterhead is an exception

a ally cold place . As fact, its mean winter temperature

e is above the averag for Scotland , but the lack of shelter and the constant motion of the air give an impression of

68 ABERDEENSHIRE

coldness . In the summer and autumn its mean falls below that of Scotland . It is therefore less cold in the cold months and less warm in the warm months than Braemar and h a s a seasonal variation of only between winter ° 2 1 and summer, whereas Edinburgh has a range of and London of

The rainfall over the whole county is also moderate ,

' — ranging from less than 2 5 i n c h eS a t Peterhead the driest

— 0 c 2 part of the area to 4 in hes at B raemar, and 3 at 60 Aberdeen . This is a small rainfall compared with or

7 0 inches on parts of the west c oast . The driest months M a in Aberdeenshire are April and y, and generally speak ing less rain falls in the early half of the year when th e temperature is rising than i n the later half when the tem is p e ra tu re is on the decline . Two i nches about the average

c m for ea h month fro February to June , but O ctober ,

November and December are each over th ree inches . The most of the rainfall of Scotland comes from the west

is so and south . This explains why th e west coast much wetter than the east . The westerly winds from the

Atlantic , laden with moisture , strike upon the high lands of the west, but exhaust themselves before they reach the watershed and , having precipitated their moisture between that and the coast, they reach the east coast comparatively is dry . B raemar just under the watershed relatively dry .

I ts 1 1 1 - situation as an elevated valley , 4 feet above sea level and surrounded on three sides by hills of from three to four

60 sea thousand feet , and the fact that it is miles from the combine to make it one of the most bra c ing pla c es and give it one of the finest summe r climates in the British Isles . WEATHER AND CLIMATE 69

This suffi ciently a c counts for its popularity a s a health

M a . resort . y is its d riest month , O ctober its wettest

Easterly winds bring rain to the coast, but as a rule the rain extends no further inland than 2 0 miles . Easterly

M M a winds prevail during arch , April and y, which make this season ' the most trying part of the year for weakly people . In summer the winds are often northerly , but

. the prevailing winds of the year, active for 3 7 per cent of 6 the 3 5 days or little less than half, are west and south west . East winds bring fog, and this is most prevalent in

the early summer , June being perhaps the worst month . The greatest drawback to the climate from an a gr ic u l ’ tu rist s point of view is the lateness of the spring . The summer being short, a late spring means a late harvest, which is invariably unsatisfactory . The low rainfall of the county is favourable to sun 0 shine . Aberdeen has 1 40 hours of sunshine during the year in spite of fogs and east winds ; the more inland parts being beyond the reach of sea- fo g have an even better

record . — The great obj ection a n objection taken by folks who have spent part of their life i n South Africa or Canada is the variableness of the climate from day to day . There is not here any fi xity for continued periods of weathe r

a s such obtains in these countries . The chief fac tor in this variability is our insular position on the eastern side of the Atlantic . When , on rare occasions, as sometimes happens in June or in September , the atmosphere is settled , Aberdeenshire enjoys for a few weeks weather of the most salubrious and delightful kind . 70 ABERDEENSHIRE

1 — 0 . Th e Peop l e Race , L ang uag e ,

P op u l ation .

The blood of the people of Aberdeenshire, though in the main Teutonic , has combined with Celtic and other elements, and has evolved a distinctive type , somewhat di fferent in appearance and character from what is found in other parts of Scotland . How this amalgamation came about must be explained at some length . The earliest inhabitants of B ritain must have crossed fro m Europe when as yet there was no dividing North

1 1 Sea . They used rough stone weapons ( se e p . 4) and were hunters living upon the products of the chase, the mammoth , reindeer and other animals that roamed the

' '

la ealztb zc . country . Su c h were pa (ancient stone) men Perhaps they never reached Scotland : at least there is no trace of them in Aberdeenshire . They were followed

’ ’ n ealztbzc wh o by (new stone) men , used more delicately

fl . carved weapons, stone axes, and int arrows Traces of these are to be found in Aberdeenshire . A few short cists c ontaining skeletal remains have been found in various parts of the county . In the last forty years some

fifteen of these have been unearthed . From these anthro p o lo gists c on c lude that neolithic men lived here at the end of the stone age , men of a muscular type, of short i stature and with broad short faces . They were m ghty hunters hunting the wild ox , the wolf and the bear i n s the dense forests which , after the Ice Age pa sed , over

- spread the north east . They clothed themselves against

7 2 A BERDEENSHIRE d was first inhabite by Picts, who may or may not have

been Iberians, and that after the Picts came the Celts ; but some critics hold that th e Picts were only earlier

wa s Celts . In any case the Stone Age succeeded by th e

B ronze Age, when B ronze took the place of Stone in the

formation of weapons . The Celts made their way through Central France to Britain and ultimately to

Scotland . Unlike the people they found in possession of

Scotland , they were tall (5 ft . 9 These are the

ancestors of th e G aelic speaking people of Scotland . They are supposed to have amalgamated to some extent with N the eolithic men whom they found on th e spot, and it

a is certain that they were christianised at n early period .

fa ir h a ir e d L ater on Teutonic tribes, tall , longheaded and men crossed from the Baltic to Britain and i n due course

they too reached Aberdeenshire . But up to the time of — David I ( 1 1 24 1 1 53) the population and institutions of

- the north east were entirely Celtic . The Saxon or Teu tonic element was introduced by way of the coast and the

trading towns . From the towns it spread to the country

districts . Wh en Henry II expelled the Flemish traders from England many migrated to the north and formed settlements in many parts of the country , establishing d trade an handicraft, particularly weaving, and reclaiming ’

. o f waste land The defeat of Comyn , the Earl Buchan , 1 0 8 by Bruce in 3 , when B ruce harried Buchan from end

to end and spared none, opened the way for lowland immigrants and not only gave an impetus to Teutonic settlements, but helped to kill out the Celtic language and th e Celtic ways . These immigrants are really th e — P E RA A G AG ETC. 3 EOPL CE, L N U E , 7

ancestors of the present Aberdeenshire people , but they have been greatly modified by absorbing the Celtic p o p u lation and mixing with it , for though reduced by slaughter, d disa and by an exodus to the hills, it ha not enti rely p

e re d N p a . Scandinavians from orway and Denmark also found a footing at various periods in this north -eastern region and these elements are all blended in the modern

Aberdonian . Celt , Saxon , Fleming and Scandinavian came in one after the other and possessed the land , form in g a n e w people in which all these elements were fused . d Aberdonians are credited with a distinct indivi uality , d partly the result of race , partly ue to environment . Th e strai n of practicality in the Teuton toned down the Celtic imagination and warmth of feeling, and added a certain tincture of the phlegmatic such as is so prominent in the “ ” Dutchman . Hence the cautious canny nature of the typical Aberdonian , dreading innovations, resisting agri l cultura novelties, and disliking ecclesiastical changes . They have been described a s people

Wh o n o t o f are fond innovations , No r c ovet muc h n ew reformations ; They are n o t fo r n ew paths but rather

c o n e h is o ld Ea h !ogs after father .

This requires some elucidation . They are far from ff slothful or indi erent . They will uphold with zeal the k cause they thin right, but they must first reach assured is conviction that it right . They are not swift nor slow to change , but firm .

T h e Celtic population was in fact absorbed , as we d k have sai , but a certain contingent betoo themselves to 74 A BERDEENSHIRE the mountains and for long kept u p a warfare o t reprisals

n o upon those who had dispossessed them . Th is caused end of trouble i n Aberdeenshi re but n o t without its uses for it braced the occupants in the arts of defence and made them alert and courageous . No less potent a factor in the evolution of the Aberdonian has been h is struggle with a well- nigh irre

. is claimable soil The county without mineral wealth , and the only outlet for his energy wa s found in attacking the boulder- strewn moors and in clearing them for the plough . To this he set his mind in the eighteenth

Sm a ll century with grim determination . farmers and crofters by dint of great personal toil and life - long self sa c r ifi c e transformed stony tracts of poor and apparently is worthless land into smiling and productive fields . It this struggle with a malignant soil , more than anything else , that has made the Aberdonian ; one triumph led on to

- another, and to day the spirit of enterprise in farming is nowhere more pronounced than in this diffi cult county .

The place names are almost entirely Celtic , and even when they appear to be Saxon they are only Gaelic mispronounced or assimilated to something better known . The parish o f King Edward might very plausibly be referred to the northern visits paid by the Hammer of the

K in eda r G K i n Scots , but it is really , with the aelic (seen M in Kinnaird , Kintore and alcolm Canmore) , meaning a head .

The county has a distinctive dialect , really imported M and originally uniform with the dialect of the earns,

N a t and of orthumbria , the dialect spoken one time all — P RA A G AG ETC. 5 PEO LE CE , L N U E , 7

- the way from Forth to Humber . To day it is called the Buchan Doric and though varying somewhat in different parts of the county and hardly intelligible in the H igh

o f G lands B raemar, where aelic still survives , it is a Teutonic speech with a thin tincture of Gaelic words

bau r a cb c /osa c b c la c b a n br ac ka n . such as , , , , etc The dialect contai ns many vocables not found in

' a s b ou s o n deem z s e xtr a o r di literary English , such y and for

b u t nary , where the words are English , they are greatly

o altered . It is characterised by broad , open v wels “ “ ” “ ” ” c a ir t boots is pronounced beets, cart is , good “ “ ” “ . 1 u is gweed The final is dropped ; pull is p , “ ” “ 0 1 aw is fall is fa . Final becomes ; roll made “ “ ” “ ” i Wb a lwa s s . : row, and poll pow is y f white “ ” “ ” “ ” is fi te and who ! (interrogative) is fa ! It is ri ch — d a [a ssi e a ba sketi e. in iminutives like the Dutch , The fi nest embodiment of this striking dialect , giving perma is nent life to its wealth of pathos and expressiveness, D r ’ bb o u /J etn eu f William Alexander s Gi f G s .

S cots w/ m b a e is , which supposed to be a characteristic phrase common to all the dialects, would be in Buchan “ - Sc o ts a t bi z N . u n ie , which is largely orse Th e q y “ c o u dn a be o n gr u tte n is Buchan for The little girl

could not help crying . The population of the county which a hundred years before was in 1 90 1 was Since the county contains 1 970 square miles this brings out an — average of 1 54 to the square mile j ust a little over the

d as average of Scotlan as a whole , but Aberdeen city

accounts for more than half of the total , and towns like 76 A BERDEENSHIRE Peterhead and Fraserburgh between them represent

the figure is greatly reduced for the rural d istricts .

a r e The country districts but thinly peopled , especially

on the Highland line , and the tendency is for the rural

population to dwindle . They either emigrate to Canada ,

which is a regular lodestone for Aberdonians, or they

fl . betake themselves to the towns, chie y to Aberdeen itself

Except in and around the principal town , the county has

A ric u l hardly any industries that employ many hands . g

ture is the main employment, and modern appliances enable the farme r to do his work with fewer helps than : formerly hence the depopulation of the rural districts .

The towns tend to grow, the rural parishes to become

more sparsely inhabited .

1 1 . Ag ricu ltu re .

This is the mainstay of the county , and considering the somewhat uncertain climate , the shortness of the

summer and the natural poverty of the soil , it has been

brought to marvellous perfection . Th e mountainous regions are necessarily cut o ff from this industry except in

- narrow fringes along the river banks, but in the low lying area it is safe to say that every acre of ground worth reclaiming has been put to the plough . A century ago

- the industry was rude and ill organised , the county being without roads and without wheeled vehicles, but the advent of railways gave an impetus to the farming instinct and an extraordinary activity set in to reclaim waste land AGRICULTURE 7 7

by clearing it of stones, by trenching, by draining and manuring it . The proprietors were usually agreeable to granting a long lease at a nominal rent to any likely and energetic man who wa s willing to undertake reclamations and take h is chance of recouping himself for outlays

h is . n before lease expired Bei g thus secured , the farmer or crofter had an incentive to put the maximum of labour

- h is . into holding He often built the dwelling house , and a s a rule made the enclosures by means of the stones,

b e I n wh ich , with great labour , dragged from the fields . this way a great acreage was added to the arable land of the county, and though some of it has fallen into pasture since the great boom in agricultural prices during the seventies in last century , the greater part of the reclaimed soil is still i n cultivation . d The area of the county, exclusive of water an road

is 1 o r Of ways, 9 55 square miles, acres . this exactly one half is under cultivation , acres . When we remember that Scotland contains some nineteen 2 million of acres and that only 5 per cent . of th is acreage is arable land , it is apparent that Aberdeen with its

. As 50 per cent is one of the most cultivated areas . a matter of fact it h a s by far th e largest acreage under N cultivation of any Scottish county . ext to it is Perth shire with acres . The uncultivated half is made up of mountain , moor and woodlands . Part of this is u se d fo r grazing sheep , as much as acres being thus utilised . In the matter of woods and plantations the county with its acres stands nex t to Inver

- ness shire , which has Th e trees grown are 78 A BERDEENSHIRE

c mostly lar h and pine and spruce , but the deciduous trees, or hard woods, the beech , elm and ash , are not uncommon in the low country , more especially as ornamental trees

- around the manor houses of the proprietors .

