Bisset is a surname of Scottish origin.
56-672: Sir Thomas Gray in his Scalacronica states that William the Lion in 1174, on his return from captivity in Falaise and in England, brought back young Englishmen of family to seek their fortune in the Scottish Court; and among these were named the "Biseys". The first of the name recorded in Scotland is Henricus Byset, who witnessed a charter by William the Lion granted before 1198. His son, John Byset, who witnessed
112-713: A Brittonic cognate of the Welsh form din . In this region, substitution of the Brittonic form by the Gaelic equivalent may have been widespread in toponyms. The Dacian dava (hill fort) is probably etymologically cognate. In some areas duns were built on any suitable crag or hillock, particularly south of the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth . There are many duns on the west coast of Ireland and they feature in Irish mythology . For example,
168-648: A hanse (trading league). The Diocese of Aberdeen was in existence by the 1150s. Like much of Scotland, the influence of clans led by powerful families was significant. Many such clans in Aberdeenshire came to prominence in the 12th and 13th centuries, including the clans of Mar , Leslie , Bissett , Comyn and Cheyne . During the English invasion of 1296 , the English army under Edward I took control of Aberdeen Castle . The following year, William Wallace surprised
224-619: A registration county . The area of the historic county excluding the Aberdeen City council area is also a lieutenancy area . The area is generally hilly. The south-west of the county includes part of the Grampian Mountains . The historic county borders Kincardineshire , Angus and Perthshire to the south, Inverness-shire and Banffshire to the west, and the North Sea to the north and east. The area which would become Aberdeenshire
280-437: A sheriff ) are obscure. There is some evidence that it was a shire from the time of David I (reigned 1124–1153), but the earliest documented Sheriff of Aberdeen was in the 13th century. The sheriff's jurisdiction covered the older provinces of Buchan , Formartine , Garioch , and Marr (or Mar). Over time, Scotland's shires became more significant than the old provinces, with more administrative functions being given to
336-449: A charter by Henry de Graham in 1204, was the individual who obtained from the king the grant of lands in the north. In 1242 the power of the Bissets was brought to a sudden end, though they still continued to be a family of importance. At a tournament held at Haddington in that year Walter Byset, lord of Aboyne, was worsted by the young earl of Atholl. In revenge Byset is stated to have burned
392-500: A hundred years after Bruce's death in 1329, there was intermittent conflict in the shire. The English burned Aberdeen itself in 1336. The dispossession and re-settlement of the districts of Buchan and Strathbogie caused numerous disputes. Moreover, the crown had embroiled itself with some of the Highland chieftains, whose independence it sought to abolish. This policy culminated in the invasion of Aberdeenshire by Donald of Islay, Lord of
448-470: A more productive soil developed out of such unpromising material. Farm-houses and steadings have much improved, and the best agricultural implements and machines get widespread use. About two-thirds of the population depend entirely on agriculture. Farms are small compared with those in the south-eastern counties. Oats form the predominant crop, wheat has practically gone out of cultivation, but barley has largely increased. The most distinctive industry in 1911
504-474: A very important part of the North East economy. Farm sizes are perhaps still relatively smaller than UK but there are some significant agribusinesses in Aberdeenshire. Few farmers raise horses, though horses are more common, kept by private owners & specialists, than in any other area of Scotland. In 1911 a large fishing population in villages along the coast engage in the white and herring fishery, fostering
560-486: Is an ancient or medieval fort. In Great Britain and Ireland it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse . The term comes from Irish dún or Scottish Gaelic dùn (meaning "fort"), and is cognate with Old Welsh din (whence Welsh dinas "city" comes). In certain instances, place-names containing Dun- or similar in Northern England and Southern Scotland , may be derived from
616-445: Is only separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land. There are noted chalybeate springs at Peterhead, Fraserburgh, and Pannanich near Ballater . Other lochs of note are Loch Kinord , Loch Davan , Dubh Loch , Lochnagar , Loch Callater , Loch nan Eun and the Loch of Skene . The greater part of the county is composed of crystalline schists belonging to the metamorphic rocks of
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#1733084692559672-553: The Cairngorms provide the most striking of the physical features of the county. Munros (peaks over 3000 feet) in the county include: Farther north rise the Buck of Cabrach, 722 m (2,369 ft) on the Banffshire border, Tap o' Noth , 558 m (1,831 ft), Bennachie , 518 m (1,699 ft), which from its central position is a landmark visible from many different parts of
