This Story is about an area of Banff which used to be known as “Painted Effie”. The first record found of this name is in the Burgh Records for 1763 when the “Magistrates and Council, considering the necessity for the town having a washing-green and washing-house for the conveniency of the inhabitants” named a Committee to execute this plan “adjacent to…Painted Effie). Most houses at this time did not have their own water supply, instead there were a number of springs and wells from which people had to go to get their water; occasionally a cistern – a tank – was installed so that it could fill slowly and provide a buffer supply.
There were at least two springs at Painted Effy, or Painted Effie. By July 1765 a Washing House had been built “with four fire places and a separate room for keeping clothes”, plus four bleaching greens, “with proper reservoirs of water and everything necessary for the convenience of those who incline to wash there”. A description by Sheriff-Clerk Gordon Hossack in a paper given to the Banffshire Field Club described Painted Effie as it was when he was a youngster in the mid-1800s: “a pretty green grass park intersected with several canals of sparkling pure water supplied from a dome shaped cistern called ‘the fountain’”. It was this structure that gave the name to today’s “Fountain Street”. From 1780 one of the Painted Effie springs also supplied water to the Banff Brewery – located where the “Meadowlands” shop is today.
A “bleaching green” is an area of open land where clothes could be laid out and whitened by the sun. No suggestion has been found it was part of the older linen industry in Banff.
A house was also built for the person who looked after the wash house. The first person to do this was a Jean Milne.
The earliest map that has a building on the site is dated 1775; the next detailed map is the first Ordnance Survey map of 1868 which names the area. The road shown down to Painted Effie is today Wood Street; even into the late 20th century this was a roadway which led to Scotstown, but today it is just a footpath.
As can be seen on this map, Painted Effie was out of town – the road called “Rope Walk” on this map is today’s Campbell Street. When the Wash-house was first built in 1765 the only houses in this direction were along St Catherine Street, so Painted Effie really was out of town. The town was growing fast and by 1902 Wood Street and Fountain Street were in place and the wash-house at Painted Effie was not in use, because generally houses had their own water supply and a communal wash place was no longer needed. The last record that can be found of “Painted Effie” being officially used as a placename was in 1930.
Today small elements of the original 1765 Wash-House exist, but the building was extended in 1902 to form what is today 8 Fountain Street – the FWB above the door standing for Frances W Bruce. Part of the original Wash House wall can still be seen today, in a private garden, as just a wall, extending out from the present house. The Wash House – by then a shed – was replaced in 2006 and is now part of the house. An old fireplace was found – but it is unclear if that was original or not.
The whole subject became a substantial debate in the newspapers in 1990 over the derivation of the name “Painted Effie”, or as on the OS map “Paintedeffie”. There is a story, recounted by Gordon Hossack, that his mother told him it was named after a Euphemia, a name commonly shortened to Effie. While certainly there were several people called Euphemia living in Banff in the 18th and 19th centuries, none are listed as living in this part of town, although of course she may have been there before printed records. The story goes that the “Painted” came from Euphemia being so careful and precise that the local word “pointed” was given to her, which got changed over time to “painted”. However even in the 1763 Burgh records Painted Effie was an established placename; it is doubtful therefore that such derivation is more than a local tale.
Other derivations suggested during this debate 30 odd years ago included:
“Pen-dau-alvie” – celtic, even pictish, words, meaning “Headland of two Rocks”; this does sort of fit, not today, but think of the Elf-Kirk Rock – that used to be one of two rocks until the railway blasted it away; a similar derivation has also been suggested for the harbour head, Meavie Point, possibly derived from “Pen-mi-aivie”, headland of the single rock. One 18th century record recalling the name as “Pentit Effie” has been found, and Scotstown was sometimes called Painted Effie, both of which may support this derivation;
“Pant na Feidh” meaning “marshy hollow”;
From the middle English word “Affere” meaning a display – for the beautiful sunsets; although others suggest that our ancestors rather looked out to sea to keep a watch for the dreaded Viking longships.
We’ll never know the true derivation, but it will no doubt remain an intriguing name.
In 1759 Richard Birnie was born in Banff. He came from a respectable family and when he was old enough he was apprenticed to a saddler. Later he travelled to London to take up a position with McIntosh and Co., Saddlers and Harness Makers in Haymarket. This company undertook work for the royal family and Richard was often asked for by the Prince of Wales.
As his work was sought after by a member of the royal family, he advanced within the company and in time became a foreman and later, a partner in the business. In 1798, he married Louisa Birrell, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, and had a family.
In time he became a magistrate at Bow Street. He is famous for having led the police in the arrest of the Cato Street conspirators on 23rd February 1820. This was a group of twenty-seven men who had devised a plot to murder the entire British Cabinet, whom they blamed for the poor conditions for ordinary people in the country at the time. George Edwards, one of the conspirators, showed the others a copy of the New Times which stated that the Cabinet ministers were going to dine together at Lord Harrowby’s home in Grosvenor Square. The conspirators plotted to assassinate the ministers there. The group were betrayed by a spy in their ranks and that allowed Richard Birnie and the metropolitan police to arrest them before they could act.
Although there was such a large group, only eleven men were arrested. They were brought to trial and of these, five admitted their guilt and were transported, the other five were hung. The last one of the eleven was the spy.
Later at Queen Caroline’s funeral in 1821, a mob of people was becoming unruly and Sir Robert Baker, the Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, was urged to read the Riot Act but he did not, so Richard Birnie stepped up and read it. Sir Robert Baker resigned and Richard Birnie was promoted in his place. Shortly after the funeral, Richard Birnie received a knighthood.
Sir Richard Birnie died on 29th April 1832 and was buried in St Martin in the Fields cemetery.
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This was soon after the 1914-18 war. The mortars went off at the coastguard station. My pal said: “Come on, we’ll get a badge”. So off we set at a run for the lifeboat station, then sited at the Macduff end of Banff Bridge. Arriving there we found the skipper throwing out armbands, the badges I mentioned. Of course a couple came our way, which meant we were to tail on to one of the ropes with which the boat was hauled to the launching place, in this case Macduff Harbour. The actual crew were all volunteers but all of them were seamen.
The boat, named George and Mary Berrey, was fitted with oars and sail only, and sat on a wheeled launching carriage. We were soon on our way, and when we arrived at Macduff, the crew all got on board. Mr Paterson, the harbour master, directed operations. There was a kind of slip, a very narrow passage, which the boat had to enter in order to be launched on an even keel, and this proved very difficult to accomplish. Skipper Dowffie (his nickname, not his surname) becoming impatient, shouted to “dump her ower the pier,” but Mr Paterson objected, saying it might damage the keel.