The crops chiefly cultivated are oats, barley , turnips and potatoes . Wheat is not grown except now and again in an odd field . The climate is too cold , the autumn heat never rising to the point of ripening that cr0 p satisfactorily . Oats is the most frequent crop , and Aber

h ire - dee n s is the oat producing county of Scotland . A fifth of the whole acreage under this crop in Scotland belongs to Aberdeenshire . Perth , wh ich is next , has only

- - one third of the Aberdeensh ire oat area . Twenty thou

- sand acres are devoted to barley , only one tenth of the

- barley area in Scotland . O ver seven thousand acres go to potatoes ; the southern counties have a soil better adapted

o r fa r to produce good potatoes ; F , Fife , Perth and Ayr shire excel in this respect and all these give a larger acreage

c As to this rop . regards turnips, however, Aberdeenshire is easily first . Being a great c attle rearing and cattle feeding district, it demands a large tonnage of turnip food . It is estimated that a million and a half tons of turnips are consumed every year in the county . As regards cattle and horses the county has first place 1 i n Scotland . I n 9 0 9 there were agricultural horses in th e country and of these were in Aber dee n sh ire h a d , while of cattle it It h as a quarte r of a million sheep , but here it falls behind othe r counties , notably Argyll , which has nearly a million ,

o n e - or seventh of all the sheep in Scotland .

8 0 A BERDEENSHIRE

verted into fertile fields . The town feued the lands and

the feuars cleared away the stones, which they sold and shipped to London for paving purposes ; the process of 1 0 0 clearing cost as much as J£ an acre , a fourth of this

being recovered by the sale of the stones . This is typical

of what was done elsewhere . G radually the bleak moors

were absorbed . A famine in 1 7 8 2 opened the eyes of all

c 2 0 0 concerned . Hitherto there was not as mu h as acres

- in turnips . Hitherto also the heavy work oxen , ten or w t elve of them dragging a primitive and shallow plough , d at a slow pace and in a serpentine furrow, ha been

No w imported from the south . they began to be bred

on the spot . By and by cattle grew i n numbers ; by

and by, two horses superseded the team of oxen in the

flo u h [ g . But the chief factor in evolving Aberdeenshire into a

- - cattle rearing and beef producing county was the turnip .

Till turnips began to be grown i n a large acreage, no

provision was possible for the cattle in winter . Hence

. 1 8 20 the beasts had to be disposed of in autumn In , as

many as a nimals were sent in droves to England . The advent of steam navigation in 1 8 2 7 ended the

d . roving Then began the trade in fat cattle , but it was years before the county gained its laurels a s the ch ief purveyor of “ prime Scots ” and the roast beef of Old

th e England . The turnip held key of the position but

turnips will not grow well without manure . The canal between Aberdeen and Inverurie carried great quantities of crushed bones and guano to raise this . important

crop . AGRICULTURE 8 1

Cattle - br e eding began with M c c ombie of Tillyfour

d c Sitt to n an the Crui kshanks of y , one with the native

- — - — black polled c attle the Aberdeen Angus and the others

with shorthorns . By dint of careful selection , great progress was made in improving not only the symmetry

S i of the beasts but their ze and beefy qualities . There

Ab erdeen - Angus B ul l

began a furore for cattle -rearing and prizes taken at R Sm ith fie ld made Aberdeen famous . ailway transit

- came in as an additional help , and to day the Ch ristmas market never fails to give its top prices for Aberdeenshire b e e fi Every year the beef of cattle leaves the c ounty

c h for the southern markets, iefly London this in addition

M . A . 6 8 2 ABERDEENSHIRE

to l supplying ocal needs, and Aberdeen has now

- - of a population . Cattle rearing and cattle feeding are

therefore at the backbone of Aberdeenshire agriculture . A recent development is the export of pure- bred short R horns to America, more especially the Argentine epublic ,

s 1 0 0 for breeding purposes . As much a £ 0 has been given

for a young bull , i n this connection .

Ab e rde e n S h o rth o rn B ul l

is In the matter of fruit culture , Aberdeen far behind

Perthshire and Lanark, which have a richer soil and a

. superior climate But the Aberdeen strawbe rries, grown mostly on Deeside, are noted for size and flavour . In 1 0 2 1 9 9 only 9 acres were devoted to this crop . The c w ultivation of raspberries, hich is so great a feature of AGRICULTURE 8 3

h a s i n lower Perthshi re , made only a beginning Aberdeen , and the small profits that have c ome to southern growers

0 of this cr p in recent years have acted as a deterrent, in its extension .

1 2 . Th e G ran ite I n d u stry.

' “ Aberdeen has lo n g b ee n known as The Granite ” City . It is built of granite , chiefly from its great

Ru b isla w. is quarries at The granite a light grey , some what different in texture and grain from another grey

c D o n side granite mu h i n vogue , that of Kemnay on .

c h a s There are many quarries in the county , and ea h its

distinctive colouring . The Peterhead stone is red ; Cor i rennie s also red but of a lighter hue . The granite

c industry has made great strides of re ent years . The

c modern appliances for boring the ro k by steam drills,

the use of dynamite and other ex plosives for blasting , as well as the devices for hoisting and conveying stones from the well of the quarry to the upper levels by means of

Blondins have all revolutionised the art of quarrying . It wa s long before Aberdeen people realised the value

of the local rocks for building purposes . The stone used

c wa s in the early ecclesiasti al buildings sandstone , which was imported by sea from M orayshire and the Firth of

Forth . The beginnings of St M achar Cathedral and the old church of St Ni c holas as well a s the church of Grey

c c friars, built early in the sixteenth entury and re ently

No t demolished , were all of sandstone . till the seventeenth

6— 2 G ranite Q uarry , Kemnay THE GRANITE INDUSTRY 8 5

w century a s granite utilised . At first the surface stones 1 60 were taken , then quarrying began about 4, but little 1 1 8 0 1 0 was done till 7 2 5 . Between 7 and 79 as many as

60 0 men were employed in the Aberdeen quarries . Great a s R engineering works such the Bell ock Lighthouse , the Thames Embankment, the foundations of Waterloo d B ridge , the Forth B ridge and London Bri ge , where great durability and solidity are necessary , were made

u se possible by the of huge blocks from Aberdeenshire . 1 8 2 0 The polishing of the stone made a beginning in , and now a great export trade in polished work for staircases, house fronts, facades, fountains and other ornamental purposes is carried on between the county and America as well as the British Colonies .

Apart from building purposes, granite slabs are largely used for headstones in graveyards . This monumental department employs a great number of skilled workmen .

8 0 - There are over granite polishing yards in Aberdeen . Here too the modern methods of cutting and polishing the stones by machinery and pneumatic tools have greatly reduced the manual labour as well as improved the u character of the work . Unfort nately the export trade in these monumental stones has somewhat declined owing ff 1 8 6 to prohibitive tari s . In 9 America took worth of finished stones ; i n 1 90 9 the value had fallen to The tariffs in France have also been against the trade, but an average of nearly tons is sent to

c . ontinental countries Strangely enough , granite i n the

is No r raw state itself imported to Aberdeen . Swedish , we ia n G g and erman granites are brought to Aberdeen , to

8 8 A BERDEENSHIRE dispose of their waste without burying valuable agricultural land under its mass . G ranite is the only mineral worthy of mention found in the county . Limestone exists in considerable quantities here and there , but as a rule it is too far from the railway routes to be profitably worked . It is , however, burned locally and applied to arable land a s a manure . In the

- upper reaches of Strathdon , lime kilns are numerous . By means of peat fro m the adjoining mosses the limestone

- was regularly burned half a century ago . To day the practice is dwindling . A unique mineral deposit called Kieselguhr is found in considerable quantity in the peat mosses of Dinnet, on Deeside . It is really the fossil remains of diatoms, and consists almost entirely of silica with a trace of lime and i ron . When dried it is used as

fo r a polishing powder steel , silver and other metals but its chief use is in the manufacture of dynamite , of which i t is th e absorbent basis . It absorbs from three to four - is times its own weight of nitro glycerine , which the s active property in dynamite . A found in the moss it is a layer two feet thick of cheesy light coloured matter , which is cut out into oblong pieces like peats . When

- i these are dried , they become lighter in colour and ash l ke i n character . The D innet deposits are the only deposits of the kind in the country . Inferior beds are found in

Skye . The industry employs 50 hands during the 2 8 summer months, and has been in operation for years .

The beds show no sign of exhaustion as yet, and the demand for the substance is on the increase . OTHER INDUSTRIES 8 9

1 W 3 . Other I nd u stri es. Pap e r , ool ,

Com b s.

c The industries apart from agri ulture , work in

granite, and the fisheries are mostly concentrated in u c c . and around the hief ity These , although n merous,

are not carried on in a large way , but they are varied ; and there is this advantage in the eggs not being all ‘i n

, one basket that when depression at—tacks one trade its effect is only partial and does not affect business as a

. whole . Paper , combs, wool , soap are all manufactured The first of these engages four large establishments on the

’ e a W a n d Don and one on the D e t Culter . riting paper the paper used for the daily press and magazines a s well as the c oarser kinds of packing paper are all made in considerable quantity . Esparto grass and wood pulp are

n imported i connection with this industry . Comb making

d o n is also carrie , and the factory in Aberdeen is the its largest of kind in the kingdom .

ro e Textile fabrics are still p duced , but the progress mad

’ in these is not to be compared with the advances made

t c c i s c . in the sou h of S otland , where oal heap Weaving

was introduced at an early period by Flemish settlers, who made coarse linens and woollens till the end of the “ ” sixteenth century , when grograms and worsteds,

ri broadcloth a d friezes were added . Provost Alexander

Jaffray. the elder in 1 63 6established a house of correction

— ' — a the prototype of the modern reformatory where 90 ABERDEENSHIRE beggars and disorderly persons were employed in the

ff . manufacture of broadcloths , kerseys and other stu s A record of this novelty in discipline survives in the

Aberdeen street called Correction Wynd . In 1 7 0 3 a joint- stock company was formed for G ’ M woollen manufactures at ordon s ills on the Don , — where a fulling mill had existed for generations, and where the making of paper had been initiated a few ’ M years earlier . The Gordon s ills developed th e manu — facture of cloths of a h igher quality , half silk serges, damask and plush , and skilled workmen were brought from France to guide and instruct the operatives . To

- G ra n dh o lm day h igh class tweeds are made at , and such is the reputation of these goods for quality and durability that i n spite of high tariffs they make their t way in o America , where they command a large sale at prices more than double of the home prices . In the olden days the cloth sold in the home markets ’ was a product of domestic industry . The farmers daughters spun the wool of their own sheep into yarn , which was sent to county weavers to be made into cloth . Aberdeenshire serge made in this way was sold at fairs and was hawked about th e county by travelli ng packmen .

The hosiery trade wa s worked on similar lines . The

wa s k wool converted i nto worsted by roc and spindle, and the worsted was knitted into stockings by the women

O n e and girls of the rural population . man employed as many as 40 0 knitters and spinners . In the latter half of the eighteenth century this industry brought from

to into Aberdeenshi re every year .

9 2 A BERDEENSHIRE

better quality was imported from Holland . Yet the Spinning of linen yarn was widely practised a s a domestic industry when the woollen trade declined , and every farmer ’s daughter made a point of spinning her own

- linen as the nucleus of her future house furnishings . m The linen trade , except as regards coarser aterials such is as sacking, has decayed . The re still a jute factory in

Aberdeen . Another industry which employs a large number of

is fi sh ve e hands th e preserving of meat, , fruit, and g tables . There are several of these preserving works in d Aber een . D ried and smoked haddocks, usually called ” Finnan Haddies, from the village of Findon on the

Kincardineshi re coast , are one of the specialities of

Aberdeen . Th ey had at one time a great vogue , and are still largely i n demand though the quality h a s fallen o ff by the adoption of a simpler and less expensive method of treatment . Ship- building is another industry long established at

Aberdeen . In the days before iron steamships, fleets of swift—sailing vessels known as “ Aberdeen Clippers ” were built on the Dee and made record voyages to China in

- the tea trade and to Australia . The industry of to day is concerned , for the greater part, with the building of trawlers and other fishing craft , but occasionally an ocean going steamer is launched . The trade is meantime suffering from depression . Other industries well represented are soap and candle

c - - making , coa h and motor car building, iron founding and

n a engineeri g, rope and twine making, the m nufacture of

9 4 ABERDEENSHIRE

chemicals, colours and ae rated waters . Besides , Aberdeen is a great p rinting centre and many of the books issued by London publishers are printed by local presses .

1 4 . Fi sh eri es. During the last quarter of a century the fishing industry has made great strides, the value of fish landed in Scotland having more than doubled in that period . Nowhere h a s the impetus been more felt than i n

Aberdeenshire, which now contributes as much as one 1 8 8 6 thi rd of the whole prod u ct of Scotch fisheries . Since the weight of fish caught round the Scottish coast has increased from five million hundredweights to over nine

i millions, while the money value has r sen in even a greater proportion from to To these totals Aberdeen alone has contributed over a hundred thousand tons of white fish (excluding herrings), valued at over a million pounds sterling . Peterhead and Fraser burgh are also contributors especially as regards herrings, the former landing hundredweights and Fraser burgh very nearly a similar quantity . These three ports amongst them account for one half of all the fish landed at

Scottish ports . When we consider the number of persons c ollaterally employed in handling this enormous quantity

c of mer handise , the coopers, cleaners, packers, basket

- so makers, boat builders , makers of nets, clerks and on , apart altogether from the army of fishermen employed

fi sh se e - in catching the , we how far reaching this

9 6 A BERDEENSHIRE

so - important of the called round fish is the haddock , of which over a million hundredweights are landed in ’ Scotland , Aberdeen contributing the lion s share , three fourths of the whole . Next to the haddock comes the cod , of which nearly three hundred and forty thousand hundredweights were handled in the Aberdeen fish

. lin a n d market The next fish is g, . then come whitings,

- - . fish saithe , torsk, conger eels The flat are also important, plaice , witches, megrims, halibut, lemon soles and turbot . This last is the scarcest and most highly prized of all

flat fish , and commands a price next to that given for l salmon . Ling and halibut are still most y caught by hook and line ; th e turbot and the lemon sole on the other hand are distinctively the product of the trawl net and were little known until trawling was begun . A certain small percentage of this great weight of

fish c is onsumed locally , but the great bulk of it is packed in ice and dispatched by swift passenger trains to the southern markets . The Aberdeen fish market , extending for half a mile along t he west and north sides of the Albert Basin (originally the bed of the Dee) is the property of the Town Corporation and is capable of dealing As 60 fish with large catches . much as 7 tons of have been exposed on its concrete floor in a single day . In the

r ea ly morning th e place is one of the sights of the city , with the larger fish laid o u t i n symmetrical rows on the fi sh— pavement, and the smaller haddocks, whiting and — t 8 a .m . soles i n boxes arranged for the auction sale a . The majority of the fishing craft are still sailing

- - vessels , but steam drifters and motor boats and steam

98 A BERDEENSHIRE trawlers are gradually driving the ordinary sail- boats from d d the trade , just as the trawl net is superse ing the ol t fashioned mode of fishing with se lines . Still about

F s i s T h e G Ab e i h w ve , reen , erde n

8 6 per cent . of the number of boats employed is made up of sailing vessels, but the tonnage is relatively small . The quantity of fish caught by hook and line is only

- one tenth of the whole .

