404 COLQUHONY-INVERURY. and twenty nobles sat in the king's ha';" | the west side of the mouth of the Nochty, is an artificial mound, 970 feet in circuit and 60 feet high, with traces of ancient fortification. Poldullie Bridge, over the Don, a little further up, a steep, narrow structure, with a Gothic arch 70 feet wide, spans a contraction of the stream at a cascade and a whirlpool. Candacraig House and Inverernan House, 1 and 2 miles further up, the latter at the month of Ernan Water, are the seats of Robert Anderson, Esq., and LieutenantColonel J. Forbes. Edinglassie House, a and the last of them fought for the Pretender in 1745, and went with him to France. Castle-Newe, 2 miles further up the Don, the seat of Sir Charles Forbes, Bart., is chiefly a handsome turreted edifice of 1831, with central tower 85 feet high, but includes in the rear a previous mansion of 1604. Ben-Newe, adjacent to it, rises with conical outline to a flattened summit,and commands an extensive view. 1197. COLQUHONY Inn, a little above Castle-Newe, and 16 miles from Alford, is the tourist's central point for Strath-mile up the Ernan, and Skellater House, don, or the mountainous portion of the 2 miles further up the Don, are seats of Don's valley. Colquhony Castle is the Sir Charles Forbes, Bart. ruin of an ancient fortalice of the For- 1198. COCK BRIDGE spans the Don beses of Towie. Strathdon Church, in on the line of the military road from the vicinity, is a handsome new edifice, Ballater to Fort George. Here the turnwith a lofty spire. Bellabeg House, a pike up Strathdon terminates; and here little beyond Colquhony, at the mouth of is a small inn. Cargarff Castle, in the Nochty Water, is the property of Sir vicinity, was for ages a hunting seat of Charles Forbes, Bart. Auchernach the Earls of Mar, passed in 1746 to House, about two miles up the Nochty, Forbes of Skellater, and was purchased is a mansion of 1809, built by General by Government for the uses of a garrison Forbes. The Doune of Invernochty, at to overawe the Highlands. XCVI.-FROM ABERDEEN TO BANFF. Paragraph ..1221 left; Pitcaple Castle, left..... Wartle House, left; miles to the left; Auch- Para graph left; Hatton Castle, right; Gask House, left; Turriff Town and Station, 39 miles.........1205 The River Deveron, begun to be followed down for nearly 2 miles, then receded from, then returned to..... ...1206 Dalgetty House, right; Forglen House, on the further side of the Deveron, left; Craigston Castle, 13 mile to the right; King Edward Church, left...............1207 Eden Castle, left; Mont coffer House, left; Banff House, on the further side of the Deveron, left; Macduff and road to Gamrie, right......1208 Banff Station, 50 miles 1209 1199. INVERURY stands on the penin- has suburbs on the opposite banks. It sula between the Ury and the Don, but is an ancient town, constituted by Robert URY WATER-FYVIE. Bruce a royal burgh, but presents a 1200. URY WATER rises 4 miles south-east of Huntly, and runs southeastward to the Don at Inverury. Its length of course, as the crow flies, is 14 miles; along its bed, about 24. Its basin is chiefly a rolling country of swells and 405 hills. Its waters afford excellent sport to the angler, and yield many trouts of from 1 to 5 lbs. 1201. OLD MELDRUM stands 5 miles north-east of Inverury, and is reached by a branch railway, with an intermediate station at Lethenty. It contains a town hall with a steeple, four places of worship, a key post office, two banking offices, and a public reading-room. Its population in 1851 was 1579. Meldrum House, a little to the north, is the seat of B. C. Urquhart, Esq.; and Fingask House, 23 miles to the west, is the seat of Captain W. A. Skene. A hill, about 600 feet high, a short distance to the south, is crowned by an old fortification, of similar appearance to the common Caledonian hill-forts, but traditionally associated with the history of the Comyns. Bethelnie Hill, 4 miles to the north-west, bears traces of a Roman camp. 1202. RAYNE parish, lying chiefly west of Murtle Station, contains two Druidical circles, some cairns, the village of Old Rayne, with about 120 inhabitants, and the mansions of Murtle, Rothiemaise, and Freefield, the last a seat of General Sir Alexander Leith. 1203. FYVIE parish contained an ancient burgh and an ancient priory, both now extinct. Fyvie Castle, about a mile north of the site of the priory, and half a mile east of the railway, a large, venerable, Gothic mansion, the seat of W. Gordon, Esq., was visited in 1296 by Edward I. of England, seized in 1644 by the Marquis of Montrose, and belonged for some time to the Earls of Dunfermline. Gight Castle, 4 miles to the east, now the property of the Earl of Aberdeen, is the ruined ancient residence of the maternal ancestors of Lord Byron. Fyvie church-yard contains the burialplace of the Gordons of Gight, and the grave of the heroine of the Scottish ballad, "Tiftie's Bonnie Annie." Haddo House, 4 miles south-east of Gight Castle, and 6 east-south-east of Fyvie Church, the seat of the Earl of Aberdeen, 406 YTHAN WATER-GAMRIE. Esq.; Auchry, James Lumsden, Esq.; Carnousie, James W. Harvey, Esq.; and Forglen, Sir