Banff

Banff (pron. Bamf), a seaport and parliamentary burgh, the capital of Banffshire, on the Moray Firth, at the mouth of the Deveron, 50 miles NNW. of Aberdeen by rail; its former Low Town and Sea Town now form a continuous whole. On the right bank of the Deveron, $1\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ mile ENE., is the fishing-town of Macduff, included since 1832 in the parliamentary burgh. Scarce a fragment remains of the old castle, in which Archbishop Sharp was born; the present castle is a plain 18th-century edifice. Duff House, the seat of the Duke of Fife, was built in 1745 by the elder Adam. It has a noble collection of pictures, a fine library, and an armoury with the sword of the Gipsy freebooter, M'Pherson, who was hanged at Banff in 1701. The Prince of Wales stayed here in November 1883. The public buildings include a town-house (1796), the county buildings (1871), a lunatic asylum (1865), Chalmers' hospital (1862), and a museum, of which Thomas Edward (1814-86), the 'Scotch naturalist,' was long curator. The harbour of Banff is inferior to that of Macduff, which was greatly improved in 1877. The chief exports are corn, cattle, salmon, and herrings, and coal is the principal import. With Elgin, Cullen, Inverury, Kintore, and Peterhead, Banff sends one member to parliament. Pop. (1851) 6042; (1891) 7598-3722 in Macduff. See works by Inlach and Cramond (1893).