FORDYCE, a parish, in the county of Banff; containing,
with the villages of Saudend and New Mills,
and the town of Portsoy,' 3442 inhabitants, of whom
243 are in the village of Fordyce, 2^ miles (W. S. \V.)
from Portsoy. The name of this place, which appears to
have undergone no variation since the most ancient
times, is supposed to be derived from the two Gaelic
words /Ğar " cold ", and deas " south", which, from their
original appropriation as descriptive of the southern portion
of the parish, were subsequently used as a name for
the whole of it. The lands once belonged to the family
of Sinclair, but afterwards came into that of Ogilvie, in
which they have remained for about 400 years to the
present time. Sir Walter Ogilvie, in 1455, obtained
permission of James II., to fortify his house of Findlater,
situated here; and the castle seems to have been regularly
occupied till nearly the end of the reign of James
VI., when it was in the possession of John Gordon, son
of the Earl of Huntly, who had received the castle and
estates from one of the Ogilvie family that had disinherited
his own son. After much litigation and many severe
feuds, however, it returned to the former possessors,
chiefly through arbitration. During its occupancy by
Gordon, it was one of the places that refused to acknowledge
Queen Mary when she visited the northern districts,
in consequence of which she sent a party of 120 soldiers
against it, who were attacked by Gordon at Cullen, and
all of them either slain or routed. The district of Findlater
gave the title of Earl to its proprietors: the present
Earl of Seafield, who holds the estates, is grandson to
Sir Ludovic Grant, who married Lady Margaret, eldest
daughter of James, fifth Earl of Findlater.
Fordyce anciently comprehended the parishes of Ordiquhill,
Deskford, and Cullen, long since separated. It
is boimded on the north by the Moray Firth, and is
about seven or eight miles in length and from two to six
in breadth, comprising 18,670 acres, of which 9306 are
either cultivated or occasionally in tillage, .'>960 waste or
natural pasture, 1500 undivided common, and 1234 occupied
by wood. The surface is diversified with hill and
dale, and several lofty elevations give to the scenery a
very bold and decided character. The principal of these
elevations are, the hills of Durn and Fordyce, nearly in
the middle of the parish, which extend in a form almost
semicircular from north-east to south-west, the former
rising about 700 feet above the level of the sea; and the
hill of Knock, near the southern boundary, which, attaining
an elevation of between 1200 and 1400 feet, serves
at a considerable distance as a land-mark for mariners:
on the summit of it is a bed of peat-moss. Though not
precipitous, the coast is marked by a strong rocky outline,
broken by numerous caves and several headlands and
bays. The chief points are, the East and West heads,
taking their names from their relative positions with
respect to Portsoy; and Logic head, at the western extremity
of the parish. The bays are Portsoy and Sandend,
the former possessing a secure and convenient harbour,
and the latter having about half a mile of sandy beach,
in which is Redhyth point, where small vessels find
anchorage and shelter. The streams are inconsiderable,
comprising only the burn of Boyn, which marks the
eastern boundary of the parish; the burn of Durn, which
joins the sea at Portsoy; and the burn of Fordyce, falling
into the bay of Sandend.
The SOIL, which is incumbent on strata of almost
every description, comprehends strong clay and light
and clayey loam. It is wet and cold in the southern
quarter, but rich and fertile about the coast, producing
all kinds of grain, with potatoes, turnips, hay, and flax.
The cattle are chiefly a cross between the old Banffshire
and the Buthan breeds: their improvement has been
greatly promoted by premiums given by the Banffshire
Farmers' Club and the Highland Society; and a decided
advantage has been obtained by the introduction of the
Teeswater bull. The sheep are the Cheviots, with a few
of the native black-faced. The horses are in general of
the ordinary kind, with the exception of those bred from
Clydesdale mares, which are very superior in strength
and appearance. Though the fences and farm-buildings
are still to a great extent in a defective condition, much
has been done within the present century in the way of
agricultural improvement, especially by draining. Upwards
of 10,000 yards of ditches, and nearly 20,000
yards of drains, have been completed on one farm since
1837, independently of 1600 yards of marsh ditches cut
in another part. Bone manure has been introduced, and
several threshing-mills erected. The annual value of
real property in Fordyce is £8/12. The parish is of
considerable importance in a geological point of view.
It is celebrated for its extensive strata of serpentine rock,
of which there are immense beds, and which, admitting
of a very fine polish, has long been a favourite material,
not only in Britain, but also in many parts of the continent,
for the manufacture of various kinds of ornaments.
In the palace of Versailles, where it is known by the
name of Scottish marble, it has been employed in the
construction of several chimney-pieces. Among the
numerous geological varieties are hornblende, syenite,
granite, felspar, mica- slate, quartz, and clay-slate; also
limestone with veins of granite, and small portions of
magnetic iron-ore. The plantations are princi()ally larch
and Scotch fir, with some ash, the last of which is found
in a thriving condition near the ancient castle of the
Boyn. The seats are, Birkenbog, an old plain building,
inhabited by the tenant who rents the farm; and Glassaugh,
a neat and spacious modern mansion, recently
much enlarged and improved. The village of Fordyce
was made a burgh of barony in 1499. About fourteen
miles of turnpike-road run through the parish, branching
off in various directions to Banff, CuUen, Keith, and
Huntly; and there are several good substantial bridges.
Two fairs are held; one in November, for cattle and for
hiring servants, and the other in December, for cattle
only.
Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery of
Fordyce, synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of the
Earl of Seafield. The stipend is £226; and there is a
manse, with a glebe of two acres and a half, valued at
£5 per annum, and a croft of five acres, called the
Vicar's Croft, bequeathed in 1,59.5 for the use of the minister.
Fordyce church, built in 1804, contains 1050
sittings. The parochial school affords instruction in
Greek, Latin, mathematics, and all the branches of a
useful education; the salary of the master is £34; he
has also ten acres of land, left by Thomas Menzies of
Durn, and receives about £30 in fees. Walter Ogilvie
of Redhyth, in 16*8, bequeathed land for the establishment
of bursaries at the parochial school, and at King's
College, Aberdeen; in the former there are seventeen,
extending to five years each. George Smith, who was
born in the village of Fordyce, established nine bursaries
in his native parish, likewise of five years' duration;
they commenced in 1 801, and are worth £25 per annum
each, appropriated to board, clothing, and education: he
also left £25 a year to the minister for superintending
the youth on the foundation. The Rev. James Stuart,
rector of Georgetown and All Saints, in South Carolina,
left £1200 for a bursary in the school of Fordyce, for
boys bearing the name of Stuart: this endowment commenced
in 1810. There are two other small bursaries,
founded by James Murray. The chief relic of antiquity
is the old castle of Findlater, situated on a rock almost
surrouuded by the sea, and which appears to have been
of considerable strength: the lower apartments, cut out
of the solid rock, are strongly arched; and on the south
were formerly a fosse and drawbridge, beyond which, at
the distance of about one hundred yards, there was an
outwork for greater security, consisting of a fosse and
rampart. On the hill of Durn arc the remains of an encampment,
supposed to have been thrown up by the Danes;
and some urns, containing ashes and bones, have been
occasionally dug up in different places. There are several
chalybeate springs, the most celebrated being that called
"John Legg's Well ".which is much frequented in summer
both by natives and strangers. Sir James Clark,
physician to Her Majesty, and Dr. John Forbes, physician
extraordinary to Prince Albert, were educated at the
parochial school.