at Keith Hall, which he had inherited | not enter the list of combatants, but from a collateral branch; but he grew leave it to the deliberate consideration tired of life in his native land. "Tak- of those better versed in etymology, the ing a northward journey, he resolved able historian and the learned antito visit Inverugie, and formally take quarian; suffice it to say, it has been possession. He proceeded no further called Peterhead for upwards of 200 than the Bridge of Ugie, however, being years." completely overcome by the sight of his home in ruins. He was moved to tears, it is said, at the sad spectacle; and grieved by this, as well as harassed by the fact that he could not manage to pay up the full price of his estate, he sold the lands in 1766 to James Ferguson of Pitfour, and returned to Prussia. He was a great favourite at the Court of Berlin, where he remained till his death in 1788.""-(Anderson.) 38 76. Peterhead. 2 miles from Inverugie. Dyce. 441, Peterhead, the terminus of this branch, stands upon a peninsula projecting into the German Ocean, and is the most easterly point of Scotland. Dr. Pratt tells us that there are various opinions with regard to the derivation of the name. The author of "The View of the Diocese of Aberdeen" says -"Peterhead was of old called Peterugie, because the Ugie here falls into the sea, and the church is dedicated to St. Peter. Mr. Arbuthnot, in his "Historical Account of Peterhead," says "The Greek word Petros, and the French word Pierre, each signifying a rock, and the town having that for its foundation, either of them may have given rise to the name." This author also mentions other conjectures as to its derivation. In the "History of Peterhead," drawn up by Roderick Gray, Esq., for "The New Statistical Account of Scotland," we find that "the ancient name of the parish was Peterugie, arising, perhaps, from the rocky headland or promontory near the mouth of the Ugie." In old charters the name is Petri Promontorium, and in some Dutch maps it is called Peterspol. Mr. Peter Buchanan, in his "Annals of Peterhead," dismisses the subject in these terms-" As the derivation of the name has been already disputed, I shall The eastmost part of the town is called the Keith Inch, and is divided from the main part by the north and south harbours. These used to be quite separate, but they are now connected by a canal. Before this canal was made, the narrow neck of land which gave access to the Keith Inch was called the Queenzie, or Queenie, a word which is said to signify a neck of land. In 1560 Peterhead was only a small fishing village, and with the adjoining lands belonged to the Abbey of Deer, from which it passed into the possession of the Commendator. In 1593 the town was erected into a burgh of barony by George, Earl Marischal. It continued part of the Marischal estate until the attainder of the last Earl after 1715, when the estates were confiscated to the Crown. Soon after, this portion of them was bought by the York Buildings Company, and they, in 1728, sold the town and adjoining lands to the governors of the Merchant Maiden Company, Edinburgh, for the sum of £3000 sterling. The Valuation Roll of 1880 returns the Merchant Maiden Hospital property in Peterhead as of the annual value of £2941: 13: 8. It has been calculated that in 1593 the number of inhabitants was about 56. "The feuars, to whom the charter was granted, were only 14; the ground feued out about 3 acres. The original feuars appear to have been fishers, for each of them was permitted to have 'ane boat for whyte fishing, of the whiche the said Earl and his forsaids shall have the tynd fishing, the said Earl and his forsaids giving to the fishers reasonable fishing lands and reasonable duty; and sic as happen to pass to farr fishings, the said Earl and his forsaids sall have sic tynd y'rof as the inhabitants of Anstruther pays.' Some of these original houses still remain, with their quaint inscriptions still partially legible. One in Port Henry Lane bears the date 1600, and | There is scarcely a country in the known "Micah vi. 7" in old characters. On world, from the torrid to the frigid zone a building called Lord Marischal's-from China to Mexico-that is not house, of date 1599, there is "Feir the here represented. The collection of Lord." Buchan mentions one in Wood's coins is very extensive. The English Wynd::department embraces the whole period from Edgar to Victoria; the Scotch from William the Lion to James VI; the Grecian comprehends those of Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great, and most of the principal petty states; the Roman those of the Emperors and Consuls."