“Fit’s a coat o’ paint fan men’s lives may be at stake” was the answer he got, and we got a shout to let her go. Whoever worked the release pin did just that, and the boat plunged off the pier bow first, went well underneath the surface, and bobbed up again like the proverbial cork. A complete ducking for a start did not in the least dismay the bold skipper and his crew. The boat was well on its way when it was recalled. It had all been a false alarm!
When we arrived back at the lifeboat shed, the boat was housed and everything made shipshape. We handed in our armbands and a sum of four shillings [20p] was paid to each of us hauliers – very welcome for the little we did.
This story is almost word for word from Memories of My Young Days in Banff by A.R. in the Banffshire Journal Annual for 1965. He spelt the boat’s name George and Mary Berry, but I’m trusting the RNLI plaque in Banff Museum. In 1923 they closed the lifeboat station at the bridge and moved it to Whitehills.
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This continues from the first part of the story posted a week ago.
WILLIAM DUNCAN, 1846-1921 Part 2 of 2
William Duncan was a very enterprising man. He was on various committees and organised the first Masonic Lodges in the Chickasaw Nation. Through his connections as a Scottish Rite Shriner, he heard that the Rock Island Railroad was to be extended and built across his land. He immediately ordered a new store to be built nearer to the railroad site as well as new homes for himself and family members. William had always held the Native Indian people in high regard but ignored their advice not to build his new store in the location he had chosen near the new railway line. They warned him it would be right in the cyclone path but William had already made promises to rail road officials so he went ahead.
The area was unfortunately struck by cyclones several times over the years with a particularly bad one in 1898 flattening most of the town. The demolished buildings were rebuilt with stronger materials and life went on.
Tornado damage at Duncan, 1898
He established ‘city’ limits when other families started to arrive. The town of Duncan was officially named on 27th June 1892 when the first train passed through. By all accounts it was a day of great celebration opening up endless possibilities for the small town, bringing goods and passengers faster than by road and was a mechanical link to the rest of the country. The Duncan band played and there was a party and barbeque which lasted for three days. Chief Quanah Parker, the last Comanche Chief, attended with hundreds of his ‘braves’ from their reservation near Fort Sill, making a colourful sight and a great time was had by all. The anniversary of that day was celebrated for many years after with people coming from miles away in wagons, buggies and on horseback.
Comanche Chief Quanah Parker
1892 Duncan’s first passenger train
1892 was also a sad year for the Duncan family as William’s other two daughters, Ruth and Christina, died of typhoid fever when it swept through the country and they are buried next to their Macduff grandmother, Ann. All three daughters were gone but William still had his three sons, William junior known as ‘Red Bill’, James known as ‘Big Jim’ and Gregg. That same year William ordered the building of the first Baptist Church in ‘Duncan’ which also served as a meeting place. The first school followed soon after.
In 1895, William sold his store, gave up his position as postmaster and concentrated on rearing dairy cattle. William wanted to share his good fortune and encouraged other family members from Scotland to join him. His sister, Isabella Duncan had a large family and two of her daughters, Agnes and Barbara Kelman and a son, Alex Kelman travelled over one by one and made their home there.
Alex Kelman became one of the best known ‘ropers and riders’ at rodeos in the country but tragically died age 40 when he was thrown from his horse. William’s brother James also had two sons, William and Jim Duncan who left Scotland and settled in Duncan, Oklahoma. Out-with his own family, he paid for several other young Scots to travel over, using their skills to help build his town. In return, they settled there and had good lives.
William was described as being cultured, refined and a fine conversationalist, liberal to a fault and never forgetting a friend or those in distress, indulgent to his family and a moral, upstanding man. Mrs Geneva Thurlo, wife of US Marshall Ed Thurlo of the town described William Duncan as being “one of the finest, kindest men I have ever known”.
In 1905, William and Sallie, affectionately known in the town as Uncle Bill and Aunt Sallie, decided to retire due to William’s failing health. They moved, at first, to California to be nearer to son, Jim’s family. Later, they moved again to Bremerton, Washington to be nearer the sea which served as a reminder of William’s homeland. Sallie died there in 1914.
1907 brought statehood to the Indian and Oklahoma Territories and Duncan was made the county seat of Stephens County. It became the 46th state to enter the Union.
William Duncan c1917
In 1919, William and his great niece travelled back to Duncan, Oklahoma for a visit. William did not recognise the place. It was bustling with faces he did not recognise. The population was growing especially since the recent discovery of oil in the region. He suffered a short illness while there and was unable to return home for a few weeks.
William Duncan died in Bremerton in 1921. His legacy is the town, now a city, which was named after him and the many Scots people who followed him to Oklahoma. There is no statue or memorial for him. There is one for Earle P. Haliburton who founded the oil company based there.
Daily Oklahoma article remembering the founder of the town of Duncan
Note from the author Sonia Packer:
My information has been gathered over many months from descendants of the Duncan family including direct descendants of William Duncan who hold stories and photographs; from archives and news stories; from the Stephens County Historical Museum in Duncan, who have a portrait and personal possessions that belonged to William and from the Oklahoma History site. The Chisholm Trail Heritage Centre is also in Duncan, Oklahoma.
I descend from William’s sister, Annie Duncan who married a farmer and lived in Alvah, Banffshire all her life. William was my 2 x great uncle. William’s mother, Ann Kinnaird was my maternal 3 x great grandmother. Her sister, Helen Kinnaird, who married James Watt, a fisherman from Crovie, Gardenstown was my paternal 2 x great grandmother. Helen’s 2x great grandsons are the founders of Macduff Shipyards.
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Everyone has read stories, or seen films, about the Wild West – the American Frontier – as people started moving westwards, populating and developing the land. The “hey day” of this was from the end of the American Civil War in 1865 for about quarter of a century – and right in the middle of that was a Macduff loon…..
We are very grateful to Sonia Packer – born in Banff – for this Story. She is the great great niece of William Duncan, the subject of this absolutely fascinating bit of history.
WILLIAM DUNCAN, 1846-1921 Part 1 of 2
William Duncan was the eldest of ten children born to James Duncan, a dock labourer and cooper who lived in Gellymill Street, Macduff with his wife, Ann Kinnaird who came from a farm in Gamrie.
Macduff Harbour circa 1870
William initially worked in Macduff as a tailor. In 1863 he joined the Royal Navy. Not much is known about his experiences in the Navy but it is thought that it triggered his desire to explore the world. In 1866, age 20, William travelled from Glasgow to New York on the SS Caledonia and his new life far away from Scotland began.
