Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, 1654
Name: | Blaeu, Joan, 1596-1673 |
Title: | Praefectvrarvm Aberdonensis Et Banfiensis ... Nova Descriptio, Auctore Roberto Gordonio |
Pagination: | 108-9 |
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Translation of text:
farther inland is Park, a castle of the Gordons, under a high mountain named Knock, but it is scarcely to be counted as being in this region. The judicial prefecture of this whole region which is classed under the name of Banff, before the time of King Robert I belonged hereditarily to the Comyns, Earls of Buchan; when they were expelled for treason, as we have said, Stuarts, part of the royal family, succeeded by grant of the kings, but last century it was passed by right of marriage to Douglases, and by the same right in our lifetime it crossed to Erskines from the family of the Earls of Mar, who today hold the titles of Earls of Buchan. However the largest part of the small region of Boyne is held by the family of Ogilvies, or by dependents of this family. Their chief is the Earl of Findlater, whose ancestors, from Angus not far from Dundee, first settled here, when an heiress of the name of Sinclair was acquired by right of marriage. From them is derived the family of the Lords of Boyne, from whom sprang one third of the Lord of Parliament whose title is from Banff.
BUCHAN
Buchan begins at the mouth of the Deveron, stretching along the coast to the east to the beginning of the gulf of Varar, where the coast turns south. Its boundary inland is uncertain, some thinking that it ends with the Riven Don in the south, others do not take it beyond the River Ythan, the rest being called Formartin. The whole of Buchan is plains or hills, totally given up to crops and agriculture, irrigated by innumerable rivers, with no mountains - one alone is higher than the others (it is called Mormond), scarcely equal to a moderate hill in the interior. Nowhere in the whole kingdom can one see an equal area of ground that is level and free of mountains. But to set out details as one goes along the coast from Banff to the east, one sees Cullen, where is the house of the Barclays, Barons of Towy; there follows Troup built (at the sea) on a rock in an isthmus, now deserted; next is Pennan on the coast, where there is a well-known vein of mill-stones, which are exported in great numbers far and wide. Next is Pitsligo, a castle of the Lord of Parliament from the family of Forbes; close to it is Pittulie, a country house of the Barons of Philorth; then after the country house of Fingask comes the small promontory of Kinnaird Head, and at it the small town of Fraserburgh, where fifty years ago Alexander Fraser, illustrious Knight, Baron of Philorth, built the town and increased the place with freedoms granted by the king. He also at great expense set a large mass of stone in the Ocean, first in a less suitable place, and later he moved the works elsewhere and built up the harbour; hence the place became more frequented. Two miles on occurs Cairnbulg, a castle of the Parliamentary Lords of Mulcol. That is followed by Inverallochy, likewise a castle of the Frasers. Now the coast begins to bend southwards, where there is a small bay Strathbeg, once well known for its harbour, now almost covered in sand; traces remain here of the town of Rattray (1), which are now following the fate of the harbour. Our historian Boece is surprised that this river alone does not admit salmon, but there is nothing here that would accept large fish, except two muddy streams so lacking in water that they scarcely have equal trout. There is nothing more on this coast worthy of mention until the mouth of the Ugie occurs. The Ugie flows from two sources in two rivers, quite small; on the one which tends more to the north is Strichen, a country house of the Frasers; on the other Fedderate, a castle of the Irvines, and near it Brucklay, ditto; they are from the family of Drum. On the road away from the river is Nethermuir which belongs to the Gordons, but following the river is Clackriach which is a country house of the Keiths. Not far from there, in a low valley once totally wooded, are the ruins of the once rich Monastery of Deer, and a mile from there on a bend of the river is the village of Deer with its church. A mile from the river are Kinmundy and Ludquharn, the former a country house of the Gordons, the latter of the Keiths. Not far from here the rivers join, and now close to the Ocean pass the castle of Craig, and on the opposite bank Inverugie at the mouth, both heritable possessions of the Earl Marischal. Inverugie is a quite magnificent castle, in an excellent situation, whether convenience from sea, river or land is considered. That earl, the hereditary Marshal of the kingdom, who in these places as owner of many estates far and wide, has greater power than any other, is the head of the family of Keith, which seeks its origin in the Picts; although they were driven many centuries ago from their ancestral seats and kingdom, it is not incredible that many survived. This illustrious house also holds no small amount of land in Mar and the Mearns. Two miles from here the promontory of Taezalum is seen, today known as Buchan Ness, the farthest east point of coastline in the whole kingdom. At it is the small town of Peterhead, a place suited to maritime activity if industry were applied, but what had been the foundation for a harbour has almost vanished. Continuing along the coast there first occurs The Bow, a word which means curved promontory; here on a sandy peninsula is the house of the illustrious Earl of Erroll, chief of the family of Hay, and hereditary Constable of the Kingdom; to recount the memorable origin of this family is not for this summary, but the industry of our annals has not neglected it, and the acts under Hay in the battle against the Danes near the village of Luncarty. Their ancestral seat is Errol, with very ample and productive estates, on the bank of the River Tay, where still today they are powerful; but in the places which we are now describing King Robert settled them when the Comyns were proscribed. Here they have ample estates, which begin two miles from Buchan Ness and stretch as far as the mouth of the Ythan. On this coast are the ruins of their castle of Slains. In the same place are springs of petrifying waters; they derive from various sources, some hundreds of yards from the shore, and through rocky channels mingle into the sea; from these is cooked very white and clinging lime, most useful for building works. The mouth of the Riven Ythan follows, which enters the sea through sandy ground; hence no little damage is done to the very fertile neighbouring fields, of which no small part has been covered with sand and lost through fierce winds. The mouth of this river is bent to the south, and the daily tide of the Ocean enters it to a greater degree than in any others on this coast, although they have a strong flow of water; there is however no convenience from this to the security of the harbour, which may be entered only by smaller ships. Going up the river, which flows through a cultivated and productive region, there occur on the left Foveran Castle, the fishing village of Newburgh, and Knockhall Castle, and on the other side a mile from the river Forvie, both of which are owned by John Udny; on the other bank is the parochial village of Ellon, close to which are Abbotshall[?], Ardgrain, and Auchterellon, castles or houses of the Forbeses, the Kennedies and the Udnies respectively; opposite on the other bank is Esslemont Castle of the Earl of Errol, and above it Park of Kelly and going farther up on the opposite bank Gight, which are two castles of the Gordons. Here the banks of the river are clothed with trees, which is rare in these parts. There follows Fyvie, a magnificent and lovely castle, which belongs to the Earl of Dunfermline. Above this Towy Castle of the Barclays is seen, close to which is Bucholly, belonging to the Mowats, but it does not lie on the river. There follows Turriff, which is watered by a small river, soon after merging into the Deveron. The village is the most beautiful in all these parts, in a location most suitable for hunting and hawking; around it are many noblemen's castles, houses and country houses, of which the principal are Delgatie and Craigston, castles of the Hays and Urquharts respectively, and on the bank of the Deveron Iden[?], and not far from there the ruins of an old monument, set in a safe site on a small river, the work of the English in the time of Edward I, from which comes the name of the place King Edward. To go through the rest would be tedious and useless.