-(Pratt.) "Feir the Lord, flie from syn; The Marischal motto may still be seen on at least one house in Peterhead "They have sayd; Qhat sayd they? Lat them say.' On one now taken down it ran thus: : "They saye-they saye What saye they Do you well, and lat them saye, saye." Another house which has also disappeared had this: "SVEAR NOTE." Where the Coastguard buildings now are, on the Keith Inch, stood the old Marischal Castle, built in the beginning of the 17th century, after the model of the palace of the King of Denmark. It was demolished in the early part of this century. On the platform in front of the townhall there is a statue of Field-Marshal Keith, a copy of the one erected to his memory by Frederick the Great. This original statue was, we believe, somewhat disregarded, and the Town-Council of Peterhead coming to know this, petitioned the King of Prussia to allow them to remove it and erect it at Peterhead. Attention having been thus called to the memory of the Field-Marshal, his statue was restored to an honourable position, and a copy in bronze graciously made and presented to Peterhead by the King, who communicated his intentions in very gracious terms in an autograph letter. Several brass guns taken out of the "St. Michael," one of the Spanish Armada wrecked in the vicinity, were at one time mounted on two batteries which commanded the north and south harbours. The town having taken the side of the Pretender in 1715, the Gov The town is built of the red granite, and has of course a town-house, various churches, good banks, and many substantial private dwellings. The present parish church occupies a prominent position near the centre of the town, but an older one stood to the south on a rising ground still outside the town, although it is being now rapidly sur-ernment removed these guns to London. rounded by villas. Around its ruins lies the old parish graveyard with some interesting monuments. A tower still remains, containing a very fine-toned bell. Tradition says this was the ship bell of one of the Spanish Armada wrecked off Peterhead, but the bell itself exhibits this legend on it, "Soli Deo Gloria, Michael Bvrgenhvys. Me fecit 1647." The town possesses a museum, the bequest to it of the late Adam Arbuthnot, Esq. It was his private collection, and is from time to time being enriched by gifts from loyal sons of the town. "It contains numerous specimens interesting to the antiquarian, the naturalist, the mineralogist, and the geologist. That Prince landed at Peterhead on Dec. 25, 1715, and resided for a time in a house at the south end of the Longgate before proceeding to Aberdeen. "Peterhead was long noted for its mineral springs, one of which, the Wine Well, was greatly celebrated for its medicinal qualities. There is another mineral well at the Gaidle Braes said to be of equal efficacy. About the beginning of the present century Peterhead was a fashionable watering-place.' It had commodious hot and cold baths for ladies and gentlemen. It does not retain its reputation in this respect. Peterhead was some years ago a great port for whaling ships, and a few still This part of the coast is subject to storms of great violence. The following account of that of January 10, 1849, by Mr. W. Boyd, Solicitor, Peterhead, will be read with interest. was go from it to the seal and whale fishing. | the south bay. That she could gain the Its chief trade is the herring fishing, harbour no one deemed possible. The some 600 to 700 boats being engaged in vessel ran swiftly on before the wind, this every season. There are extensive and was signalled on shore about halfsawmills and an important woollen way west of the harbour mouth as the manufactory in this town. The har- safest place. The Coastguard were on bours are now extensive and commo- the spot with Manby's apparatus before dious. They have been at various times the ship struck, and after some unrepaired and remodelled-by Smeaton'in successful attempts, threw a line over the 1773, by Rennie in 1807, by Telford in ship and the cradle was speedily along1822, and again in 1878 by Coyne. The side. One of the crew got in, and had revenue from them was £4326 in 1856, all but reached the top of the bulwark £6928 in 1879, and £9512 in 1880. opposite, when the rope on which the cradle hung broke, and he fell into the raging surf. Fortunately this happened within a few yards of the shore, where many a willing seaman ready to give assistance, and several, regardless of their own safety, jumped into the surf and succeeded in getting the man safely on shore. The vessel continued to drive up on the rocks, and the safety of the rest of the crew appeared to depend on allowing them to remain, and they were all safely landed when the tide receded. Another schooner was now observed to round the Buchanness, and to be running for the south bay, in a more manageable state than the former; but when near to the entrance, owing to the wind and the sea, she lost way, and was in a moment driven among the rocks at The Baths, where in the course of ten minutes she became a total wreck, and, we are sorry to add, two of the crew perished. The saving of the others was truly miraculous, as in a few minutes the vessel that was so shortly before seen bounding over the fiercest billows was-mast, rigging, and hull— one mass of wreck. Under Providence, the safety of the survivors was