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In the northern part of
Banffshire there are hills that serve as useful landmarks at sea, while the
southern possesses some of the highest mountains in Great Britain. One
characteristic height in the north is the Bin of Cullen (i o5o feet), with
its neighbours the Little Bin and the Hill of Maud. From the top of the
conical Bin the spectator has a fine panorama of sea and land. To the south
the prospect stretches to Cairngorm, to the west are the mountains of
Inverness-shire, to the north the coast land lies at his feet with headlands
and bays, villages and towns, while across the Firth his eye rests on the
Sutors of Cromarty, Ben Wyvis and other hills of Northern Scotland. Even
lower heights are interesting watch-towers. From the Hill of Alvah (578
feet) we may see a large tract of Buchan, its somewhat monotonous aspect
relieved by the bold headlands of Gamrie and Troup; to the south thriving
woods and fertile lands with Benachie in the distance; the Buck of the
Cabrach and Ben Rinnes in the south-west; to the north the wooded park of
Duff House and the town of Banff; and beyond the sea the fantastic forms of
the Caithness Hills.
The Knock Hill (1409 feet)
dominates a large area in the lower part of the county. Ben Aigan, looking
down on Banff and Moray and swept by the Spey, rises to 1544 feet. Further
up the valley, Ben Rinnes rears its head to a height of 2755 feet, with its
less exalted neighbours, the Meikle and Little Convals, while the adjoining
Forests of Glenfiddich and Blackwater have heights well over 2000 feet.
Eastward the Buck of the Cabrach (2368 feet) stands sentinel, while to the
west, in the direction of the Braes of Glenlivet, are the Ladder Hills (2475
feet), over which runs the mountainous road to the upper valley of the Don.
From this point southwards is
an extensive spur of the Grampians, peak upon peak rising in view amid the
waste of mountains. Many of them are between 2000 and 3000 feet. West of
Inchrory is Garravoun (2431 feet); in the Forest of Glenaven is the Bruach
(2338 feet); between the Gairn and the Aven, Ben Aven towers to a height of
3843 feet; the Cairngorm group on the confines of the county with Inverness
is itself dominated by Cairngorm (4084 feet) and where the county meets
Aberdeen is the mighty mass of Ben Macdhui (4296 feet). Among these hills
are the infant waters of the Dee, the Don, the Aven and many smaller
streams, some reaching the North Sea at Aberdeen; others flowing to the
Moray Firth.
In these wild regions, winter
tarries long. From Tomintoul one may see extensive patches of white at
midsummer,
and autumn is not gone when
the hills around have got the covering of a new winter's snow. It is the
land of the ptarmigan, the white hare, the lordly buck, and the peregrine;
and in its lower altitudes the rifle takes its toll of the fox in his
predatory tours among the flocks of hardy black-faced sheep that here find
their summer home. The eagle is not yet extinct in the immense Forest of
Glen Aven. The "beat" of the single policeman at Tomintoul includes the
Cairngorms, but probably he does not very frequently take so wide a circuit.
The same uninhabited area appertains to the ecclesiastical parish of
Tomintoul, which must surely be one of the most extensive quoad sacra
parishes in Scotland, including as it does about nine miles in length of the
inhabited part of the civil parish of KirkmichaeI, and the twelve or fifteen
uninhabited miles that stretch into the Grampians. |
