Fraserburgh, locally known as the Broch, is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with a population recorded in the 2011 Census as 13,100. It lies in Buchan in the northeastern corner of the county, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Aberdeen and 17 miles (27 km) north of Peterhead. It is the biggest shellfish port in Scotland and one of the largest in Europe, landing over 5,450 tonnes in 2016. Fraserburgh is also a major port for white and pelagic fish.
Aberdeenshire or the County of Aberdeen is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. The area of the county, excluding the Aberdeen City council area itself, is also a lieutenancy area. The county borders Kincardineshire, Angus and Perthshire to the south, Inverness-shire and Banffshire to the west, and the North Sea to the north and east. It has a coast-line of 65 miles (105 km). The county gives its name to the modern Aberdeenshire council area, which covers a larger area than the historic county.
Oldmeldrum is a village and parish in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, not far from Inverurie in North East Scotland. With a population of around 2,187, Oldmeldrum falls within Scotland's top 300 centres of population. Oldmeldrum is home to one of the oldest whisky distilleries in Scotland, Glen Garioch, which was built in 1797. Local industries are agriculture and engineering services connected to the oil industry in Aberdeen.
Moray was a province within the area of modern-day Scotland, that may at times up to the 12th century have operated as an independent kingdom or as a power base for competing claimants to the Kingdom of Alba. It covered a much larger territory than the modern council area of Moray, extending approximately from the River Spey in the east to the River Beauly in the north, and encompassing Badenoch, Lochaber and Glenelg in the south and west.
Formartine is a committee area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This district extends north from the River Don to the River Ythan. It has a population of 36,478.
Clan Buchan is a Scottish clan of the Lowlands. The clan are sometimes considered a branch of the Clan Comyn. The Buchan are of no relation to the Clan Buchanan despite their similar name.
Clan Strachan is a Scottish clan originating from the barony of Strachan, in Aberdeenshire. The clan does not have a chief, therefore it is considered by Court of the Lord Lyon and the Stand Council of Scottish Chiefs as an Armigerous clan.
Rattray, (found at grid reference NK088578) had been settled as far back as 4000 BC and was named a Royal Burgh in 1564 by Mary, Queen of Scots, "to put an end to the disputes about superiority over it between William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal and George Hay, 7th Earl of Erroll". The ancient burgh was located near to Crimond, but the village was largely destroyed and never recovered after a storm in the 18th century that covered it in shifting sands from the nearby dunes at Rattray Head. However, there is still a small modern settlement in the area.
There has been a human presence in the area of Aberdeen since the Stone Age. Aberdeen as a city, grew up as two separate burghs: Old Aberdeen, the university and cathedral settlement, at the mouth of the River Don; and New Aberdeen, a fishing and trading settlement where the Denburn entered the Dee estuary.
The Harrying of Buchan, also known as the Herschip (hardship) or Rape of Buchan, took place in 1308 during the Wars of Scottish Independence. It saw vast areas of Buchan in northeast Scotland, then ruled by Clan Comyn, burned to the ground by Robert the Bruce and his brother Edward, immediately following their success at the Battle of Barra.
St Mary's Chapel is a late 12th/early 13th century chapel found in Rattray, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was built by William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan during the same period as the Castle of Rattray and was "private chapel for the castle" and its residents. "Dedicated to the Virgin Mary" it was possibly constructed after the "drowning of a"... [unknown] "son of Comyn in the well near by."
The remains of the Castle of Lonmay are found near Netherton of Lonmay, to the north of Loch Strathbeg in Buchan, Scotland. The remains are not located in the modern village of Lonmay which is approximately 6 km to the south-west. It was described by W. Douglas Simpson as one of the nine castles of the Knuckle, referring to the rocky headland of North-East Aberdeenshire.
Cruggleton Castle is a multi-period archaeological site on the coast of the Machars, in the historical county of Wigtownshire in south-west Scotland. It is located at Cruggleton Point, around 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) east of Whithorn and 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south-east of Sorbie. Excavations in the 1970s and 1980s revealed several periods of use, from the 1st century AD to the 17th century. The first stone tower was built in the 13th century, on an earlier motte.
Alice Comyn, Countess of Buchan, Lady Beaumont was a Scottish noblewoman, a member of the powerful Comyn family which supported the Balliols, claimants to the disputed Scottish throne against their rivals, the Bruces. She was the niece of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, to whom she was also heiress, and after his death the Earldom of Buchan was successfully claimed by her husband Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Buchan, by right of his wife. His long struggle to claim her Earldom of Buchan was one of the causes of the Second War of Scottish Independence.
Slains Castle is a ruined castle near Collieston in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is not to be confused with New Slains Castle, a separate building located five miles northeast. Built in the 13th century, it was partly destroyed in 1594.
Renfrew Castle was situated at the royal burgh of Renfrew, Scotland, which is near the confluence of the River Clyde and the River Cart. The original 12th-century castle was built by Walter fitz Alan, Steward of Scotland, upon a river islet known as the King's Inch. This was replaced in the 13th century with a new castle by the road to the Clyde ferry, which became a royal castle under King Robert II. In the 15th century, the King's Inch site was rebuilt as Inch Castle by Sir John Ross. Both castles were demolished in the 18th century and nothing remains above ground at either site.
Clan Cumming, historically known as Clan Comyn, is a Scottish clan from the central Highlands that played a major role in the history of 13th-century Scotland and in the Wars of Scottish Independence. The Clan Comyn was once the most powerful family in 13th-century Scotland, until they were defeated in civil war by their rival to the Scottish throne, Robert the Bruce.
Barra Castle is an unusual L-plan tower house dating from the early 16th century, about two miles south of Oldmeldrum, above the Lochter Burn, in the parish of Bourtie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It occupies the site of the Battle of Inverurie (1308), in which Robert Bruce defeated John Comyn, Earl of Buchan.
Ellon Castle is a scheduled monument within the town of Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Only ruins survive of the 16th-century structure that may incorporate sections from the 15th century together with 18th-century renovations. The ruins form a focal point in a formal 6-acre (2.4 ha) garden planted in 1745; an older Category A listed sundial dating from c. 1700 forms the centrepiece to the garden.
Sir Reginald le Chen or Cheyne (c.1235–1312) was a 13th-14th century Scottish noble. He was a sheriff of Nairn, sheriff of Inverness and Baron of Inverugie.
