Lost Banff and Buchan

A compelling and imaginative journey into the past, packed with anecdotes, facts, and fascinating characters, Lost Banff and Buchan uncovers many aspects of the region north of Aberdeen and east of Moray that is neither highland nor lowland, depopulated nor populous. In addition to buildings, transportation networks, industries, and ways of life that no longer exist, from whaling to whiskey smuggling, the book also considers other elements that have been forgotten over time. There are lost people, such as the pilots of the Banff Strike Wing who fought valiantly against the German Navy during World War II; the lost University of Fraserburgh, founded in 1595 but defunct by 1605; the village of Burnhaven, destroyed to make room for Peterhead Prison; and a lost literary master—the Turriff man who wrote Argenis, arguably the first novel ever written by a British person. This chronicle revives the dormant history that has shaped this region to reveal a land of surprising contrasts.