mostly covered at high water. About the middle of this dangerous ridge, there is a gap or what the fishermen term a hause-called "The Trath," through which, at stream tides, small vessels occasionally pass. The villages of Inverallochy and Cairnbulg are practically one large sea-town, the only division being a very small stream of water. Together, they number some 260 houses, and have a population of over 1100 inhabitants. The provision of an adequate harbour for these villages and the neighbouring village of St. Combs has been discussed for several years, but the question has been complicated by a "battle of sites" between Whitelinks Bay and Westhaven. A light railway is about to be constructed between Fraserburgh and St. Combs for the convenience of the fishermen in these villages in prosecuting their calling from the harbour at Fraserburgh during the fishing seasons.

The Castle of Inverallochy, a bare and desolate ruin, is situated a little inland from the village of Inverallochy-is, indeed, nearer St. Combs. It occupies three sides of a courtyard, with a high enclosing wall along the fourth or south side, the sides being all of unequal length. The castle belonged to the powerful house of Comyn, and was probably built by one of that family. There is no date to the building, and no satisfactory account can be obtained of its origin and fortunes. It is said that, in the end of the last century, a stone was discovered in the vicinity, which had obviously been placed over the entrance to the castle. It bore the sculptured arms of the Comyns, with the following legend

"I Jurdun Comyn, indwaller here,

Gat this hous and lands for biggin' the Abey o' Deer."

It is pointed out in Macgibbon and Ross's "Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland" (ii., 331) that, "As the Abbey of Deer was erected in the beginning of the thirteenth century, it is obvious that its builder, William Comyn, and the builder of Inverallochy were separated from each other by centuries, so that the foregoing rhyme, in whatever way it may be explained, gives no information as to the date of the castle."* Possibly the rhyme refers to the square tower, the original part of the building. The castle and estate of Inverallochy belong to the Frasers of Castle Fraser, Aberdeenshire. The family was founded by the Hon. Simon Fraser, a son of the eighth Lord Fraser of Philorth, who married the daughter of the seventh Earl of Buchan. The name of Mackenzie was assumed by the family, in addition to that of Fraser, by royal licence, soon after the foundation of the house. The third Fraser of Inverallochy was succeeded in possession of the estate by his eldest daughter. She married

*The authors further say-"On making inquiry regarding the above stone, we were informed by a very old man that a carved stone taken from the castle was built in the walls of a neighbouring cottage. Thinking this might be what we were in search of, we visited the cottage, and found, instead of it, the stone shown in Fig. 782. It measures about 18 inches by 12 inches, and contains a shield within a quatrefoil, the whole encircled by a ribbon, having an inscription, of which only a letter here and there can be made out. Of these, on the upper part of the ribbon, are the initials, "W.C.," doubtless those of William Comyn. The arms on the shield are unfortunately too much wasted to be made out. In this cottage was the old chair shown in Fig. 783, believed to have been part of the furniture of the castle."

Mr. Colin Mackenzie of Kilcoy, and her second son, a distinguished soldier and M.P. for Ross-shire, succeeded to Inverallochy, and derived from his maternal aunt the estate of Castle Fraser. This gentleman married a daughter of Lord Seaforth, and was succeeded by his elder son, Charles, who married a daughter of Sir John Hay of Hayston, Bart. Charles died in 1871, and was succeeded by his fourth and youngest son, Colonel Frederick Mackenzie Fraser, who died without issue in 1897.

About two miles to the north-west of Inverallochy Castle, the old road from Peterhead to Fraserburgh crosses the Water of Philorth, and a quarter of a mile above the bridge, on the east bank of the stream, stands the Castle of Cairnbulg. It is placed on a knoll, which, at some former time, had probably been surrounded by a moat, and it is at the distance of about three-quarters of a mile from the sea. The old castle had evidently been a structure of imposing magnitude. It is thus described in Macgibbon and Ross's work (i., 309)—

Cairnbulg Castle consists of buildings of two periods. There is first the large oblong keep, which probably dates at the earliest from the end of the fifteenth century, and the buildings of a later date, which have been so contrived as to convert Cairnbulg into a castle with diagonally opposite towers, the old keep being made available as one of these towers. The keep is oblong on plan, with a projection for the wheel staircase at the south-east end. It measures 41 feet in length by 29 feet 8 inches along the west end, and along the east end and staircase projection it measures 40 feet, with walls from 6 feet to 7 feet