Situated at the meeting of five roads in the Mearns of southern Aberdeenshire, Fettercairn is a quiet village of red sandstone houses with a central square. Within the square are the Mercat Cross (1670) with its old-style ell measurement and a fountain erected in 1869 to the memory of Sir John Hepburn Stuart Forbes, Baronet of Pitsligo and Fettercairn . The road to the north heads over Cairn o' Mount towards Banchory and Royal Deeside and 4 miles (7 km) to the east is Laurencekirk. Entering the village from the south, a great archway commemorates a visit to Fettercairn made by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who stayed in the Ramsay Arms in September 1861. Whyte and Mackay's Fettercairn Distillery at Nethermill was founded in 1824 and claims to be the second oldest licensed distillery. Its stables now house a visitor centre. To the north of the village are Fettercairn House, built in 1666 by the 1st Earl of Middleton (1610-73) whose family occupied land here for five centuries, and Fasque House, home of the Gladstone family whose most famous member was the Prime Minister William Gladstone. To the southwest is 16th-century Balbegno Castle, a Ramsay stronghold, and the vitrified fort of Green Cairn. At the beginning of July each year the villagers of 'Fetterie', as it is sometimes called, host the Fettercairn Cattle Show and Sports.