At first he worked in any job he could find, gradually moving westward until he landed in Sebastian County, Arkansas. It is believed he used his tailoring skills to make military uniforms at Fort Smith. The whole area was under reconstruction following the end of the Civil War. Soon after, he moved to Stonewall, in the wilds of the Indian Territory, working as a clerk at a trading store and in 1868 he married Martha Patsy Hall. They went on to have three daughters and three sons. Their eldest child, a daughter, died as a baby. Martha died in 1878 following the birth of their sixth child. The following year he married his second wife; Sarah Jane Thornhill, known as Sallie, the widow of a Chickasaw Indian. She was a white girl but had been accepted by the Chickasaw Indians and spoke their language. The family moved to Fort Sill (formerly Camp Wichita) where William again used his tailoring skills. In 1882 William bought a general store at Cow Creek, close to the Chisholm Trail.
Chisholm Trail cowboys on the Prairie
The trail, named after its developer, Jesse Chisholm, was used to drive longhorn cattle between Texas and the railroad markets at Kansas, so William’s store was ideally positioned to supply trade to the cattle herders/cowboys, ranchers and American Indian people from nearby reservations. The customers at his trading post also included some of the outlaws who used the Territory as a hideout – resulting in some tense moments! Supplies for his store mainly came by freight wagons from Gainesville, Texas.
William Duncan in younger years
In 1884, William Duncan was also officially elected as Postmaster, a position he held for 11 years and the Duncan post office was established. As Sallie was legally classed as an ‘intermarried white’, she and William had a right to Indian Territory land so they claimed hundreds of acres surrounding their store. He started to build, expand and lease out areas to be brought to a state of cultivation. Over time, large numbers of people came to settle there and the little town of Duncan became well known. There was plenty of grass and water and the store supplied everything required for farming.
In 1888 William sent money home to Macduff so that his parents and some other family members could come and join him. In March that year their long journey began. The party consisted of James and Ann Duncan, their daughter Barbara with her husband Arthur Horne (his family owned the Crown Temperance Hotel and Stables in Banff and ran the first ‘penny bus’ service between Banff and Macduff) with their young son Joseph. Also in the party was another daughter, Agnes – who was married to Macduff man, Charlie Birnie – and her two young children, William and baby Annabella. The family first travelled by train from Macduff to Glasgow then by ship (the SS Furnessia) to New York, a journey of several weeks. A train from New York took them to Gainesville, Texas where they rested before being transferred by covered wagon to William’s home at Cow Creek. Ann Duncan sadly died there just a few months after their arduous journey.
Main Street, Duncan 1894
Agnes Duncan and her husband remained in Oklahoma and raised their large family there. Barbara Duncan and her husband, Arthur Horne returned home to Banff as the pioneer life did not suit them. James Duncan also went home to Scotland shortly after the death of his wife but returned to visit his son, William, in 1895 and they always kept in close contact.
Watch this space for the second part of William Duncan’s development of “his” town of Duncan.
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The Ogilvies of Boyne were very important round here for more than 200 years. Sir Walter Ogilvie was body squire to two kings, James III and James IV, and in 1486 was given the thanage of Boyne. He was Sheriff of Banff, and married an heiress, Margaret Sinclair of Deskford and Findlater. His great-grandson, Alexander, in 1562 entertained the young Mary Queen of Scots at Craig of Boyne. “After dining at Craig she proceeded to Banff, where she supped and slept”. Alexander caught the eye of her lady-in-waiting, Mary Beaton, and married her in 1566. Do you remember the song “Yestreen the Queen had four Maries, Tonight she’ll hae but three. There was Mary Beaton, and Mary Seton, and Mary Carmichael, and me”? Alexander built Boyne Castle, a fitting place for a lady brought up in the chateaux of France, but it bankrupted him.
The Ogilvies were all intermarried. Alexander’s son James married Isobel Ogilvie of Dunlugas, and when he died she married an Ogilvie of Glassaugh. Their daughter Marie married an Ogilvie of Carnousie and Knock, and her older brother James married a sister of Lord Findlater, another Ogilvie. That James had a short but interesting life. In 1623 he and five other Ogilvies was up in court for attacking and beating the minister of Forres in church. That didn’t stop him being appointed a JP for Banffshire later the same year. Two years later he went overseas, though we don’t know where, and was never heard of again. He wisely left a will naming executors to look after the children “till they be of perfect age of fourteen”.
His son Walter lived through the Civil War. First he backed the Covenant against the King, and in 1645 Montrose’s army swept through the north. “The Laird himself kept the Craig of Boyne, wherein he was safe, but his haill lands for the most part were burnt up and destroyed”. His views changed, as he found the Covenanters too extreme, and he became an “Engager” and supported the King. So he was on the losing side when Cromwell won the battle of Worcester, and was disciplined by the church when he got home. However, in 1660 there was the Restoration, and Sir Walter (note the ‘Sir’) now was on the winning side.
His son Sir Patrick was the greatest of the line, for 24 years one of the two MPs for Banffshire, and a Judge of the Court of Session, as Lord Boyne, “one of the most remarkable and many-sided men Banffshire has ever produced (Alistair Tayler)”. He did a lot for Portsoy, finding the funds for building the harbour, and protecting the marble quarries. But he never could balance his books, and there was public scandal about his young third wife and Campbell of Cawdor. And he was a Jacobite in the days of Queen Anne. He claimed to have had an interview with the Queen, and to have persuaded her to recognize her half-brother (the Old Pretender, James VIII and III) as her heir. In the end in 1705 he was bought out by his cousin, the Earl of Findlater and Seafield, who let the family stay on in the castle but took the estates, the land between Banff and Portsoy.
In fact Sir Patrick’s son James was a committed and active Jacobite, over in France from 1707, plotting to bring a French fleet. In 1708 he landed at Gamrie to get ready for them, but the fleet turned tail. Of course in 1715 he was back for the real rebellion. He was Brigadier Ogilvie at the Battle of Sheriffmuir (“Some say that we won, and some say that they won”) in 1716, and after that we have a proclamation from him to “All noblemen, barons… and all others the fencible men .., to meet and convene at the Gallowhill of Banff”. No-one came, and it was the last straw for Lord Findlater, who ejected James’s wife from Boyne Castle. He fled to France. The Stuart royal family paid for his son’s funeral in 1717. James died in 1728, the last Ogilvie of Boyne.
The Boyne townhouse is still there on Church Street in Banff, with a later facing, but the core is there.
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The bombing of the Duff House Prisoner of War camp on 22nd July 1940 is well known – there are other stories on this website and a book by the Friends of Duff House, “Out of the Blue”; not least the joint British and German memorial outside Duff House close to where one of the bombs exploded.
There are however several so far unexplained mysteries around the whole matter of PoW Camp No5; ie Duff House.
Why were there so many regiments represented at Duff House in July 1940. We know – mainly from the hospital records – that men from at least 8 regiments were stationed here.
Secondly, although the British did a monthly report called “General Return of the Strength of the British Army”, Duff House is not listed as having any soldiers in July 1940 – although clearly there were!
