Part 3

Moraines of rough gravel—the wreckage of dwindling glaciers—are found in various parts of the Dee valley. The soil of Deeside has little intermixture 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 _detritus_ that accumulates from the decomposition of exposed rocks. The stones, which are really crystals, are much prized for jewellery, and are of various colours, pale yellow (citrine), brown or smoky, and black and almost opaque. When well cut and set in silver, either as brooches or as an adornment to the handles of dirks, they have a brilliant effect. Time was when they were systematically dug and searched for, and certain persons made a living by their finds on the hill-sides; but now they are more rare and come upon only by accident.

7. Natural History.

As we have seen in dealing with the glacial movements, Britain was at one time part of the continent and there was no North Sea. At the best it is a shallow sea, and a very trifling elevation of its floor would re-connect Scotland with Europe. It follows that our country was inhabited by the same kind of animals as inhabited Western Europe. Many 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 cross over and occupy the ground; if the connection had not been severed, there would have been no difference between our fauna and the animals of Northern France and Belgium. But the land sank, and the North Sea filled up the hollow, 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. While Germany has nearly ninety species of land animals, Great Britain has barely forty. All the mammals, reptiles 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.

With every variety of situation, from exposed sea-board to sheltered valley and lofty mountain, the flora of Aberdeenshire shows a pleasing and interesting variety. The plants of the sea-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 mountain heights. It is impossible here to do more than indicate one or two of the leading features. The sandy tracts north of the Ythan mouth have characteristic plants, wild rue, sea-thrift, rock-rose, grass of Parnassus, catch-fly (_Silene maritima_). The waysides are brilliant with blue-bells, speedwell, thistles, yarrow and violas. The peat-mosses show patches of louse-wort, sundew, St John’s wort, cotton-grass, butterwort and ragged robin. The pine-woods display an undergrowth of blae-berries, galliums, winter-green, veronicas and geraniums. The _Linnaea borealis_ is exceedingly rare, but has a few localities known to enterprising botanists. The whin and the broom in May and June add conspicuous colouring to the landscape while a different tint of yellow shines in the oat-fields, which are throughout the county more or less crowded with wild mustard or charlock. The granitic hills are all mantled with heather (common ling, _Calluna erica_) up to 3000 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 2000 feet and flowers much earlier. Through the heather trails the stag-moss, and the pyrola and the genista thrust their blossoms above the sea of purple. The cranberry, the crow-berry and the whortle-berry, and more rarely the cloudberry or Avron (_Rubus chamaemorus_) are found on all the Cairngorms. The Alpine rock-cress is there also, as well as the mountain violet (_Viola lutea_), 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 speedwell, the trailing azalea, the dwarf cornel (_Cornus suecica_), and many other varieties are to be found by those who care to look for them.

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 as if shorn with a mighty scythe, so decisive is the slope of their branches away from the direction of the cold blasts. Their growth too in thickness of bole is painfully slow, even a period of twenty years making no appreciable addition to the circumference of the stem. Convincing 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 fir-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 smaller black rat, is very common and proves destructive to farm crops—a result partially due to the eradication of birds of prey, as well as of stoats and weasels, by gamekeepers in the interest of game. The prolific rabbit is in certain districts far too numerous and plays havoc with the farmer’s turnips and other growing crops. Brown hares are fairly plentiful but less numerous than they were in the days of their protection. Every farmer has 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

[Illustration: Deer in time of snow]

are shot on the hills. The mole is in evidence everywhere up to the 1500 feet level, by the mole-heaps he leaves in every field, and the mole-catcher is a familiar character in most parishes. The squirrel has worked his way north during the last sixty years, and is now to be found in every fir-wood. The graceful roedeer is also a denizen of the pine-woods, whence he makes forays on the oat-fields. The red-deer is abundant on the higher and more remote hills, and deer-stalking is perhaps the most exciting 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.

[Illustration: The Dunbuy Rock]

The birds are numerous and full of interest. The coast is frequented by vast flocks of sea-gulls, guillemots, and cormorants, while the estuary of the Ythan has many visitants such as the ringed plover, the eider-duck, the shelduck, the oyster-catcher, redshank, and tern. On the north bank of this river the triangular area of sand-dunes between Newburgh and Collieston is a favourite nesting-place for eider-duck and terns. The nests of the eider-duck, with their five 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 the open sand, but so numerous are they that it is almost impossible for a pedestrian to avoid treading upon them. Puffins or sea-parrots are conspicuous amongst the many sea-birds that frequent Dunbuy Rock. This island rock, half-way up the eastern coast, is a typical sea-bird haunt, where gulls, puffins, razorbills and guillemots are 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 near Kintore. A vast number of migratory birds strike the shores of Aberdeenshire every year in their westward flight. The waxwing, the hoopoe, and the ruff are occasional 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 higher hills, such as Loch-na-gar, have ptarmigan, while the wooded areas bordering on the highland line are frequented by black-cock and capercailzie. These last are a re-introduction of recent years and seem to be multiplying; but, like the squirrel, they are destructive to the growing shoots of the 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 probably due to the demand for their eggs as a table delicacy. After the first of April it is illegal to take the eggs, and this partial protection serves to maintain the stock 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 solitudes of the mountains and may occasionally be seen, soaring high in the vicinity of his 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 caught in each, although the Dee is pre-eminently the most productive. The salmon fisheries round the coast and at the mouth of the rivers are a source of considerable revenue. The fish are caught by three species of net, bag-nets (floating nets) and stake-nets (fixed) 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 inland as Banchory-Ternan (19 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 for successful angling. The Dee has, in this way, been 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 species and without variety. It is only in certain warm autumns that the red admiral puts in an appearance. The cabbage-white, the tortoise-shell, and an occasional meadow-brown and fritillary are the prevailing species.