FISHERIES 1 0 1

The amount of cap i tal invested in boats and fishing gear for all Scotland is estimated by the Fishery Board O f at over this total , Aberdeenshire claims

very nearly two millions . It is now the case that the value of fish discharged at the fish market of Aberdeen is as great a s the yearly value of the agricultural land of — the whole county truly a marvellous revolution .

F s Fl e o n o u t A b i h ing et g i g , erdeen

Th e herring fishery was prosecuted o ff the Scottish a d co st by the Dutch , long before the Scotch coul be M induced to take part in it . any futile attempts were made to exploit the industry but little came of th em till the nineteenth century . A beginning was made at 1 8 2 0 Peterhead in and at Fraserburgh a little earlier . 102 AB ERDEENSHIRE

Aberdeen followed in 1 8 3 6 but no great development 1 8 took place till 70 . The first trawler came on the scene in 1 8 8 2 to - day there are over 2 0 0 local vessels of this type besides many from other ports . The salmon fishery has long been famous and at one time was relatively a source of much greater revenue d than at present . It still yields a consi erable annual surplus to the Corporation funds, but has been eclipsed by the growth of other fisheries . The rateable value of the salmon fish in gs on the Dee is nearly those — of the other salmon rivers the Don , Ythan and Ugie being much less . The fish are caught by fixed engines — i n the sea—stake—nets and bag- nets set within a statutory

- radius of the river mouth , and by sweep or drag nets in the tidal reaches of the rivers . A good many fish are caught by rod and line throughout the whole course of the rivers but angling is not the commercial side of

- salmon fish in g .

1 5 . S h i p p i ng and Trad e . Aberdeenshi re has practically but three ports—Fraser

n n burgh , Peterhead and Abe rdeen . The herri g fishi g with its concomitant activities absorbs the energies of the

so two former far as shipping is concerned , but Aberdeen having to serve a large r and wider area than these two northern burghs has developed a range of docks of con

b le side ra extent and importance . Duri ng the last forty years the Harbour Commissioners have spent

1 04 ABERDEENSHIRE

1 8 8 2 1 0 tons in to in 9 9, the exports have made is only a very slight advance . The ch ief export herrings, 1 and last year nearly tons of these , salted and packed

sea . fi sh in barrels, were sent by The fresh are dispatch ed

by rail . Stones in the form of granite , either polished for

monumental purposes or in setts and kerbs for paving,

account for tons . The remainde r (of

tons) is made up by oats, barley , oatmeal , paper, preserved

provisions, whisky , manures, flax and cotton fabrics,

woollen cloth , cattle and horses, butter and eggs, salmon

- and pine wood . Th e trade is mostly a coasting trade and more an

import than an export one . Coal is the chie f article of

import, tons being discharged in a year . Besides

- - coal , esparto grass, wood pulp and rags for paper making, foreign granite in the rough state sent to be polished ,

flour, maize , linseed , the horns of cattle used for comb

fish - making, and the salt used in curing, are the chief materials landed on the Aberdeen quays . Aberdeen being the distributing centre for the county , and all the railway d routes focussing in it, the coal and the buil ing materials

c not produced in the district , such as lime, slate and ement , all pass this way , while the tea and sugar, the tobacco and other articles of daily use, also arrive mostly by the harbour . There are regular lines of steamers between Aberdeen N and the following ports London , ewcastle , Hull ,

G n n Liverpool , lasgow and Leith , as also with conti e tal R towns such as Hamburg, otterdam and Christiania . HISTORY OF THE COUNTY 1 05

1 6. Hi story o f th e Cou nty.

Standing remote from the centre of the country , Aberdeenshire has n o t been fated to figure largely in general history . The story of its own evol u tion from

poverty to prosperity is an interesting one , but it is only now and again that the county is involved in the main current of the history of Scotland . R d If the omans ever visited it , wh ich is highly oubtful , f they left no convincing evidence of thei r stay . O positive R oman influence no indication has survived , and no

conquest of the district can have taken place . The only records of the early inhabitants of the district— usually

— Eir de called Picts are the houses, the lake dwellings or

crannogs , the h ill forts or duns , the D ruidical circles

- and standing stones and the flint arrow heads , all of which

will be dealt with in a late r chapter . Ch ristianity had reached the south of Scotland before R the omans left early in the fifth century . The first

M o u n th missionary who crossed the was St Ternan , whose

r - name survives at Bancho y Ternan on the D ee, the place

. K en ti e rn M of his death St g or St ungo , the patron saint

G c c G le n a ir n . of lasgow, had a hurch dedi ated to him at g

K e n ti e rn St g belonged to the sixth century, and was

therefore a contemporary of St Columba, who christianised

Aberdeenshire from Iona . In this way two great currents

- met in the north east . Columba accompanied by his disciple D ro sta n first appeared at Aberdour on the northern

. coast F rom Aberdour he passed on th rough Buchan , and having established the M onastery of Deer and left D ro sta n 106 AB ERDEENSHI RE

in charge , moved on to other fields of labour . His name fi is survives in the shing village of St Combs . He the

d Ne w M tutelar saint of Belhelvie , an the churches of achar

c and Daviot were dedi ated to h im . These facts indicate the mode in which Pictland was brought under the influence of Christianity . The next historical item worthy of mention is the ravages of the Scandinavian Vikings . The descents on th e coast of these sea - rovers were directed against the

d . monastic communities, which had gathere some wealth

The Aberdeenshire coast , having few inlets convenient for the entry of their long boats, was to a large extent 1 0 1 2 exempt from thei r raids, but i n an expedition under

Swe e n Cnut , son of g , the king of Denmark , landed at

Cruden Bay . M Another fact of interest is the death of acbeth , who

T h o rfi n n for seventeen years had by the help of , the Scandinavian (whose name may be seen in the Deeside town of Torphins) , usurped the kingsh ip of Scotland . M 1 0 alcolm Canmore led an army against him i n 57 , and

M o u n th gradually driving him north , beyond the , ove r

t M . took him a Lumphanan . There acbeth was slain A M acbeth ’s stone is said to mark the place where he ’ - M is received his death wound , and acbeth s Cairn marked by a clump of trees in the midst of cultivated land . Th e farm called C a i rn b e th ie retains th e echo of his name . ’ O Ne il M Kincardine , where alcolm awaited the result of the conflict , commands the ford of the Dee on the ancient route of travel from south to north across the Cairn - o

M o u n th .

1 08 ABERDEENSHIRE

a ’ the burghers during his five d ys stay . From Aberdeen d he went to Kintore and Fyvie an on to Speyside , return ’ Ne il ing by the Cabrach , Kildrummy , Ki ncardine O and

-o - M o u n th the Cairn . ff The next year Wallace , in his patriotic e orts to clear ’ the country from English domination , surprised Edward s ff garrison at Aberdeen , but unable to e ect anything, hastily withdrew from the neighbourhood . Edward was back in Aberdeen in 1 3 0 3 and paid another visit to Kild rummy

t h e Castle , then in possession of B ruce . Then B ruce , having fled from the English court and assassinated the

Re d Comyn at Dumfries, was crowned at Scone and the long struggle for national independence began in earnest .

1 0 wa s In 3 7 he came to Aberdeen , which favourable to

fa r Old his cause . At Barra , not from Inve rurie and M eldrum , his forces met those of the Earl of Buchan (John Comyn) and defeated them It was not a great battle in itself, but its consequences were important .

It marked the turn of the tide in the national cause .

The Buchan district , in which the battle took place , had long been identi fied with the powerful family of the h is Comyns and after victory at Barra , Bruce devastated the district with relentless fury . This harrying of ” is Buchan , as it has been called, referred to by Barbour as an event bemoaned for more than fifty years . The

wa s family of the Comyns crushed , and their in fluence , which had been liberal and considerate to the native race

- of Celts, came to an end . The whole of the north east ’ ’ c turned to B ru e s support , and in a short time all Edward s

u garrisons disappeared . This pheaval created a fresh HISTORY OF THE COUNTY 109

N w partition of the lands of Aberdeenshire . e families such as the Hays, the Frasers , the Gordons and the

I rvines, were rewarded for faithful service by grants of

re- - c land . The settlement of the county from non Celti sources accentuated the Teutonic element in the county .

After Bannockburn , B ruce rewarded Aberdeen itself for its support by granting to the burgesses the burgh a s well

c as the forest of Sto ket . The great event of the fifteenth century was the

H a rla w 1 1 1 Battle of , which took place in 4 at no great

c distan e from the site of the Battle of Barra . It was

really a conflict between Celt and Saxon , and was a despairing effort on the par t of the dispossessed native

- population to r e establish themselves in the Lowlands .

The H ighlanders were led by Donald of the Isles, who R gathering the clansmen of the northern Hebrides, oss M and Lochaber, and sweeping th rough oray and Strath

G d . bogie , arrived at the arioch on his way to Aber een The burghers placed themselves unde r the leadership of

M a r the Earl of (Alexander Stewart , son of the Wolf of

Badenoch), a soldier who had seen much service in various R parts of the world . The provost of the city , obert h is - Davidson , led forth a body of fellow citizens and M ’ W joined ar s forces at Inverurie , ithin three miles of ’ c the H ighlanders amp . The two forces were unequally — matched Donald having men and M a r only a

- tenth of that number, but of these many were mail clad

was knights on horseback and armed with spears . It a fiercely contested battle and lasted till the darkness of a

. wa s July night The slaughter on both sides great, but 1 1 0 ABERDEENSHIRE

wa s the tide of barbarism driven back . The Highlanders retreated whence they came and the county of Aberdeen wa s saved from the imminent peril of a Celtic r ec ru des cence . This is the only really memorable battle associated “ ” . I ts so with Aberdeenshire soil red field , on which many prominent citizens shed their life- blood (Provost Davidson and Sir Alexander Irvine of D rum being of the

wa s number), long remembered as a dreary and costly victory . Another battle of much less significance wa s that of ’ C o rric h ie M 1 62 , fought in Queen ary s reign in 5 on t he eastern slope of the H ill of Fare , not far from Banchory . It wa s a contest between James Stewart (the Regent M - urray , and half brother of the Queen) and the Earl of

so n Huntly . Huntly was defeated and slain , and his , Sir

John Gordon , who was taken prisoner, was afterwards

M wa s executed at Aberdeen . Queen ary, i t is said , a spectator both of the battle and of the execution .

c In the seventeenth entury, at the beginning of the “ ” Covenanting troubles, Aberdeensh ire gained a certain notoriety a s being the place where the sword was first 1 6 ff drawn . In 3 9 the Covenanters mustered at Turri

M 8 0 0 . R under ontrose , to the number of The oyalist 2 0 0 0 party under the Earl of Huntly, to the number of but poorly armed , marched to the town with the intention of preventing the Covenanters from meeting, but they ’ sa w were already in possession , and when Huntly s party how matters stood , they passed on , the two forces surveying each other at c lose quarters without hostile ff act or word . This bloodless a ai r is known as the first

1 1 2 A BERDEENSHIRE

the Prince, but the general body of the people were averse to taking arms . The D uke of Cumberland , on

r e his way north to meet Prince Charlie at Culloden , mained with his army six weeks in the city; when h e Old M started on his northward march through eldrum , ff ff 2 0 0 R Turri and Ban , he left a garrison of men in obert ’ G . ordon s Hospital , lately built but not yet opened Afte r Culloden small pickets of troops were stationed in the

Highland districts of the county , to suppress the practice

- C o r a r ff of cattle lifting . Braemar Castle and g Castle in the upper reaches of the Dee and the Don still bear evidence of their use as garrison forts . The problem of dealing with the inhabitants of the higher glens, where agriculture was useless, and where the habits of the people

e n prompted to raiding and to rebellion , was solved by

in listing the young men the British Army . The Black Watch (42 n d) as reorganised ( 1 758 ) and a regiment of G ordon Highlanders ( 1 7 59) were largely recruited from

West Aberdeenshire , and this happy solution closed the military history of the district .