728-564: The Civil Wars . On 6 September 1715 John Erskine, Earl of Mar initiated the Jacobite rising of 1715 at Braemar in support of the claim of James Francis Edward Stuart to the throne. Stuart arrived in Scotland from his exile in France, landing at Peterhead on 22 December 1715. The rising was unsuccessful and by February 1716 Stuart was back in France. The collapse of the 1715 rising ruined many of
784-509: The County of Aberdeen ( Scots : Coontie o Aiberdeen , Scottish Gaelic : Siorrachd Obar Dheathain ) is a historic county in Scotland . The county gives its name to the modern Aberdeenshire council area , which covers a larger area than the historic county. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975, but its boundaries are still used for certain functions, being
840-561: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 reorganised local government in Scotland into a two-tier system of regions and districts. The administrative counties of Aberdeenshire, the City of Aberdeen, Banffshire, Kincardineshire and most of Moray were merged to form Grampian Region , with the pre-1975 area of Aberdeenshire being divided between the districts of City of Aberdeen , Banff and Buchan , Gordon and Kincardine and Deeside . In 1996
896-940: The Middle Ages . Duns are similar to brochs , but are smaller and probably would not have been capable of supporting a very tall structure. Good examples of this kind of dun can be found in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland , on artificial islands in small lakes. The word dun is, along with like-sounding cognate forms, an element frequently found in Celtic toponymy; especially that of Ireland and Scotland. It can include fortifications of all sizes and kinds: Many settlement and geographical names in Scotland are named with Gaelic dun ("fort"), as well as cognates in Brittonic languages such as Cumbric and Pictish . Some place-names in England are derived from Brittonic cognates of Welsh din (c.f. Cornish dyn , Cumbric *din ), and fewer perhaps from
952-607: The River Gairn . The granites have been extensively quarried at Rubislaw , Peterhead and Kemnay . Serpentinite and troctolite , the precise age of which is uncertain, occur at the Black Dog Rock north of Aberdeen, at Belhelvie and near Oldmeldrum . Where the schists of sedimentary origin have been pierced by these igneous intrusions, they are charged with contact minerals such as sillimanite , cordierite , kyanite and andalusite . Cordierite-bearing rocks occur near Ellon, at
1008-616: The Catholics to the influence of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray , who was regent during the reign of James VI , but was defeated and killed at the Battle of Corrichie on the Hill of Fare in 1562. As years passed it became apparent that Presbyterianism gained less support in Aberdeenshire than Episcopacy , of which system Aberdeenshire remained for generations the stronghold in Scotland. Another crisis in ecclesiastical affairs arose in 1638, when
1064-568: The Eastern Highlands. In the upper parts of the valleys of the Dee and the Don they form well-marked groups, of which the most characteristic are: These divisions are folded on highly inclined or vertical axes trending north-east and south-west, and hence the same zones are repeated over a considerable area. The quartzite is generally regarded as the highest member of the series. Excellent sections showing
1120-628: The English garrison in Aberdeen, but failed to capture the castle. In 1303 Edward again visited the county, halting at Kildrummy Castle , then in the possession of Robert the Bruce , who shortly afterwards became the acknowledged leader of the Scots and made Aberdeen his headquarters for several months. In 1308, he defeated John Comyn, Earl of Buchan , an opponent of his claim to the Scottish throne, at Inverurie . For
1176-547: The Erl Patrik In al the kyrkis hallely In Abyrdenys dyocysi Schir Wiljam his processs Gert be don Bissets still flourish in Aberdeenshire and Moray. The surname is a personal one, a diminutive of bis, OF. for "rock dove." Basok 1583, Beceit 1429, Besack 1677, Besate 1408, Besek 1584, Beset 1362, Biscet 1292, Biseth 1231, Bissait 1529, Bissaite 1468, Bissart 1542, Bissat 1579, Bissate 1543, Bissed 1640, Bissott 1674, Bizet 1686, Byssot 1489. A spelling of 1294, Buset, almost represents
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#17330846925591232-453: The Isles , who was defeated at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411 by the Scottish army under Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar . In the 15th century two further leading county families emerged: Sir Alexander Forbes becoming Lord Forbes about 1442, and Sir Alexander Seton , Lord Gordon in 1437 and Earl of Huntly in 1445. Bitter feuds raged between these families for a long period. The Gordons reached