owing to the fearless exertions of some who threw themselves into the raging sea, crossed the Baths, reached the rocks on which the vessel had turned over, and got ropes around the crew, who were then dragged over the high protecting walls adjoining. "This part of the coast was visited yesterday with one of those severe easterly gales which often in the winter season prove disastrous in their consequences, but never more so than in the present instance, when much property and many lives have been lost adding in a fearful degree to the vast sacrifice of life which within the last twelve months has fallen to the lot of this town. The gale in August last, in which so many fishermen perished in the frail barks in which they were engaged, was as nothing compared with the irresistible fury of this tempest, in which at least five vessels have been totally wrecked. The gale commenced with a heavy rain about midnight, and increased in violence from east by south till daylight. At that time very heavy seas were rolling on shore, and as the morning advanced, more than one vessel was seen in the offing struggling with the tempest to get round the heads. As the day advanced it was seen that, owing to the violence of the storm and the flood-tide one of them at least was driving fast to leeward. By the arrival of the mail, intelligence was received that a brig had been driven ashore in the morning close by Slains Castle, and that all her crew had perished; and that another brig was seen by the Boddam fishermen to founder quite close to the shore. All the crew perished. Soon after 1 P.M. the schooner that was falling to leeward was observed to be running for "While this was occurring in the south bay, the sea, which was rolling very heavily at the back of the north harbour, threw down about 186 yards of the enclosing wall which bounds it on the east, and swept away the new herring-curing yards in that quarter, including Mr. Methven's yard, in which most of the buildings and storehouses are thrown down. Heavy masses of water were running through the breach into the harbour, throwing to some distance disengaged masses of masonry of several tons' weight-parts of the enclosing wall-and scattering over the roadway and quay, and hurling into the harbour, an immense quantity of stones of which the wall and buildings had been erected. Several of the whale ships lying there broke from their moorings owing to the weight of water thrown in by the breach. In consequence of this it became necessary, when the tide had somewhat receded, to prepare for securing, if possible, those vessels before next high water, and for their further safety to get part, at least, of the loose stones which had been thrown on the roadway and quay opposite to them removed. For this purpose Messrs. Pyper and Stuart, masons, were employed with their workmen and a number of labourers to clear away the loose stones. Before these arrangements were made, it was about two hours past high water. No water to any considerable depth had been thrown through the breach for some time, and people had been passing and repassing to the dock and the shipping, not apprehending any danger till the return of the next tide. The seamen, at the same time, were busy on the same quay preparing new moorings for the shipping. All this went on without interruption for about an hour, when at nearly five o'clock, about halftide, a tremendous wave dashed through the breach, spreading over the quay to a great depth. The poor men on the quay were seen by those on board the ships, -some running, and others, who perceived that they had no such means of escape, grasping the stones among which they were employed. Before this wave left them, it was followed by another still more awful, supposed to be from 14 to 15 feet in depth--in the words of a spectator 'like as if the whole North Sea was bursting through the breach,'-covered the men many feet deep, washed them into the | harbour, which was now a boiling flood, and throwing with them an immense mass of stones (one solid mass of masonry torn from the enclosing wall, calculated to weigh 50 tons, was moved bodily for several feet), the brick of the buildings, etc. In an instant ropes were thrown from the ships and boats, and by these and other means many were saved; but we lament to add, no fewer than fifteen persons perished. All the bodies were recovered, with the exception of that of Captain Hogg of the Resolution. "The wave which caused so great a loss of life, from the accounts given of it, was like as if some dreadful convulsion of nature had rolled the ocean over the land, and the scattered masses of stones, and the general devastation within its influence, alone speak of its irresistible fury. The day will long have a place of sadness in the memory of many, and a general gloom has been cast over the inhabitants of Peterhead by the melancholy event which marked its close." Dr. Pratt adds :-"The following is an excerpt from a letter we have been favoured with from a gentleman of