THE COUNTIES OF FOKFAE AND KINCAIIDINE. 57 



•earlier days, considered impregnable, it was stormed in 1297 by 

 Wallace, who is said to have driven the English garrison over 

 the cliffs. It was a place of considerable importance down to 

 the seventeenth centurv, when it was used for several months as 

 a prison for 167 Covenanters, male and female. The Earls of 

 Marischall, the founders of Marischall College, Aberdeen, resided 

 here. In 1650 Charles II. visited Dunnottar, bringing the 

 Scottish regalia with him for safety. It is stated that Mrs 

 Grainger of Kinneff secretly removed the regalia to the parish 

 church of Kinneff, and thus prevented their falling into the 

 hands of the English, when, in 1652, the garrison of Dunnottar, 

 under Ogilvy of Barras, surrendered to Cromwell's forces. The 

 ruins are in a wonderfully good state of preservation. 



Bervie is the onlv royal burc^h in the countv. Situated about 

 10 miles south-west of Stonehaven, at the mouth of the Bervie 

 Water, it has a population of 1013. The first linen yarn mill 

 in Scotland was erected here in 1790. Flax spinning and 

 weaving are its staple manufactures. Hallgreen Castle, an impor- 

 tant stronghold of the sixteenth century, stands on an eminence 

 within the burgh. In the year 1800 some vessels were chased 

 to the shore by a French sloop-of-war, which, however, is said to 

 have " taken fright and sailed away on seeing the muster of the 

 volunteers " ! Gourdon, a thriving fishing village with a popu- 

 lation of 714, is the port of Bervie. 



Laurencekirk, the chief town of the Howe, with a population 

 of 1521, lies 10 miles north of Montrose. It may be said to 

 owe its very existence to a gentleman of the eighteenth century 

 — Francis Garden, a Judge of the Court of Session, under the 

 title of Lord Gardenstone, who raised it from a clay-built 

 hamlet with 54 inhabitants to a substantially built burgh of 

 barony. He erected a town liall, an inn, an Episcopal chapel, a 

 library and museum ; while he also set up a spinning mill witli 

 a bleachfield on the Luther, a tributary of the North Esk, and 

 introduced linen manufactures. Johnshaven, with a population 

 of 1077, is an irregularly built fishing village about 9 miles 

 north-east of ]\Tontrose. Its harbour is small, capable of ad- 

 mitting only boats and small coasting vessels. One of tlie most 

 charmingly situated villages in the north of Scotland is Ban- 

 chory, on the north bank of the river Dee, about 18 miles west 

 of Aberdeen. In 1871 it had a population of 865 ; but being a 

 favourite summer resort, it lias increased considerably since then. 

 In the parish of Nigg, and directly n])})osite Aberdeen, is the 

 im})ortant fishing village of Torry. It has a population of 686, 

 chiefly engaged in fishing. About 5 miles along tlie coast lies 

 the village of cove, with a population of 450. it is a coastguard 

 station, and has a small natural harbour. Tlie other mon* im- 

 portant villages are St Cyrus, Aucliinblne, and Fettercairn, the 