George S. Abercromby, Bart., also are in the neighbourhood, the latter two on the left side of the Deveron. Monquhitter parish, on the east, contains the villages of Cumineston and Garmond, and the field of the battle of Lendrum, fought between Donald of the Isles and the Thane of Buchan. stands amid splendid policies, containing | wood, Esq.; Scobbach, John Adam, a granite obelisk to the memory of Sir Alexander Gordon, who fell at Waterloo, and is an elegant modern edifice, in the Palladian style, after designs by John Baxter of Edinburgh. Rothie House and Kinbroom, 3 and 4 miles west of Fyvie Church, are modern mansions. Towie-Barclay Castle, near the railway, 3 miles to the north, the residence, for ages, of the family of Barclay, who figured much in public events, displays interesting remains of Gothic grandeur. Hatton Castle, 2 miles further north, the seat of Garden Duff, Esq., includes a fragment of an ancient fortalice, but is mainly a handsome quadrangular edifice of 1814. Auchterless parish, lying chiefly west of Auchterless Station, contains traces of a Roman camp and numerous remains of Druidical circles. 1204. YTHAN WATER rises 6 miles east of Huntly, and enters the sea near Newburgh, 12 miles north-north-east of Aberdeen. Its course is crooked, but goes prevailingly to the east-south-east. Its length of run, as the crow flies, is 23 miles; along its bed, nearly 40. Its basin, for some distance, is hilly, but afterwards mainly low and largely alluvial. Its current, for the most part, is smooth and slow. Its waters are well frequented by salmon, and were at one time noted for valuable pearl mussels. 1205. TURRIFF, a barony burgh, is chiefly old and irregular, but has substantial houses and some new streets, and contains three places of worship, a handsome belfry of an ancient church, a key post office, four banking offices, and four inns-the Black Bull, the Commercial, the Fife Arms, and the Royal Oak. Its population in 1851 was 1693. Gask House, 12 mile to the south, the property of the Earl Fife, is a romanticallysituated mansion. Dalgetty Castle, 13 mile to the north-east, another property of the Earl of Fife, is an interesting and venerable pile of various dates since 1579. Muiresk House, R. S. F. Spottis 1206. THE DEVERON rises among the north-eastern offsets of the Grampians, 4 miles south-west of the Buck of Cabrach, and enters the sea between Macduff and Banff. Its course is variously northerly and easterly, but strikes on the aggregate to the north-east. Its length of run, as the crow flies, is 35 miles; along its bed, at least 50. Its chief tributaries are the Bogie on the right bank, and the Isla on the left. Its upper reaches have an impetuous current along Highland glens, while its middle and its lower reaches make a stately march through a brilliant variety of Lowland tracts. Its waters are well stored with trout and salmon. 1207. KING EDWARD CASTLE, adjacent to the railway, 44 miles north of Turriff, is the ruin of a baronial fortalice which belonged originally to the Comyns, Earls of Buchan. Craigstone Castle, 2 miles east-south-east of it, the seat of W. P. Urquhart, Esq., is an edifice of the 17th century. Byth House, further east, the property of B. C. Urquhart, Esq., is an old building, enlarged and modernized. Eden Castle, 21 miles north-west of King Edward Castle, is a ruined ancient fortalice; and Eden House in its vicinity, the seat of M. E. Grant Duff, Esq., is a modern mansion. 1208. GAMRIE parish, extending 9 miles eastward from the mouth of the Deveron, contains the sea-port of Macduff, the fishing village of Gardenston, the mansion of Troup, and traces of very severe but victorious conflicts, in the BANFF. Its 11th century, with the Danes. interior exhibits hills, glens, and ravines, with steeps, cliffs, and romantic features; and its coast is chiefly a precipitous ledge, in some places 600 feet high, in many parts mural, and at two points pierced with long, grand, curious caverns, called Hell's Lum and the Needle's Eye. 1209. BANFF, at the mouth of the Deveron, is a sea-port and a parliamentary burgh, but comprises two ports and two towns,-Banff proper, on the left side of the river, Macduff on the right side, the two connected by an elegant seven-arched bridge. Banff proper rose around an ancient castle, which was both a military strength and a royal residence; and it contained, in the Roman Catholic times, house property of the Knights Templars, a large Carmelite monastery, and four ancient chapels. The castle dates from at least the time of Malcolm IV.; was used by the Scottish kings as a seat of provincial government; passed to the Earls of Buchan, as hereditary keepers; was sold to Robert Sharpe, father of the notorious Archbishop of St. Andrews; became the archbishop's birth-place; passed afterwards to the first Earl of Seafield, and was then nearly all replaced by a plain modern structure with wings. Its site is a small tableau, with a fine view. The town mainly stands on low ground adjacent to the river, but partly climbs an ascent toward the castle, partly occupies an abrupt sea-height beyond, and has a 407 continuous main line