Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

KINCARDINESHIRE.
147
area of the Howe district is about 50 miles, or 32,000
acres.
The Coast -side district is subdivided. From
Stonehaven southwards to the North Esk it ex-
tends about 18 or 20 miles in length, by 4 to 5 in
breadth, flanked, on the west, by numerous hills not
exceeding 500 feet in height, some of which, gener-
ally the most barren, cross this part of the district,
and terminate close to the sea, particularly between
Stonehaven and Bervie. The shore is bold and
rocky, rising, in general, from 100 to 300 feet in
height, and presenting a perpendicular face of rock,
whence the country expands inland into plain and
highly cultivated fields, laid out in all directions,
according as the rivulets or deep ravines bend their
course to the ocean from the conterminous hills.
The most conspicuous range of rocks on this part of
the coast is Fowlsheugh, noted as a rendezvous,
during summer, of innumerable flocks of sea-fowl of
various kinds. In the face of this rock are several
caverns with natural arches, galleries, &c. of great
extent and magnificence. Notwithstanding the vici-
nity of the ocean, this part of the county is adorned
with some thriving plantations ; and almost close to
the shore itself there are trees of considerable mag-
nitude, particularly at Brotherton, where a finely-
terraced old garden, although within reach of the
sea-spray, is remarked as being one of the most lux-
uriant in this part of country. The road from Mon-
trose to Aberdeen runs through this division. From
Stonehaven northward to the Dee the shore is also
bold and rocky, but the face of the country is gen-
erally of a very inferior description. The general
aspect of a great part of this tract is the most wretch-
ed and uninviting that can well be conceived. In
the vicinity of Stonehaven, and at Aberdeen, how-
ever, and in some other parts, the lands display a
totally different appearance, — strenuous and extra-
ordinary exertions have been made for the improve-
ment even of its most barren and unpromising locali-
ties. The square area of this northern division of
the Coast-side district is about 45 miles, or 28,800
acres ; that of the southern, 85 miles, or 54,400
acres.
Besides the Dee and the North Esk [which see],
although they can scarcely, with propriety, be said
to belong to this county, no streams meriting the name
of rivers have their course through Kincardineshire.
The principal streams falling into the German ocean
are the Cowie and the Carron, rising in the parish
of Glenbervie, and flowing through Fetteresso to
Stonehaven; and the Bervie, rising in Fordoun, and
flowing between that parish and those of Glenbervie
and Arbuthnot, intersecting the latter in its course
to Bervie. Those falling into the Dee are the
Sheeocb, intersecting Durris parish, and the Aven,
which rises near Mount Battock, and skirts the north-
western boundary to near its junction, in the parish
of Strachan, with the Dye, also from the Grampians
near Battock. Crossing the northern corner of Stra-
chan, the Aven enters the Dee in the parish of Ban-
chory- Ternan. The only considerable stream falling
into the North Esk, within this county, is the Luther,
which rises among the Grampians, in the parish of
Fordoun, by two principal sources, surrounding
Strathfinella-bill :. uniting in the parish of Lau-
rencekirk, the Luther falls into the Esk near Bal-
linaqueen. These streams, though of inconsiderable
magnitude, abound with trout and par ; and their
banks and overhanging trees, with knolls and braes
adjoining, are, in many places, highly picturesque
and beautiful. No less so are many of the numerous
of old date; and tliere is another still more directly Hatterin"
to the men of the Meurns : ' I can dae fat 1 dovv [can] r the men
o-tlie.Mearua eau dee nae mair.'
other smaller streams and mountain-rivulets which
polish, soften, and enliven the stern and rugged fea-
tures of the alpine solitudes down which they flow
or trickle ; almost of themselves, when swollen or
full, dispelling all their solitude and gloom. The
Loch-of-Leys is the largest lake in the county, being
about 2 miles in circumference, and well-stored with
pike. The ruins of an ancient edifice are here sup-
ported by piles of oak on an artificial island. There
is no other lake of any magnitude. Besides the val-
uable salmon-fisheries contained in some of the larger
streams of this county, there are herring, cod, and
other fisheries on the coast. The cod and ling fish-
eries commence in October and close in July ; and
the haddock, skate, and turbot fisheries — which are
carried on with great activity — begin about the 1st
of May, and end about the middle of July. The
herring-fishery is said to have declined in conse-
quence of the fish having deserted this part of the
coast.
The mineral treasures of the county are of no great
value. Over the whole Grampian district granite is
the most prevalent stone. The hill of Strathfinella,
however — separated, as already noticed, from the
Grampian range — is one entire mass of sandstone,
perfectly isolated. Sandstone is the chief quarry in
the Howe district. Blocks or boulders of granite,
both of a whitish colour like the granite of Aber-
deen, and of a reddish colour like that of Peterhead,
are scattered over all the country round the Gram-
pians, having probably been detached and transport-
ed through the instrumentality of such enormous gla-
ciers as those alluded to under the article Glenroy,
the ancient existence and effects of which have re-
cently been traced in this and many other districts
throughout Scotland. Part of the granite exported
from Aberdeen is taken from the hill of Nigg in this
county. Besides granite and sandstone, the other
prevailing rocks, especially along the coasts, are
basalt, whinstone, and pluinpudding-stone. Lime-
stone is found at Mathers on the Coast-side, whence
considerable quantities are taken for manure and
building purposes ; it is also found in various other
places, as at Tilly whilly, in the Dee-side district, and
near Fettercairn, and at Laurencekirk, in the Howe
of Mearns ; but as no coal has yet been discovered,
it is principally on the coast, where that important
mineral can be more easily obtained, that limekilns
are wrought to any considerable extent. At Stone-
haven, and at Laurieston, in the Coast-side district,
quarries of sandstone afford excellent and durable
materials for building. At Whistleberry, in Kinneff
parish, millstones of excellent quality are made from
the pudding-rock found on the coast. Native iron
has been found in a field at Balnakettle, and indica-
tions of iron-ore are met with elsewhere throughout
the county. In the vicinity of Cowie pipe-clay is
dug for household purposes. Jaspers, porphyry, and
specimens of asbestos, have been found in different
parts ; pebbles of great variety and beauty of colour,
and some value, are procured in every brook, par-
ticularly in Arbuthnot and St. Cyrus ; and the
Scottish topaz, or Cairngorm, is sometimes found
amongst the Grampian streams. Zeolite is found,
and some of the caverns on the coast near Stone-
house abound with stalactites.
The soils are very various. The Grampian dis-
trict may, in general, be said to be as devoid of soil
as of vegetation ; but there are considerable excep-
tions, particularly along the base and lower altitudes
of the exterior hills and slopes on the Mearns-side,
where a deep rich loam is frequently found. The
soil in the Dee-side district, south of the Dee, as in
Durris and Maryculter, is, in many parts, stony and
thin, on a rocky substratum ; there is also, however,