1288-473: The Moreseat fossils were derived are not now found in place in that part of Scotland . Chalk flints are widely distributed in the drift between Fyvie and the east coast of Buchan. At Plaidy a patch of clay with Liassic fossils occurs. At several localities between Logie Coldstone and Dinnet a deposit of diatomite ( Kieselguhr ) occurs beneath the peat . The tops of the highest mountains have an Arctic flora. At
1344-667: The Picts to Christianity began with Teman in the 5th century, and continued with Columba , Machar (after whom St Machar's Cathedral in Aberdeen is named), and Drostan , who founded a monastery at Old Deer . The Vikings and Danes periodically raided the coast. Macbeth, King of Scotland , was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan in 1057. Aberdeen itself was made a royal burgh by David I (reigned 1124–1153). Its earliest surviving charter dates from 1179, by which date its burgesses had already combined with those of Banff , Elgin , Inverness and other trans-Grampian communities to form
1400-460: The Scottish crown is said to be from the Ythan. Loch Muick , the largest of the few lakes in the county, 399 m (1,309 ft) above the sea, 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (4.0 km) long and 1 ⁄ 3 to 1 ⁄ 2 mile (540 to 800 m) broad, lies some 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (13.7 km) southwest of Ballater . Loch Strathbeg , 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Fraserburgh,
1456-537: The Scottish local government system was reorganised again, this time into single-tier council areas . One of the council areas is called Aberdeenshire , covering the combined area of the pre-1996 districts of Banff and Buchan, Gordon, and Kincardine and Deeside. The council area therefore has significantly different boundaries to the pre-1975 county, also including most of the historic county of Kincardineshire and eastern parts of Banffshire (including its county town of Banff ), but excluding Aberdeen City. The boundaries of
1512-415: The area is still famed for cattle, more commonly continental breeds, with most slaughtered in Scotland, and in particular a good local abattoir capacity. Spring Barley is the predominant crop, and in lowland Winter Wheat, Oil Seed Rape & Potatoes would be more common than oats. There is also a significant area of carrots grown. With no slaughter capacity in Scotland the pig industry is diminishing but still
1568-519: The authorities ordered subscription to the National Covenant . The people of Aberdeenshire responded so grudgingly to this demand that James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose , visited the shire in the following year to enforce acceptance. The Cavaliers , not being disposed to yield, dispersed an armed gathering of Covenanters in the affair called the Trot of Turriff in 1639, one of the first skirmishes in
1624-482: The boundaries of Aberdeenshire. The city of Aberdeen, already independent for local government purposes, was subsequently also removed from Aberdeenshire for lieutenancy and other purposes in 1899, when the city was made a county of itself . Shortly after its creation, the county council built itself County Buildings in Union Terrace, Aberdeen, to serve as its headquarters, which was completed in 1896. In 1975
1680-516: The coast, as proved by the deposit of red clay north of Aberdeen. At a later date the local glaciers laid down materials on top of the red clay. The committee appointed by the British Association proved that the Greensand, which has yielded a large suite of Cretaceous fossils at Moreseat in the parish of Cruden , occurs in glacial drift, resting probably on granite. The strata from which
1736-454: The component strata occur in Glen Clunie and its tributary valleys above Braemar. Eastwards down the Dee and the Don and northwards across the plain of Buchan towards Rattray Head and Fraserburgh there is a development of biotite gneiss , partly of sedimentary and perhaps partly of igneous origin. A belt of slate which has been quarried for roofing purposes runs along the west border of
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1792-663: The county from Turriff by Auchterless and the Foudland Hills towards the Tap o' Noth near Gartly . The metamorphic rocks have been invaded by igneous materials, some before, and by far the larger series after the folding of the strata. The basic types of the former are represented by the sills of epidiorite and hornblende gneiss in Glen Muick and Glen Callater , which have been permeated by granite and pegmatite in veins and lenticles , often foliated. The later granites subsequent to
1848-713: The county, and which is celebrated in John Imlah 's song, O gin I war faur the Gadie rins, and Foudland, 466 m (1,529 ft). The chief rivers are the Dee , 90 miles (140 km) long; the Don, 82 miles (132 km); the Ythan , 37 miles (60 km), with mussel-beds at its mouth; the Ugie , 20 miles (32 km), and the Deveron, 62 miles (100 km), partly on the boundary of Banffshire. A pearl in
1904-469: The course of excavations in Aberdeen. The glacial deposits, especially in the belt bordering the coast between Aberdeen and Peterhead, furnish important evidence. The ice moved eastwards off the high ground at the head of the Dee and the Don, while the mass spreading outwards from the Moray Firth invaded the low plateau of Buchan ; but at a certain stage there was a marked defection northwards parallel with