FORMARTIN
But those lands lying between the Rivers Ythan and Don are called Formartin by the inhabitants, who disdain to be included in Buchan. There is no town there, as the neighbouring Aberdeen takes all business. But if the nature of the soil or the character of the people is considered, it is worthy of attention and the equal of any of its neighbours, indeed far outstrips the great majority in number of inhabitants, goodness of the land, amount and beauty of castles and country houses, in gentleness and cultivated manners. Some places have been mentioned when I was following the course of the Ythan; it also has Crichie on the aforesaid river; Tarves is a village with a church, Tolquhon a castle of the Forbeses, Udny of the aforesaid John Udny, Pitmedden a country house of the Setons, Dumbreck; Pittrichie and Straloch, country houses of the Maitlands and Gordons; and many others not listed.
Next above this is an area in the interior which is not to be assigned to any other province, but has not yet gained a name of its own, partly administered by the prefecture of Aberdeen, partly by that of Banff, yet divided into six parishes and those quite ample. In it are Frendraught and Kinnairdy, castles of the Viscounts of Crichton, Carnousie, Auchintoul and Forglen, country houses of respectively the Ogilvies, the Gordons and the Lord of Parliament of Banff, with some others.
GARIOCH
This district, bounded by Strathbogie, Mar and Formartin, nowhere touches the sea. The etymology of the name is uncertain; in the old tongue the word 'garve' means rough, rocky, uneven ground, while 'ach' is a plain or level: these do not correspond to the nature of this area, for it is intersected by two rivers and many streams and lies entirely in the valley; spread out in crop-bearing hills, in rich and early harvests it never fails to correspond to the desires of the farmer. The mountain of Bennachie, rising rough and rocky in seven peaks, stretches before it to the south, easily seen by those sailing past. The River Urie flows out from a low ridge not far from Gartly Castle, falls through a barren valley, from which it struggles out through breaks in the mountains, and coming into the plains and cutting through the middle in an uneven and twisted course, joins with the Don at the small city of Inverurie. At the foot of the mountain Bennachie, and stretching along its length, the Gadie Burn mingles with the same river a little above the said small city. Here there is no lack of pleasant hunting of hares, there is an abundance of river fish, and of birds, partridges, and lapwings. Grass is less common: a mile above the village called Insch a hill rises, round on all sides, visible all over the valley, totally covered with joyous grass, on whose highest summit remain the walls of a castle, the work of King Gregory I, about 880 A.D., where also he met his fate; I should hardly have mentioned this, if a story of sheep grazing on that hill had not reminded me. Sometimes their maxillary teeth are found to be gleaming with a gold colour; I remember having seen some of them, which appeared to be plainly golden; hence our historian, insufficiently acquainted with the science of metals, thought that there was a vein of gold beneath the ground, but careful examination reveals nothing of the kind. At the confluence of the Don and the Urie is Inverurie in the form of a village, with fertile soil. In former centuries everything hereabout was rough with woods, especially planted on the banks of the Don, of which now no traces can be seen. Not far from here King Robert I, sick and carried in a litter, routed in battle John Comyn, earl of Buchan, and so beat down the strength of his faction that it never recovered; this was his first successful contest after the exhaustion of infinite toil; these events occurred three hundred and fifty years ago. Later in the year 1411 Alexander Stuart Earl of Mar, a man of great spirit, around these places at the village of Harlaw defeated Donald of the Isles, with the strength of the Hebrides, in a bloody battle, and restored peace to these regions. The whole of this valley is outstandingly cultivated, has a large population, and is filled with many country houses and houses, among which are Leslie, the first seat of the Leslies, as is believed from very ancient charters still extant (that family has grown immensely today and has produced Earls and Lords, who have settled their fortunes in other parts of the kingdom); Lickleyhead, which with the other just mentioned, now belongs to the Forbeses; Wordhouse, a castle of the Farquharsons; below it is Newton of the Gordons; Harthill under the mountain Bennachie belongs to the Leiths; there are also Bolquhain and Pitcaple, which are the property of Leslies. But Pittodrie belongs to the Erskines, Caskieben to the Johnstones, Lethenty to the Urquharts, Barra and Meldrum to the Setons. The greatest part of this district has been for many years now annexed to the earldom of Mar and today increases its titles.