Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/185

Rh BANFFSIIIRE. 175 BANFF. Ijlic libraries, a savings-bank, a branch of the Pro- .icial Bank of Ireland, an infirmary, and a fever spital. The borough returns one representative to rliament. The government of the corporation has ised, and the management of the borough is now stcd in commissioners. Its revenue is about 580, -I its population 6,218, according to the census of '31, of whom 1,553 are returned as belonging to the tablished Church, 4,294 are Roman Catholics, 264 thodists, 84 Presbyterians, and 27 of other deno- tations. Bandon is the seat of a Poor-law Union, icise and a police district. Quarter and petty sessions ndon arc the chief proprietors of the town, the latter whom has Ms seat at Castle Bernard, near Bandon. ' ie Boyle family take from this place the title of Baron , Bandon-Bridge. The market is held on Saturday.
 * d contains the union-house. It is also the head of an
 * . held here. The Duke of Devonshire and the Earl of
 * irs are held on the first "Wednesday of each month,

<. x ept May and November, on the 6th and 25th
 * .iy, on Holy Thursday, the 29th October and the 8th

vember. BANFFSHIRE (pronounced Jiamffshire), a co. in the E. part of Scotland, bounded on the N. by the Moray ith, on the E. and S.E. by the co. of Aberdeen, and the "W. by the co. of Elgin and the river Spey. It s between 57 and 57 40' N. lat, and between 35' and 3 10' "W. long. Its greatest length, from 'joup Head in the N.W. to Ben Macdhu at the head (. Glen Avon in the S.W., is nearly 70 miles. Its patest breadth is at the N., whence it gradually nar- itvs and terminates southward in a point. It has a cist-line of about 34 miles, and comprises an area of <7 square miles, or about 414,080 acres. Next the sea tc surface lies low, but gradually rises to the S., where iittains a considerable elevation. The county is gene- i ly hilly, but has a pleasing variety of scenery in the I level fertile lands highly cultivated ; in the S. lofty gmite mountains : and between these extremes hills of U-er elevation, with good pasture, and valleys of great i tility, with many rivers and streams, and noble woods. In Macdhu and Cairngorm, which are among the Itiest mountains in Great Britain, are partly within t s county. The former has an elevation of 4,362 feet II ive the sea, the latter of 4,080 feet. Near the con- f nee of the Avon with the Spey is Ben Rinnes, which ) 'S to the height of 2,750 feet, Knockhill, the Buck of I jrach, and Corryhabies are also in this county. The I vailing rocks are granite, gneiss, mica-slate, Old Red fjdstone, and limestone. The " Portsoy marble " is a I 1 of serpentine. Slate is quarried in the neighbour- ] >d of Banff and Keith. Ichthyolites have been found nr Banff. Rock crystals and topazes are abundant d Cairngorm, but they have a much lower market i ue than formerly. Hones or whetstones are ob- t icd near Balvenie, on the Fiddich. The divers of Inffshire are the Spey, the Doveran or Deveron, the A>n or Aven, and the Fiddich. The Spey has its E irces among the Grampians, and is one of the chief ~ rs of Scotland. It forms part of the western bound- of this county. The Doveran rises on the eastern b der, enters Aberdeenshire, and afterwards forms the ndary of the county, and enters the sea at Banff. 1) Avon runs down from a small lake between C rngorm and Ben Macdhu, and joins the Spey near eraven. There are several smaller streams. The .ate of this county is very variable. In the level dis- ts of the north it is tolerably dry and mild, and in the mtainous parts of the south it is severe and damp. A re extent of waste land has been of late years brought ultivation, and more will probably be reclaimed. '-1 most approved methods of farming have been intro- 1,'ind applied with good success. Oats, wheat, barley, , urnips are grown extensively. The crops in the hilly d.rict are sometimes not harvested till the beginning i -inter. Cattle, and other stock of the best kinds, are i] oduced in the lowlands and reared for exportation, the n ve breed being pastured on the hills. The farms are u illy leased for 19 years, and contain from one to two hundred acres of arable