Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/23

Rh ABERDEENSHIRE. 13 ABERDEENSHIRE. and Glasgow. The bull, in response, acknowledges that a third university would do no harm, as science is not diminished but increased by diffusion. The constitution of the new university was formed after that of the university of Paris, and included the faculties of theology, canon and civil law, medicine, and the liberal iirts. It was largely endowed both by the king and the bishop. The latter gave to the college twenty-lour acres of land, and at liis death, which took place in 1514, be- queathed to it 10,000 Scots. The first principal was Hector Boece, or Boethius, the historian and biographer. A new charter was granted by parliament in 1578. After tJiu Reformation the college was subjected to spoliation, and was seriously injured ; but, through the exertions of Bishop Forbes, was restored to its original condition. It was again, a sufferer in the confusions and conflicts of tlie 17th century. Part of its revenues having been nated, it received, prior to the union with Marischal College in 1858, a grant from the Crown. The college buildings stand apart from the town. They are in the form of a quadrangle, with a court in the centre. The a ivhitecture is in the pointed style. There is a chapel at the north-west corner, with a lofty square tower, surmounted by the imperial crown and a cross. From the earliest times, young men, from the most remote parts of the Highlands and Hebrides, have been in the habit of flocking to the University, every autumn, after the harvesting was over, and before steamers and coaches were known. They had to travel 011 foot, and many of them depended for their subsistence afterwords on obtaining one or other of the numerous bursaries, which vcie competed for at the opening of each winter's session. The library of the college contained from 30,000 to 40,00 A volumes. The cathedral was founded in 115-t, and entirely rebuilt in 1357 by Bishop Alexander Kinnin- mouth. It was eighty years in building, and was nearly destroyed by the fury of the mob in the time of the Reformation. The nave is now used as the parish church, and was entirely repaired in 1832. The western end is line, being flanked by two pointed steeples. The ceiling i.-i of oak, and is in forty-eight compartments, containing the armorial bearings of eminent persons, whose names are given in the Latin language, hut in the old Gothic cha- racter. The arrangement of these is in three columns, one of kings, the second of churchmen, and the third of laymen. There are also some fine monuments and tombs, but no remains of the bishop's palace. Mar's Castle is a curious object, and several streets and closes in Old A berdeeu attract attention from their ancient appearance. But perhaps the object of greatest interest and curiosity in Old Aberdeen, is the old bridge over the Don. It
 * ists of one spacious arch from rock to rock, pointed

at top like a Gothic window, and is the only one of the kind in Great Britain. The span of the arch is 72 feet, and its height 34J feet. Its ancient name was Pole/own ; its present name, Balgownie. It was erected in the days of Bruce, and, as some believe, by Bruce himself. It had, like the Brig of Dee, a small chapel with an endowment. It is a structure of great solidity and strength. A new bridge of five arches has been erected, out of a fund established by Sir Alexander Hay in the reign of James VI. for the support of the old bridge, amounting at first to 2 5s. 8d., and which had at last grown to the large sum of 200,000. This bridge is of granite, and is very handsome and conve- nient, being 500 feet in length. There are a Trades' Hospital, founded in the year 1532 by Bishop Forbes or fiish:>p Dunbar, for the support of twelve poor men, and a hospital for aged women. The town has one of Dr. Bell's schools. The market is on Thursday. A cattle fair is held on the last Thursday of April, and the "Wednesday after the third Tuesday of October, old style. ABERDEENSIIIRE, a eo. on the eastern coast of Scotland ; bounded on the N. and E. by the German Ocean ; on the S. by the principal chain of the Gram- pian Hills, which separate it from the counties of Perth, Forfar, and Kincardine ; and on the W. by the counties of Banff and Inverness. It lies between the parallels 56 52' and 57 42' N. latitude, and between 1 49' and 3 48' W. longitude. Its greatest length, which is in the direction from N."W. to S.E., is about 85 miles ; its greatest breadth, in a direction at right angles to its length, is about 40 miles. The length of its coast-line is 60 miles. The area of the county is about 1,980 square miles, which is equal to a million and a half acres. Not more than one-third of it is under cultivation ; tie re- maining two-thirds consisting of mountain or moss. It was formerly divided into five districts, the names of which were as follows : Mar, Formartin, Buchan, Ga- rioch, and Strathbogic. Mar was again subdivided into three districts, distinguished by the names, Braemar, Midmar, and Cromar. These districts have no longer any political or administrative importance. The present divisions of the county are the following : In the S.E., Aberdeen (answering to the old Cromar) ; S.W., Kincar- dine O'Neil (Mid- and Brae-mar) ; W., Alford (Mar and Strathbogie) ; middle, Garioch ; and E., Ellon (For- mal-tin) ; N., Deer (Buchan) ; N.W.,Turriff (Formartin and Buchan) ; and W., Strathbogie. In respect to size, Aberdeenshire holds the fifth rank among the counties of Scotland ; in respect to population, the third. Its coast- line is regular. From the mouth of the Dee, which separates the county in the south from Kincardineshire, to the headland named Buchan Ness, it inclines to the north-east. From Buchan Ness to Fraserburgh it has a north-western inclination. And from Fraserburgh to the mouth of the Banff stream its direction is west- ward. Buchan Ness is one of the easternmost points on the Scottish coast. A lighthouse of granite, of the un- usual height of 118 feet, has been erected on this head- land. From the Deo to the Ythan the coast lies generally low. From the Ythan, northward, it rises, and at somo points to the height of 200 feet, with great fissures in the rocks, and many caves, which in former days served the smuggler for hiding-places. The rocks along this part of the coast consist, for the most part, of lime-stone, black basalt, gneiss, mica slate, and red granite. North of Pcterhead the coast becomes less precipitous ; a range of clay hills appears, and then it becomes low and sandy, with occasional rocks. There is no important island on the coast. The county is generally hilly, and in the south- western districts, mountainous. From the western extre- mity of the Grampians, a branch is given off in a north- easterly direction, which runs between Aberdeen and Banff ; and from this, other branches spread themselves over the central parts of the county. The highest peaks in the principal chain bounding the county on the south, are Cairn Taggart, whoso elevation is 3,000 feet ; Loch- nagar, 3,815 feet ; and Mount Kean, 3,126 feet. The loftiest peaks on the western chain are Cairn Toul, 4,220 feet ; Breriach, of about the same elevation ; and Ben Macdhui, 4,390 feet. The latter is believed, from recent measurements, to be about 20 feet higher than Ben Nevis, and therefore the loftiest mountain in Great Britain. On another branch are the peaks Bennabuird, 3,940 feet ; and Morven, 2,934 feet. These mountain masses consist chiefly of granite. Their most common form is that of table-land, with precipitous sides. Only here and there is the conical form met with. In the country lying between the Don and the Dee are some rounde'd hills. Syenite is found, especially in the upper half of the valley of the Dee ; also near the coast at Peterhead, and at somo other points. The rock which prevails most in the county is mica slate. Trap rocks occur frequently in the inland parts, and some veins and dykes of trap near the coast. The principal rivers of Aberdeenshrre are the Dee, the Don, the Ythan, the Ugie, and the Dovern or Dcveron ; tho first four having a course from west to east ; the last, from south to north all falling into the German Ocean. On the Dee are several fine falls or " linns," the principal of which is the Linn of Dee, at which there are four rapids, and the river rushes through a very narrow passage between the rocks. The length of the Dee is 96 miles. It receives several tributary streams on its course ; its motion is rapid, tho bed of tho river between Aboyne and Aberdeen, a distance of 30 miles, having a fall of