Thirdly, is this tied in with why there is no MoD file on PoW Camp No5 ? There is a file on 4 and 6, but no 5 – or at least not until 1944 when PoW Camp 5 was opened at Cookstown in Northern Ireland. Yet there is a 1940 War Office letter referring to Duff House and PoW Camp No5, so there Is firm evidence!
Fourthly, what was the reason that the prisoners were housed inside Duff House itself, and the guards were in the Nissen huts to the east? We know for sure the prisoners were inside, we even know which rooms some of them had, based on their own later correspondence.
But the biggest mystery of all might be just why was the whole crew, except the captain, of the U-26, were transported all the way from southern Ireland to the north of Scotland. An admission from the submarine radio operator, to a Canadian radio station, a couple of years before he died in 2013 might provide a clue. Previous reports had always implied that the Germans had sunk the submarine before the British, from HMS Rochester, had been able to get on board, even though every single German crew member was rescued. But Paul Mengelberg amended this in his radio interview, and admitted that the British did board the submarine.
HMS Rochester
There is no evidence but one possible reason this had not become known earlier, and perhaps explaining why 40 Germans had been transported hundreds of miles to Banff, has to do with the code that the Germans were using, and the British were trying to break – the Enigma machine. The official records show that the British were not able to read the german messages until at least March 1941. But did they actually get their hands on an enigma machine in July 1940 – and needed to keep that quiet so the Germans would not know they were reading messages?
It seems unlikely we’ll ever know, but it is intriguing that Duff House may have been part of such an important element in the war.
The earliest known photo of Duff House appears in Imlach’s book “History of Banff” and is dated 1868. Before that there are a number of etchings (starting with one after Cordiner in 1779) and some paintings.
The earliest photo shows the main house looking not too dissimilar to the Duff House of today. The east extension that was bombed in July 1940 was only built in 1871 and hence doesn’t appear in this photo. Instead, the photo shows a smaller separate building immediately to the east of the House; this was a kitchen building, because the original main part of the House didn’t include one – it had been designed for the west wing that was never built.
A small photo found in a private collection is believed to date from about 1885 to 1890. This has three carriages, each with two horses, drawn up outside, with the vestibule door open to the balcony. This was perhaps on the occasion of some party being held by the Duffs – although the grass at the front doesn’t look very tidy!
By the very late nineteenth century picture postcards were starting; the earliest postmarked date found for Duff House is two in 1903. As the views show different aspects of what is at the front of Duff House, one of the photos must be earlier in date! Based on other, later, photos, it seems the fence around the apron was added later, some postcards showing it was effective at keeping sheep out.
By 1908 Duff House was a hotel. There are a couple of photos with old cars in front of the House, and one dated 1913 shows the first tennis court in front.
After 1913 it became the Sanatorium, a sort of health spa but also conducting research into diabetes and other digestive disorders. A booklet was produced at this time, and although no date is given, the wording suggests it has not been open very long. The west wing, now gone, also appears to have gained a taller chimney.
Then from 1923 it was once again a hotel, advertising it’s golf course, and other sports. This clearly included tennis as the courts out the front seemed to have been improved and with a higher fence.
Once this closed down in 1928 the House stood empty – and the grounds look quite uncared for. This particular postcard was postmarked and dated by the sender as 1947 – after the bombing – but clearly the photo must have been taken before 1940 as the east wing is shown as undamaged. This highlights the care that must be taken when using postcards! The War Office took over Duff House in 1940, initially as an internment camp, then POW Camp No 5. Although no photos exist until after the war, from that point on Duff House is much better documented.
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The earliest map that shows any level of detail for Banff or Macduff is dated AD 1600 and names the towns of Banff and Doun, also the settlements of Gellymill, Barnhill and Tarlair. But it also shows the shape of the river mouth, clearly indicating the bar coming from the Doun (Macduff) side. This expanded estuary covers a much larger area than the river does today, and may well have included not just Greenbanks, but the low lying land where Duff House now stands.
The next image is the first indication of what is a harbour, essentially shared between both Banff and Macduff. Unfortunately it is a century and a half later before there is another map that gives any detail of the area. This is the map produced by General Roy in the aftermath of Culloden, to inform the government of potential routes for it’s army around Scotland. The bar from the Macduff side is clearly still shown, with Greenbanks still submerged. Duff House is now shown (“Braco’s House”) and the Temple of Venus.
The very detailed map of Macduff in 1763 shows not only the shape of the river, but clearly how the river mouth is used by substantial ships (of their day) as a harbour. Interestingly this map also shows the piers of the first Banff Bridge, not reportedly completed until 1765. This map was commissioned as part of the town planning for the new town of Doune – not named as Macduff until 1783.
Note: the next available maps are 1772 and 1775. The former does not show any Banff Bridge, as it had been swept away in 1768. The Taylor & Skinner map of 1775 shows the new Banff Bridge.
There are also some images which clearly show the estuary, inland of the Bar, being used for shipping. The colour drawing is 1839. The black and white photos are late in the 1800’s. By then there was a shipyard on the Banff side of the river mouth.
https://banffmacduffheritagetrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Finden-1839.jpg10711697Ian Williamshttps://banffmacduffheritagetrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Two-Towns-Big-Ideas-PB-Grant-Fund-Logo-300x281.jpgIan Williams2022-05-30 22:13:292022-05-30 22:14:52The First Harbour of Macduff
King David I of Scotland, who reigned from 1124 to 1153, once held court in Banff. The monks of the Pictish abbey of Deer, over in Buchan, copied a charter from the king into the Book of Deer, and the charter says that the monks had made their case before the king at Banff. The Book of Deer still exists, so here, in 12C hand-writing, is clear evidence of a 12C king holding court in Banff.
David I was the son of King Malcolm Canmore and his wife St Margaret of Scotland. When he was nine he went to England with his sister, who married King Henry I of England. David became Earl of Huntingdon in England. Two of his older brothers were kings of Scotland before him, so we had three “sons of Margaret” on the throne. David brought Norman barons back to Scotland with him, including the families of Balliol, Bruce, and FitzAlan (later Stewart), all of whom became the royal families of Scotland in turn. King David built many monasteries, which led his descendant King James VI to call him “a sair sanct for the croun” (a sore saint for the crown). He was in fact, a good king, remembered as St David of Scotland, and his feast day is May 24. Few kings since have been considered saints.
The picture shows King David with his grandson and successor, King Malcolm IV, and comes from a 12C charter of Kelso Abbey, which he founded. Early medieval art was not very skilled at catching a likeness. We can tell them apart because the young king Malcolm the Maiden was beardless.
We should show you the evidence that the king was in Banff. It was a royal castle. Kings would go round their castles, and they and their retainers would eat up all the food in store, and then move on to another. Other kings came here later for the same reason.
Look where the handwriting changes in the page, with a big D for David at the start of a line. Four lines down can you see ‘ap. banb’? That is ‘at Banff’.