A i s— Ci s S d 1 7 . ntiq u it e rc l e , cu l p tu re

n n s F t s. Ston es, C ra og , or

- Aberdeenshire is particularly rich in stone circles . No fewer than 1 75 of them have been recorded a s m existing in the district . U nfortunately many of the entirely disappeared when the sites were turned to agri cultural uses ; others have been mutilated , and owing to ANTIQ UITIES 1 13

d the removal of some of the stones, stan incomplete ; a

few have been untouched, and from these we may judge

n e what the others were like . O of the best preserved is k - that at Par house , a mile south west of the Abbey of

Deer . A circle of great blocks of stone , irregular and of

unequal height , some standing erect, some evidently fallen

down , is the general feature . Sometimes inside the circle ,

but more usually in the circumference of the ci rcle itself, there is one conspicuously larger stone , in a recumbent

position . This it has been usual to call th e rostrum or k 1 altar stone . It is well mar ed at Parkhouse , being 4

C o w o o C n C V f W W h ite W d air irc le ; iew ro m the S .

' ’ Fro m P r o c eedi n s til e S o c i et o A n fz u a r zer o S eo l /cm a 1 0 - g of y f g f , 9 3 4

feet 9 inches long, 5 feet 9 inches high , and estimated to

0 so - weigh 2 tons . The called rostrum is usually on the south side of the circle a n d the stones facing it on the north are of smaller size' .

The size of the ci rcles varies, the largest being over

60 0 . feet in diameter , the smaller ones less than 3 Park 0 house measures 5 feet . They are found all over the

county, in the valley of the Dee , in the valley of the Don

at Alford , Inverurie and Dyce , as well as in Auchterless,

M r L o n m a . ethlick, C imond and y The recumbent stone

M . A. 8 Pal ae o l ith i c Fl i nt I m plement ’ t s Ca v er n To r u a (Fr om K en , q y)

Ne o l ith i c Celt o f Gre e nst o ne

B r idli n to n To r ts. (Fr om g , )

1 1 6 A BERDEENSHIRE

u mo ly seen are the crescent and sceptre, the spectacles, “ so - the mi rror and comb, and the called elephant symbol ,

S o e a t o i n G a o c fe e t n L gie , the ri h (4 t h igh)

’ F m A n de o n S eo l . i n E a r l C/z . Ti m es e n d S e ro rs s y , ries

a representation of a beast with long jaws, a crest and scroll feet . Anothe r is the serpent symbol . What the ANTIQ UITIES 1 17

is symbols signify still a mystery, but the fact that the ston es with symbolism are unusually common i n what wa s known a s Northern Pictland seems to point to their

1 being indigenous to that area . O u t of 24 stones in the

a s first class Aberdeenshire has 42 . It would seem i f the county had been the focus where the symbolism originated . The richness of the locality round Kintore and Inverurie in symbol stones is taken to indicate that region as the centre from which they radiated . Another form of archaeological remains found in the

Eirde - b te r county is the or Earth Houses . These are su ra n ea n dwellings dug out of the ground and walled with unhewn , unmortared stones , each stone overlapping the one below until they meet at the top which is crowned

- with a larger flag stone , or sometimes with wood . The probability is that in conjunction with the underground chambers there were huts above ground , which , being

d . compose of wood , have now entirely disappeared At many points i n these earth - houses traces of fire and char coal are to be seen , stones blackened by fire and layers of

K in n r black ashes . In one at Loch o d a piece of the upper stone of a quern a s well as an angu lar piece of iron was found . It may be inferred that the inhabitants, whoever they were , were agriculturists , and that the d perio of occupation lasted down to the Iron Age .

Specimens of these houses, which usually go by the local ’ name of Picts houses, are found in the neighbourhood

K in n o r d N of Loch on Deeside , at Castle ewe on the

Don , and at Parkhouse , not far from the circle already refe rred to .

ANTIQ UITIES 1 21

fi h as Castle Island , may also be arti cial , although it usually — been regarded as natural . Crannogs in pairs one large — and the other small occur in several lochs .

- A number of hill forts , more or less disintegrated , are traceable in the h igher ground in the vicinity of Lochs

K in n o r d and Davan . These show concentric lines of circumvallation , with stronger fortifications at various points . V itrified forts, where the stones have been run

c D u n n i together by the appli ation of heat, are found at ’ N deer near Insch , and on the conical summit of Tap o oth

B r m ki near Rhynie . The a e n at Dunecht encloses an area

c c of more than two a res, and consists of five oncentric

- walls, three of earth works and two of stone . N umerous cairns , barrows or tumuli exist all over the county, at Abe rdour on the coast, at B irse , Bourtie ,

R ff . hynie , Turri , and elsewhere Human remains have been found in most of th ese ; and as a rule flint arrow heads and other implements are also associated with them .

— 8 . i 1 Arc h tectu re (a ) Eccl esi asti cal . The history of Scotland from an architectural point w of V ie does not reach very far back into the past . Till the tide of civilisation flowed into Scotland from the south in the eleventh and twelfth centuries , there existed in the c ountry no archite c ture worthy of the name . When the N ormans became the ruling power in Britain , they brought architectural ide a s with them and these superseded the 122 ABERDEENSHIRE

u c d cr de attempts at chur h buil ing hitherto made . The Scottish churches built under the influence of Columba were simple and rude , consisting of a small oblong cham N ber with a single door and a single window . The orman style , which obliterated these structures, dates from the twelfth century and , being carried along the coast of low

c land S otland , gradually changed the manner of building .

It is characterised by simple , massive forms and especially

c - by ar hes of a semi circular shape , sometimes enriched by

- u se c . zig zag, and by the of nook shafts and cushion apitals O f d this perio the remains in Scotland are not numerous , and they are very few in Aberdeenshire . The earliest Specimen we can point to is th e ancient church of

M N ih onymusk, which contains some orman building c o rp o ra te d in the modern church erected on the old si t e . M onymusk is on D o n side seven miles up the river from

Kintore . It is a plac e of great antiquity . The Culdees

first appear there in the twelfth century, and the Earl of M a r built a convent for them on condition that they should submit to canonical rule . The lower part of the church tower and the c hancel arch are of the Norman style . The tower has been entirely rebuilt except the

- lower doorway , which has a round arch head with a hood mould enclosing it . These small fragments suggest that they were part of the convent erected by the Earl of M a r very early i n the thirteenth century . The rounded arch gave place in the thi rteenth cen G tury to the early oth ic , of which the most striking feature

Fi r st P oi n ted P er iod. is the pointed arch . This is the m O rnament was ore general , the mouldings were richer

1 24 A BERDEENSHIRE

Ne w of red sandstone probably brought from Byth , some

1 2 miles distant . Afte r the Reformation the Abbey fell

its a s to decay and walls became , i n many other cases, a e 1 8 0 quarry from which oth r buildings were erected . In 9 the ruins were enclosed with a wall by the then proprietor,

M r u Pitfo u r James Ferg son of , but since th en they have dwindled . No mention of Deer is possible without reference to — the famous B ook of D eer a manuscript volume of the highest value , emanating not from the Abbey but from ’ i n Columba s monastery the same region . The book was brought to light in 1 8 60 by the late M r Henry

. d Bradshaw, U niversity Librarian at Cambridge It ha 1 1 lain unrecognised in the Library since 7 5 . It contains the Gospel of St John and other portions of scripture in the writing of the ninth century ; but of even greater importance is the fact that on its margins it contains

a memorand of grants to the monastery , made by Celtic chiefs of Buchan and all written in Gaelic . These jottings are of the h ighest historical value . Some traces of the Early Pointed style are found M in St achar Cathedral (the greater part of which ,

. Au c h in do ir however, is much later) The old church of close to Craig Castle has a good doorway and other features of this period . F rom the middle of the fourteenth to th e middle — of the fifteenth century ( 1 3 50 1 450 ) is in Scotland the

M iddle Po i n ted Per iod. Th e windows were made larger , the vaulting and buttresses less heavy . The Cathedral of

St M achar belongs in part to this time . The legend goes Fro m Tb e B o o k of D eer 1 26 A BERDEENSHIRE M that St achar in obedience to the commands of Columba,

h e d of whom was a disciple , journeyed to Scotland an Old at Aberdeen founded a church . This church i n the twelfth century became the seat of a bishopric founded by David I . The original church was super se de d 1 1 6 N probably about 5, the only relic of this orman period being part of the abacus of a square pier . All other traces of earlier work have vanished . In the four t ee n th century Bishop Alexander K yn in m o n th II rebuilt the nave, partly of red sandstone with foliated capitals of great beauty and decorated with naturalistic imitation

k . of leafage, one capital representing curly ai l (colewort)

The same kind of decoration is seen in M elrose Abbey .

Later on the two impressive western towers, wh ich are to - day conspicuous obj ects i n the eastern landscape to all

- travellers northward bound from Aberdeen , were added .

They form a granite mass of solid and substantial masonry , fi d - and , being nishe with machicolation , parapet paths and c a e h o u ses p , were really like a castle i n Early English architecture . Still later on , in the sixteenth century ,

Bishop Elphinstone, who founded the University of d Aberdeen , who built the first B ridge of Dee , an gave

N c a new choir to St icholas Church , ompleted the central tower and placed in it fourteen bells “ tuneable and ” costly . Th e sandstone spires over the western towers were added by Bishop Dunbar early in the sixtee n th

c a e h o u se s. century , in place of the original p The central

1 68 8 . tower fell in , crushing the transepts In 1 560 the government ordered the destruction of the altars, images and other monuments of the old faith ,

1 28 A BERDEENSHIRE

ff and this cathed ral su ered with the rest . It was despoiled

wa s of all its costly ornaments and the choi r demolished . Th e roof was stripped of its lead and th e bells were carried o ff - i n o w . All that remains to day s the nave ( the parish church), a south porch , the western towers and frag ments of the transept walls, which contain tombs of

S t M a c har Cathedral (interi o r)

L ic h to u n d . Bishop , Bishop Dunbar, an others This is the only granite cathedral in the country , and , though

M h a s dating from the iddle and late Pointed periods , N reminiscences of the orman style in its short, massive d cylindrical pillars an plain unadorned clerestory windows . Another feature is the great western window divided by ARCHITECTURE— ECCLESIASTICAL 1 29 six long shafts of stone . The finely carved pulpit now ’ i n the Chapel of King s College is a relic of the wood 1 6 is carvings destroyed in 49 . The whole extremely

n I ts plain but highly impressive and imposi g . flat panelled oak ceiling decorated with heraldic shields of various ! European kings, Pope Leo , and Scottish ecclesiastics

’ s C o l e e Ab e n U n i s King l g , erd e ver ity

and nobility (48 in all) is worthy o f mention . This 1 68— 1 heraldic ceiling was restored i n 8 7 . f ’ O later date is King s College Chapel , at no great

Old . is distance from the Cathedral It a long, narrow d 1 0 0 but handsome buil ing begun in 5 , shortly after the foundation of the University by B ishop Elphinstone . The chapel and its graceful tower are the oldest parts of the College buildings which had originally three towers .

M . A. 13 0 A BERDEENSHIRE The surviving one is a massive structure buttressed nearly to the top and bearing aloft a lantern of crossed rib arches, surmounted by a beautiful imperial crown with ’ Giless . finial cross, somewhat resembling St in Edinburgh The difference is that King’s College has four ribs while

E a s a n d s C c e s Ab t We t hur h , erdeen

’ G iless is St has eight . The whole of freestone from M orayshire . The entire building is a mixture of Scottish G and French othic styles, and retains in the large western

- window the semi circular arch , a peculiarity of Scottish

Gothic throughout all periods . The canopied stalls and

1 3 2 ABERDEENSHIRE

— 1 9 . Arch itectu re (o) Castel lated . The earliest fortifications in Scotland were earthen

mounds, surrounded with wooden palisades . They were succeeded by stone and lime “ keeps ” built in imitation N N of orman structures . The presence of th e ormans in England during the eleventh and twelfth centuries

drove the Saxon nobility northwards, and they were N followed in turn by other ormans, who obtained pos f session o great tracts of country . The rectangular keeps of the Normans have in consequence formed the models on which most of the Scottish castles were con

structed . In the thirteenth century there were castles

at Strathbogie , Fyvie , Inverurie and Kildrummy . These have mostly been rebuilt in recent times and the more

ancient parts have disappeared . The general idea in

them all was a fortified enclosure usually quadrilateral . The walls of the enclosure were 7 to 9 feet thick and 20 0 to 3 feet high . The angles had round or square towers, and the walls had parapets and embrasures for defence and

a continuous path round the top of the ramparts . The

entrance was a wide gate guarded by a portcullis . Th e comparatively large area with in the walls was intended to harbour the population of a district and to give temporary

protection to their flocks and possessions in times of danger .

Some of the finer examples, such as Kildrummy, closely resemble the splendid military buildings of France in the is thirteenth century . O n e of the towers usually larger than the others and forms the donjon or place of strength , ARCHITECTURE— CASTELLATED 1 3 3

a s to which retreat could be made a last resort, when , during a siege , the enemy had gained a footing within the walls .

K ildrum m y Castle

Kildrummy Castle is one of the finest and largest in

Scotland , and even in its prese nt ruinous condition gives an impression of grandeur and extent such as no other 13 4 ABERDEENSHIRE castle in Aberdeenshi re can rival . It was built in the b M reign of Alexander II y Gilbert de oravia , Bishop of

Caithness . Situated near the river Don , some ten miles i nland from Alford , and occupying a strong position on the top of a bank wh ich slopes steeply to a burn on two sides, and protected on the other sides by an artificial t I ts fosse , it was a place of great streng h . plan is an

u irreg lar quadrangle, the south front bulging out in the six centre towards the gateway . It had round towers, one at each angle and two at the gate . On e of the — — d corner towers the Snow Tower 55 feet in iameter ,

- was the donjon and contained the draw well . The castle possessed a large courtyard , a great hall , and a chapel , of which the window of three tall lancets survives . It was built in the thi rteenth century, and therefore belongs to the First Pointed Period . The stone used is a sandstone , probably taken from the quarries i n the locality, where instead of the prevailing granite of Aberdeenshire a great band of sandstone occurs .