of thoroughfare, upwards of half a mile long, from end to end. It presents, on the whole, a pleasant appearance, and contains a plain Town House with a graceful old spire, a plain but conspicuous Parish Church, a small, elegant, Gothic Episcopalian Chapel, five other places of worship, a key post office, five banking offices, a public reading-room, and a chief hotel, called the Fife Arms. Macduff stands fully a mile to the east; occupies a rugged, irregular, cliff-screened site; presents to view a romantic outline; and contains a town house, two churches, two banking offices, a news-room, and a public library. The two towns have rival harbours, with jointly an aggregate of about 13,000 tons of shipping; and they are linked with five other burghs in sending a member to Parliament. Their joint population in 1851 was 6000; that of Banff proper, 3558. The environs of both are beautiful; and those of Banff proper consist largely of the extensive, brilliant grounds of Duff House, the chief seat of the Earl of Fife. This mansion is a large quadrangular edifice, in the Roman-Corinthian style, with balustrade and turrets, built about the middle of last century, at a cost of £70,000, after a design by Adam. Montcoffer House, another seat of the Earl of Fife, stands on the right bank of the Deveron, 1 mile further up, and commands a delightful view. 408 FOVERAN-PETERHEAD. 210. FOVERAN parish, on the coast, | north-north-east of the mouth of Ythan from 9 to 13 miles north-north-east of Water, is the ruined baronial fortalice Aberdeen, contains the sea-port village of Newburgh, with about 500 inhabitants; Foveran House, the seat of Andrew Robertson, Esq.; Tillery House, the seat of J. Hunter, Esq.; and Knock Castle, the ruined residence of the ancestors of Colonel J. R. F. Udny. Udny parish, contiguous on the west, contains Pittrichie House, the seat of Alexander Milne, Esq.; Tillygreig House, the seat of Arthur Harvey, Esq.; two ruined mansions on the estate of Pitmeddan, the property of Sir W. C. Seton, Bart.; and a large, strong, well-preserved baronial castle of the 14th century, on the barony of Udny. 1211. ELLON, on the left bank of Ythan Water, contains a key post office, a good inn, three banking offices, five places of worship, and about 1000 inhabitants. Ellon Castle, adjacent to it, was mainly erected about 1780, and was the chief residence of the father of the present Earl of Aberdeen, yet has for many years been in a ruinous condition. Turner Hall, 2 miles to the north, the seat of John Turner, Esq., stands on the face of a rising ground, and commands a very extensive view. Arnage House, 3 miles to the north-north-west, the seat of John Leith Ross, Esq., is an old and interesting Gothic edifice. Pitlurg House, 42 miles to the east-northeast, the residence of Sir William C. Seton, Bart., is a handsome modern mansion. 1212. CRUDEN parish, midway between Ellon and Peterhead, was the scene of a battle, in 1005, between Malcolm II. and Canute the Dane, afterwards King of England. Its coast, to the extent of several miles, together with contiguous pieces of coast north and south, is high and rocky, torn with fissures, pierced with caves, flanked with skerries, and often lashed with tremendous surges of the sea. Old Slains Castle, perched on a headland, 4 miles of the first three Earls of Errol. New Slains Castle, the residence of the present Earl, crowning a cliff, 5 miles further north-north-east, is a quadrangular group of low edifices. The Bullers of Buchan, a little further north, are the most intricate, curious, romantic, and vexed portion of the rocky coast. Boddom Castle, on a headland, 3 miles further north-north-east, is the picturesque ruin of a strong seat of the Earls Marischal. Buchan-ness, adjacent to Boddom, is the most easterly ground in Scotland, and bears aloft a light-house with a flashing light. 1213. PETERHEAD is a sea-port and a parliamentary burgh. Ugie Water, after a south-easterly run of 18 miles, falls into the sea about a mile to the north. Inverugie Castle, the ruin of an edifice of great note and splendour, a residence of the Earls Marischal, stands on the left bank of the Ugie, near its mouth. Ravenscraig Castle, a much more ancient ruin, originally belonging to the family of Cheyne, stands on the right side of the Ugie, in the barony of Torterston. A tower in honour of Earl Grey and the Reform Bill, crowns a conical eminence called the Meet Hill, about 170 feet high, in the south-west. Buchan-ness and Boddom Castle are 23 miles to the south. Peterhead itself stands on a peninsula two-thirds engirt by the sea. It shows a confused street arrangement, yet is substantially built, airy, and clean. The Town Hall is a neat structure of 1788, with a steeple 125 feet high; the Cross is a Tuscan pillar, erected in 1832; the Parish Church is a large edifice.of 1803, with a steeple 118 feet high; and the Episcopalian Church has a pleasing Gothic front. The chief inn is Laing's. The Harbour comprises extensive works, constructed at a cost of upwards of £85,000; owns shipping to the amount of about 12,000 tons; and is the largest depôt of the whale-fishing trade in Bri |