So there we are.
The Book of Deer will be on display in Aberdeen in the summer of 2022, so you can go and see for yourself.
https://banffmacduffheritagetrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/david_malcolm151a.jpg225297Banff Preservation and Heritage Societyhttps://banffmacduffheritagetrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Two-Towns-Big-Ideas-PB-Grant-Fund-Logo-300x281.jpgBanff Preservation and Heritage Society2022-05-09 09:57:142022-05-09 09:57:18A Royal Visit
Painted Effie
Stories, Town lifeThis Story is about an area of Banff which used to be known as “Painted Effie”. The first record found of this name is in the Burgh Records for 1763 when the “Magistrates and Council, considering the necessity for the town having a washing-green and washing-house for the conveniency of the inhabitants” named a Committee to execute this plan “adjacent to…Painted Effie). Most houses at this time did not have their own water supply, instead there were a number of springs and wells from which people had to go to get their water; occasionally a cistern – a tank – was installed so that it could fill slowly and provide a buffer supply.
There were at least two springs at Painted Effy, or Painted Effie. By July 1765 a Washing House had been built “with four fire places and a separate room for keeping clothes”, plus four bleaching greens, “with proper reservoirs of water and everything necessary for the convenience of those who incline to wash there”. A description by Sheriff-Clerk Gordon Hossack in a paper given to the Banffshire Field Club described Painted Effie as it was when he was a youngster in the mid-1800s: “a pretty green grass park intersected with several canals of sparkling pure water supplied from a dome shaped cistern called ‘the fountain’”. It was this structure that gave the name to today’s “Fountain Street”. From 1780 one of the Painted Effie springs also supplied water to the Banff Brewery – located where the “Meadowlands” shop is today.
A “bleaching green” is an area of open land where clothes could be laid out and whitened by the sun. No suggestion has been found it was part of the older linen industry in Banff.
A house was also built for the person who looked after the wash house. The first person to do this was a Jean Milne.
The earliest map that has a building on the site is dated 1775; the next detailed map is the first Ordnance Survey map of 1868 which names the area. The road shown down to Painted Effie is today Wood Street; even into the late 20th century this was a roadway which led to Scotstown, but today it is just a footpath.
As can be seen on this map, Painted Effie was out of town – the road called “Rope Walk” on this map is today’s Campbell Street. When the Wash-house was first built in 1765 the only houses in this direction were along St Catherine Street, so Painted Effie really was out of town. The town was growing fast and by 1902 Wood Street and Fountain Street were in place and the wash-house at Painted Effie was not in use, because generally houses had their own water supply and a communal wash place was no longer needed. The last record that can be found of “Painted Effie” being officially used as a placename was in 1930.
Today small elements of the original 1765 Wash-House exist, but the building was extended in 1902 to form what is today 8 Fountain Street – the FWB above the door standing for Frances W Bruce. Part of the original Wash House wall can still be seen today, in a private garden, as just a wall, extending out from the present house. The Wash House – by then a shed – was replaced in 2006 and is now part of the house. An old fireplace was found – but it is unclear if that was original or not.
The whole subject became a substantial debate in the newspapers in 1990 over the derivation of the name “Painted Effie”, or as on the OS map “Paintedeffie”. There is a story, recounted by Gordon Hossack, that his mother told him it was named after a Euphemia, a name commonly shortened to Effie. While certainly there were several people called Euphemia living in Banff in the 18th and 19th centuries, none are listed as living in this part of town, although of course she may have been there before printed records. The story goes that the “Painted” came from Euphemia being so careful and precise that the local word “pointed” was given to her, which got changed over time to “painted”. However even in the 1763 Burgh records Painted Effie was an established placename; it is doubtful therefore that such derivation is more than a local tale.
Other derivations suggested during this debate 30 odd years ago included:
We’ll never know the true derivation, but it will no doubt remain an intriguing name.
Sir Richard Birnie (1759 to 1832)
Famous people, Uncategorizedhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
In 1759 Richard Birnie was born in Banff. He came from a respectable family and when he was old enough he was apprenticed to a saddler. Later he travelled to London to take up a position with McIntosh and Co., Saddlers and Harness Makers in Haymarket. This company undertook work for the royal family and Richard was often asked for by the Prince of Wales.
As his work was sought after by a member of the royal family, he advanced within the company and in time became a foreman and later, a partner in the business. In 1798, he married Louisa Birrell, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, and had a family.
In time he became a magistrate at Bow Street. He is famous for having led the police in the arrest of the Cato Street conspirators on 23rd February 1820. This was a group of twenty-seven men who had devised a plot to murder the entire British Cabinet, whom they blamed for the poor conditions for ordinary people in the country at the time. George Edwards, one of the conspirators, showed the others a copy of the New Times which stated that the Cabinet ministers were going to dine together at Lord Harrowby’s home in Grosvenor Square. The conspirators plotted to assassinate the ministers there. The group were betrayed by a spy in their ranks and that allowed Richard Birnie and the metropolitan police to arrest them before they could act.
Although there was such a large group, only eleven men were arrested. They were brought to trial and of these, five admitted their guilt and were transported, the other five were hung. The last one of the eleven was the spy.
Later at Queen Caroline’s funeral in 1821, a mob of people was becoming unruly and Sir Robert Baker, the Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, was urged to read the Riot Act but he did not, so Richard Birnie stepped up and read it. Sir Robert Baker resigned and Richard Birnie was promoted in his place. Shortly after the funeral, Richard Birnie received a knighthood.
Sir Richard Birnie died on 29th April 1832 and was buried in St Martin in the Fields cemetery.
A BOY’S-EYE VIEW OF THE OLD LIFEBOAT
Maritime, Town life, UncategorizedThis was soon after the 1914-18 war. The mortars went off at the coastguard station. My pal said: “Come on, we’ll get a badge”. So off we set at a run for the lifeboat station, then sited at the Macduff end of Banff Bridge. Arriving there we found the skipper throwing out armbands, the badges I mentioned. Of course a couple came our way, which meant we were to tail on to one of the ropes with which the boat was hauled to the launching place, in this case Macduff Harbour. The actual crew were all volunteers but all of them were seamen.
The boat, named George and Mary Berrey, was fitted with oars and sail only, and sat on a wheeled launching carriage. We were soon on our way, and when we arrived at Macduff, the crew all got on board. Mr Paterson, the harbour master, directed operations. There was a kind of slip, a very narrow passage, which the boat had to enter in order to be launched on an even keel, and this proved very difficult to accomplish. Skipper Dowffie (his nickname, not his surname) becoming impatient, shouted to “dump her ower the pier,” but Mr Paterson objected, saying it might damage the keel.