1960-576: The fishery districts of Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Aberdeen, the last of which includes also three Kincardineshire ports. The herring season for Aberdeen , Peterhead and Fraserburgh lasts from June to September, at which time the ports become crowded with boats from other Scottish districts. Valuable salmon-fishings exist – rod, net and stake-net – on the Dee, Don, Ythan and Ugie. In 1911 the average annual despatch of salmon from Aberdeenshire comprises about 400 long tons (450 short tons ). Manufactures mainly cluster in or near Aberdeen , but throughout
2016-484: The foot of Bennachie, and on the top of the Buck of Cabrach. A banded and mottled calc-silicate hornfels occurring with the limestone at Derry Falls, west-northwest of Braemar, has yielded malacolite , wollastonite , brown idocrase , garnet , sphene and hornblende. A larger list of minerals has been obtained from an exposure of limestone and associated beds in Glen Gairn , about four miles (6 km) above
2072-450: The functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930). The burgh of Aberdeen was deemed capable of providing its own county-level local government functions, and so it was excluded from the administrative area of the county council, although the county council still chose to base itself in the city. The first meeting of Aberdeenshire County Council was held on 22 May 1890 at Aberdeen Town House , which as well as being
2128-521: The headquarters of Aberdeen Corporation also served as the county's main courthouse and meeting place of the commissioners of supply. Alexander Morison Gordon of Newton House in the parish of Culsalmond was the first convener of the council. The 1889 Act also led to a review of boundaries, with exclaves being transferred to a county they actually bordered, and parish and county boundaries being adjusted to eliminate cases where parishes straddled county boundaries. There were several such changes affecting
2184-509: The height of their power in the first half of the 16th century, when their domains, already vast, were enhanced by the acquisition, through marriage, of the Earldom of Sutherland in 1514. King's College, Aberdeen was founded in 1495, followed by Marischal College in 1593; the two colleges subsequently merged to become the University of Aberdeen in 1860. The Reformation of the 16th century
2240-433: The historic county (as it was prior to the removal of Aberdeen in 1899) are still used for some limited official purposes connected with land registration, being a registration county . The Aberdeenshire lieutenancy area covers the area of the pre-1975 county excluding the parts within the modern Aberdeen City council area. The historic Aberdeenshire is traditionally divided into five districts: The interior mountains of
2296-580: The house in which the earl slept, and the earl with it. For this crime Walter Byset and his nephew, John Byset (founder of the Priory of Beauly in 1231), were exiled the kingdom, their property devolving to others of the family. At the desire of Sir William Byset and to free him of suspicion of guilt, Ralph, bishop of Aberdeen excommunicated those who had partaken of the murder of the earl at Haddington: The bischope of Abbyrdeyn alssua He gert cursse denownsse al tha That gert be art, or part, or swyk, Gert bryn that tyme
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2352-530: The lairds. In the subsequent Jacobite rising of 1745 there was much less support for the cause in the county, although the insurgents held Aberdeen for five months until February 1746. In 1852 Prince Albert , husband of Queen Victoria , bought the Balmoral Castle estate in the valley of the River Dee and subsequently rebuilt the castle there. Aberdeenshire's origins as a shire (the area administered by
2408-414: The next most important industry to agriculture. Aberdeenshire fishing developed almost exclusively due to the introduction of steam trawlers. In 1911 the total value of the annual catch, of which between a half and a third consists of herrings, amounts to £1,000,000. In 1911 the industry produced both speldings (salted and rock-dried haddocks) and finnans (smoked haddocks). The ports and creeks belong to
2464-425: The parish of New Machar and elsewhere. Duns or forts occur on hills at Dunecht , where the dun encloses an area of two acres (8,000 m ), Barra near Oldmeldrum , Tap o' Noth, Dunnideer near Insch and other places. There are numerous monoliths , standing stones and stone circles in the area, along with many examples of the sculptured stones of the early Christian epoch. Missionaries aiming to convert
2520-471: The plication of the schists have a wide distribution on the Ben Macdhui and Ben Avon range, and on Lochnagar; they stretch eastwards from Ballater by Tarland to Aberdeen and north to Bennachie. Isolated masses appear at Peterhead and at Strichen. Though consisting mainly of biotite granite, these later intrusions pass by intermediate stages into diorite , as in the area between Balmoral and the head-waters of