This famous castle passed through various vicissitudes . It was besieged in 1 3 0 6by Edward I of England and wa s c o n fla gallantly defended , but, i n consequence of a great ’ ra tio n N u R g , igel Br ce , King obert s brother, who was acting as governor, yielded it to the English , he himself being made prisoner and ultimately executed . Some of

wa s the buildings date from this period , when it rebuilt ’ . by the English , but it soon fell into Bruce s hands again Twenty years after Bannockburn it was conferred on the

1 1 wa s Earl of M a r. The rebellion of 7 5 hatched within

M a r its . walls Thereafter being forfeited by , it eventually

ABERDEENSHIRE often on the floor above the ground floor and was reached

c by a stair easily removed in time of danger . A cess from one storey to another was by a corkscrew or newel stair at one corner in the thick wall . Thus constructed a k tower could resist siege and fire , and even i f ta en , could not be easily damaged . O f this kind of keep Aberdeenshire has many excellent examples, the most perfect, perhaps, being the Tower of

Drum . It stands on a ridge overlooking the valley of the

D e c . To the ancient keep built probably late in the thirteenth century was added a mansion - house on a

ff 1 61 d di erent plan in 9 . The estate was grante to William de Irvine by Bruce i n recognition of faithful

- service as secretary and armour bearer . Previous to that,

- Drum was a royal forest and a hunting seat of the king .

- a s The keep , which stands as solid and square to day it six did hundred years ago , is quadrilateral and the angles f are rounded o f. The entrance was at the level of the

first floor . The main stair is a newel . In the lowest

wa lls k c storey the are twelve feet thic , pier ed with two

is . n narrow loops for light . In a recess the well O the top of the tower are battlements, the parapet resting on — a corbel table continued right round the building . Ha llfo rest near Kintore is an example of a fourteenth

s - century keep . It was built by B ruce a a hunting seat

’

R M . I r and bestowed on Sir obert de Keith , the arischal still belongs to the Kintore family but is now a ruin . The fifteenth century brought a change in castle building . The accommodation of the keeps was ci rcum scribed and the pauci ty of rooms made privacy impossible . ARCHITECTURE— CASTELLATED 1 3 7

On e wa s a s way of extending the space , we have said , by adding a wing at one corner . Another mode was to k utilise the surrounding wall , for the eeps were generally u d b a rm ekin g arded by a wall , which formed a courtyar or

for stabling and offi ces . This was often of considerabl e

extent and defended by towers . As th e country pro

r esse d g and manners improved , buildings were extended

round th e inside of the courtyard walls . In the sixteenth century th e change went further and developed into th e

- mansion house built round a quadrangle . Th e build ing was first in the centre of th e surrounding wall ; ultimately the courtyard was absorbed and became the centr e of the

castle .

B a l u ha in G q Castle in Chapel of arioch , two miles

wa s from Inverurie, originally a keep like Drum , but

1 2 6 . being destroyed i n 5 , it was rebuilt V ery little of it

n o w - remains but its massive, weather stained walls have

ff b a rm e kin a commanding e ect . The is still traceable . Queen M ary is said to have passed the night prior to th e

o r r i h ie l h in 1 6 Battle of C c at B a q u a . It was burned in 74

by the Duke of Cumberland . M an y other castles on the same general plan are

dotted up and down the county . Some are in ruins, some

have been altered and added to on other lines, but th e

original keep is still a marked feature in most of them . — — C a irn b u lg recently restored o n the north -east coast has a keep of the fifteenth century with additions of a

. G i h t century later g , now ruinous, but formerly cele

b ra te d its for great strength , occupies a fine site on the G i h t summit of the Braes of g , which rise abruptly from 13 8 A BERDEENSHIRE the bed of the Ythan . It also is a fifteenth century edifice built on the L plan . It has a historical interest ’ as having once belonged to Lord Byron s mother , from a whom it was purch sed by th e Earl of Aberdeen .

Au c hin do ir Another of the same kind is Craig Castle in . i 1 1 8 It was completed n 5 and is also on the L plan . So

Fedde ra t Ne w too is i n D eer .

Th e Old H o use o f G i gh t

In the sixteenth century th e troubled reign of Queen M ary was unfavourable to architecture , but towards the end of it the rise of Renaissance art began to exert a decided influence , especially on details and internal furnishings, and in the next century gradually but completely domi h ated the spirit of the art . Another influen c e at work wa s the progress made in artillery . The ordinary castles

140 A BERDEENSHIRE and gables are corbelled out with orn amental mouldings and the upper part of the castle displays that profusion of

C r a i i e v a r C s D o n si de g a tle , sky- pointing pinnacles and multifarious parapets which

r th es mark the period . The same is seen at C a and at ARCHITECTURE— CASTELLATED 141

is a n . Castle Fraser . The last altogether excellent specimen It consists of a central oblong building with two towers d d at the diagonally opposite en s , one square an the other is round , and therefore a development into what has been called the Z plan or stepped plan— induced by the general

C r a th e s C s e n c s i a tl , Ki ardine h re

u se f a s C ra i ieva r of firearms in de ence . Here , at g , gar go yles originally used to carry o fl rain water from the

c roof are brought in as a pie e of fanciful decoration , apart from any utilitarian purpose , and project from the walls

- at places where rain spouts are i rrelevant . “ h a s The castle a secret chamber or lug, in which 1 42 A BERDEENSHIRE the master of the house could over-hear the conversation

- N d of his guests in the dining hall . othing coul better

‘ illustrate the treachery and c unning which had been bred

iffi . M r by the d culty of the times Skene , the friend of Sir

a s Walter Scott, minutely investigated this contrivance it

C a stle Fra ser

exists at Castle Fraser, and no doubt his account of this ingenious but dishonourable device for ga i n i ng i llicit ” m ’ “ information suggested King Ja es s Lug, so happily ‘ ' I b e F o r tu e described in n s of Nig el. Castellated buildings of this class are so numerous in

Aberdeenshire that it is possible to name only a few .

1 44 ABERDEENSHIRE c u te d . The Gordon tower on the west was not added

so n till the eighteenth century , by William , second of the

I ts t second Earl of Aberdeen . e rection necessi ated the

se e destruction of the chapel . Here one may how the

F C s l S o F o y vie a t e , uth r nt

R enaissance ideas were creeping in , especially the desire

c T w for balan e and symmetry . o of everything was beginning to be the rule . O n e wing must have another to balance with it one tower another to make a pair . — ARCHITECTURE MUNICIPAL 1 45

— 2 0 . A i rch itectu re (e) M u n ic p al .

After a period of declining taste in architecture , a revival began early in the nineteenth century under th e guidance of architects of genius such as Archibald i Simpson and John and William Smith . A great m provement wa s thereby effected in the general aspect of the city of Aberdeen , and their good work has been enhanced by that of their successors . It is necessary to repeat that it was long before the local granite came to its own . The earlie r buildings of importance were all of sandstone ; to - day he would be a bold architect who suggested a sandstone building in Aberdeen . The u se of granite exercises an indirect effect on architectural

. design It lends itself to broad , classic, monumental and fi ff its digni ed e ects, while stubborn quality is a check

- against over exuberance of detail , and fanciful , gimcrack trivialities . The plainness of the buildings was often remarked upon by strangers twenty years ago . Th e newer buildings are not without adornment . The County and M unicipal Buildings (or the Town House as it is familiarly called) on the south side of 1 Castle Street were opened i n 8 7 0 . They form a magnificent pile which takes a high place amongst pro vin c ia l - town halls, as regards both vigour and originality of treatment . The line of elliptical arches on the ground floor and of small arcaded windows in the floor above make an imposing front . The great tower , which rises 2 0 0 to a height of feet and dominates the whole city , has

M . A. 1 0 1 46 ABERDEENSHIRE the castellated turrets wh ich we have seen to be charac t r istic e of Scottish architecture . It is curious to see how latter- day architects have not been able to get away from i this feature . It s conspicuous even in such buildings as

n e w ffi the Grammar School and the Post O ce . The

M u c a l B s A b a n d T o C o ss ni ip uilding , erdeen , wn r

M - is unicipal tower, if somewhat heavy looking, on the whole effective . The small tower and spi re on the east is the old Tolbooth tower , of the seventeenth century, preserved by bei ng incorporated in the modern building . The next public building that should be mentioned is

M c aris hal College , recently enlarged at a cost of nearly

1 48 A BERDEENSHIRE which by a narrow gateway entrance was gained to the

quadrangle . These have all been cleared away and now a stately pile bristling with ornate pinnacles that sparkle su n fi 0 0 in the lls the whole length of 4 feet . No less impressive than the delicately ch iselled front

N Sreet is the back view of the College from West orth , where a dip in the ground displays to advantage the great m M G ass of building, the itchell Hall with its great othi c

- window , its angle turrets and lofty buttresses . The Northern Assurance O ffi ce stands at the angle between Union Street and Union Terrace . Th e clean surface and clear- cut lines of the granite masonry are very pleasant to the eye . Union Terrace contains some of — G the best modern buildings in the city the rand Hotel , is the Aberdeen Savings Bank , which though very simple a n admirable specimen of a front specially designed for granite ; the O ffices of the Parish Council and the School k Board , original and stri ing, the Public Library , the

United Free South Church with its graceful dome , and ’ — H is M ajesty s Theatre all serve to illustrate the changes that are being rung on granite fronts in recent years . The contrast between these more ornate b m ldin gs and M the severely classic simplicity of the usic Hall , a square k bloc with a portico of Ionic pillars, belonging to the early

n nineteenth century , shows what a cha ge in sentiment has taken place . The feature of all the Aberdeen architecture is c c the areful , cons ientious workmanship , which always is gives the impression of lasting solidity . The material so ff i rresponsive that without hard labour, no e ect is produced .

1 50 A BERDEENSHIRE We can do no more than mention some of the other G notable edifices in the city . The rammar School ,

1 8 6 n erected in 3 , is a successful applicatio of castellated Gothic to a modern building— all the more effective that it

G S c o o Ab ram mar h l , erdeen is well set back from the street . The contiguous Art G School and Art allery are modern buildings, each with an order of columns and a pedimen t which break the long low line of the facade . The elliptical arch that unites

ARCHI TECTURE fi MUNI CI PAL 1 5 3

of its class and wa s the work of a local mason . Th e

royal portraits are real and authentic . The Ionic screen or facade between Union Street and th e city churches gives some idea of the severely classic arch itecture that wa s the vogue in Aberdeen nearly a century ago .

A word must be said abo u t the chief bridges . Union

1 0 wa s 1 8 0 2 Bridge has a span of 3 feet, and built in to

Old B o f D e e Ab e d ridge , r een

facilitate the making of Union Street . It wa s originally narrower than the street and has recently been widened to meet the requirements of increased traffi c . The

Bridge of Don (Balgownie), probably built early in the its fourteenth century if not earlier , th rows one Gothic arch

c over the deep contra ted stream of the river . A small 1 5 4 A BERDEENSHIRE bequest i n the seventeenth century for its maintenance has been so well husbanded that out of its accumulations the cost of the new Bridge and other buildi n gs has been defrayed , and the capital value of the fund called the Bridge of Don fund— is to- day The

se a new bridge , much nearer the and with five arches , 1 was designed by Telford and completed in 8 3 0 . The Old Bridge of Dee (with seven arches) was founded by Bishop Elphinstone and completed in 1 52 7 by Bishop

1 1 1 1 f G avin Dunbar . In 8 42 it was widened } eet . The

Ne w M (Victoria) Bridge , a continuation of arket Street , wa s 1 8 8 2 o u opened in , since when quite a new and p p lous city has sprung up on the south side of the river , entirely eclipsing the old fishing village of Torry which formerly monopolised this side of the water .

— A i d D m s i . 2 1 . rch tectu re ( ) o e t c

- The mansion houses of the county , whether they are ancient fortalices modernised by later additions or entirely modern buildings erected within a century of the present time , deserve more space than can be allotted to them here . They are of all types of arch itecture , classical , renaissance , and composite , but there is no doubt that the d so castellate , Scotch baronial , the traditional type com

. mon in the seventeenth century , still predominates Foremost among them must be mentioned Balmoral 1 8 Castle far up the valley of the Dee . Built in 53 of a light grey granite found in the neighbourhood , it is

1 5 6 ABERDEENSHIRE

of Castle Fraser , already referred to . For more than half a century it has been a royal residence and though many additions and alterations have been made in that time , the general picture of the edifice remains the same to the i traveller on the Deeside road . Two miles below s

Ab er eldie h a s d R g Castle, which been lease by the oyal I ts Family for many years . turreted square tower, old and plain and somewhat cramped in space , serves as a contrast to the more spacious modern mansion .