“Fit’s a coat o’ paint fan men’s lives may be at stake” was the answer he got, and we got a shout to let her go. Whoever worked the release pin did just that, and the boat plunged off the pier bow first, went well underneath the surface, and bobbed up again like the proverbial cork. A complete ducking for a start did not in the least dismay the bold skipper and his crew. The boat was well on its way when it was recalled. It had all been a false alarm!
When we arrived back at the lifeboat shed, the boat was housed and everything made shipshape. We handed in our armbands and a sum of four shillings [20p] was paid to each of us hauliers – very welcome for the little we did.
This story is almost word for word from Memories of My Young Days in Banff by A.R. in the Banffshire Journal Annual for 1965. He spelt the boat’s name George and Mary Berry, but I’m trusting the RNLI plaque in Banff Museum. In 1923 they closed the lifeboat station at the bridge and moved it to Whitehills.
MACDUFF – and the WILD WEST – part 2
Famous people, Stories, Town lifeIntroduction
This continues from the first part of the story posted a week ago.
WILLIAM DUNCAN, 1846-1921 Part 2 of 2
William Duncan was a very enterprising man. He was on various committees and organised the first Masonic Lodges in the Chickasaw Nation. Through his connections as a Scottish Rite Shriner, he heard that the Rock Island Railroad was to be extended and built across his land. He immediately ordered a new store to be built nearer to the railroad site as well as new homes for himself and family members. William had always held the Native Indian people in high regard but ignored their advice not to build his new store in the location he had chosen near the new railway line. They warned him it would be right in the cyclone path but William had already made promises to rail road officials so he went ahead.
The area was unfortunately struck by cyclones several times over the years with a particularly bad one in 1898 flattening most of the town. The demolished buildings were rebuilt with stronger materials and life went on.
He established ‘city’ limits when other families started to arrive. The town of Duncan was officially named on 27th June 1892 when the first train passed through. By all accounts it was a day of great celebration opening up endless possibilities for the small town, bringing goods and passengers faster than by road and was a mechanical link to the rest of the country. The Duncan band played and there was a party and barbeque which lasted for three days. Chief Quanah Parker, the last Comanche Chief, attended with hundreds of his ‘braves’ from their reservation near Fort Sill, making a colourful sight and a great time was had by all. The anniversary of that day was celebrated for many years after with people coming from miles away in wagons, buggies and on horseback.
1892 was also a sad year for the Duncan family as William’s other two daughters, Ruth and Christina, died of typhoid fever when it swept through the country and they are buried next to their Macduff grandmother, Ann. All three daughters were gone but William still had his three sons, William junior known as ‘Red Bill’, James known as ‘Big Jim’ and Gregg. That same year William ordered the building of the first Baptist Church in ‘Duncan’ which also served as a meeting place. The first school followed soon after.
In 1895, William sold his store, gave up his position as postmaster and concentrated on rearing dairy cattle. William wanted to share his good fortune and encouraged other family members from Scotland to join him. His sister, Isabella Duncan had a large family and two of her daughters, Agnes and Barbara Kelman and a son, Alex Kelman travelled over one by one and made their home there.
Alex Kelman became one of the best known ‘ropers and riders’ at rodeos in the country but tragically died age 40 when he was thrown from his horse. William’s brother James also had two sons, William and Jim Duncan who left Scotland and settled in Duncan, Oklahoma. Out-with his own family, he paid for several other young Scots to travel over, using their skills to help build his town. In return, they settled there and had good lives.
William was described as being cultured, refined and a fine conversationalist, liberal to a fault and never forgetting a friend or those in distress, indulgent to his family and a moral, upstanding man. Mrs Geneva Thurlo, wife of US Marshall Ed Thurlo of the town described William Duncan as being “one of the finest, kindest men I have ever known”.
In 1905, William and Sallie, affectionately known in the town as Uncle Bill and Aunt Sallie, decided to retire due to William’s failing health. They moved, at first, to California to be nearer to son, Jim’s family. Later, they moved again to Bremerton, Washington to be nearer the sea which served as a reminder of William’s homeland. Sallie died there in 1914.
1907 brought statehood to the Indian and Oklahoma Territories and Duncan was made the county seat of Stephens County. It became the 46th state to enter the Union.
In 1919, William and his great niece travelled back to Duncan, Oklahoma for a visit. William did not recognise the place. It was bustling with faces he did not recognise. The population was growing especially since the recent discovery of oil in the region. He suffered a short illness while there and was unable to return home for a few weeks.
William Duncan died in Bremerton in 1921. His legacy is the town, now a city, which was named after him and the many Scots people who followed him to Oklahoma. There is no statue or memorial for him. There is one for Earle P. Haliburton who founded the oil company based there.
Note from the author Sonia Packer:
My information has been gathered over many months from descendants of the Duncan family including direct descendants of William Duncan who hold stories and photographs; from archives and news stories; from the Stephens County Historical Museum in Duncan, who have a portrait and personal possessions that belonged to William and from the Oklahoma History site. The Chisholm Trail Heritage Centre is also in Duncan, Oklahoma.
I descend from William’s sister, Annie Duncan who married a farmer and lived in Alvah, Banffshire all her life. William was my 2 x great uncle. William’s mother, Ann Kinnaird was my maternal 3 x great grandmother. Her sister, Helen Kinnaird, who married James Watt, a fisherman from Crovie, Gardenstown was my paternal 2 x great grandmother. Helen’s 2x great grandsons are the founders of Macduff Shipyards.
MACDUFF – and the WILD WEST
Famous people, Stories, Town lifeIntroduction
Everyone has read stories, or seen films, about the Wild West – the American Frontier – as people started moving westwards, populating and developing the land. The “hey day” of this was from the end of the American Civil War in 1865 for about quarter of a century – and right in the middle of that was a Macduff loon…..
We are very grateful to Sonia Packer – born in Banff – for this Story. She is the great great niece of William Duncan, the subject of this absolutely fascinating bit of history.
WILLIAM DUNCAN, 1846-1921 Part 1 of 2
William Duncan was the eldest of ten children born to James Duncan, a dock labourer and cooper who lived in Gellymill Street, Macduff with his wife, Ann Kinnaird who came from a farm in Gamrie.
William initially worked in Macduff as a tailor. In 1863 he joined the Royal Navy. Not much is known about his experiences in the Navy but it is thought that it triggered his desire to explore the world. In 1866, age 20, William travelled from Glasgow to New York on the SS Caledonia and his new life far away from Scotland began.
