a county in the north of Scotland, having the Murray Firth on the north, Aberdeenshire on the east and south, and the county of Moray on the west, is situate in the 58th degree of north latitude, and contains 647 square miles, or, without including a small space covered by water, 412,800 English acres. Along the coast, for about Surface-30 miles, the soil consists chiefly of sand and loam, and is in many instances well cultivated; but, with the exception of this tract, Banffshire is a hilly, and, towards the south, a mountainous district, though many fertile valleys are interspersed; and there is much valuable grazing land, well sheltered with natural wood, on the banks of its streams, and in its romantic glens. The Spey, one of the most considerable rivers in Scotland, which flows on its western boundary, and the Deveron on its eastern, to both of which a number of rivulets are tributary, yield a considerable revenue from their salmon-fishings,—the former, according to the agricultural survey in 1812, upwards of L. 6000, and the latter about L. 2000 yearly. In the lower part of the country, towards the coast, there are several magnificent buildings, of which Duff House, the principal seat of the family of Fife, Cullen House, the seat of the Earl of Findlater and Seafield, and Gordon Castle, the most princely mansion in the north of Scotland, are the most conspicuous. Around these, and a great number of gentlemen's seats in the interior, the plantations are extensive and ornamental; but the extent and the value of the natural woods is inconsiderable.

Calcareous substances in the form of marble, limestone, and marl, abound, yet, owing to the want of coals, the greater part of the lime used on the lands near the coast is brought from Sunderland. The other minerals most worthy of notice are freestone, granite, slate, brick-clay, to which must be added the rock-crystals and topazes, found on the mountain of Cairngorm, and other parts of that elevated range which forms the southern and western boundaries of Banffshire. In summer 1811, L. 2000 worth of these stones were found; and in some instances to the value of L. 200 in one day. Cudbear or cup-cadbear-moss, though certainly a vegetable substance, may be mentioned along with minerals, from its growing only in rocky mountainous situations. Its use in dyeing purple, after undergoing a simple preparation, is said to have been discovered by Mr Gordon, a gentleman of the parish of Kirkmichael in this county, before the year 1755. In 1808 and 1809 about L. 500 worth of it, gathered on the mountains of Banffshire, and those adjoining in Aberdeenshire, was purchased for the manufactures of Glasgow.

Neither the climate nor the soil of this county, Agriculture except along the coast, is favourable to extensive aration; the subsoil of the higher grounds being in general retentive of moisture, and grain very late in ripening. Only about a fourth part of its contents is considered to be at all fit for tillage. Almost all the crops usually cultivated in Scotland have, however, gained a firm footing here, though oats occupy by far the greatest proportion of the arable surface. In this, as in the other northern counties, the chief Banffshire, dependence of the husbandman is on his live stock; and there being comparatively few sheep, the tenantry look to their cattle as the great fund for paying rents and all other charges.

Farms are generally so small as scarcely to deserve the name, most of the land being parcelled out into holdings of less than 30 acres; and the management is but too often incorrect and unproductive. For what improvements have been made in its agriculture, this district is much indebted to one of the Earls of Findlater, who, so early as 1754, not only introduced and exhibited on some of his own farms the most approved practices then known in England, but held out liberal encouragement to his tenants to follow his example. The valued rent is L. 79,200 Scots; and in 1811, according to the assessment to the Property Tax, the real gross rent of the lands was L. 79,306, 3s. 4d., and of the houses L. 5514, 2s. Sterling. The valuation of estates held under entail is more than a half of the whole.

The mud buildings, common in some of the northern counties, called Auchenhalrig work, from a place of that name in Banffshire, have been found a cheap, and by no means a bad substitute for stone and lime walls in farm offices. About 30 carts of stones, round, or rather small, 10 carts of clay or mud, to which a certain proportion of sand is added, and 24 stone of straw, make a rood of 36 square yards. Several houses built of these materials have stood upwards of a hundred years.

There is scarcely any thing deserving the name of manufactures in this county. The linen, and more lately the cotton branches, employed a number of Banffshire hands, but both have declined of late. Coarse woollen stuffs are made in private families for home consumption; and tan-works, breweries, rope-works, &c. have been established on a small scale. Its commerce by Commerce. sea is equally inconsiderable. At the ports of Banff, Macduff, Portsoy, and Gardenstown, a few vessels carry on a little trade, chiefly coastwise, importing coals, iron, timber, and other necessary articles; and exporting salmon and other fish, butter, and a little grain. But the cattle driven to the southern markets make the principal returns. The salmon-Fishing Villages have been already noticed, and there are 10 fishing villages, which, besides yawls, employ from 50 to 60 boats in the white fishery. Herrings have lately appeared on this coast.

Several remains of antiquity are pointed out in different parts of Banffshire, of which the churches of Mortlach in the mountains, and Gamray on the shore, are perhaps the most remarkable; exhibiting the savage triumphs of our ancestors over the invading Danes 700 years ago, in their skulls built into the solid walls. Ruins of castles and traces of encampments are frequent; but scarcely any of those circles of stone are to be seen, which are supposed to belong to a much more remote age.

The population, as taken under the acts 1800 and 1811, is given in the table below; but it appears that, in some instances, the population of parishes, part of which lie in other counties, is included in the returns for these counties.

<table> <tr> <th colspan="3">HOUSES.</th> <th colspan="2">OCCUPATIONS.</th> <th colspan="3">PERSONS.</th> </tr> <tr> <th>Inhabited.</th> <th>By how many Families occupied.</th> <th>Uninhabited.</th> <th>Persons chiefly employed in Agriculture.</th> <th>Persons chiefly employed in Trade, Manufactures, or Handicraft.</th> <th>All other Persons not comprised in the two preceding classes.</th> <th>Male.</th> <th>Females.</th> <th>Total of Persons.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>7789</td> <td>8677</td> <td>166</td> <td>11,177</td> <td>4890</td> <td>18,288</td> <td>16,067</td> <td>19,740</td> <td>35,807</td> </tr> </table>

<table> <tr> <th colspan="3">HOUSES.</th> <th colspan="2">OCCUPATIONS.</th> <th colspan="3">PERSONS.</th> </tr> <tr> <th>Inhabited.</th> <th>By how many Families occupied.</th> <th>Building.</th> <th>Uninhabited.</th> <th>Families chiefly employed in Agriculture.</th> <th>Families chiefly employed in Trade, Manufactures, or Handicraft.</th> <th>All other Families not comprised in the two preceding classes.</th> <th>Males.</th> <th>Females.</th> <th>Total of Persons.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>8043</td> <td>8612</td> <td>63</td> <td>223</td> <td>3815</td> <td>2195</td> <td>2602</td> <td>16,465</td> <td>20,203</td> <td>36,668</td> </tr> </table>