136 THE COUNTY OF BANFF. CHAP. vm. 



The county generally is under cultivation of the 

 highest order. The valleys are intersected with rich 

 meadows and pasture-lands, which are stocked with 

 cattle of the choicest breeds. There are numerous 

 woods and plantations, both luxuriant and verdant, 

 though there is a great want of hedges. Agriculture 



MAP OF BANFFSHIRE 



is gradually extending upwards towards the moun- 

 tains. Moors and morasses are fast disappearing. 

 In places where the wail of the Plover, the birr of 

 the Moorcock, and the scream of the Merlin, were 

 the only sounds, the mellow voice of the Lark, the 

 Mavis, and the Blackbird, are now to be heard in the 

 fields and the woods throughout the country. 



In the extreme south-western district lies the 



