Banff was the central point of Edward’s operations. Banff is a pleasant country town, situated on the southern shore of the Moray Firth. It lies on a gentle slope inclining towards the sea. In front of it is the harbour. Although improved by Telford, it is rather difficult of access and not much frequented except during the fishing season. Westward of Banff, a low range of hills lies along the coast. The burns of the Boyne, Portsoy, and Cullen cross the range, and run into the sea.
The fishing town of Macduff, which may be considered the port of Banff, lies about a mile to the eastward. To reach it, the river Deveron is crossed by one of Smeaton’s finest bridges. The harbour of Macduff is more capacious and more easy of entrance than that of Banff. Many foreign vessels are to be seen there in the fishing season, for the purpose of transporting the myriads of herrings which are daily brought in by the fishermen.
CLIFFS OF GAMRIE.
Eastward of Macduff, the coast becomes exceedingly rocky. The ridges of the hills, running down towards the sea, seem to have been broken off by the tremendous lashings of the waves at their feet, and thus the precipitous rocks descend in several places about six hundred feet to the shore. The coast scenery at Gamrie is unrivalled on the eastern shores of Scotland. The cliffs are the haunts of myriads of sea-fowl. “On a fine day,” says Edward, “and under the mild influence of a vernal and unclouded sun, the scene is particularly beautiful. The ocean lies tranquil, and stretched out before the spectator like an immense sheet of glass, smiling in its soft and azure beauty, while over its surface the kittywake, the guillemot, the razor-bill, and the puffin, conspicuous by the brilliant orange and scarlet of its bill and legs, are beheld wheeling with rapid wing in endless and varying directions. On firing a gun the effect is startling. The air is immediately darkened with the multitudes of birds which are roused by the report. The ear is stunned by the varied and discordant sounds which arise. The wailing note of the kittywake, the shrill cry of the tammy-norie, and the hoarse voice of the guillemot, resembling, as it were, the laugh of some demon in mockery of the intrusion of man amid these majestic scenes of nature;—all these combined, and mingled occasionally with the harsh scream of the cormorant, are heard above the roar of the ocean, which breaks at the foot of these tremendous and gigantic precipices.”
FISHING-BOAT FLEETS.
The view from the heights of Gamrie on a summer evening is exceedingly fine. The sea ripples beneath you. Far away it is as smooth as glass. During the herring season, the fishing-boats shoot out from the rocky clefts in which the harbours are formed. Underneath are the fishing-boats of Gardenstown; to the right those of Crovie. Eastward, you observe the immense fleet of Fraserburgh vessels, about a thousand in number, creeping out to sea. Westward, are the fishing-boats of Macduff, of Banff, Whitehills, Portsoy, Cullen, Sandend, Findochtie, and the Buckies, all making their appearance by degrees. The whole horizon becomes covered with fleets of fishing-boats. Across the Moray Firth, in the far distance, the Caithness mountains are relieved against the evening sky. The hills of Morven and the Maiden’s Pap are distinctly visible. The sun, as it descends, throws a gleam of molten gold across the bosom of the firth. A few minutes more and the sun goes down, leaving the toilers of the sea to pursue their labours amidst the darkness of the night.
Gamrie Head is locally called Mohr Head.[28] The bay of Gamrie is a picturesque indentation of the coast, effected by the long operation of water upon rocks of unequal solidity. The hills, which descend to the coast, are composed of hard grauwacke, in which is deeply inlaid a detached strip of mouldering old red sandstone. The waves of the German Ocean, by perpetual lashing against the coast, have washed out the sandstone, and left the little bay of Gamrie—the solid grauwacke standing out in bold promontories—Mohr Head on the one side, and Crovie Head on the other.
GARDENSTOWN AND CROVIE.
The fishing village of Gardenstown lies at the foot of the Gamrie cliffs. It is reached by a steep winding path down the face of the brae. The road descends from terrace to terrace. The houses look like eyries, built on ledges in the recesses of the cliff. As you proceed towards the shore, you seem to look down the chimneys of the houses beneath. The lower and older part of the village is close to the sea. The harbour seems as if made in a cleft of the rocks. The fishers of this village are a fine race of men, with a grand appearance. They are thorough Northmen; and but for their ancestors having settled at Gamrie, they might have settled in Normandy and “come in with the Conqueror” at the other end of the island.
A little eastward of Gardenstown is the little fishing village of Crovie, containing another colony of Northmen. Farther out to sea is the majestic headland of Troup. It is the home of multitudes of sea-birds. Its precipices are penetrated with caves and passages, of which the most remarkable are Hell’s Lum and the Needle’s Eye. Hell’s Lum[29] consists of a ghastly opening on the slope of the hill near Troup Head. From this opening to the sea there is a subterranean passage about a hundred yards long, up which, on the occasion of a storm, the waves are forced with great fury, until they find their escape by the “Lum” in the shape of dense spray. The other opening, the Needle’s Eye, runs quite through the peninsular rocky height. It is about a hundred and fifty yards long, and is so narrow that only one person at a time can with difficulty make his way through it.