D e This region of the e has many mansions . Inver 1 8 cauld House , reconstructed in 75, is in the same manner , its chief feature being a battlemented tower seventy feet

I n ve r u high . The situation of c a ld at the foot of a high hill and backed by plantations of pine and with a beau tiful green terrace stretching to the river Dee is probably ’ unsurpassed in the district . As seen from the Lion s Face R ff ock, a perpendicular cli on the south side of the river, this house of the Fa rq u ha rso n s makes a striking picture

M a r not likely ever to be forgotten . Farther up is k Lodge , the residence of the Du e of Fife , in the horizontal and English domestic style . It was built so recently as 1 8 8 9 , and replaced a somewhat similar building destroyed

fi . Gle n m u ic k 1 8 is d by re House, built in 73 , in the Tu or d d w style , strongly treate and mo ified to harmonise ith the rugged surroundings . The only other Deeside mansion d we can refer to is Kincardine Lo ge , recently built, a very fine building, based to a large extent on the plan of

Fyvie Castle , which we have already referred to as the

- “ grandest castellated mansion house in the north . Do n side is not so well furnished with stately and ARCHI TECTURE~DOMESTI C 1 5 7

- N d luxurious manor houses, but it has Castle ewe an Cluny

- T illie fo u re Castle , the antique modern Place of , Fintray

Pitm a th e n R House in the Tudor style, in French enais

Cluny C a stle

k . M d sance , each in its own way a wor of art i way

between the two valleys is Dunecht House, which was

built for Lord Lindsay , a great authority on Christian 1 5 8 AB ERDEENSHIRE

o f is art , and which the most striking feature the great

campanile i n the Italian manner .

In the Ythan valley, Haddo House , the residence of

the Earl of Aberdeen , Lord Lieutenant of the County , R belongs to the period of the late English enaissance ,

H a dd o H o use

but additions }have been made from time to time . Cri

m o n m o a te Philo rth . g , Strichen , and are classic

It is a curious fact , worthy of mention , that the local masons have almost developed a school of craftsmanship , by the thorough conscientiousness and downright honesty

160 AB ERDEENSHIRE

qualities . The art would almost seem to have been handed

down through several generations of craftsmen , for the C modern Cluny astle and Dunecht House , as well as

their chapels, besides other palatial and extensive fabrics ,

were built entirely by local masons, without any ex

t ra n o s e u help . It seems as if the building art were indi

genous to this particular locality .

— 2 2 . C m m n i ti n s d s i l o u ca o Roa , Ra ways. In ancient times the chief means of communication between Aberdeenshire and the south was the old South

N R - o - M o u n th and orth Drove oad , which crosses the Cairn

D e from Fettercai rn in Kincardine , and , passing the y and Feu h Wh itestones on the g , reaches the Dee at Potarch . It then ran along the hill to Lumphanan and on through

Leochel to the Bridge of Alford , thence to Clatt and Kennethmont and along the valley of the Bogie to

Huntly .

— a R — Th ere was another supposed oman road which , coming up from the direction of Stonehaven , crossed the

Dee at Peterculter, and , proceeding northward through

K in n ella r to Skene , , Kintore and Inverurie, went on R Pitcaple . Thence it passed through ayne and across the east shoulder of T illym o rga n to what has been regarded R Glen m a ilen as a oman camp at , and by the Corse of

M o n ellie L esse n dr u m , and Cobairdy , to the fords of the

A o h i D eve ro n below v c e . Another ancient road crossed the mountains from COMMUNICATIONS 161

G Blairgowrie by the Spittal of lenshee , over the Cairn well , Castleton of Braemar, and the upper waters of the Gai rn to the valley of the Avon at Inch rory and thence by Tomintoul to Speyside . ’ After the 45 General Wade adopted the southern part of this road as the line of his great military route

S pitt a l o f G lenshee

G from Blairgowrie to Fort eorge , but from Castleton he turned to the east , went down the Dee valley to

Co r a r ff in Crathie , and thence across the hills to g Upper Strathdon from which he reached Tomintoul by the “ ” L e c h t . This route he completed in 1 750 .

M . A . 1 62 AB ERDEENSHI RE

These roads had naturally to lead to fords in the

wa s rivers, and , when bridges came to be built, it just as natural that they should be placed in the line of

established routes . When the Bridge of Alford was built over the Don in 1 8 1 0 —1 1 and the B ridge of Potarch

1 8 1 2 —1 e over the Dee i n 3 , a new line of road was mad across country to c onne c t them . It went from Dess through Lumphanan and Leochel to the Don valley . The first turnpike made i n Abe rdeenshire was the road from the Bridge of Dee to the city of Aberdeen v id

Holborn Street , wh ich completed the northern section — of the great post road between Edinburgh and Aberdeen . 6 This was in 1 7 9 . About the same time was made the North Deeside Road reaching from Aberdeen to Aboyne and thence to

Ballater, Crathie, and Braemar , where it met the Cairn well Road . Another was t he Aberdeen and Tarland

c route, which went by Skene and E ht with branches j oining on to those already in existence . O n e of these

o ff T illie fo u r ie struck at Skene , and , crossing the hill of , proceeded to Alford . It was afterwards extended up the

M o ssa t Glen kin die Co r a r ff Strath by , and to g , where it ’ met General Wade s road . The great post- road from Aberdeen to Inverness went by Woodside, Bucksburn , Kintore , Inverurie , the Glens of Fo u dla n d to Huntly and Cairnie on the boundary of

Banffshi re . It had branches from Huntly to Portsoy through Rothiemay and to Banff th rough Forgu e by the Bridge of M arnoch . The Strathbogie Road from Huntly to D o n side by

164 ABERDEENSHIRE

to ply between Aberdeen and Huntly . Then only wa s it possible for the farmer to convey his products by

- cart, which .superseded the pack horse as a means of transport . The upkeep of th e roads wa s secured by a system of tolls . Traces of the system still survive in the reno va ted - toll bar houses, which in some cases retain a window facing right and a window facing left to mark the approach of vehicles from either side . Aberdeenshire abolished tolls 1 6 in 8 5 . R 1 8 The ailway system reached Aberdeen in 8 4 . Prior to that time for fifty years the stage coach plying between

se a Edinburgh and Aberdeen had been , apart from the d routes, the only bond between this part of the country an 1 8 the south . A few years later, in 54, what is now the Great North of Scotland Railway was opened from Aber deen to Huntly, and two years thereafter was extended as is far a s Keith . This still the main line of railway in the county . It touches in its course Dyce , Kintore , I nverurie,

H c o n Insch , and untly . By and by branch lines were structed forking o ff from it at various points ; fi r st from

I n ve ra m sa e ff y, through Wartle , Fyvi , to Turri and ulti mately to M acduff ; sec on d from Inverurie across country to Old M eldrum ; tbi r d from Kintore up D o n side by K e n m a y and M onymusk to Alford ; and lastly from

Ne w M U dn Ne w Dyce through achar, y, Ellon to

M aud , where it bifurcates, one fork going on to Peter is h ead the other to Fraserburgh . This the Buchan and

n R su b - Fo r m a rti branch . ecently a branch was made from Ellon running to the coa st and touching Cruden COMMUNICATIONS 165

’ a t d Bay, its terminus being Bod am within half an hour s

a distance of Peterhead . F rom Fr serburgh , a light railway

C a ir n b u l . runs to g, I nverallochy and St Combs The only other line of railway i n the coun ty is the Deeside

a s . line , which runs up the D ee valley far as Ballater It wa s u 1 8 beg n in 53 , and Banchory was the terminus till 1 8 59, when an extension was made to Aboyne ; then in 1 8 66it was extended to Ballater . The lack of population and the paucity of goods apart from agricultural products have handicapped the lo c a l rail ways, which are far from prosperous . Th e chances of M extension in other directions are very remote . eantime outlying districts, such as Strathdon and Braemar, are f served by motors . The holiday and tourist tra fic during the summer months and the influx of sportsmen at th e shooting season are contributory sources of revenue , but — even these Show no tendency to grow a state of affairs

u se - due to the prevalent of private motor cars . Aberdeenshire has no canals and is never likely to have . Prior to the advent of railways a canal , designed

n wa s by Telford , the great e gineer , constructed between Aberdeen and Port Elphinstone on the south side of

Inverurie . It was opened for passenger and goods traffi c 1 8 0 6 in , and continued to serve the district until the

- steam engine sounded its knell . For nearly half a cen tury it wa s a bond between the chief city and th e centre of the county and , although it never was remunerative to d the promoters , and provi ed a very slow mode of convey ance , it was of great public service . The railway line to the north runs parallel at certa i n places to the track of this 1 66 ABERDEENSHIRE

d canal , whose superannuate embankments may still be recognised , after half a century , at various points between d Aberdeen an Inverurie .

2 3 . Ad m i n i stratio n and Di vi si on s. In the twelfth century Scotland was divided into " ff Sh er ifl wa s Sheri doms, where the the minister of the ffi Crown for trying civil and criminal cases . The o ce ’ wa s hereditary until the rebellion of 45, when its here dit r a a y character w s abolished . Aberdeenshire has a n o n - resident Sheriff- Principal (who is also Sheriff of Banff

ff- and Kincardine) besides two resident Sheri substitutes .

d a s These deal with or inary civil cases such debts, as well fi as with criminal cases involving ne or imprisonment, bu t not as a rule involving penal servitude , except forgery ,

fi r - robbery and e raising .

- The head of the county is the Lord Lieutenant . Next to him is th e Vice - Lieutenant and a large number

- of Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace , but the is chief administrative body the County Council , wh ich consists of 65 members . These elect the chairman and

- wh o vice chairman , are designated respectively convener

- and vice co n vener . County Councils were first established

1 8 8 . in 9 The county is divided into districts , and each district has so many divisions, or parishes, which elect one

. ha s 8 councillor Aberdeenshire 5 parishes, which are grouped in eight districts : ( 1 ) Deer with fifteen electoral 2 divisions, ( ) Ellon with seven , (3) Garioch with six , (4)

1 68 A BERDEENSHIRE

in burghal parishes by the Town Council . The parish c ouncil looks after the Poor Law and must provide for

pauper lunatics, sees to the levying of th e school rate ,

to the administration of the Vaccination Acts , and to the

appointment of Registrars . Th e affairs of the county are therefore divided amongst

three bodies, the County Council , the District Committees 1 8 and the Parish Councils . Prior to 90 the powers of

local administration lay with the Commissioners of Supply ,

R c the oad Trustees and the Parochial Boards, whose fun

tions are now vested in these other bodies .

Each parish , besides having a Parish Council , has a 1 8 2 d School Board , which , since 7 , has administere the

c o m u l education of the parish . Education is free and p 1 sory for all children between the ages of 5 and 4.

' th ree t es— The schools are of yp primary, intermediate ,

and secondary . The intermediate schools provide a ’ three years course beyond the elementary stage , and the

secondary schools a further course lasting for two years . The County Council now takes a certain share in

educational administration , hav ing powers to allocate

grants of money to schools and bursaries to pupils . The

wa s t raining of teachers, which until recently in the hands d of the Churches (Established and Unite Free) , has now passed to a Provincial Committee elected by various r e p r e s n t tive e a bodies . Every burgh has a Town Council consisting of Pro M vost , agistrates and Councillors, who hold their seats for

three years . The number of councillors varies with the

S c ize of the town . In Aberdeen , the coun illors are elected ADMINISTRATION AND DIVISIONS 169

by wards, of which there are eleven , each ward electing three representatives, one of whom retires annually . The

Town Council of Aberdeen consists of 3 4 members, the

i io Dean of Guild being an ex ofi e member . The Town

Council is the local authority for Public Health , and looks after the streets , buildings and sewers . It owns the gas k w wor s, water orks, tramways, electric power station , and

c . publi parks It regulates the lighting, cleansing, and

. M sanitation Th e agistrates, who are elected annually by the Council , are the licensing authority, and form the police court for the trial of minor offences . The city of Aberdeen isnot like Peterhead and Fraser

in burgh included the administration of the county , being

d - itself constituted the county of a city , with a Lor Lieu

- o f is P ex o i ei o . tenant its own , who the Lord rovost fi It h a s its own Parish Council as well as its own School

Board . Aberdeenshire is represented in Parliament by four — d members two for the county , east an west , and two for the city , north and south . Some of the smaller d burghs, Kintore , Inverurie and Peterhead , are groupe ff M ff with similar burghs in Ban and oray (Ban , Elgin ,

Cullen) to form a constituency called the Elgin Burghs , which returns one member . In addition , the University of Aberdeen shares a member with the University of G lasgow . There is still a certain amount of overlapping and confusion i n the administrative divisions . For example ,

Torry , which is on the Kincardineshire side of the Dee ,

c is really a suburb of Aberdeen , and as such ele ts members 1 70 A BERDEENSHIRE

to the Town Council , the Parish Council , and the School

h a s Board , but it no share in electing a member of Parlia

K i n c a r ment for Aberdeen , being in that regard part of din esh ir e , and voting for a representative of that county . S There are other imilar anomali es .

2 4. Th e Rol l o f Hon ou r . I t is an accepted fact that Aberdonians have intel lectual characteristics somewhat different from those of

- thei r fellow countrymen , the result partly of race , partly and chiefly, we believe , of environment . We have already alluded to the amalgamation of nationalities that went to ’ form the people of this north - eastern corner of the king dom . Doubtless the Spartan upbringing that was the rule in the county served to develop sturdy character and good is physique . The result that the Aberdonian has distin gu ish e d himself in all parts of the Empi re and even beyond

No t it . that he has often risen to the front rank of great ness, but he is frequently found well forward among the

- best of the second class . Thei r own county presenting no tempting openings for ability , Aberdonians have migrated from the narrow home-sphere in great numbers and have made the i r mark a s ffi a s administrators, medical o cers, and even soldiers of fortune . In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the cadets of the great houses, exiled by the pressure of the times, j oined the service of continental kings and rose to R high rank in the armies of Sweden , France , and ussia .

