=Cuminestown= (466), a village on the north side of the Waggle Hill in Monquhitter, was established by Joseph Cumine of Auchry in 1763. Joseph Cumine was a pioneer in agricultural improvement. He planted trees and started the manufacture of linen. About a mile distant is the smaller village of Garmond. The villages were once much more populous in the days when the spinning of flax and the knitting of stockings were rural industries. (p. 40.) [Illustration: Braemar from Craig Coynach] =Ellon= (1307), a thriving town on the Ythan, is the junction for the Cruden and Boddam Railway. It has a shoe factory and large auction marts for the sale of cattle. The Episcopal Church—St Mary’s on the Rock—was designed by George Edmund Street and is a handsome building in Early English style. A prominent divine in the pre-Disruption controversies, Dr James Robertson, was parish minister of Ellon from 1832 to 1843. Later he became a professor in Edinburgh University. Ellon is a place of great antiquity. It was the seat of jurisdiction of the Earldom of Buchan, and there the earls held their Head Court. (pp. 29, 41, 163, 164, 171.) =Fraserburgh= (10,570) is the third largest town in the county. It is a busy, thriving place, being the great centre of the herring fishing industry in Scotland. It was founded by Sir Alexander Fraser, one of the Frasers of Philorth (now represented by Lord Saltoun). The Frasers are said to have come into England with the Normans. A royal charter was granted in 1546 erecting “Faithlie” as it was then called into a free burgh of barony with all the privileges. Sir Alexander Fraser was a great favourite with James VI and was knighted at the baptism of Prince Henry, 1594: he was a man of enterprise; he built the town and the harbour and erected public buildings. He received from King James the privilege of founding a University in Fraserburgh, and a building was set apart for this institution. Not only so but a Principal was appointed in 1600. The College may have been active for a few years, but very little is known of its history. During the plague which raged for two years at Aberdeen, the students of King’s College went for safety to Fraserburgh in 1647 and, it is supposed, occupied the old College buildings. A street in the town is still called “College Bounds.” (pp. 8, 38, 59, 61, 76, 94, 95, 101, 102, 163, 164, 169.) [Illustration: The Doorway, Huntly Castle] [Illustration: The Bass, Inverurie]