Banffshire

Banffshire, historic county, northeastern Scotland, extending from the Grampian Mountains to the North Sea. The northeastern portion of the county, including the historic county town (seat) of Banff, is part of the council area of Aberdeenshire, while the remainder of the county lies within the council area of Moray.

Of the northern Picts who possessed the land of Banffshire in Roman times, few remains now exist beyond the cairns found in Glenlivet, near Rothiemay and Ballindalloch castles, and elsewhere. The word cairn also occurs in many place-names. The Romans’ advance was practically prevented by the mountains in the south, but what is believed to have been a Roman camp may still be made out in Glenbarry. Danish invaders were more persevering and more successful, and there were many bloody conflicts between them and the Scots. Near Cullen a fierce encounter occurred in 960, and a sculptured stone at Mortlach is said to commemorate a signal victory gained by King Malcolm II over the Norsemen in 1010.

The shire was the scene of much strife after the Reformation. The Roman Catholics, under the 6th earl (later 1st marquess) of Huntly, defeated the Protestants, under the 7th earl of Argyll, at Glenlivet in 1594. The period from 1624 to 1645 was one of almost incessant struggle, when the mobilizations of the Covenanters combined with the frequent conflicts of the clans. After 1689 the shire was strongly Jacobite; many lords who rebelled in the Jacobite uprising of 1715 had sons who supported Prince Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, in the uprising of 1745. The shire itself, however, was left comparatively untouched by the uprisings. Thereafter the county became more settled, though parts of Banffshire remained strongholds of Roman Catholicism. The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries made little impact on the mostly agricultural county, but the scenic coast, glens (valleys), and hills of Banffshire spurred the development of a tourism industry during the 19th and 20th centuries.