At first he worked in any job he could find, gradually moving westward until he landed in Sebastian County, Arkansas. It is believed he used his tailoring skills to make military uniforms at Fort Smith. The whole area was under reconstruction following the end of the Civil War. Soon after, he moved to Stonewall, in the wilds of the Indian Territory, working as a clerk at a trading store and in 1868 he married Martha Patsy Hall. They went on to have three daughters and three sons. Their eldest child, a daughter, died as a baby. Martha died in 1878 following the birth of their sixth child. The following year he married his second wife; Sarah Jane Thornhill, known as Sallie, the widow of a Chickasaw Indian. She was a white girl but had been accepted by the Chickasaw Indians and spoke their language. The family moved to Fort Sill (formerly Camp Wichita) where William again used his tailoring skills. In 1882 William bought a general store at Cow Creek, close to the Chisholm Trail.
The trail, named after its developer, Jesse Chisholm, was used to drive longhorn cattle between Texas and the railroad markets at Kansas, so William’s store was ideally positioned to supply trade to the cattle herders/cowboys, ranchers and American Indian people from nearby reservations. The customers at his trading post also included some of the outlaws who used the Territory as a hideout – resulting in some tense moments! Supplies for his store mainly came by freight wagons from Gainesville, Texas.
In 1884, William Duncan was also officially elected as Postmaster, a position he held for 11 years and the Duncan post office was established. As Sallie was legally classed as an ‘intermarried white’, she and William had a right to Indian Territory land so they claimed hundreds of acres surrounding their store. He started to build, expand and lease out areas to be brought to a state of cultivation. Over time, large numbers of people came to settle there and the little town of Duncan became well known. There was plenty of grass and water and the store supplied everything required for farming.
In 1888 William sent money home to Macduff so that his parents and some other family members could come and join him. In March that year their long journey began. The party consisted of James and Ann Duncan, their daughter Barbara with her husband Arthur Horne (his family owned the Crown Temperance Hotel and Stables in Banff and ran the first ‘penny bus’ service between Banff and Macduff) with their young son Joseph. Also in the party was another daughter, Agnes – who was married to Macduff man, Charlie Birnie – and her two young children, William and baby Annabella. The family first travelled by train from Macduff to Glasgow then by ship (the SS Furnessia) to New York, a journey of several weeks. A train from New York took them to Gainesville, Texas where they rested before being transferred by covered wagon to William’s home at Cow Creek. Ann Duncan sadly died there just a few months after their arduous journey.
Agnes Duncan and her husband remained in Oklahoma and raised their large family there. Barbara Duncan and her husband, Arthur Horne returned home to Banff as the pioneer life did not suit them. James Duncan also went home to Scotland shortly after the death of his wife but returned to visit his son, William, in 1895 and they always kept in close contact.
Watch this space for the second part of William Duncan’s development of “his” town of Duncan.
THE OGILVIES OF BOYNE
UncategorizedThe Ogilvies of Boyne were very important round here for more than 200 years. Sir Walter Ogilvie was body squire to two kings, James III and James IV, and in 1486 was given the thanage of Boyne. He was Sheriff of Banff, and married an heiress, Margaret Sinclair of Deskford and Findlater. His great-grandson, Alexander, in 1562 entertained the young Mary Queen of Scots at Craig of Boyne. “After dining at Craig she proceeded to Banff, where she supped and slept”. Alexander caught the eye of her lady-in-waiting, Mary Beaton, and married her in 1566. Do you remember the song “Yestreen the Queen had four Maries, Tonight she’ll hae but three. There was Mary Beaton, and Mary Seton, and Mary Carmichael, and me”? Alexander built Boyne Castle, a fitting place for a lady brought up in the chateaux of France, but it bankrupted him.
The Ogilvies were all intermarried. Alexander’s son James married Isobel Ogilvie of Dunlugas, and when he died she married an Ogilvie of Glassaugh. Their daughter Marie married an Ogilvie of Carnousie and Knock, and her older brother James married a sister of Lord Findlater, another Ogilvie. That James had a short but interesting life. In 1623 he and five other Ogilvies was up in court for attacking and beating the minister of Forres in church. That didn’t stop him being appointed a JP for Banffshire later the same year. Two years later he went overseas, though we don’t know where, and was never heard of again. He wisely left a will naming executors to look after the children “till they be of perfect age of fourteen”.
His son Walter lived through the Civil War. First he backed the Covenant against the King, and in 1645 Montrose’s army swept through the north. “The Laird himself kept the Craig of Boyne, wherein he was safe, but his haill lands for the most part were burnt up and destroyed”. His views changed, as he found the Covenanters too extreme, and he became an “Engager” and supported the King. So he was on the losing side when Cromwell won the battle of Worcester, and was disciplined by the church when he got home. However, in 1660 there was the Restoration, and Sir Walter (note the ‘Sir’) now was on the winning side.
His son Sir Patrick was the greatest of the line, for 24 years one of the two MPs for Banffshire, and a Judge of the Court of Session, as Lord Boyne, “one of the most remarkable and many-sided men Banffshire has ever produced (Alistair Tayler)”. He did a lot for Portsoy, finding the funds for building the harbour, and protecting the marble quarries. But he never could balance his books, and there was public scandal about his young third wife and Campbell of Cawdor. And he was a Jacobite in the days of Queen Anne. He claimed to have had an interview with the Queen, and to have persuaded her to recognize her half-brother (the Old Pretender, James VIII and III) as her heir. In the end in 1705 he was bought out by his cousin, the Earl of Findlater and Seafield, who let the family stay on in the castle but took the estates, the land between Banff and Portsoy.
In fact Sir Patrick’s son James was a committed and active Jacobite, over in France from 1707, plotting to bring a French fleet. In 1708 he landed at Gamrie to get ready for them, but the fleet turned tail. Of course in 1715 he was back for the real rebellion. He was Brigadier Ogilvie at the Battle of Sheriffmuir (“Some say that we won, and some say that they won”) in 1716, and after that we have a proclamation from him to “All noblemen, barons… and all others the fencible men .., to meet and convene at the Gallowhill of Banff”. No-one came, and it was the last straw for Lord Findlater, who ejected James’s wife from Boyne Castle. He fled to France. The Stuart royal family paid for his son’s funeral in 1717. James died in 1728, the last Ogilvie of Boyne.
The Boyne townhouse is still there on Church Street in Banff, with a later facing, but the core is there.
A bombing enigma
Military, StoriesThe bombing of the Duff House Prisoner of War camp on 22nd July 1940 is well known – there are other stories on this website and a book by the Friends of Duff House, “Out of the Blue”; not least the joint British and German memorial outside Duff House close to where one of the bombs exploded.
There are however several so far unexplained mysteries around the whole matter of PoW Camp No5; ie Duff House.
Why were there so many regiments represented at Duff House in July 1940. We know – mainly from the hospital records – that men from at least 8 regiments were stationed here.
Secondly, although the British did a monthly report called “General Return of the Strength of the British Army”, Duff House is not listed as having any soldiers in July 1940 – although clearly there were!