1 72 AB ERDE ENSHIRE the Duke of Gordon raised during a few weeks a regiment G fi of ordon H ighlanders, which rst distinguished itself R with Sir alph Abercromby in Egypt, and did noble service also in the Peninsula and at Waterloo . In the work of empire—making in India and else

h a s . where , the Aberdonian borne a notable part He has shown ability to exercise a singular mastery over inferior races . Conspicuous in this respect was Sir Harry

B . Lumsden , who formed the Corps of Guides out of the most daring free- hooters of the North -West frontier of

India . In statesmanship the county has been surpassed by other districts, and yet it has the distinction of having produced one Prime M inister— the fourth Earl of Aber been ( 1 78 4 who was responsible for the Crimean “ War , and whom Byron styled the travelled Thane ,

Athenian Aberdeen . The ecclesiasts of distinction are too numerous to mention . Foremost amongst them was Bishop Elphin stone , who , though not a native of the county , identified himself with its interests when he became Bishop ’ founded the University, King s College, the light of the North and the church of St M achar (the Cathedral in Old Aberdeen) and was a pioneer in all that makes for educ ational enlightenment . He was instrumental in intro d a cing the art of printing into Scotland . His tomb is ’ very appropriately in King s College , the centre from

b e n efi which radiated the c en t influence of his life .

Sc o u a l 1 6 0 Henry g ( 5 scholar and saint, son of

Sc o u a l Bishop g and the inspirer of John Wesley , was a TH E ROLL OF HONOUR 1 73

’ student o f King s College . He had not been long ordained in his charge at Auchterless before he wa s appointed to ’ the Chair of D ivinity in King s College . He died at 2 8 ; but his L ifi ’ af God i n th e Sou l of M a n is still greatly

d . R prize by lovers of devotional literature Dean amsay , whose R emi n isc en ces of Sc ottish L ife a n d Cha r a c ter ( 1 8 58 ) is a classic in humorous literature and one not likely soon to be forgotten , was born in Aberdeen . In medical science the roll of eminent names is long and impressive , from Bannerman , who was physician to

David II , down to Arthur Johnston , who after an aca demic career abroad , cultivated the muses at Aberdeen , gaining fame as a writer of Latin verse . He was for s some time physician to Charle I . Born at Caskieben ’ 1 8 wa s 1 6 in 5 7 , he rector of King s College in 3 7 , and 1 6 1 died i n 4 . D r John Arbuthnot , though a native of M Kincardineshire , was a student at arischal College ; as the friend of Pope and Swift, and the wit and physician at the Court of Queen Anne, he is likely to be remem bered . Another celebrated physician was Dr John Aber crombie , who , born in Aberdeen , went to Edinburgh , and becam e head of the profession and first physician to the

1 king in 8 24. O thers no less noted were Sir James N Clark ; Sir Andrew Clark ; eil Arnott, a contemporary G with Byron at the rammar School , an d more famous as

c in natural philosopher than as physi ian , devising skilful ven tio n s M a c r i o r in healing and ventilation ; Sir James g g , to whose memory a lofty obelisk in polished red granite M was erected in arischal College quadrangle . After standing there for years it was recently removed to the

M a c ri Duthie Park . g go r wa s a pioneer in the humani 174 A BERDEENSHIRE

tarian treatment of the sick and wounded in war, and was M ff chief of the edical Sta in the Peninsular campaigns . In natural science William M acgillivray is known by his careful and authoritative work on the Histo ry of B r i tish

B i r ds. M x James Clerk a well , who did so much for the

advancement of modern Physics, was for a few years

professor of Natural Ph ilosophy in Marischal College .

Dr Alexander Forsyth , minister of Belhelvie , i nvented

the percussion lock, and Patrick Ferguson , a native of

Pitfo u r - , invented the breech loading rifle . Th e county is remarkable for families with pronounced

c hereditary intelle tual gifts . The most noted case is that

G G i i of the regories, who sprang from John regory , m n ster

r m o a k of D u . It has produced fourteen Professors in B ritish

M Astro n o m Ch e m istr universities , skilled in athematics, y, y n r and M edicine . O e of them was the inventor of the e

flec tin . R g telescope The eids, the Fordyces, the Johnstons

are other cases less remarkable, but still exceptional . Philosophy is a sphere in which the Aberdonian has

left his mark . The greatest local name in this regard is R that of Thomas eid , who created the Scottish school in

n d I n u i r i n to the oppositio to David Hume, an whose q y H u ma n M i n d o n the p r i n c iples of Co m m on Sen se was

’ ‘ ‘ written while he was a Professor at King s College . d Born at Strachan on the south si e of the Dee , he was

" New M for a time parish m i n i ste r of achar . Later he 1 6 G a s u o migrated in 7 3 to lasgow , s ccess r to Adam

I n tellec tu a l a n d Ac tiv e P o wer s wa s Smith . H is written

h is re ti re m e n t 1 8 0 . after . in 7 O ther philosophical writers G b e worthy of mention are , D r eorge Campbell , who ,

h is d o h M i r a c les P hiloso h o sides issertation , wrote a p y f

1 76 ABERDEENSHIRE

’ do n ia n s S . phere Criticism , Philosophy , History , Science are more in h is way , and yet a few names can be given as of some note in pure literature . Foremost in time and unrivalled in his own department is Barbour, Archdeacon d of Aberdeen He studied at O xford , an was con ff temporary with Wycli e and Chaucer . His great work

The B r u s is , the most national of all Scottish poems . It S is instinct with the pirit of freedom , of chivalry and romance , and details the struggles, the perils , and the R marvellous escapes of his hero obert the B ruce, with great simplicity , vividness, and directness . Alongside of

Tu lloch or u m him we may place Joh n Skinner, author of g , ’ The Ewi e wi the C r oobit H o r n - k , and other well nown songs . A native of B irse and for long episcopal minister at Longside , he was the father of B ishop Skinner . H is

Tu lloc h or u m fame rests on g , wh ich Burns pronounced to be the best of Scotch songs . Dr W . C . Smith , the author

Olr i Gr a n e B o r la n d H a ll c of g g and , was born and edu ated

. G M in Aberdeen D r eorge acdonald , poet, novel ist, and

d lec Fo r bes critic , author of and other novels embodying local colo u r and illustrating Aberdeenshire life and dialect i n the early part of last century , was a native of Huntly .

The best known poet connected with Aberdeen is Byron , who spent some years of h is boyhood in the city and short periods of the summer on Deeside . These visits to Ballater are reflected in h is poem on Loch - na-gar and elsewhere in h is work . He left Aberdeen at the age

a w of 1 0 in 1 798 and never s it again .

h a s H istory is a subj ect that appealed to Aberdonians . Dr David M asson ’s monumental work on M ilton must R be mentioned . O ther historians are Joseph obertson , THE ROLL OF HONOUR 1 77

Joh n Stuart , John Hill Burton , B ishop Burnet , who

H isto r o hi s Own Tim e wrote the y f , Sir John Skene, R and obert Gordon of Straloch , antiquarian and map R maker, as well as his son James, minister of othiemay

and historian of the early years of the Troubles . The first

Principal of the University, Hector Boece , wrote histories so m ewhat credulous and imaginative but quite a u th o r ita

tive where his own times are concerned . Of painters connected with the district may be men “ ” tio n ed Jamesone , Dyce , and Phillip called of Spain from

his success with Spanish subj ects . Architecture claims G R ff ibbs, whose adcli e Library at O xford , and London ’ M - ih - - S churches such as St artin s th e Fields, still tand a testimony to h is art ; the Smiths and Archibald Simpson

have already been mentioned . Sculpture owns the two

B rodies and Si r Joh n Steell .

Ru ddim a n Scholars like Wedderburn and , Cruden of

Co n c o r da n ce reputation , Dr James Legge, the O rientalist

R D o n side and Professor obertson Smith , born in the parish

E n c c lo a edi a B r ita n n ic a of Keig, editor of the y p , Professor of

Arabic at Cambridge , and one of the most learned pundits — of his time are but a few representatives of a long list . The thirst for education and the well - taught parish schools of the county contributed to bring about su c h

results . The doors of the Uni versity have for centuries

been opened by bursaries to the poorest boys, and in this way many who were endowed with capacity above ordinary entered the learned professions and rose to

eminence . 2 H 5 . T E CHIEF TOWNS AND V ILLAG ES

o r ABERDEENSHIRE .

(The figures i n brac kets after eac h name give the population i n

1 1 1 a n d e n d o f c c c 9 , those at the ea h se tion are referen es

to i pages n the text .)

b e r de e n F o o f A r m being entirely built granite , “ ” Aberdeen is best known as The Granite City . The light grey stone gives the town a c lean l o ok whi c h strikes visitors

c o f c o r o f I from ities built bri k sandstone . ts many handsome

c ffi c c c a n d c o o publi buildings , banks , o es , hur hes s h ls , all solid a n d a n d o f c c u n substantial , great ar hite tural interest , are doubtedly fi n er tha n those o f a n y o ther t o wn o f the same si z e in the kingdom . The fi rst histori c al referenc e to it is i n the twelfth c entury ;

c o later a harter was obtained from King William the Li n ,

o g ranting the c ity c ertain trading privileges . Long bef re Edin

a n d o to o f to burgh Glasg w had begun show signs rising greatness ,

o f Aberdeen was a port extensive trade , but its growth was slow

o f c . I n 1 8 0 1 until the dawn the nineteenth entury , its population

i n 1 8 1 a n d i n c was only 3 this figure had doubled , re ent

c fl to m o f years , owing hie y the pheno enal growth the fishing

o industry , its pr g ress has been rapid .

Aberdeen has long been a g reat educ ati o nal c entre . Its

G rammar Sc h o o l c laims to have existed i n the thirteenth c entury .

18 0 ABERDEENSHIRE

to its po pularity as a residential town . Being the northern

o f C a n d c c terminus the aledonian Railway , having ex ellent servi e to C a n d C London by the West oast , the Midland , the East oast

o f ffi c a n d routes , it obtains a large share the tourist tra ; the sportsmen wh o fish i n the A berdeenshire rivers o r shoo t grouse i n the Aberdeenshire moors must all do more o r less homage to the c ounty town . The c hief street o f the c ity is Union Street c reated a c entury a g o at a c ost whi c h was c onsidered rec kless at the time but whi c h has been more than !ustified by the results . This first impro ve

c c o i n c ment s heme , whi h has been followed up by thers re ent

o f m e n . times , was the work with a wide outlook Prominent

o f S among the Provosts enlightenment was ir Alexander Anderson , whose name is n o w at the eleventh hour stamped i n memory — D a —e n d by the Anderson rive fashionable west thoroughfare . U nion Street is the bac kbone from whi c h all the o ther thorough

I t a n d a n d fares radiate . i s broad handsome the buildings that

o o f fac e eac h ther ac ross it are as a rule worthy the street . ’ U on e o f F c c c nion Bridge , let her s gra eful stru tures , with a span o f 1 0 i n o f a n d 3 feet , makes a pleasing break the line buildings

De n b u r n permits a view north a n d south along the valley . The

o c U c a n d U c n rthern view , whi h shows nion Terra e nion Terra e

c i n Gardens with handsome publi buildings , both the foreground a n d i n c o o n e o f i n the ba kground , is und ubtedly the finest the c . D o n o f Dec ity The uthie Park the north bank the , the links

c c o o that fringe the northern oast , the pi turesquely w ded amenities o f Do n side a n d o , above below Balg wnie Bridge , the quaint other

o f o c world air Old Aberdeen with its l fty trees , its grand athedral ’ a n d c c o f C n the an ient rown King s ollege , these are all elevati g a n d meliorating influenc es that hel p to keep i n c hec k the c ommerc ial spirit that rules about the harbour -quays a n d the

fi sh - market . Aberdeen c a n boast o f four daily newspapers besides several

o f i n weekl ies . I t c laims the honour having the oldest newspaper CHIEF TOWNS AND VILLAGES 1 8 1 — — S Aber deen o u r n a l i n 1 8 . l 8 c o tland The y establ ished 7 4 (m 3 , ,

1 1 1 0 2 1 0 1 0 8 1 0 1 1 1 1 2 6 1 1 62 1 6 1 6 1 6 9 5 , 0 , , 7 , , 9 , , , 45 , , 4 , 5 , 9 ,

- Ab e r do u r ( 549 ) is a small village o n the c oast half way

c between Troup Head a n d Rosehearty . Sometimes alled New

to c Aberdour distinguish it from the parish , the village ame into

c . I c c n o w i n 1 6. existenc e 7 9 The parish is very an ient ts hur h , i n wa s c to S Dr o sta n c a n d c n ruins , dedi ated t , the dis iple ompanio — c o f o f St Columba . Aberdour i s the birth pla e Dr Andrew ’ F c H — o f H n o w C indlater , on e ead master Gordon s ospital ( ollege) , ’ f h a m b e r s s En c c lo a edi a . pp A a n d o C . berdeen , first editor y p ( 3 9 ,

2 1 1 1 6 , 0 5 , 9 ,

Ab o yn e properly c alled Charlestown o f Aboyne i n c o to o f c mpl iment the first Earl Aboyne , is a pi turesquely situated

o n D n fo r village eeside with a high reputatio its brac ing c limate . — Near it is Aboyne Castle fo r c enturies the family seat o f the

o f I n Marquis Huntly . the vi c inity are Loc hs K i n n o r d a n d

D . D o f . pp . 2 8 2 1 8 8 avan At innet are beds kieselguhr ( , , 4 , 3 , ,

1 1 1 1 7 , 9 ,

A o r d . o n Do n side o f c lf (pa , is the terminus the bran h railway fro m Kintore a n d the c entre o f a ri c h agri c ultural distri c t

I n o c alled the V ale o f Alford . the neighb urhood are several — n c T e r e r sie i Cr a i ieva r . F i teresting astles p , K ldrummy and g rom Alfo rd the main D o n side ro ad leads up the valley to Strathdo n

’ a n d Co r a r fl c to D a n d to g , from whi h there are passes both eeside

pp 1 S . . 2 1 1 ” I 62 peyside ( 7 . 7 . 3 , 5 .