Peterhead: 'With reference to the account of the storms described by you, it will not be uninteresting if I mention, on the authority of Mr. John Murdoch, a respectable man, still alive, that a similar upheaving of the sea took place about fifty years before, also at half-tide, to which he was a witness; on which occasion, some sheep that were browsing on the green hill (about the same locality as the sad catastrophe you describe) were swept off and their carcases washed ashore at a short distance south of the Canteen.' EXCURSIONS ALONG THE COAST FROM PETERHEAD. Tourists who reach Peterhead should not omit to visit Slains Castle and the Bullers of Buchan. They are about 6 miles south from Peterhead, and the drive round the Bay, past Boddam, or Buchanness with its lighthouse, and along the top of the cliffs, will well repay the day, which it will just de drive might be extended by the beautiful sands called the Ward of Cruden, by Finnyfold, past the Castle of Old Slains, to Collieston, on the border of the sand-blown parish of Forvie. The following account of this coast from Collieston to Peterhead is from a paper read by the present Editor to the Philosophical Society of Glasgow, in April 1849, and printed in their Proceedings, and elsewhere : "Collieston is a hamlet of fishermen's cottages, where advantage has been taken of a ravine, which affords a comparatively easy access to the water. Part of the village is built on the wateredge, and part on the cliff 200 feet above. A very deep deposit of dark red clay covers the cliffs, curling over the rocks, if I may so express it, and presenting a steep grassy slope leading to the rocks themselves. In some places the clay comes down very close to the water, but there is always an outlier of rock shielding it from the action of the waves. In one spot I observed that the overflow of a small stream had washed out a chasm in the clay at least 30 or 40 feet deep, showing that the deposit is of very considerable thickness. lightfully fill up. If time serves, the | rubbish accumulated in the mouth, we found ourselves in a cave of large dimensions, and very lofty in the roof. At first we felt as if the darkness was very great, but we soon became accustomed to the gloom. We penetrated a good way, till the sides approached so near as merely to allow us to pass, though there seemed still little or no diminution in the height of the roof. By the time we had got to the narrow part of the cave it was quite dark, for we were not provided with torches, and we took the precaution of holding on to each other (there were two of us), and feeling our way before we ventured to put down our feet. It was well we did so, for, after surmounting a lump of table-rock, we could find no further footing. I set myself against the rock, so as to hold my companion more firmly. He reached over and stretched down his foot, but could find no landing; we got stones and threw them over, not without a slight quickening of the pulse, when we heard them bound from side to side, and dash with a hollow sound on the floor far below. Here there was a forcible termination to our advance. When we turned to retrace our steps, a fine sight presented itself to our gaze. Our eyes, now accustomed to the gloom, could see the whole of that portion of the cavern we had just traversed, lit up as it was by rays from the entrance. The entrance being upwards, and not sheer out, we could not see out to the sea, but the opening admitted light enough to show the proportions of the cave. I measured from the brink of the cavern to the entrance, and found it to be about 45 yards. Water was percolating from above, and dropping in all directions. The floor and sides were covered with a coating of fine red clay, but no calcareous incrustation appeared; from which it would seem that lime is absent from the rocks here. In the Statistical Account of this parish I find this remark, in reference to the caves: "One of these, called Hell-lum, is upwards of 200 feet in length, and the pitch of the arch within rises to more than 30 feet." Probably my friend and myself had narrowly escaped exploring, both We pass the village of Collieston and keep on northwards, and find the same high precipitous coast-line for several miles, but so indented by creeks and narrow tortuous ravines as to render the walk along the cliffs a very long one. We discover a good many caves, some of them of great extent. Numbers of these enter from the sea, and require a boat to reach them. Others are far above the sea-level, indicating an upheaval of the land. One of these latter I explored on one occasion. The following account of it, from notes made at the time, may not be uninteresting. Turning round a grassy hillock on the brae face, the mouth of the cavern lay before us, not as we expected in the cliff, but in the green side of the brae. A good deal of débris and clay had been washed into it, but this made it the more accessible, and we had no difficulty in entering. When we had descended the mound of |
