PITSLIGO, a parish, in the district of Buchan,
county of Aberdeen, 4 miles (W.) from Fraserburgh;
containing, with the burgh-of-barony of Rosehearty and
the village of Pittullie, 15S'2 inhabitants, of whom SS'a
are in the rural district. This place gave its name as
the title of the Forbes family, to whom it anciently
belonged, and of whose castle there ai'e still some considerable
remains. Alexander, fourth Lord Pitsligo,
who succeeded his father in I691, and was the author of
several moral and philosophical essays, having joined in
the rebellion of 1745, was attainted, and the title and
estates were forfeited to the crown. The parish was separated
by act of parliament, in 1633, from the parishof Aberdour.
It is bounded on the north by the Moray Firth,
and is about three miles and a half in length and three
miles in breadth; comprising 4500 acres, ofvvhich 4000 are
arable and pasture, twenty woodland and plantations,
and the remainder sites of buildings, roads, and waste,
whereof 200 acres are susceptible of improvement. The
surface is generally level, broken only by some few
cairns and tumuli, none of which have an elevation of
more than thirty feet; and there are neither lakes,
rivers, nor streams of any importance. An ample supply
of water for domestic use is obtained from springs,
and there are several springs possessing mineral properties.
The coast is about four miles in extent; the shore on the
east of Rosehearty is loose and flat, partly sandy and
partly rocky, but on the west, towards Aberdour, consists
mainly of bold and precipitous rocks. The soil is
various, chiefly a light black mould, but partly a clayey
loam; the crops are oats, barley, beans, turnips, potatoes,
and the various grasses. Considerable improvement
has been made in the system of husbandry:
the lands have been drained where marshy, and the
fields inclosed, generally with dykes of stone; and there
are threshing-mills on most of the farms. The cattle
are mostly of the pure Aberdeenshire breed; a few of
the Herefordshire were recently introduced, and a cross
between the short-horned and the Buchan has been
found to answer. A hard stone of a bluish colour is
quarried for building; and flags are raised from the
rocks on the beach, from four to sixteen inches in thickness,
and capable of being polished for mantel-pieces.
There are fishing-stations at Rosehearty and Pittullie;
the fish taken are cod, ling, haddocks, and skate, with
several smaller kinds. Facility of communication is
afforded by the old roads from Fraserburgh to Banff,
and from Rosehearty to Strichen, which intersect each
other in the centre of the parish; and by a turnpikeroad
from Fraserburgh to Banff, which bounds it for
more than two miles on the south. The annual value of
real property in Pitsligo is £4602.
For ecclesiastical purposes the parish is within the
bounds of the presbytery of Deer and synod of Aberdeen:
the minister's stipend is about £190, with a
manse, glebe, and garden, worth £30 per annum; patron,
the Crown. Pitsligo church, erected in 1634, and
distinctly seen from the coast, is a handsome structure
with a square tower and angular turrets; it is embellished
with richly-carved oak in that part forming the
aisle, and contains 504 sittings. The minister officiates
also on .Sunday evenings, at Rosehearty, to a congregation
of about 300 persons. A Free church was built in
1844, and there is a place of worship for members of
the United Presbyterian Church. The parochial school,
for which a building was erected in 1839, at a cost of
£300, is attended by about 100 children: the master
has a salary of £34. 4. 4., with a house, and an allowance
of £1 in lieu of garden; and the fees average about
£30 per annum. Connected with the school is a library
of 100 volumes. There are seven other schools in the
parish; two of them have small endowments, and the
rest are supported exclusively by the fees. Some remains
exist of the ancient castles of Pitsligo and Pittullie,
both on the estate of Sir John Stuart Forbes,
Bart. The former stands about a quarter of a mile
south-by-east from Rosehearty, and appears to have been
of great strength; the grounds attached to it are well
planted, and the gardens produce abundance of fine fruit.
On the older portion of the castle of Pittullie are the
arras of the' Saltoun family, by whom it is supposed to
have been founded. The various cairns and tumuli
scattered over the surface of the parish, are said to have
been raised over the bodies of invaders from Denmark
and Norway who were slain in battle. Andrew Cant,
remarkable as a defender of the Covenant, w'as tutor in
the family of the first Lord Pitsligo, and the first minister
of the parish after its formation in 1633; he was translated
in 1639 to another incumbency, and eventually
died at Aberdeen, where his tombstone yet remains, in
the churchyard of the West Church. Pitsligo church is
still generally designated Cant's Kirk by the fishermen.  See Rosehearty.