Parish of Botriphnie

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Botriphnie (2nd entry)
1791-99: Botriphnie
1834-45: Botriphnie

Botriphnie, a parish of Banffshire, with Auchindachy station at its NE angle, and Drummuir station (2¾ miles SW) towards its centre, this latter being 6¼ miles SW of the post-town Keith, and 4½ NE of Dufftown, and standing near the church and post office. Bounded N by the Elginshire section of Boharm, NE by Keith, SE by Cairnie and Glass in Aberdeenshire, S and SW by Mortlach, and W by Boharm, Botriphnie extends across the county at its narrowest, and has a length from N to S of from 3¾ to 5¼ miles, a width from E to W of from ½ mile to 4¾ miles, and a land area of 9459 acres. Loch Park (1 mile x 100 yards) lies on the SW border; and rising near it, the Isla runs 4 miles to the NE boundary through a beautiful strath, now traversed by the Great North of Scotland railway. Above Auchindachy it is joined by the Burn of Davidston, which traces all the eastern boundary; and itself divides the parish into two fairly equal halves. Glenisla sinks from 600 to 480 feet above sea-level, and elevations in the western half are Rosarie (415 feet) on the Morayshire frontier, the Hill of Towie (1108), Sheanspark Wood (1041), Knockhillock (1025), and Sunnybrae (923); in the eastern half, Woodend (984), the Hill of Bellyhack (1009), and Haggieshaw Wood (1008)-one and all overtopped by Knockan (1219), culminating just beyond the western border, and by Carran Hill (1366) and the Tips of Clunymore (1296) beyond the southern. Most of the area is either. arable or planted (with alder, birch, etc.); and in Glenisla a large extent of fertile haugh-land was reclaimed, fifty years since or more, by straightening the course of the river.- A fair is held on 15 Feb., old style. Drummuir, a modern castellated mansion, is the seat of Major Duff Gordon Duff, owner of 13,053 acres in the shire of an annual value of £7418. In the presbytery of Strathbogie and synod of Moray, Botriphnie has an Established parish church (rebuilt 1820; living, £281), and, 1¼ mile NE, a Free church. A public and a girls' school, with respective accommodation for 127 and 31 children, had (1879) an average attendance of 64 and 34, and grants of £51,15s. and £20,3s. Pop. (1801) 589, (1811) 577, (1831) 721, (1861) 867, (1871) 785, (1881) 696.—Ord. Sur., sh. 85,1876. See the Rev. Dr J. F. Gordon's Book of the Chronicles of Keith, Botriphnie, etc. (Glasg. 1880). Valuation (1882) £4571.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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