POCHABEKS TO SITTYTON. 115 



good grazing begins again about Rothiemay, and on to 

 Huntly, where you descend " Bogie-street/' and then 

 scale some fine breezy uplands, with heavy bullocks and 

 eternal oats and turnips all round you. Three white 

 horses came dashing down a lane with such verve 

 that they looked for the instant like Herring's Horses 

 of the Sun. As we neared the " Aught on Forty 

 Daughs" (eight-and-forty ploughs), the black-faces 

 began to dot the policies, and we marked the Castle 

 of Balwhino on the winding banks of the Ury. At 

 Kinethmount the soil is poorer ; and then we swept 

 down nearer Inverury upon the glorious grazing of the 

 Garioch district, which had just carried off the Aber* 

 deen Fat Cup. There were skeletons of fair booths 

 on Inverury Green, and children enough to make a 

 Malthus faint. Inverury has a bran new Town Hall, 

 where Mr. Grant Duff, M.P., was about to declare 

 himself at half-past seven p.m. ; and the head 

 inn at Kintore could boast of a bronze and knightly 

 sign. Fifty blue painted ploughs were awaiting their 

 autumn labours a little out of the town ; and beyond 

 the hill of Tarrybeg we caught a peep of the sea 

 once more, and the very mile-stones changed to 

 granite in honour of Bon Accord. 



This is the route if you scorn the rail, and ride to 

 catch the mail-train for the South at Aberdeen ; but 

 we were not done with the Fochabers district ; and 

 in due time we were once more at the Spey side. We 

 strolled down under a burning sun to Orbliston, 

 and found Mr. Geddes, appropriately enough, among 