land, besides pasture. The chief town of the county is Banff, situated on the coast, at the mouth of the Doveran. The other principal towns are Cullen which like Banff is a royal burgh, Keith, Portsoy, Dufftown, Buckie, and Tomantoul. Macdiiff, a thriving seaport near Banff, is a burgh of barony. No manufactures of importance are carried on in Banffshire. There are extensive distilleries in various districts. Large quantities of salmon are taken in the Spey and the Doveran, which are mostly sent to London. The fisheries are said to be worth about 10,000 a-year. Five hundred boats are employed in the hen-ing fishery, which is pursued successfully along the coast. A brisk coasting trade is carried on at the several ports, corn and cattle being exported, and timber, iron, &c., imported. The county, which contains a population of 59,234, returns one representative to parliament, and the parliamentary burghs are con- tributory to Elgin in returning another member. The local government is entrusted to a lord-lieutenant, 39 deputy-lieutenants, a sheriff, and substitute. The county contains 19 parishes, with parts of several others, and is the seat of three presbyteries ; those of Aberlour, Fordyce, and Strathbogie. The parochial schoolmasters share with those of Aberdeenshire and the county of Elgin, the munificent endowment founded by James Dick, in 1827, who bequeathed his entire fortune, amounting to 130,000 for the benefit of the schools of those three counties, in one of which he was born, and in the others educated. Besides those of the Establishment, there are places of worship belonging to the Free Church, Episco- palians, United Presbyterians, Independents, and Roman Catholics. There are but few important remains of anti- quity in Banffshire. The most noteworthy are castles, cairns, funeral monuments of the ancient Scots and of the Northmen, and some stones erected on the site and in memorial of a hattle. Three miles from Aberlour is Balveny Castle, a stronghold of the Douglases, on the river Fiddich. It now belongs to the Earl of Fife, and gives the title of Baron to the Duke of Atholl. Other castles are at Findlater, Boharm, and Rothes. At Mortlach, under Ben Rinnes, is an ancient church, once a cathedral, a bishopric having been established there for above a century, when it was removed in 1139 to Aberdeen. The church of Gamrie was built in 1010. The principal seats are Gordon Castle, the seat of the Duke of Richmond ; Duff House, that of the Earl of Fife ; Cullen House, that of the Earl of Seafield (to these three noblemen the larger part of the county belongs) ; Letterfourie, of Sir W. Gordon, Bart. ; Birken- bog, of Sir R. Abercrombie, Bart. ; Edingight, of Sir J. Milne Innes, Bart. ; Ballindalloch, of Grant, Bart. ; Dal- pity Castle, of M. E. Duff, Esq., M.P., &e. The Great North of Scotland and Inverness and Aberdeen Junc- tion railway crosses the county, with stations at Keith, Grange, and Rothiemay. A branch lino from Grange runs to Portsoy and Banff ; another line connects Banff with the Aberdeen and Turriff railway. BANFF (pronounced liamf), a par., borough, mar- ket town and seaport, and the county town of Banff- shire, Scotland, 45 miles to the N.W. of Aberdeen, and 156 miles to the N. of Edinburgh. It is situated in a pleasant and fertile district on the sea-coast, at tie mouth of the river Doveran, and is connected by hranch railways with Aberdeen and Inverness at Turriff and Grange. It is a place of some antiquity, and was made a royal burgh, by Robert II., in 1372. Few of the an- cient houses are now remaining. The town is remarkably clean, and has several good streets. There is a town- house, with an elegant spire, which was erected in 1793, a market-house, custom-house, prison, savings-bank, and six branch banking-houses, besides Chalmers' hospital for the sick, &c., one of the handsomest buildings in Scotland ; it has only been recently finished, and has a noble endowment of .1,800 a year from land left liy a worthy citizen of Banff. The river is crossed by a stone bridge of seven arches. Banff is a bonding port and u coastguard station. Since the improvement of the harbour, more ships resort to it, but the trade is still