Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire, the fifth in size of the Scottish counties, has a maximum length of 85 and breadth of 47 miles, with 62 miles of sea-coast, and an area of 1971 square miles. It falls into five districts, proceeding from south-west to north-east—Mar, Strathbogie, Garioch, Formartine, and Buchan. Aberdeenshire is generally hilly, and in the south-west (Braemar) entirely mountainous, the Grampians running along the south side, and branching off to the north-east and north. The loftiest summits here are Ben Muich-Dhui (next to Ben Nevis, the highest hill in the British Isles), 4296 feet; Cairntoul, 4241; Cairngorm, 4084; Benabour, 3924; Lochnagar, 3786: whilst northward rise Bennachie, 1698; the Buck of Cabrach, 2368; and Mormond Hill, 769. The predominant rocks are granite and gneiss. The granite is very durable, and is much used for building and polishing. The chief rivers are the Dee (87 miles long), Don (82 miles), and Ythan (35 miles), which run eastward into the North Sea; and the Deveron (61 miles), which runs north-east into the North Sea. The Ythan yields the pearl-mussel, but rarely pearls of any value. Clay soils predominate near the coast, loamy soils near the centre, and poor, gravelly, sandy, and peaty soils elsewhere. The most fertile parts lie between the Don and Ythan, and in the north-east angle of the county. Nowhere in the kingdom have the natural disadvantages of soil and climate been more successfully overcome. The chief towns and villages are Aberdeen, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Huntly, Kintore, Inverurie, Turriff, Ballater, and Castleton. The county returns two members to parliament; the city of Aberdeen, two; and the burghs of Peterhead, Kintore, and Inverurie, with Elgin, Cullen, and Banff, one. About 37 per cent. of the area of Aberdeenshire is cultivated, the chief crops being oats, barley, and turnips; whilst nearly 8 per cent. is under wood. A speciality of its agriculture is the exceptionally large proportion of small holdings. Aberdeenshire produces one-seventh of the cattle reared in Scotland, and is unsurpassed in breeding and feeding stock. Its principal breed is the Polled Angus. The fisheries on the coast are very productive, and Peterhead is the East Coast centre of this industry. The munificent Dick and Milne bequests for parochial schoolmasters early gave Aberdeenshire a high place in the statistics of education. Balmoral (q.v.) is the principal mansion; and amongst the antiquities are the ruins of Kildrummie Castle and the Abbey of Deer. Pop. (1801) 121,065; (1841) 192,387; (1881) 267,990; (1891) 281,332. See A. Smith's New History of Aberdeenshire (1875), the Spalding Club books (1841-71; 1887 et seq.), and A. Watt's History of Aberdeen and Banff (1900).