BANFFSHIRE is bounded on the north by the Moray Frith, on the east and south-east by Aberdeenshire, and on the west by the counties of Moray and Inverness. It comprehends the districts of Strath-Doveran,Boyne, Enzie, Strathaven, Strathisia, Balvenie, and part of Buchan, and was a sheriffdom as early as the time of David I. The boundaries are very irregular, but it is estimated that the county has an area of 500 square miles, or 320,000 acres, of which about 120,000 are cultivated, 130,000 uncultivated, and 70,000 unprofitable. It contains 24 parishes. According to other calculations, Banffshire contains 647 square miles, or, exclusive of a space covered with water, 412,800 English acres. The face of the county is agreeably diversified with mountains and valleys, hills and plains, woods, rivers, and lakes. Along the coast, for about thirty miles, the soil is excellent, and produces heavy crops. In many inland parts also the land is in a state of high cultivation, and in the southern portions of the county, which are mostly mountainous, and only adapted for pasturage, there are many beautiful and fertile valleys. Agriculture is admirably conducted, and the Banffshire Fanners' Society, which has been in existence many years, has contributed much to these improvements. In the lower districts the farm-steadings are substantial and commodious; the fields are well inclosed either with hedges or stone dykes; large tracts of waste lands are annually added to that under cultivation; and the spirit of agricultural enterprise has so greatly extended itself, that the quantity of arable land is more than threefold what it was at the end of the eighteenth century. The sea-coast is rocky, much indented, and often bold and precipitous. The mountains in Banffshire are among the highest in Great Britain. Of these Cairngorm is upwards of 4000 feet above the level of the sea, Belrinnes, 2747 , Knockhill, the Buck of Cabrach, and others, nearly 2500 feet, besides numerous others of inferior and varied elevation. On the summits of several of the mountains are regular beds of moss, containing the remains of trees, plants, and vegetables. The minerals of Banffshire are various kinds of rocks, such as granite, gneiss, freestone, and lead and iron have been discovered. The rivers are the Spey, issuing from Loch Spey in Badenoch, and after a course of between eighty and ninety miles, falls into the Moray Frith below Fochabers. The Doveran, rising in the Hill of Cabrach; the Avon, augmented by the Lovat and other streams, is a tributary of the Spey; the smaller streams and mountain rivulets are too numerous to mention. The salmon-fishing in the Spey and the Doveran are most valuable, the former yielding a revenue of upwards of L.8000 per annum, the latter L.2000, chiefly derived from supplying the London market. The herring-fishery is now, next to Wick, the most important in the North of Scotland, and is prosecuted by the inhabitants along the coast with great success. In the interior the plantations and natural woods are most extensive, containing oaks and firs of immense size and dimensions; game of all kinds abound; and there is no want of amusement for the angler in the rivers. This county contains a great many towns and villages, resembling in this respect the county of Fife. Of these Banff and Cullen are royal burghs, and Keith, Newmill, Gardenstown, Dufftown, Buckle, Portsoy, and Macduff, are thriving villages, the population varying from 1000 to 3000. The manufactures of Banffshire are weaving, bleaching, flax-dressing, tanning, and distilling. The shipping, which is considerable, is chiefly confined to the ports of Banff, Macduff, Portsoy, and Gardenstown. In former times Banffshire was mostly included in the diocese of Moray, but it is now partly in the provincial Synod of Moray, and partly in that of Aberdeen. Its parochial schoolmasters, along with those of the adjoining counties of Elgin and Aberdeen, enjoy the benefit of the bequest of James Dick. Esq. of London, a native of the county of Elgin, and partly educated in Aberdeen and Banff shires, who left L.130,000 invested in the Funds for their benefit, which gives an addition to their salaries of from L.26 to L.30 per annum. There are numerous ruins of old castles, cairns, and other remains of antiquity in Banffshire, which are noticed under the several parishes. The county contains many fine seats, some of which are very magnificent and princely residences. Among these are Gordon Castle and Glenfiddich, belonging to the Duke of Richmond, as heir of entail to the last Duke of Gordon ; Duff House, Rothiemay, and Balveny Castle, Earl of Fife; Banff Castle and Cullen House, Earl of Seafield; Birkenbog and Forglen, Abercromby, Bart.; Troup, Garden, Esq.; Arndilly, Baldorney, Edingarth, Kinairdy, &c. The county sends one member to the Imperial Parliament; the constituency in 1838, according to the franchise of the Reform Bill, was 710; population in 1831, 48,604. Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of Scotland, circa 1841