Click here to search commentonline

A Short Break through Aberdeenshire

with Gillian Hull

A recent visit to old friends living above the Dee valley gave us the opportunity to discover more of the huge and varied county of Aberdeenshire. Our first morning was cold but bright, and we set off for Corgarff Castle which we had passed several times when driving the A939 through Tomintoul. The stark, white building is situated high in the rolling moorland of Upper Strathdon, not far from the Lecht Pass over to Speyside. It is a very remote spot, and its history first as a simple tower house, and later as army barracks impressed upon us the harshness and dangers of life in the Highlands over three hundred years.

Corgarff was built as a small tower house in the middle of the 16th century, probably by John Forbes of Towie. It is very remote today, and at that time was probably one of the loneliest and wildest parts of Scotland as well as being one of the most violent. In 1571 an appalling tragedy befell the Forbes family. Adam Gordon from Auchindoun in Banffshire sent his men to take the castle for the deposed Queen Mary, whom he supported, while the Forbes family supported her son, James VI. John Forbes was away at the time, and his wife Margaret refused the Gordon party entry. They fired the castle, killing Margaret, her children and servants, twenty-four people in all.

During the turbulent 17th century Corgarff suffered numerous attacks, and was burnt by Jacobites to prevent it being used by William of Orange’s soldiers. Because of its lonely situation the Earl of Mar armed  his forces there before going to Braemar in 1715 to raise James VIII’s standard. In the ’45 the castle’s setting also allowed  Prince Charles Edward to store ammunition there before Culloden..

After the Jacobite defeat the authorities planning the policing of the Highlands decided to strengthen both Braemar and Corgarff castles as garrisons. Impressive star-shaped fortifications still surround both buildings. At the same time a new military road was planned from Blairgowrie up to the impressive new fortress at Fort George, passing close to Corgarff. By the end of the 18th century, the military threat had passed, and a local farmer was allowed to distil whisky there.

In 1827 the military returned to support excisemen attempting to deal with the problem of illicit distilling!   After they left in 1831 the castle slowly became a ruin and eventually passed into State care in 1961. Following restoration it was furnished as 18th century barracks, with single bunks for the NCO’s while privates slept two to a bed.  During a wild Aberdeenshire winter one can imagine Corgarff was not their favourite posting. Following our visit we enjoyed a car picnic facing the lonely castle dramatically surrounded by snow-topped mountains.

Driving down the Dee Valley is always beautiful, as the winding nature of the river gives one constant surprises. On this occasion we turned off at Banchory to drive south through glorious woodland, still vividly green in early autumn. The road began to climb through heather-covered hills until we came to the viewpoint at Cairn o’Mount, an impressive pass at almost 1,500 feet. Driving down towards the coast brought us into the fertile area of the Mearns, or Kincardineshire. Both names are very ancient; the soil is rich red, making it one of Scotland’s most fertile areas. Dr Johnson passed through in 1773 and commented that the harvest ‘appeared very plentiful’. The Mearns are immortalised in Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s ‘Sunset Song’, a wonderful evocation of the area in which he grew up. In his novel his love of the country’s beauty is set against the hard toil of those in rural communities in the early 20th century, and the changes taking place with the introduction of sheep on a large scale. His leading character, Chris Guthrie, is beautifully drawn as she copes with the many vicissitudes of her life. There is an exhibition about the novelist and his work at Arbuthnott, just east of the A93 when driving south. Grassic Gibbon  is buried in the churchyard of a Norman church beautifully set among the wildflower meadows and feeling very remote from the thundering traffic of the busy main road.

From the high, stark moorland around Corgarff to the green, lush country of The Mearns,  we again discovered that Aberdeenshire provides plenty of contrasts for the visitor.