Banff
Banff is a town in the Banff and Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Banff is situated on Banff Bay and faces the town of Macduff across the estuary of the River Banff is a former royal burgh, as well as is the county town of the historical area of Banffshire. Banff's first castle was built to repel Viking intruders as well as a charter of 1163 AD reveals that Malcolm IV was living there at that time. Throughout this duration the town was an active trading centre in the "complimentary hanse" of Northern Scottish burghs, despite not having its own harbour up until 1775. The very first documented Sheriff of Banff was Richard de Strathewan in 1264, as well as in 1372 Royal Burgh condition was conferred by King Robert II. By the 15th century Banff was just one of three major communities exporting salmon to the continent of Europe, in addition to Aberdeen and also Montrose. There was a great deal of lawlessness in seventeenth-century Scotland, and a few of the worst transgressors were members of the nobility. According to records kept by chronicler William Cramond, the tolbooth (courthouse and also prison) of Banff was, in 1628, the site of a run-in between Lord Banff and also James Ogilvie, his relative. Reportedly, he struck James Ogilvie upon the head with a baton during a court hearing. Twenty of his friends as well as followers then assaulted Ogilvie with swords prior to chasing him into the street and also finishing him off with a handgun shot. Banff and Macduff are separated by the valley of the River Deveron. This unpredictable river was finally tamed by the 7 curved bridge finished in 1779 by John Smeaton. An earlier bridge had actually been constructed in 1765, yet was swept away in 1768. The old ferry was restored into usage, up until it was shed in a flood in 1773. A public conference was held in 1800 and also passed a resolution for the structure of a turnpike road in between Turiff as well as Banff as the existing roadway remained in an unfortunate state of fixing. Later on 19th century transport renovations consisted of the structure of two train lines, from Macduff to Turiff in 1860 and also the Banff, Portsoy as well as Strathisla Train in 1859 which connected to the main Aberdeen to Inverness line. During the 19th Century the Banff Fishery Area (comprising the ports from Crovie to Sandend) was essential to the herring profession, with manufacturing coming to a head in 1853 at more than sixty-thousand barrels, of which nearly thirty-four thousand were exported, nevertheless by 1912 production had decreased to just over 8 thousand barrels. Presently, the languages spoken in the town and in its area tend to be the Doric dialect of Scots, as well as English.
