﻿26 
  

  

  INTEODUCTION. 
  

  

  locally 
  called 
  the 
  "Geese 
  Peel." 
  This 
  loch 
  lies 
  upon 
  the 
  

   southern 
  point 
  of 
  the 
  Hill 
  of 
  Carlincraig, 
  a 
  moor 
  of 
  many 
  

   acres' 
  extent, 
  covered 
  with 
  whin, 
  broom, 
  and 
  heath, 
  chiefly 
  

   the 
  two 
  former, 
  and 
  its 
  southern 
  side 
  is 
  within 
  our 
  watershed. 
  

   From 
  this 
  loch 
  our 
  line 
  runs 
  along 
  the 
  low 
  hills 
  that 
  form 
  

   the 
  north 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Howe 
  of 
  Pitglassie, 
  a 
  valley 
  which 
  

   runs 
  parallel 
  with 
  the 
  depression 
  along 
  which 
  the 
  river 
  

   Ythan 
  flows, 
  about 
  one 
  - 
  and 
  - 
  three 
  - 
  quarter 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  

   southward. 
  The 
  Howe 
  of 
  Pitglassie 
  being 
  under 
  the 
  

   hands 
  of 
  the 
  husbandman, 
  the 
  district 
  has 
  little 
  attraction 
  

   for 
  the 
  ornithologist. 
  Passing 
  on 
  from 
  Pitglassie, 
  the 
  Old 
  

   Yock, 
  locally 
  "Auldyock," 
  a 
  fine 
  agricultural 
  district, 
  is 
  

   reached. 
  Forty 
  years 
  ago 
  this 
  was 
  a 
  wild 
  dreary 
  waste, 
  

   with 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  a 
  moorland 
  croft 
  of 
  the 
  meanest 
  des- 
  

   cription; 
  the 
  people 
  poor 
  and 
  overworked, 
  the 
  ground 
  wet 
  

   and 
  boggy 
  ; 
  a 
  region 
  where 
  the 
  Mallard 
  and 
  Snipe 
  found 
  a 
  

   congenial 
  home, 
  and 
  where 
  the 
  cry 
  of 
  the 
  Curlew 
  and 
  Plover 
  

   could 
  be 
  heard 
  on 
  the 
  heathery 
  uplands. 
  In 
  1895 
  the 
  

   writer 
  revisited 
  this 
  place, 
  and 
  so 
  altered 
  had 
  it 
  become 
  

   since 
  his 
  early 
  recollections 
  of 
  it 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  altogether 
  

   unrecognisable. 
  Heath 
  and 
  bogs 
  had 
  given 
  place 
  to 
  

   well 
  - 
  cultivated 
  farms, 
  comfortable 
  homesteads, 
  and 
  good 
  

   roads. 
  

  

  From 
  Old 
  Yock 
  the 
  watershed 
  still 
  holds 
  to 
  the 
  west- 
  

   ward, 
  past 
  Lenshie 
  on 
  to 
  Gariochsford, 
  which 
  is 
  situated 
  

   near 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  glen 
  through 
  which 
  the 
  burn 
  of 
  that 
  

   name 
  flows. 
  One 
  branch 
  of 
  this 
  streamlet 
  has 
  its 
  rise 
  in 
  

   a 
  copious 
  spring, 
  deep 
  and 
  dark, 
  that 
  lies 
  near 
  the 
  village 
  

   or 
  "clachan" 
  of 
  Balgaveny, 
  and, 
  like 
  most 
  such 
  springs 
  

   throughout 
  Scotland, 
  has 
  its 
  legend 
  in 
  which 
  buried 
  treasure 
  

   forms 
  the 
  chief 
  feature. 
  Another 
  streamlet 
  rises 
  at 
  Den- 
  

   head, 
  and 
  the 
  two 
  join 
  near 
  Balgaveny 
  to 
  form 
  a 
  tributary 
  

   to 
  the 
  Ythan. 
  Along 
  these 
  narrow 
  glens 
  there 
  is 
  some 
  

   cultivated 
  land, 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  yet 
  much 
  in 
  its 
  natural 
  

   state, 
  and 
  from 
  its 
  nature 
  likely 
  to 
  remain 
  so. 
  There 
  is 
  

  

  