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In recent times—recent, that
is, geologically—no sea separated Britain from the Continent. The present
bed of the North Sea was a low plain intersected by streams. At that period,
then, the plants and the animals of our country were identical with those of
Western Europe. But the Ice Age came and crushed out life in this region. In
time, as the ice melted, the flora and fauna gradually returned, for the
land-bridge still existed. Had it continued to exist, our plants and animals
would have been the same as in Northern France and the Netherlands. But the
sea drowned the land and cut off Britain from the Continent before all the
species found a home here. Consequently, on the east of the North Sea, all
our mammals and reptiles, for example, are found along with many which are
not indigenous to Britain. In Scotland, however, we are proud to possess in
the red grouse a bird not belonging to the fauna of the Continent.
The physical conditions of
Banffshire, with a coastline formed by rocky cliffs, and sand and shingle
beaches, with ground rising in the interior to all elevations up to over
4000 feet, drained- by rivers such as the Spey, the Deveron, the Aven, and
the Isla, and by innumerable small streams, and with every variety of soil
and exposure, are highly favourable to plant life. Wild flowers abound
everywhere, and ferns, mosses and other plants invite the attention of the
botanist. The Banffshire Field Club has published a Flora of the county
giving a list of over one thousand plants, and supplementary lists have been
from time to time added, so that means are available for a fairly exhaustive
acquaintance with the subject. Records of 23 species and varieties of ferns
have been made, of 82 grasses and 28 sedges, and of 44 local mosses.
British plants have been
divided into groups based on their relative distribution throughout the
country. Banf shire has about five-sixths of the Scottish type and
four-fifths of the Highland type; most of the British type are common, but
of the distinctively English type there are few.
In some of the southern
parishes with their large tracts of elevated moor, and containing some of
the highest mountains in Scotland, great areas of heather make the hillsides
glow in autumn in radiant colours, and provide food for large stocks of
grouse. Extensive masses of whin and broom form a striking feature of the
landscape in many districts. Avenside has lovely stretches of birches, and
by the banks of all the streams there is in their season an abundant and
brilliant show of flowering plants. The woodlands, the riversides, the
coast, the hills and moors, and the roadsides all yield numerous subjects,
and to those interested the county in its endless variety of native and
imported vegetation provides a highly favourable field of study.
Particularly in the vicinity
of mansion houses, many noble trees are to be seen. Remains of the primeval
forest, which extended over a large part of the county, are to be found in
some places, and huge trunks mostly of fir and oak are frequently dug up in
the mosses from under deep "lairs," i.e. beds, of peat. Plantations consist
for the most part of mixed hard wood and conifers. Ash trees, copper and
green beeches, the elm, sycamores, gean, hazel, the Scots fir, larch, silver
fir and spruce each provide magnificent specimens. In the Flora of
Banffshire seventeen varieties of willow are mentioned. A silver fir in Duff
House grounds, blown down in the winter of 1916, had about 140 annual rings
and at a foot from the ground was four feet across. In this area and
elsewhere there are many fine trees, of the planting of which the second
Earl of Fife in 1787 wrote in the Annals of Agriculture, how, within a
period of thirty years, "about seven thousand acres of bleak and barren moor
had been cloathed with thriving and flourishing trees... it was generally
believed that no wood would thrive so near the coast; I have proved that to
be a mistake; my park is fourteen miles round, and I have every kind of
forest tree from thirty years old, in a most thriving state; and few places
better wooded." In the glen at Cullen House there is a Pinetum which was
planted about 1865 and which contains many fine specimens. In some districts
on the coast, trees exposed to the furies of the north wind are often bare
on their northern side and bend their branches and tops towards the opposite
quarter, good examples of which will be found in the Fir Wood, Banff, and in
a plantation near the viaduct at Cullen, where the trees at the northern end
have their projections turned southward by the blasting winter gales from
the North Sea.
In many districts the
mountain ash forms a beautiful feature of the winter landscape. Early in the
last century much planting was done and if the necessities of the Great War
led to cutting down on a considerable scale, large forest areas are left for
the natural adornment of the country side and to act as an ameliorative
influence on the rigours of the northern climate.
The fauna of Banffshire is
wonderful in its variety. The different kinds of birds are reckoned to be
228 in number. In the corries of the mountains in Glenaven and the south,
the golden eagle still breeds, although the white-tailed eagle has gone from
the other extremity of the county, on the cliffs of Troup. Large areas of
moors are the homes of the red grouse; the partridge is common; in a few
places pheasants are preserved; black game are found in several districts,
while on the Cairngorms and Ben Rinnes, particularly the former, ptarmigan
are fairly abundant. The rocks and cliffs of Gamrie are the habitat of
immense numbers of sea fowl, including the kittiwake (kittie), the
razor-bill auk (coulter), the guillemot (queet), and. puffin (tammy norrie).
In caves along the coast small colonies of the rock dove are to be found,
and the carrion and hooded crow are very common. At least four species of
owl occur, and probably the most common bird of prey is the kestrel.
Cormorants are frequently seen along the coast in winter and there are
several small heronries in the county. In spring and autumn large flocks of
wild geese pass screaming overhead in their seasonal migration; lapwings (teuchats)
are abundant, and the voice of the land-rail is heard all over the county
where cultivation prevails, although in upland districts it is not so
common. Few large birds are so numerous as the sea-gull, which seems of late
years to have sought an inland home in ever increasing numbers. Vast numbers
breed on the cliffs of Gamrie and Troup. The beautiful great northern diver
is sometimes driven to the coast through stress of weather, and northern
gales occasionally drive ashore isolated specimens of the little auk.
In the extensive
forests.mostly above the 1000 feet level (Glenaven of 39,000 acres,
Glenfiddich of 33,000) the red deer has its home. In the corries of the
hills the fox also breeds, but he is kept in check because of his raids on
sheep flocks. Otters are captured occasionally by the banks of streams.
Badgers are rare but are sometimes found. The brown hare abounds in most
districts, heavy bags of white hares are got in various parts of the
uplands, and rabbits are numerous. Roe deer are found in several areas. The
larger rivers yield excellent salmon and trout-fishing; and the brown trout
is abundant in all the numerous mountain streams. |
