=Alford= (pa. 1464), on Donside, is the terminus of the branch railway from Kintore and the centre of a rich agricultural district called the Vale of Alford. In the neighbourhood are several interesting castles—Terpersie, Kildrummy and Craigievar. From Alford the main Donside road leads up the valley to Strathdon and Corgarff, from which there are passes both to Deeside and to Speyside. (pp. 27, 71, 113, 115, 134, 160, 162.) =Ballater= (1240), a small town beautifully situated on the north side of the river Dee, in a level space enclosed by high mountains, is 660 feet above sea-level. From Ballater coaches drive daily to Braemar, passing Balmoral Castle half-way. (pp. 2, 8, 18, 24, 27, 33, 154, 162, 164, 176.) [Illustration: Birsemore Loch and Craigendinnie, Aboyne] [Illustration: Mar Castle] =Braemar= (502), properly Castleton of Braemar, is the highest village in the county, being 1100 feet above sea-level. It stands at the junction of the Clunie and the Dee, and is finely sheltered in a hollow amongst the surrounding mountains. Braemar is a fashionable health resort. Some 10,000 strangers visit it annually. At the beginning of the nineteenth century it was not much more than a Highland clachan. Now it has [Illustration: Ballater, view from Pannanich] spacious hotels with electric light and all modern conveniences on a luxurious scale. Six miles distant is the famous Linn of Dee. The Duke of Fife’s Highland residence, Mar Lodge, as well as Mar Castle and Invercauld House, the home of the Farquharsons, are all in the vicinity. From Braemar the ascent of Ben-Macdhui is usually made, and sometimes also Loch-na-gar. A road leads from Braemar up the valley of the Clunie and over the Cairnwell to Blairgowrie. (pp. 8, 21, 22, 33, 66, 68, 75, 112, 161, 162.) =Byth= (360), usually New Byth, is a village three miles from Cuminestown, and founded in 1764. It is a bare and treeless district. Near it are the hills of Fishrie with a large number of crofts given off by the Earl of Fife in 1830 to poor people evicted from other estates at a time when the fashion began of amalgamating small holdings in larger farms. (pp. 91, 124, 163.) =Collieston= is a fishing village circling round a romantic bay near the parish church of Slains. Here in 1588 one of the ships of the Spanish Armada (_Santa Catherina_) was wrecked. The fishermen still call the creek St Catherine’s Dub. Several small cannon have been recovered from the pool. Eighty years ago, Collieston enjoyed a certain notoriety for smuggling, and the graveyard of Slains close by contains evidence of the deeds of violence that the contraband trade brought about. (pp. 38, 48, 54.) =Culter=, eight miles west of Aberdeen, celebrated for its paper-mills, which date back to 1750. This paper-mill, the first of its kind in the north, manufactured superfine paper and in particular the bank-notes of the Aberdeen Bank. (p. 89.)