﻿16 
  

  

  INTKODUCTION. 
  

  

  stretching 
  to 
  the 
  north-east, 
  lie 
  the 
  wooded 
  hills 
  of 
  Kincorth 
  

   and 
  Tullos, 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  westward 
  the 
  wooded 
  Den 
  of 
  Leggart 
  

   and 
  the 
  fine 
  woods 
  of 
  Banchory, 
  which 
  reach 
  the 
  south 
  

   bank 
  of 
  the 
  Dee. 
  Repellent 
  as 
  the 
  region 
  over 
  which 
  we 
  

   have 
  passed 
  even 
  now 
  is, 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  garden 
  in 
  comparison 
  

   with 
  what 
  it 
  was 
  in 
  times 
  not 
  yet 
  long 
  past, 
  as 
  may 
  

   be 
  seen 
  from 
  the 
  following 
  extracts. 
  Franck, 
  in 
  his 
  

   Northern 
  Memoirs, 
  1656, 
  speaking 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  between 
  

   Aberdeen 
  and 
  Stonehaven, 
  says: 
  "But 
  what 
  have 
  we 
  here? 
  

   Cawses 
  uncartable, 
  and 
  pavements 
  unpracticable, 
  pointed 
  

   with 
  rocky 
  stumpy 
  stones, 
  and 
  dawb'd 
  all 
  over 
  with 
  dingy 
  

   dirt, 
  that 
  makes 
  it 
  unpassible 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  fields, 
  as 
  I 
  con- 
  

   ceive, 
  are 
  ten 
  times 
  worse, 
  because 
  o'erspread 
  with 
  miry 
  

   clay, 
  and 
  incumbred 
  with 
  bogs 
  that 
  will 
  bury 
  a 
  horse." 
  

   George 
  Colman, 
  in 
  his 
  Random 
  Records, 
  1781, 
  remarks: 
  

   "For 
  many 
  a 
  weary 
  mile 
  from 
  Edinburgh 
  to 
  my 
  seat 
  of 
  

   banishment, 
  the 
  country 
  grows 
  more 
  sterile 
  in 
  appearance, 
  

   till 
  from 
  Stinehive 
  to 
  Aberdeen, 
  it 
  becomes 
  naked 
  desolation, 
  

   a 
  waste 
  of 
  peat, 
  varied 
  only 
  by 
  huge 
  masses 
  of 
  stone 
  sticking 
  

   up 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  in 
  the 
  bogs 
  and 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  

   the 
  road." 
  Douglas, 
  in 
  his 
  East 
  Coast 
  of 
  Scotland, 
  1782, 
  on 
  

   passing 
  Stonehaven 
  describes 
  it 
  thus 
  : 
  " 
  About 
  a 
  mile 
  further 
  

   on 
  we 
  pass 
  a 
  wretched 
  barren 
  moor, 
  almost 
  one 
  continuous 
  

   stone, 
  which, 
  with 
  little 
  interruption, 
  is 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  

   country 
  till 
  we 
  reach 
  the 
  Bridge 
  of 
  Dee. 
  The 
  enclosures 
  

   are 
  generally 
  small, 
  and 
  a 
  great 
  part 
  of 
  their 
  contents 
  covered 
  

  

  with 
  heath 
  and 
  bog 
  To 
  explain 
  this 
  I 
  must 
  

  

  observe 
  that 
  the 
  country 
  for 
  some 
  distance 
  from 
  the 
  sea 
  

   is 
  populous. 
  You 
  see 
  everywhere 
  numbers 
  of 
  poor 
  huts 
  and 
  

   starved 
  cattle." 
  Newte, 
  in 
  his 
  Tour 
  in 
  England 
  and 
  Scotland, 
  

   1791, 
  thus 
  expresses 
  himself: 
  "From 
  this 
  hill, 
  the 
  road 
  

   runs 
  near 
  the 
  sea 
  all 
  the 
  way 
  to 
  Stonehaven, 
  and 
  is 
  

   very 
  dreary 
  ; 
  no 
  trees 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  except 
  now 
  and 
  then 
  a 
  

   small 
  plantation 
  of 
  firs 
  ; 
  some 
  few 
  spots 
  are 
  converted 
  into 
  

   cornland 
  and 
  grass, 
  but 
  marshes 
  prevail." 
  

  

  