Braemar from Craig Coynach 186 The Doorway, Huntly Castle 188 The Bass, Inverurie 189 The White Horse on Mormond Hill 193 Diagrams 195 MAPS Orographical Map of Aberdeenshire _Front Cover_ Geological Map of Aberdeenshire _Back Cover_ Rainfall Map of Scotland 65 The illustrations on pp. 3, 12, 62, 63 are from photographs by W. Norrie; those on pp. 5, 9, 14, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 48, 53, 56, 58, 60, 61, 67, 86, 93, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 103, 120, 127, 128, 129, 130, 133, 140, 141, 144, 146, 147, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 155, 157, 158, 159, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 188 and 189, are from photographs by J. Valentine and Sons; that on p. 7 from a photograph by J. Watt; that on p. 47 from a photograph by Dr W. Brown; that on p. 84 from a photograph by A. Gordon; that on p. 193 from a photograph by A. Gray. Thanks are due to W. Duthie, Esq., Collynie, for permission to reproduce the illustration on p. 82; to J. M^{c}G. Petrie, Esq., Glen-Logie, for permission to reproduce that on p. 81; to Messrs T. and R. Annan and Sons, for permission to reproduce that on p. 175; to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland for permission to reproduce those on pp. 113 and 118; and to Alexander Walker, Jr., Esq., Aberdeen, for permission to reproduce that on p. 179. 1. County and Shire. The Origin of Aberdeenshire. The term “shire,” which means a division (Anglo-Saxon _sciran_: to cut or divide), has in Scotland practically the same meaning as “county.” In most cases the two names are interchangeable. Yet we do not say Orkneyshire nor Kirkcudbrightshire. Kirkcudbright is a stewartry and not a county, but in regard to the others we call them with equal readiness shires or counties. County means originally the district ruled by a Count, the Norman equivalent of Earl. It is said that Aberdeenshire is the result of a combination of two counties, Buchan and Mar, representing the territory under the rule of the Earl of Buchan and the Earl of Mar. The distinction is in effect what we mean to-day by East Aberdeenshire and West Aberdeenshire; and the local students of Aberdeen University when voting for their Lord Rector by “nations” are still classified as belonging to either the Buchan nation or the Mar nation according to their place of birth.