The waters of the Ythan, the Ugie, and the Don are frequented by fresh-water mussels which produce pearls. These grow best on a pebbly bottom not too deep and are 3 to 7 inches long and 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 broad. The internal surface is bluish or with a shade of pink. The search for these mussels in order to secure the pearls they may and do sometimes contain was once a recognised industry. To-day it is spasmodic and mostly in the hands of vagrants. Many beds are destroyed before the mussels are mature and this lessens the chances of success. The pearl-fisher usually wades in the river, making observation of the bottom by means of a floating glass which removes the disturbing effect 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, 150 making a good day’s work. He opens them at leisure and finds that the great majority of his pile are without pearls. If he be lucky enough, however, to come upon a batch of mature shells he may find a pearl worth £20. As a rule the price is not above ten or twenty shillings. Much depends on the size and the colouring. The most valuable are those of a pinkish hue.

8. Round the Coast.

The harbour-mouth, which is also the mouth of the Dee, is the beginning of the county on the sea-board. It is protected by two breakwaters, north and south, which shelter the entrance channel from the fury of easterly and north-easterly gales. To the south, in Kincardineshire, is the Girdleness lighthouse, 185 feet high, flashing a light every twenty seconds with a range of visibility stated at 19 miles. To the north of the harbour entrance are the links and the bathing station. The latter was erected in 1895 and has since been extended, every effort being made to add to the attractiveness of the beach as a recreation ground. A promenade, which will ultimately extend to Donmouth, is in great part complete; and all the other usual concomitants of a watering-place have been introduced with promising success so far, and likely to be greater in the near future.

From Donmouth 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 in variety. In the sandy mounds in the vicinity of the Ythan have been found many flint chippings and amongst them leaf-shaped flint arrow-heads, chisels and cores, as well as the water-worn stones on which these implements were fashioned. These records of primitive man as he was in the later Stone Age are conspicuous here, and are

[Illustration: Girdleness Lighthouse]

to be seen in other parts of the county. In the rabbit burrows, which are abundant in the dunes, the stock-dove rears her young. In 1888 a migratory flock of sand-grouse took possession of the dunes, and remained for one season.

Beyond the Ythan are the Forvie sands—a region of hummocks under which 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-dunes and blew it onward in clouds till the whole parish, including several valuable farms, was entirely submerged. The scanty ruins of the old church of Forvie is the only trace left of this sand-smothered hamlet.

Not far from the site of the Forvie church is a beautiful semi-lunar bay called Hackley Bay, where for the first time since Aberdeen was left behind, rocks appear, hornblende, slate, and gneiss. At Collieston, a village consisting of a medley of irregularly located cottages scrambling up the cliff sides, a thriving industry used to be practised, the making of Collieston “speldings.” These were small whitings, split, salted and dried on the rocks. Thirty 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 Dub, a deep pool between rocks, on which one of the ships of the Spanish Armada was wrecked in 1588. Two of the St Catherine’s cannon very much corroded have been brought up from the sea-floor. One of them is still to be seen at Haddo House, the seat of the Earl of Aberdeen.

Northward we come upon a region of steep grassy braes, consisting of soft, loamy clay, 20 to 40 feet deep, and covered with luxuriant grasses in summer and ablaze with golden cowslips in the spring months. Along the coast are several villages which once populous with busy and hardy fishermen are now all but tenantless. Such are Slains and Whinnyfold crushed out of activity by the rise of the trawling industry. The next place of note is Cruden Bay Hotel built by the Great North of Scotland Railway Company, and intended to minister specially to the devotees of golf, for which the coast links are here eminently suitable. The fine granite building facing the sea is a conspicuous landmark. Just north of the Hotel is the thriving little town of Port Errol, through which runs the Cruden burn—a stream where sea-trout are plentifully caught at certain seasons. The next prominent object is Slains castle—the family seat of the Earls of Errol. It stands high and windy, presenting a bold front to the North Sea breezes. All its windows on the sea-face are duplicate, a necessary precaution in view of the fierceness of the easterly gales. Very few plants grow in this exposed locality, and these only in the hollow and sheltered ground behind the castle, where some stunted trees and a few garden flowers struggle along in a precarious existence. As we proceed, the rocky coast rises higher and bolder and presents variable forms of great beauty. Beetling crags enclose circular bays with perpendicular walls on which the kittiwake, the guillemot, the jackdaw and the starling breed by the thousand. The rock of Dunbuy, a huge mass of granite, surrounded by the sea, and forming a grand rugged arch, is a summer haunt of sea-birds and rock-pigeons.