2576-553: The point where that river joins the Dee. Narrow belts of Old Red Sandstone , resting unconformably on the old platform of slates and schists, have been traced from the north coast at Peterhead by Turriff to Fyvie , and also from Huntly by Gartly to Kildrummy Castle . The strata consist mainly of conglomerates and sandstones, which, at Gartly and at Rhynie , are associated with lenticular bands of andesite indicating contemporaneous volcanic action. Small outliers of conglomerate and sandstone of this age have recently been found in
2632-540: The present Gaelic pronunciation, Buiseid. At the time of the British Census of 1881, its relative frequency was highest in Aberdeenshire (rate of 1:473), closely followed by Kincardineshire (rate of 1:474), Fife , Perthshire , Ross-shire , Linlithgowshire , Haddingtonshire , Forfarshire , Edinburghshire and Elginshire . The name Bisset may refer to: Aberdeenshire (historic) Aberdeenshire or
2688-514: The royal lodge on Loch Muick , 411 m (1,348 ft) above the sea, grow larches, vegetables, currants, laurels, roses, etc. Some ash-trees, 1 to 1.5 m (4 or 5 ft) in girth, grow at 400 m (1,300 ft) above the sea. Trees, especially Scotch fir and larch, grow well, and Braemar has plentiful natural timber, said to surpass any in the north of Europe . Stumps of Scotch fir and oak found in peat sometimes far exceed any now growing in size. Moles occur at 550 m (1,800 ft) above
2744-415: The rural districts one finds much milling of corn, brick and tile making, smith-work, brewing and distilling, cart and farm-implement making, casting and drying of peat, and timber-felling, especially on Deeside and Donside, for pit-props, railway sleepers, laths and barrel staves. A number of paper-making establishments operate, most of them on the Don near Aberdeen . Dun (fortification) A dun
2800-618: The sea, and squirrels at 450 m (1,480 ft). Grouse, partridges and hares abound, and rabbits are often numerous. Red deer abound in Braemar, which in 1911 had the most extensive deer forest in Scotland . Except in the mountainous districts, Aberdeenshire has a comparatively mild climate, owing to the proximity of much of the shire to the sea. The mean annual temperature at Braemar reaches 6 °C (43 °F), and that at Aberdeen 8 °C (46 °F). The mean yearly rainfall varies from about 750 to 950 mm (30 to 37 in). In summer
2856-479: The sheriffs. In 1667 Commissioners of Supply were established for each shire, which would serve as the main administrative body for the area until the creation of county councils in 1890. Following the Acts of Union in 1707, the English term 'county' came to be used interchangeably with the older term 'shire'. Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 , taking most of
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#17330846925592912-533: The tale of the Táin Bó Flidhais features Dún Chiortáin and Dún Chaocháin . Duns seem to have arrived with the Celts in about the 7th century BC. Early duns had near vertical ramparts made of stone and timber. There were two walls, an inner wall and the outside one. Vitrified forts are the remains of duns that have been set on fire and where stones have been partly melted. Use of duns continued in some parts into
2968-566: The upper Dee and Don valleys provide the driest and most bracing climate in the British Isles , and grain grows cultivated up to 500 m (1,600 ft) above the sea, or 100 to 150 m (330 to 490 ft) higher than elsewhere in North Britain. Poor, gravelly, clayey and peaty soils prevail, but tile-draining, bones and guano, and the best methods of modern tillage, greatly increased the produce. Indeed, in 1911, no part of Scotland had
3024-462: Was anciently occupied by the Picts , whom Ptolemy , writing c. 150 AD , called Taexali . There is some evidence of Roman activity in the area, notably with a camp at Normandykes near Peterculter . Weems or earth-houses were a common type of ancient dwelling in the west. Relics of crannogs or lake-dwellings exist at Loch Kinord and Bishops' Loch (historically called Loch Goul) in
3080-522: Was cattle-feeding. Aberdeenshire fattens a great number of the home-bred crosses for the London and local markets, and imports Irish animals on an extensive scale for the same purpose, while an exceedingly heavy trade in dead meat for London and the south occurs all over the county. Farmers also raise sheep , horses and pigs in large numbers. Since the encyclopedia article was published in 1911, there have been significant changes. Few Irish cattle now come in,
3136-421: Was slow to reach Aberdeenshire. Churches were still being built and decorated in the old Catholic style in Aberdeenshire for some years after southern Scotland had started moving away from such styles. Opposition to the changes to Protestant forms of worship and church leadership saw rioting in Aberdeen, with St Machar's Cathedral being damaged. George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly offered some resistance on behalf of
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