Part 10

=Fraserburgh= (10,570) is the third largest town in the county. It is a busy, thriving place, being the great centre of the herring fishing industry in Scotland. It was founded by Sir Alexander Fraser, one of the Frasers of Philorth (now represented by Lord Saltoun). The Frasers are said to have come into England with the Normans. A royal charter was granted in 1546 erecting “Faithlie” as it was then called into a free burgh of barony with all the privileges. Sir Alexander Fraser was a great favourite with James VI and was knighted at the baptism of Prince Henry, 1594: he was a man of enterprise; he built the town and the harbour and erected public buildings. He received from King James the privilege of founding a University in Fraserburgh, and a building was set apart for this institution. Not only so but a Principal was appointed in 1600. The College may have been active for a few years, but very little is known of its history. During the plague which raged for two years at Aberdeen, the students of King’s College went for safety to Fraserburgh in 1647 and, it is supposed, occupied the old College buildings. A street in the town is still called “College Bounds.” (pp. 8, 38, 59, 61, 76, 94, 95, 101, 102, 163, 164, 169.)

=Huntly= (4229), the largest inland town of the county, is situated at the confluence of the Deveron and the Bogie. It is the centre of an extensive agricultural district—Strathbogie—and has woollen and other manufactures. In the vicinity are the ruins of Huntly Castle, the property of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon. The first Lords of Strathbogie, being opposed to Bruce’s claims of kingship, were disinherited and their lands bestowed on Sir Adam Gordon, whose descendants became Earls of Huntly, Marquises of Huntly and Dukes of Gordon. The old castle of Strathbogie was destroyed after the battle of Glenlivet in 1594, but rebuilt as Huntly Castle in 1602. Huntly is the birth-place of Dr George Macdonald, poet and novelist. (pp. 29, 31, 91, 160, 162, 164, 176.)

=Insch= (616), a village on the Great North Railway, with Benachie on one side, and the Culsalmond and Foudland Hills on the other. The vitrified fort of Dunnideer is in the vicinity. (pp. 119, 164.)

=Inverurie= (4069), a royal burgh at the confluence of the Ury and the Don. The workshops of the Great North of Scotland Railway were removed from Kittybrewster to Inverurie some years ago, thereby increasing the population of the burgh. It is one of the Elgin parliamentary burghs. The Bass of Inverurie is a conical mound, long considered artificial, but now ascertained to be a natural formation due to the action of the two rivers. Inverurie has paper manufactures. In the neighbourhood is Keith Hall, the seat of the Earl of Kintore. (pp. 27, 71, 80, 108, 109, 113, 132, 137, 160, 162, 164, 165, 169.)

=Kemnay= (948), about five miles up Donside from Kintore, is well known for its extensive granite quarries, which sent stones to build the Forth Bridge and the Thames Embankment. Near it is Castle Fraser, one of the finest inhabited castles of the county. Fetternear, once the county seat of the bishops of Aberdeen, is on the opposite side of the river. (p. 83.)

=Kintore= (818) is a royal burgh of great antiquity. A mile to the west are the ruins of Hallforest, destroyed in 1639. Kintore has, in its vicinity, several “Druidical” circles and sculptured stones. (pp. 27, 49, 108, 136, 160, 162, 164, 169.)

=Longside= (392) dates from 1801. A woollen factory brought for a time prosperity to the village, but this has been given up and the population dwindles. Rev. John Skinner, the author of _Tullochgorum_, was for over sixty years minister of the Episcopal Church at Linshart, close to the village of Longside. Here also was born Jamie Fleeman, “the laird of Udny’s fool,” a half-witted person whose blunt outspoken manner and shrewd remarks are still widely remembered. (pp. 163, 176.)

=Maud= is the point where the Buchan railway bifurcates for Peterhead and Fraserburgh. Maud is a centre for auction sales of cattle. (p. 164.)

=Mintlaw= (377) was founded about the same period as Longside and the fortunes of both villages, which are three miles apart, have been similar. (p. 163.)

=Newburgh= (537), on the estuary of the Ythan, was at one time notorious like Collieston for smuggling. Ships of small burden still come up to its wharf at full tide and sometimes proceed as far as Waterton. The bed of the estuary of the Ythan is covered with mussels, much used in the past as bait by the local fishermen, as well as for export to other fishing stations. The revenue from this source has greatly fallen off in recent years—line-fishing having suffered from the rise of trawling. (p. 48.)

=New Deer= (675) is a village established about 1805. Brucklay Castle, the seat of the Dingwall-Fordyce family, recently converted into a mansion of the old Scottish castellated style, and surrounded with tasteful grounds, is now one of the most charming edifices in the district. A mile to the west is the ruined castle of Fedderat. (p. 138.)