[Illustration: Sand Hills at Cruden Bay]

After this, we reach the picturesque and much visited Bullers of Buchan—a wide semi-circular sea cauldron, the sides of which are perpendicular cliffs. The pool has no entry except from the seaward side, and it is only in calm weather that a boat is safe to pass through the low, open archway in the cliff. In rough weather, the waves rush through the narrow archway with terrific force, sending clouds of spray far beyond the height of the cliffs. Under 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, right at the other end of the county. Beyond the Bullers, the coast consists of high granite rocks, behind which are windswept moors. Near Boddam is Sterling Hill quarry, the source of the red-hued Peterhead granite. Here too is Buchan Ness, the most easterly point on the Scottish coast, and a fitting place for a prominent lighthouse. The lantern of the circular tower (erected in 1827) stands 130 feet above high-water mark and flashes a white light once every five seconds. The light is visible at a distance of 16 nautical miles.

[Illustration: “The Pot,” Bullers o’ Buchan]

At Peterhead, which is a prosperous fishing centre and the eastern terminus of the bifurcate Buchan line of railway, is a great convict prison, occupying an extensive range of buildings on the south side of the Peterhead bay. The convicts are employed in building a harbour of refuge, which is being erected under the superintendence of the Admiralty at a cost of a million of money. The coast onwards to the Ugie mouth is still rocky, but from the river to Rattray Head, the rocks give place to sand-dunes similar in character to those further south. Alongside of the dunes is a raised sea beach. They form the links of St Fergus. Rattray Head is a rather low reef of rock running far out to sea and highly suitable as a lighthouse station. In the course of twelve years, the reef was responsible for 24 shipwrecks. The lighthouse erected in 1895 is 120 feet high and the light gives three flashes in quick succession every 30 seconds. It is visible 18 miles out to sea. Beyond this point is a region of bleak and desolate sands. Not a tree nor a shrub is to be seen. The inland parts are under cultivation, but the general aspect of the country is dismal and dreary, and the very hedgerows far from the sea-board lean landwards as if cowering from the scourges of the north wind’s whip. The country is undulatory without any conspicuous hill. Beyond Rattray Head is the Loch of Strathbeg already referred to. The tradition goes that the same gale as blighted Forvie silted up this loch and contracted its connection with the sea. On the left safely sheltered from the sea-breezes are Crimonmogate, Cairness and Philorth—all mansion-houses surrounded by wooded grounds. At the sea-edge stand St Combs (an echo of St Columba), Cairnbulg and Inverallochy. Here occurs another raised sea beach. Our course from Rattray Head has been north-west and thus we reach the last important town on the coast—Fraserburgh.

[Illustration: Buchan Ness Lighthouse]

[Illustration: Kinnaird Lighthouse, Fraserburgh]

Fraserburgh lies to the west of its bay. Founded by one of the Frasers of Philorth (now represented by Lord Saltoun), it is like Peterhead a thriving town. Like Peterhead too, it is the terminus of one fork of the Buchan Railway and a busy fishing centre. In the month of July, which is the height of the herring season, “the Broch,” as it is called locally, is astir with life from early morn.

[Illustration: Entrance to Lord Pitsligo’s Cave, Rosehearty]

More herrings are handled at Fraserburgh than anywhere else on this coast, from Eyemouth to Wick. Between Fraserburgh and Broadsea is Kinnaird’s Head. Here we have another lighthouse which has served that purpose for more than a century, an old castle having been converted to this use in 1787. It was one of the first three lighthouses in Scotland. Kinnaird’s Head is believed to be the promontory of the Taixali mentioned by the Alexandrian geographer Ptolemy as being at the entrance of the Moray Firth. Here the rocks are of moderate height but further west they fall to sea-level and continue so past Sandhaven and Pittullie to Rosehearty. A low rocky coast carries us to Aberdour bay, where beds of Old Red Sandstone and conglomerate rise to an altitude of 300 feet.

[Illustration: Aberdour Shore, looking N.W.]

The conglomerate extends to the Red Head of Pennan—once a quarry for mill-stones—where an attractive and picturesque little village nestles at the base of the cliff. The peregrine falcon breeds on the rocky fastnesses of these lofty cliffs, which continue to grow in height and grandeur till they reach their maximum (400 feet) at Troup Head. Troup Head makes a bold beginning for the county of Banff.

9. Weather and Climate. Temperature. Rainfall. Winds.

The climate of a county depends on a good many things, its latitude, its height above sea-level, its proximity to the sea, the prevailing winds, and especially as regards Scotland whether it is situated on the east coast or on the west. The latitude of Great Britain 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 Atlantic 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° 40’), Aberdeenshire enjoys a comparatively moderate climate. It is neither very rigorous in winter nor very warm in

[Illustration: Rainfall Map of Scotland. (After Dr H. R. Mill)]