In the seventeenth century, at the beginning of the Covenanting “troubles,” Aberdeenshire gained a certain notoriety as being the place where the sword was first drawn. In 1639 the Covenanters mustered at Turriff under Montrose, to the number of 800. The Royalist party under the Earl of Huntly, to the number of 2000 but poorly armed, marched to the town with the intention of preventing the Covenanters from meeting, but they were already in possession, and when Huntly’s party saw how matters stood, they passed on, the two forces surveying each other at close quarters without hostile act or word. This bloodless affair is known as the first Raid of Turriff. A few weeks later a somewhat similar encounter took place, when the Covenanters, completely surprised, fled without striking a blow. The loss on either side was trifling, still some blood was actually shed, and the Trot of Turriff, as it was called, became the first incident in a long line of mighty events. Montrose, both when he was leading on the side of the Covenant, and later when he became a Royalist leader, paid several visits to Aberdeen, which, although supporting the Royalist cause, suffered exactions from both parties. In 1644 Montrose made a forcible entry of the town, which resulted in the death of 150 Covenanters, and in the plundering of the city. Later on, after his victory over Argyll at Inverlochy, Montrose gained a success for the Royalist cause at Alford (1645). In 1650, after the execution of Charles I, his son Charles II landed at Speymouth, and on his way south to be crowned at Scone, visited Aberdeen, where he was received with every manifestation of loyalty and goodwill. The next year General Monk paid the town a visit, and left an English garrison, which remained till 1659. The Restoration was hailed with rejoicing: the Revolution with dislike. Yet at the Rebellion of 1715 scant enthusiasm was roused for the cause of the Pretender, who himself passed through the city on his way from Peterhead to Fetteresso. In the thirty years that passed before the second Jacobite Rebellion, public sentiment had grown more favourable to the reigning House. The ’45 therefore received little support in Aberdeenshire. A few of the old county families threw in their lot with the Prince, but the general body of the people were averse to taking arms. The Duke of Cumberland, on his way north to meet Prince Charlie at Culloden, remained with his army six weeks in the city; when he started on his northward march through Old Meldrum, Turriff and Banff, he left a garrison of 200 men in Robert Gordon’s Hospital, lately built but not yet opened. After Culloden small pickets of troops were stationed in the Highland districts of the county, to suppress the practice of cattle-lifting. Braemar Castle and Corgarff Castle in the upper reaches of the Dee and the Don still bear evidence of their use as garrison forts. The problem of dealing with the inhabitants of the higher glens,