a maritime county in the N.E. of Scotland, lying between Lat. 57° 6. and 57° 42. N., and Long. 2° 15. and 3° 40. N.; and bounded on the N. by the Moray Firth, E. and S. by Aberdeenshire, and W. by Morayshire and part of Inverness-shire. It has an area of 686 square miles, or 439,219 statute acres; its extent from N. to S. being 50 miles, and from E. to W. 32 miles; its average breadth not exceeding 12 miles. It contains 21 parishes, and parts of 10 others; has two royal and parliamentary burghs, Banff and Cullen; two burghs of barony, Macduff and Corncairn, in the parish of Orkquhill; and five harbours, Banff, Cullen, Macduff, Portsoy, and Portgordon. The parliamentary burghs are contributory to Elgin, but the county returns a member to parliament. The parliamentary constituency in 1852 was 851. The parochial schoolmasters, with those of the counties of Aberdeen and Moray, share in Dick's bequest.

The surface of Banffshire presents a very diversified aspect. The lower district, which is divided from the upper by a chain of hills, is a fine open country, of a rich, deep, and highly-cultivated soil, agreeably diversified with gentle risings and young plantations. The upper district is mountainous, and at a distance wears a bleak forbidding appearance. But the scene changes on a nearer approach. Extensive farms are found embosomed in its fertile and well-cultivated glens. Some of the mountains are covered with trees in full luxuriance of growth; some presenting a beautiful intermixture of rock and copse, while others are covered with brown heath. The Spey flows along its western, and the Deveron along its eastern boundary; and both yield a considerable revenue from their salmon fisheries. The principal mountains of Banffshire are Beirinnes, Knockhill, and Cairngorm, the last of which attains an elevation of 4065 feet above the level of the sea. In the lower part of the country, towards the coast, there are several elegant mansions, of which the most conspicuous are Daft House, Cullen House, Park House, Forlgen House, and Gordon Castle. These, and a number of gentlemen's seats in the interior, are surrounded by extensive ornamental plantations, very tastefully laid out. The natural woods are inconsiderable both in extent and value.

The southern boundary of the county is mountainous, and is chiefly composed of gneiss and mica slate, through which granite and syenite often protrude. The granite to the eastward of Portsoy has very little mica in its composition; Banffshire. the quartz assumes that letter-like form in the felspar, from which it has been termed graphic granite. Quartz rock appears, in the hill near Portsoy, to exist in beds, on which repose a bed of most beautifully varied serpentine. In descending towards the coast, the primary rocks give place to graywacke-slate, which occasionally contains beds of the limestone peculiar to this formation; and these rocks are covered by the old red sandstone, which sometimes passes into quartz rock. In the graywacke near Keith, a vein of sulphuret of antimony occurs, associated with fluor spar. The bold and precipitous Troup Head, and several other parts of the coast, consist of a graywacke formation. Near Gamrie, in a bed of a bluish marly clay, are imbedded nodules of a fibrous limestone, which frequently contains fine specimens of ichthyolites or fossil fishes; of these the most remarkable species are Cheiroplepis uragus, Cheirocanthus Murchisoni, and Osteolepis arenatus. The clay is, near the farm of Findon, about 40 feet deep, in the bottom of a ravine, the sides of which consist of old red sandstone. It extends over a considerable district; and to the westward of Banff affords many organic remains. Cudbear, or archil, a lichen used as a dye, is found growing in rocky situations.

The agriculture of Banffshire is conducted upon the newest and most approved principles. The soil, though varying even in adjacent fields, is in general rich and productive, yielding heavy crops of wheat, barley, oats, and other grain; and the grass and green crops are equally abundant. About 124,000 acres are under cultivation. The extent of the farms is in general from 150 to 200 arable acres, independently of moorland and pasture-grounds. The duration of leases is nineteen years; although there are some individuals who possess on fifteen, and a few leases are held for a longer term. The whole of the farms, even the smallest pendicles, are under regular rotations of cropping, generally a five or seven course shift. The fields are well laid out and subdivided, and properly cleaned and manured; for which last purpose large quantities of lime, bone-dust, and guano, are annually imported. The ridges are all straight; and the fields, at least many of them, are inclosed with stone dykes or other fences. The swamps and wet grounds have also been drained and cultivated, so as to effect a total revolution in the ancient modes of agriculture within the county. The cattle and stock of every description are of the finest breeds which can be procured, and are sought after by the dealers at home, as well as conveyed to London, where they bring the highest prices.

This district was much indebted to one of the earls of Findlater, who, as early as the year 1754, not only introduced and exemplified 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; and his descendant, the late Earl of Seafield, did much to improve the family estates, adding to them many thousands of acres of arable land; and with truth it may be said that he was the greatest planter of trees in Great Britain within the present century. In 1846 this nobleman received the honorary gold medal of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, for his vast and thriving plantations of useful timber trees, in the counties of Banff, Moray, and Nairn. From the year 1811 to 1845, he had planted 18,938,234 Scotch firs; 11,904,798 larches; 843,450 hard woods; making the enormous aggregate of 31,686,472 forest trees, planted in 8223 acres of inclosed ground.

This county also owes much to the present Earl of Fife, by whose generous efforts, and taste for improvement, a vast amount has been done in planting and reclaiming land by favourable leases to the tenantry, and allowances for draining, &c. Green crop cultivation did not become general till after the commencement of the late war with France. Latterly, improvement has been promoted by agricultural associations, the annual premiums held out for the best specimens of live stock, and the best productions of the soil. The Banffshire Agricultural Association, which numbers about 200 members, has two shows yearly, for all sorts of stock and produce and agricultural implements, with premiums for superiority in breed of cattle, poultry, &c. The valued rental of the county is now upwards of £1,150,000 sterling.

The manufactures of Banffshire are very unimportant, the inhabitants being principally engaged in agriculture and the rearing of cattle. The salmon fishery is actively prosecuted on the rivers, and the herring and other fisheries on the coast. Distilling is largely carried on in Glenlivet and other places.

Banffshire was the scene of many bloody conflicts between the Scots and their Danish invaders, but details of these encounters belong more properly to the history of Scotland. From 1624 to 1645 it was the theatre of almost incessant struggles. The Covenanting troubles of that period, combined with the frequent conflicts of the clans, were productive of serious evils. Several remains of antiquity are pointed out in different parts of the country. Of these the churches of Mortlach and Gamrie are perhaps the most remarkable. Ruins of castles and traces of encampments are often to be met with, and a great number of cairns and tumuli are also found. Among the distinguished men whom Banffshire has produced, the following may be mentioned: Archbishop Sharp of St Andrews; George Baird, distinguished for his services as sheriff of the county during the time of the Covenanters; Thomas Ruddiman the grammarian; Walter Goodall, the defender of Mary Queen of Scots; and James Ferguson the astronomer. The population of the county in 1841 and in 1851, was as follows—the apparent decrease of the number of houses in 1851 arising from stories let to different families being frequently reckoned houses in the census of 1841:

| Houses | Persons | |--------|---------| | | | | 1841 | 11,149 | 474 | 82 | 23,240 | 26,430 | 49,679 | | 1851 | 10,662 | 377 | 62 | 25,575 | 28,596 | 54,171 |