Findlater Castle

The morning dawned fair and first thing I helped my sister-in-law to become au fait with being a Guest on blip. Then we went into Turriff to meet up with three other members of the family for a walk along the coast, once we had made short shrift of more home made tattie soup and home made oatcakes.

We drove through Banff to start our walk at Sandend, which is perhaps the smallest of the many old fishing villages scattered along the north-facing coasts of Moray and Aberdeenshire and also probably one of the most attractive. The beach here is popular in summer with families and surfers and extends about half a mile to the east but today it was populated by gulls and oyster catchers who were revelling in the foamy surf rolling in across the flat sand. The oldest part of Sandend hugs the south side of its tiny harbour. The village actually predates many of the much larger towns and villages along this coast, being very well established by the early 1600s. The harbour however,was constructed in the 1800s, and it seems likely that most of the fisher cottages that huddle around it date back to around the same time. These cottages, along with those in several other fishing villages along this coast, have houses with their gable ends facing seawards to help them withstand the winds coming off the sea. They are also built very closely together for further protection from the winds. Sandend is also well known for its old smokehouses where the fishermen used to smoke their catch. There are several still standing today - wonderful old wooden constructions.

We set off along a well signed path with the rugged cliffs just below us. Numerous sea birds were perched on the rocks and cliff sides enjoying the relatively mild day.A mile to the west along the coast we came across Findlater Castle whose ruins are perched, as you can see, precariously on an outcrop of rock projecting from the cliffs. There has been some form of fortification on the site since at least the 13th century, but the remaining buildings probably date from the late 14th century when the castle was owned by the Sinclairs, or possibly from the mid 15th century when it passed to the Ogilvies. In 1546 Sir Alexander Ogilvie disinherited his son and signed the property over to Sir John Gordon, son of the Earl of Huntly. James Ogilvie, the disinherited son, was keen to get his lands back and used his influence as Steward to Queen Mary's household to try and settle the matter. When, in 1562, Sir John Gordon refused to surrender the castle and grant entrance to Mary, Queen of Scots, she sent a company of troops to seize it. They were defeated by Sir John Gordon, but he in turn was defeated at the Battle of Corrichie, and taken to Aberdeen where he was beheaded. The castle was returned to the Ogilvies, but they abandoned it soon after 1600 when they moved to a new home in a village nearby.

Having had a wonderful - if slightly risky - explore of the ruins we walked back along the coast to Sandend and then returned to Turriff by car, stopping in another delightful village called Portsoy for a very refreshing cuppa and cake. I had a wonderfully moist prune slice - a first for me! Apparently the recipe had asked for apricots but the lassie who did the baking only had prunes, so she used those to great effect!

We have had a great day with lots of banter , mostly in Doric, and I didn't even need too much translated, although I have learned a few more words! For example dinna dauchle meaning don't dally.