=New Pitsligo= (pa. 2226) is a village in the neighbourhood of the sources of the Ugie, and extending for a mile in two parallel streets along the eastern slope of the hill of Turlundie. It stands 500 feet above sea-level. The village takes its name from Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, who founded it in 1787. Here a linen trade was at one time carried on; this gave place to hand-loom weaving and ultimately to lace-making. The Episcopal Church was designed by G. Edmund Street, and it is said to be one of the best examples of his work in Scotland. The manufacture of moss-litter from the peat in the neighbourhood was recently started. (pp. 91, 163.)

=Old Deer= (179) is prettily situated on the South Ugie. The district has memories of St Columba and St Drostan. In the neighbourhood are the ruins of a Cistercian Abbey, and “Druidical” circles. (pp. 2, 105, 113, 115, 117, 123.)

=Old Meldrum= (1110) was erected by charter into a burgh of barony in 1672. It is well known for its turnip-seed. It used to employ many persons in handloom weaving and in the knitting of stockings. Both industries have fallen to decay, and the population tends to dwindle. There is a long-established distillery in the town. (pp. 108, 112, 163, 164.)

=Peterhead= (13,560), the most easterly town in Scotland, is built of red granite. A century ago it was a fashionable watering-place, and used to be a whaling station. Now its chief industry is the herring fishing. South of the town a harbour of refuge is being constructed by convict labour, from the convict prison close by. The harbour of refuge will cost, it is said, a million of money and its construction will occupy 25 to 30 years. A linen factory once existed here, as also a woollen factory, which exported cloth to the value of £12,000 a year. Both became extinct, but the woollen industry was revived and still prospers. Another prominent industry is granite polishing. At Inverugie Castle was born Field-Marshal James Keith, whose statue stands in front of the Town-House. The “Pretender” landed at Peterhead on Christmas Day, 1715. Peterhead was erected into a burgh of barony in 1593 by Earl Marischal, the founder of Marischal College, Aberdeen. It continued to be part of the Earl’s estates till the rebellion of 1715, when the lands were confiscated. The Peterhead portion is now the property of the Merchant Maiden Hospital of Edinburgh. (pp. 8, 29, 38, 39, 41, 57, 66, 68, 76, 83, 94, 95, 101, 102, 111, 163, 164, 169, 171.)

=Rosehearty= (1308) is a misspelt Gaelic name of which _Ros_, a promontory, and _ard_, a height, are undoubted elements. The little town stands on the shore a mile north of Pitsligo[1]. There is a tradition that in the fourteenth century a party of Danes landed and took up residence here, instructing the inhabitants, who were mostly crofters, in the art of fishing. (pp. 62, 162.)

[Footnote 1: Alexander Forbes, fourth and last Lord Pitsligo (1678-1762) was a warm supporter of the exiled Stuarts and took part in both rebellions. After Culloden, he remained in hiding, his chief place of concealment being a cave in the rocks west of Rosehearty.]

M. A.

=Strichen= (1094) was formerly called Mormond, from the hill at the base of which the village stands. This hill owing to the comparatively level character of the surrounding country is a conspicuous feature in the landscape for miles. On the south-western side, the figure of a horse is cut out in the turf, the space being filled up with white stones. This “White Horse” occupies half an acre of ground and is visible at a great distance. On the south side of the hill an antlered stag on a larger scale is figured in the same manner. This was done so late as 1870. (pp. 11, 16, 38, 91, 158.)

=Torphins= (455), a rising village on Deeside, much resorted to by Aberdonians in the summer months. (p. 106.)

=Turriff= (2346) is situated on a table-land on the north of the burn of Turriff near its junction with the Deveron. Turriff is midway between Aberdeen and Elgin; hence the couplet—

Choose ye, choise ye, at the Cross o’ Turra Either gang to Aberdeen or Elgin o’ Moray.

Turriff is very ancient, being mentioned in the _Book of Deer_, under the name of Turbruad, as the seat of a Celtic monastery dedicated to St Congan, a follower of St Columba. The double belfry of the old church (date 1635) is really a piece of castellated architecture applied to an ecclesiastical edifice. The churchyard gateway is also Early Scottish Renaissance. (pp. 11, 31, 40, 110, 112, 119, 163, 164.)

Cambridge: PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Transcriber’s Notes

Page 62—changed Pitullie to Pittullie Page 119—changed possesssed to possessed Page 148—changed Sreet to Street Page 164—changed Kenmay to Kemnay Page 164—changed Formartin to Formartine Page 189—changed Glenlivat to Glenlivet