=Peterhead= (13,560), the most easterly town in Scotland, is built of
red granite. A century ago it was a fashionable watering-place, and
used to be a whaling station. Now its chief industry is the herring
fishing. South of the town a harbour of refuge is being constructed by
convict labour, from the convict prison close by. The harbour of refuge
will cost, it is said, a million of money and its construction will
occupy 25 to 30 years. A linen factory once existed here, as also a
woollen factory, which exported cloth to the value of £12,000 a year.
Both became extinct, but the woollen industry was revived and still
prospers. Another prominent industry is granite polishing. At Inverugie
Castle was born Field-Marshal James Keith, whose statue stands in front
of the Town-House. The “Pretender” landed at Peterhead on Christmas
Day, 1715. Peterhead was erected into a burgh of barony in 1593 by Earl
Marischal, the founder of Marischal College, Aberdeen. It continued
to be part of the Earl’s estates till the rebellion of 1715, when the
lands were confiscated. The Peterhead portion is now the property of
the Merchant Maiden Hospital of Edinburgh. (pp. 8, 29, 38, 39, 41, 57,
66, 68, 76, 83, 94, 95, 101, 102, 111, 163, 164, 169, 171.)
=Rosehearty= (1308) is a misspelt Gaelic name of which _Ros_, a
promontory, and _ard_, a height, are undoubted elements. The little
town stands on the shore a mile north of Pitsligo[1]. There is a
tradition that in the fourteenth century a party of Danes landed and
took up residence here, instructing the inhabitants, who were mostly
crofters, in the art of fishing. (pp. 62, 162.)
[Illustration: The White Horse on Mormond Hill]
[Footnote 1: Alexander Forbes, fourth and last Lord Pitsligo
(1678-1762) was a warm supporter of the exiled Stuarts and took part in
both rebellions. After Culloden, he remained in hiding, his chief place
of concealment being a cave in the rocks west of Rosehearty.]
M. A.
=Strichen= (1094) was formerly called Mormond, from the hill at the
base of which the village stands. This hill owing to the comparatively
level character of the surrounding country is a conspicuous feature
in the landscape for miles. On the south-western side, the figure of
a horse is cut out in the turf, the space being filled up with white
stones. This “White Horse” occupies half an acre of ground and is
visible at a great distance. On the south side of the hill an antlered
stag on a larger scale is figured in the same manner. This was done so
late as 1870. (pp. 11, 16, 38, 91, 158.)
=Torphins= (455), a rising village on Deeside, much resorted to by
Aberdonians in the summer months. (p. 106.)
=Turriff= (2346) is situated on a table-land on the north of the burn
of Turriff near its junction with the Deveron. Turriff is midway
between Aberdeen and Elgin; hence the couplet—
Choose ye, choise ye, at the Cross o’ Turra
Either gang to Aberdeen or Elgin o’ Moray.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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