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)]
summer. Of course in a large county a distinction must be drawn between
the coast temperature and that of the high lying districts such as
Braemar. The fringe round the coast is in the summer less warm than the
inland parts, a result due to the coolness of the enclosing sea, but in
the winter this state of affairs is reversed and the uplands are held
in the grip of a hard frost while the coast-side has little or none.
The mean temperature of Scotland is 47°, while Aberdeen has 46°·4 and
Peterhead 46°·8. That of Braemar, the most westerly station in the
county, though in reality very little lower, is arrived at by entirely
different figures; the temperature being much higher during July,
August and September, but lower in December, January and February.
Braemar is 1114 feet above sea-level and since there is a regular and
uniform decline in temperature to the extent of 1° for every 270 feet
above the sea, the temperature of this hill-station should be low. As
a matter of fact, from June to September it is only 9° and in October
7°·5 below that of London. Yet its maximum is 10° higher than is
recorded at Aberdeen, only in winter its minimum is 20° lower than the
minimum of the coast.
Braemar and Peterhead as lying at the two extremes of the county
may be compared. Peterhead receives the uninterrupted sweep of the
easterly breezes, for it has no shelter or protection either of forests
or mountains. The impression a visitor takes is that Peterhead is
an exceptionally cold place. As a fact, its mean winter temperature
is above the average for Scotland, but the lack of shelter and the
constant motion of the air give an impression of coldness. In the
summer and autumn its mean falls below that of Scotland. It is
therefore less cold in the cold months and less warm in the warm months
than Braemar and has a seasonal variation of only 16°·3 between winter
and summer, whereas Edinburgh has a range of 21° and London of 26°.
[Illustration: Inverey near Braemar]