Buchan (locally pronounced Buch-in) is now one of the six committee and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council. These areas were created by the Council in 1996, following the creation of the Aberdeenshire Unitary Authority under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994. The Council area was formed by merging three former District Council areas, Banff & Buchan, Gordon and Kincardine & Deeside.

Today Peterhead is the largest town in Buchan and Aberdeenshire; the principal white fish landing port in Europe; and a major oil industry service centre. Equally important is the nearby gas terminal at St Fergus.

However Buchan is also an historic district and earldom. The Earldom of Mar and Buchan formed one of the seven original Scottish earldoms, though later the Earldom of Buchan became separated from that of Mar. The boundaries of the Buchan area have varied over the centuries, growing and shrinking along with the fortunes of the Clan.

Many agree that the simplest way to describe Buchan is “that part of the country which lies east of the River Deveron and North of the River Ythan.” and that is what we have adopted to describe the area we hope to cover.

This area is a beautiful part of Scotland (though we may be biased!). Although it does not have the visual attraction of the Highlands it does have magnificent beaches, golf courses, salmon rivers and historical sites that pre-date the kingdom of Scotland. And we do still have our own local dialect of Scots - Doric: once heard - never forgotten.

 Part of the Margie Davidson Collection.

Some of the towns and villages within Buchan are known locally by older names. This can cause confusion to anyone researching the area. Several of the villages were “planned”, that is, they were laid out as model villages by the local landowner, who often then gave them a new name. The local people tended to keep the old names alive.

Listed below are some of the more common local names:

Fetterangus - Fishie

Fraserburgh - The Broch

Gardenstown - Gamrie

New Pitsligo - Cyaak.

Peterhead - The Bloo Toon

Stuartfield - Crichie

More to come - any contributions to the administrator please