Thirdly, is this tied in with why there is no MoD file on PoW Camp No5 ? There is a file on 4 and 6, but no 5 – or at least not until 1944 when PoW Camp 5 was opened at Cookstown in Northern Ireland. Yet there is a 1940 War Office letter referring to Duff House and PoW Camp No5, so there Is firm evidence!
Fourthly, what was the reason that the prisoners were housed inside Duff House itself, and the guards were in the Nissen huts to the east? We know for sure the prisoners were inside, we even know which rooms some of them had, based on their own later correspondence.
But the biggest mystery of all might be just why was the whole crew, except the captain, of the U-26, were transported all the way from southern Ireland to the north of Scotland. An admission from the submarine radio operator, to a Canadian radio station, a couple of years before he died in 2013 might provide a clue. Previous reports had always implied that the Germans had sunk the submarine before the British, from HMS Rochester, had been able to get on board, even though every single German crew member was rescued. But Paul Mengelberg amended this in his radio interview, and admitted that the British did board the submarine.
There is no evidence but one possible reason this had not become known earlier, and perhaps explaining why 40 Germans had been transported hundreds of miles to Banff, has to do with the code that the Germans were using, and the British were trying to break – the Enigma machine. The official records show that the British were not able to read the german messages until at least March 1941. But did they actually get their hands on an enigma machine in July 1940 – and needed to keep that quiet so the Germans would not know they were reading messages?
It seems unlikely we’ll ever know, but it is intriguing that Duff House may have been part of such an important element in the war.
Duff House in Photos
Stories, Town lifeThe earliest known photo of Duff House appears in Imlach’s book “History of Banff” and is dated 1868. Before that there are a number of etchings (starting with one after Cordiner in 1779) and some paintings.
The earliest photo shows the main house looking not too dissimilar to the Duff House of today. The east extension that was bombed in July 1940 was only built in 1871 and hence doesn’t appear in this photo. Instead, the photo shows a smaller separate building immediately to the east of the House; this was a kitchen building, because the original main part of the House didn’t include one – it had been designed for the west wing that was never built.
A small photo found in a private collection is believed to date from about 1885 to 1890. This has three carriages, each with two horses, drawn up outside, with the vestibule door open to the balcony. This was perhaps on the occasion of some party being held by the Duffs – although the grass at the front doesn’t look very tidy!
By the very late nineteenth century picture postcards were starting; the earliest postmarked date found for Duff House is two in 1903. As the views show different aspects of what is at the front of Duff House, one of the photos must be earlier in date! Based on other, later, photos, it seems the fence around the apron was added later, some postcards showing it was effective at keeping sheep out.
By 1908 Duff House was a hotel. There are a couple of photos with old cars in front of the House, and one dated 1913 shows the first tennis court in front.
After 1913 it became the Sanatorium, a sort of health spa but also conducting research into diabetes and other digestive disorders. A booklet was produced at this time, and although no date is given, the wording suggests it has not been open very long. The west wing, now gone, also appears to have gained a taller chimney.
Then from 1923 it was once again a hotel, advertising it’s golf course, and other sports. This clearly included tennis as the courts out the front seemed to have been improved and with a higher fence.
Once this closed down in 1928 the House stood empty – and the grounds look quite uncared for. This particular postcard was postmarked and dated by the sender as 1947 – after the bombing – but clearly the photo must have been taken before 1940 as the east wing is shown as undamaged. This highlights the care that must be taken when using postcards! The War Office took over Duff House in 1940, initially as an internment camp, then POW Camp No 5. Although no photos exist until after the war, from that point on Duff House is much better documented.
The First Harbour of Macduff
Maritime, StoriesThe earliest map that shows any level of detail for Banff or Macduff is dated AD 1600 and names the towns of Banff and Doun, also the settlements of Gellymill, Barnhill and Tarlair. But it also shows the shape of the river mouth, clearly indicating the bar coming from the Doun (Macduff) side. This expanded estuary covers a much larger area than the river does today, and may well have included not just Greenbanks, but the low lying land where Duff House now stands.
The next image is the first indication of what is a harbour, essentially shared between both Banff and Macduff. Unfortunately it is a century and a half later before there is another map that gives any detail of the area. This is the map produced by General Roy in the aftermath of Culloden, to inform the government of potential routes for it’s army around Scotland. The bar from the Macduff side is clearly still shown, with Greenbanks still submerged. Duff House is now shown (“Braco’s House”) and the Temple of Venus.
The very detailed map of Macduff in 1763 shows not only the shape of the river, but clearly how the river mouth is used by substantial ships (of their day) as a harbour. Interestingly this map also shows the piers of the first Banff Bridge, not reportedly completed until 1765. This map was commissioned as part of the town planning for the new town of Doune – not named as Macduff until 1783.
Note: the next available maps are 1772 and 1775. The former does not show any Banff Bridge, as it had been swept away in 1768. The Taylor & Skinner map of 1775 shows the new Banff Bridge.
There are also some images which clearly show the estuary, inland of the Bar, being used for shipping. The colour drawing is 1839. The black and white photos are late in the 1800’s. By then there was a shipyard on the Banff side of the river mouth.
A Royal Visit
Famous people, Stories, Town lifeKing David I of Scotland, who reigned from 1124 to 1153, once held court in Banff. The monks of the Pictish abbey of Deer, over in Buchan, copied a charter from the king into the Book of Deer, and the charter says that the monks had made their case before the king at Banff. The Book of Deer still exists, so here, in 12C hand-writing, is clear evidence of a 12C king holding court in Banff.
David I was the son of King Malcolm Canmore and his wife St Margaret of Scotland. When he was nine he went to England with his sister, who married King Henry I of England. David became Earl of Huntingdon in England. Two of his older brothers were kings of Scotland before him, so we had three “sons of Margaret” on the throne. David brought Norman barons back to Scotland with him, including the families of Balliol, Bruce, and FitzAlan (later Stewart), all of whom became the royal families of Scotland in turn. King David built many monasteries, which led his descendant King James VI to call him “a sair sanct for the croun” (a sore saint for the crown). He was in fact, a good king, remembered as St David of Scotland, and his feast day is May 24. Few kings since have been considered saints.
The picture shows King David with his grandson and successor, King Malcolm IV, and comes from a 12C charter of Kelso Abbey, which he founded. Early medieval art was not very skilled at catching a likeness. We can tell them apart because the young king Malcolm the Maiden was beardless.
We should show you the evidence that the king was in Banff. It was a royal castle. Kings would go round their castles, and they and their retainers would eat up all the food in store, and then move on to another. Other kings came here later for the same reason.
Look where the handwriting changes in the page, with a big D for David at the start of a line. Four lines down can you see ‘ap. banb’? That is ‘at Banff’.
So there we are.
The Book of Deer will be on display in Aberdeen in the summer of 2022, so you can go and see for yourself.