B a lla t e r a small tow n beautifu ll y situated o n the

o f D i n c c north side the river ee , a level spa e en losed by high

- 660 . F c c mountains , is feet above sea level rom Ballater oa hes

- to C . pp 2 drive daily Braemar , passing Balmoral astle hal f way ( . ,

1 8 2 2 1 1 62 1 6 1 6 8 ) 7 49 7 1 3 3 : 54 2 1 4 1 7 d

CHIEF TOWNS AND VILLAGES 1 8 5

spac i o us hotels with elec tri c l ight a n d all modern c onvenienc es o n

S o f D . a luxurious s c ale . ix miles distant is the famous Linn ee ’ D o f F H c The uke ife s ighland residen e , Mar Lodge , as wel l as

C I n ve r c a u ld H o f Fa r u h a r so n s Mar astle and ouse , the home the q ,

i n c i F c o f Be n - M a c dh u i are all the vi in ty . rom Braemar the as ent

- - a n d o o c n a . is usually made , sometimes als L h gar A road leads from Braemar up the valley o f the Clunie a n d over the C a ir n well

to . . 8 2 1 2 2 66 68 1 1 2 1 61 1 62 Blairgowrie (PP , , , 3 3 , , , 7 5 , , ,

B th a y usually New Byth , is . village three miles from

C a n d o i n 1 6 . I a n d uminestown , f unded 7 4 t is a bare treeless

f Fi sh r i o f distri c t . Near it are the hills o e with a large number

' c rofts give n o ff by the Ea r l o f Fife i n 1 8 3 0 to poo r people evi c ted fro m other esta a time when the fashion began o f amalga

pp 1 1 2 h o in . . mating small larger farms ( 9 , 4 ,

’ ‘ C o llie sto n is di i shi age c irc ling round a romanti c bay in 1 o n e o f S near the parish c hurc h 5 . Here 5 8 8 the hips f o the Spanish Armada (Sa n ta Ca ther i n a ) was wrec ked . The ’ e fishermen still c all the c reek St Catherine s Dub . S veral small

c n c o . a o anno have been re overed from the po l Eighty years g ,

C o n c fo r a n d lliesto en!oyed a ertain notoriety smuggling , the graveyard o f Slains c lose by c ontains evidenc e o f the deeds o f pp c c . . 8 8 violen e that the ontraband trade brought about ( 3 , 4 ,

C u lte r o f c fo r , eight miles west Aberdeen , elebrated its

- - c c to 1 0 . paper mills , whi h date ba k 7 5 This paper mill , the

r o f its i n n c a n d fi st kind the north , ma ufa tured superfine paper

' i n c - o f p parti ular the bank notes the Aberdeen Bank . ( . m C u in e sto wn a village o n the north side o f th H i n M o n u h itte r o e Waggle il l q , was established by J seph

Cii m in e o f A u h r i n 1 c y 7 63 . Joseph Cumine was a pi o neer i n c agri ultural improvement . He planted trees a n d started the ' m a n u fa c tu r e o f l i . Ab t mil dist t I S th sm ll r l nen ou a e an e a e V o f illage Garmo n d . The villages were o nc e muc h m o re po pulous

Th e D o o a H l C a s l rw y, unt y t e CHIEF TOWNS AND VILLAGES 18 9

H u n tl n o f c y the largest inla d town the ounty , is fl situated at the c on uenc e o f the De ve r o n and the Bogie . It is — — the c entre o f a n extensive agri c ultural distri c t Strathbogie a n d

n d I n has woo llen a other manufac tures . the vi c inity are the

o f H C o f D o f c ruins untly astle , the property the uke Ri hmond

T h e B a ss I i e , nverur

a n d . o f S to Gordon The first Lords trathbogie , being opposed ’ c c o f n a n d Bru e s laims kingship , were disi herited their lands

o n S c c bestowed ir Adam Gordon , whose des endants be ame Earl s o f H o f H a n d D o f . o ld untly , Marquises untly ukes Gordon The c astle o f Strathbogie was destroyed after the battle o f G le n liva t i n 1 H C i n 1 60 2 . H 5 94 , but rebuilt as untly astle untly is the 1 90 ABERDEENSHIRE

- o n o pp c o f D c a d . . 2 birth pla e r George Ma donald , p et n vel ist ( 9 ,

I s h o n n c a villag e the Great North Railway , with

B e n a c h ie o n o n e a n d C a n d Fo u dla n d H o n side , the ul salmond ills

f u n n i i n . the other . The vitrified fort o D deer is the vi c inity

I n v e r u r ie a royal burgh at the c onfluenc e o f the U r y a n d o n f o f c the D . The workshops o the G reat North S otland Railway were removed from K ittyb r ewste r to Inverurie some

a o c o o f . I years g , thereby in reasing the populati n the burgh t is o n e o f o f I the Elgin parliamentary burghs . The Bass nverurie

c c c i c n o w c is a oni al mound , long onsidered art fi ial , but as ertained t n t o f two o be a natural formatio due o the ac tion the rivers .

I n Inverurie has paper manufac tures . the neighbourhood is

o f . pp 2 1 H o f . 8 0 Keith all , the seat the Earl Kintore ( 7 , 7 , ,

K e m a Do n side n y about five miles up from Kintore ,

fo r i c is well known its extensive granite quarr es , whi h sent stones to a n d build the Forth Bridge the Thames Embankment . Near

C F o n e o f c o f c . it i s astle raser , the finest inhabited astles the ounty

Fe tte r n ea r o c c n o f o f o n , n e the ou ty seat the bishops Aberdeen , is f p O . the pposite side o the river . ( A K i nto r e ( 8 1 8 ) is a royal burgh o f great antiquity . mile to o f H a llfo r e st i n 1 6 . the west are the ruins , destroyed 3 9 Kintore “ ” i n c D c c c a n d c has , its vi inity , several ruidi al ir les s ul ptured

pp . 2 1 1 1 2 1 . 1 0 8 6 60 6 6 stones ( 7 , 49 , , 3 , , , 4 ,

o L o n g side (3 9 2 ) dates from 1 8 0 1 . A woo llen fac t ry

fo r to brought a time prosperity the village , but this has been

a n d o o . . o S given up the p pulati n dwindles Rev J hn kinner , the

o o f Tu llo c b or u m fo r o f auth r g , was over sixty years minister the

c C c L i n sh a r t c to o f o . Epis opal hur h at , lose the villag e L ng side “ ’ ” H o F o f U dn s o o ere als was born Jamie leeman , the laird y f l ,

1 9 2 ABERDEENSHIRE fac ture o f moss - litter fro m the peat i n the neighbourhood was

c ) . 1 re ently started . (PI 9 ,

Old D e e r 1 i o n S U ( 7 9 ) is prett ly situated the outh gie . The

c o f S C a n d S D r o sta n I n distri t has memories t olumba t .

o f C c a n d the neighbourhood are the ruins a ister ian Abbey , “ ” D c c c . pp . 2 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 ruidi al ir les ( , 5 , 3 , 5 , 7 ,

Old M e ldr u m ( 1 1 1 0 ) was erec ted by c harter into a burgh

- o f i n 1 2 . I fo r I barony 67 t is wel l known its turnip seed . t used to employ many persons i n handloom weaving a n d i n the

o f o c . to c a n d knitting st kings Both industries have fallen de ay ,

to - the po pulation tends dwindle . There is a long establ ished

i n . . 1 0 8 1 1 2 1 6 distillery the town (PP , , 3 ,

P e te r h e a d i n Sc the most easterly town otland , is

c u a o built o f red granite . A ent ry g it was a fashionable watering

c a n d to . No w c pla e , used be a whal ing station its hief industry

o f o f is the herring fishing . South the town a harbour refuge is

c c c c c c being c onstru ted by onvi t labour , from the onvi t prison lose

o f c o f by . The harbour refuge will ost , it is said , a million

c c 2 to money a n d its c onstruc tion will o upy 5 3 0 years . A linen o c c fac tory onc e existed here , as al s a wool len fa tory , whi h exported

o f . o c n c c loth to the value a year B th be ame exti t , but a n d the woolle n industry was revived still prospers . Ano ther prominent industry i s granite polishing . At I n verugie Castle was

F - i n n o f bo rn ield Marshal James Keith , whose statue stands fro t ” - H o n the Town ouse . The Pretender landed at Peterhead C D c o f 1 1 . hristmas ay , 7 5 Peterhead was ere ted into a burgh

c o o f c barony i n 1 5 9 3 by Earl Maris hal , the f under Maris hal ’ C I to o f . c ollege , Aberdeen t ontinued be part the Earl s estates

o n o f 1 1 c c . til l the rebelli 7 5 , when the lands were onfis ated The Peterhead po rtion is n o w the property o f the Merc ha n t Maiden

pp 2 8 1 66 68 6 8 H o o f n . . 8 spital Edi burgh ( , 9 , 3 , 3 9 , 4 , 5 7 , , , 7 , 3 , CHIEF TOWNS AND VILLAGES 1 93

R o se h e a r t 1 0 8 c o f c Ro s y ( 3 ) is a misspelt Gael i name wh i h ,

a n d a r d . a promontory , , a height , are undoubted elements The ’ o little town stands o n the shore a mile north o f Pitslig . There is a tradition that i n the fourteenth c entury a party o f Danes landed a n d c c wh o took up residen e here , instru ting the inhabitants , were

pp 2 c o in o f . . 6 mostly r fters , the art fishing ( ,

T h e Wh i te H o rse o n M o r m o n d H i l l

1 A l ex a n de r Fo r b e s fo u r h a n d l a s L o r d P i sli o 1 6 8 wa s , t t t g ( 7 a wa r m su o r e r o f th e e x l e d u a r s a n d o o k a r i b r b ll p p t i St t t p t n o th e e i o n s.

Af e r C u ll o de n h e e m a n e d in h i di n h i s c h i e l a c e o f c o n c e a l m e n b e i n t , r i g, f p t g a c a e i n th r v e o c k s we st o f Ro se h e a r ty .

M . A . 1 9 4 ABERDEENSHIRE

S tr i h e 1 0 c M o r m o n d c n ( 94) was formerly alled , from the

i o f to h ll at the base whi c h the village stands . This hill owing the c omparatively level c harac ter o f the s u rroundi n g c o untry is a

c n fo r n c onspi uous feature i the landsc ape miles . O the south

o f o c u t o u t i n S c western side , the fi g ure a h rse is the turf, the pa e W “ ” being filled up ith white stones . This Wh ite Horse oc c upies

a n c o f a n d O n half a re ground is visible at a great distanc e . the south side o f the hill a n antlered stag o n a larger sc ale is figured

o so pp i n . 1 8 0 . . 1 1 the same manner This was d ne late as 7 ( ,

T o r h i s o n D c p n a rising vi llage eeside , mu h resorted

i n p to by Aberdonians the summer months . ( .

T u r r iff ( 2 3 4 6) is situated o n a table - land o n the north o f the

f f c Deve r n burn o Turri f near its !un tion with the o . Turri ff i s midway between Aberdeen a n d Elgi n ; henc e the c o uplet

’ Ch o o se e c h o se e a t th e C o ss 0 y , i y , r T u rra

’ a n b E ith e r g g to A e r de e n o r E lgi n o M o r a y .

ff c n i n Bo o k o Deer Turri is very an ient , being mentio ed the f ,

n o f T u r b r u a d o f C c u der the name , as the seat a elti monastery

to S C u o f S C . dedi c ated t o gan , a follower t olumba The double belfry o f the o ld c hurc h (date 1 63 5) is really a piec e o f c astellated

to a n c c c arc h itec ture appl ied e lesiasti al edifi c e . The c hurc hyard

Sc c . 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 gateway is al so Early ottish Renaissan e ( DP , 3 , 4 , ,

1 1 2 ,

19 6 ABEB B E ENSHI RE

U n c u ltiva t e d

o o o o f c u d a n d u n c a Fi g . 4 . Pr p rti n ltivate ultiv t e d ° a a s i n Ab d s — c c o re er een h ire pra t i ally s /o

F i . o o o a a a o f C r o i n A n s e g . 5 Pr p rti n te re p s b erdee h ir DIAGRAMS 1 9 7

Hea thl a nd

u sed fo r g ra z ing

I 57 ,955

F i P a o f C o s P a s a n d 6. o o o n , g . r p rti ate are r p ture d sh 1 0 W o o dl a nds i n A b er een ire ( 9 9 ) 1 9 8 ABERDEENSHIRE

S c o tl a n d S c o tla n d c c w s wts 4, t

Abe rde enshire

3 .563 .2 54 c wts

8 o f s a ll . o f H e s Fig . Q uantity Fi h ( F ig . 9 Q uantity rring k inds) lande d i n Ab er lan ded i n A b e rde e n sh ire de e n sh i r e a s c o mp a red a s c o m p a re d with th a t o f with th a t o f S c o tland S c o tl a nd ( 1 9 0 9) ° a o s 0 lm t 5 /O

A xa n de r Ma c ki e , l e Ab e r de e n sh i r e

Un ive rsity o f Toro nto Rob a rts Che c ko ut Re c e ipt

p m

Ite m Ab e rde e n sh u e

Due Da te

Ite m Th e c o u nty o f Ab e rde e n K n o tted Sch ist

Cla y Sla te

Dr . Old Red Qu a r tz ooe S ch ists

5 m m ” a n d Mic a . S ch ist

r a n ite et G , c .

5 2 Gla zb u dc et 53 50 1 111111011 5 4: E ww 5 5 b o d e-l 4! (Bd rm