Formartine ( meaning "Martin's land") is a committee area in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

, Scotland. This district extends north from the River Don to the

River Ythan The Ythan is a river in the north-east of Scotland rising at Wells of Ythan near the village of Ythanwells and flowing south-eastwards through the towns of Fyvie, Methlick and Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Ellon before flowing into the North Sea near N ...

. It has a population of 36,478 (2001 Census). The committee area was formed in 1996 from part of the former

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Banff and Buchan Banff and Buchan is a committee area of the Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland, covering an area along the northern coast of the council area. The main towns are Banff and Fraserburgh. Fishing and agriculture are important industries, together with ...

. Formartine has experienced rapid population growth, particularly around Ellon and

Oldmeldrum Oldmeldrum (commonly known as Meldrum) is a village and Civil parish, parish in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, not far from Inverurie in North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region), North East Scotland. With a population of ...

, and in the south east where development has spread outwith the city of Aberdeen. By contrast, the area around

Turriff Turriff () is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It lies on the River Deveron, about above sea level, and has a population of 5,708. In everyday speech it is often referred to by its Scots name ''Turra'', which is deriv ...

retains strong dependency on the traditional agricultural economy. The area's coastline and rural environment offer recreation potential including the

Formartine and Buchan Way The Formartine and Buchan Way is a long-distance trail in Scotland, extending from Dyce north to Peterhead and Fraserburgh in the Buchan and Formartine districts of Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It follows the track of a former railway line, the Fo ...

History

Formartine is first documented as a thanage in 1266, when Reginald Cheyne is recorded holding it in feu-ferm and liable for 14 merks as 2nd teinds payable to the Diocese of Aberdeen. This would have valued the thanage in 1266 at £96 13s 4d, though by the time of the Alexander III rental this had increased to £106 13s 4d. The thanage's origins probably lay as one of the

shires Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...

within the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Buchan Buchan is a coastal district in the north-east of Scotland, bounded by the Ythan and Deveron rivers. It was one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas of Aberdeenshire. Etymology The ge ...

that paid

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...

to the King of Alba rather than the Mormaer of Buchan. The thanage had its main centre at Fyvie, and it included a large

royal forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

for hunting. Formartine lay between two areas within the Earldom of Buchan: Ellon to the north east, which was the '' caput'' of the earldom, and the detached area of ''Bethelnie'' (now

) to the south west. Some time between 1292 and 1296 John de Balliol, then King of Scotland, alienated the thanage to

John Comyn, Earl of Buchan John Comyn, 3rd Earl of Buchan (circa 1260 – 1308) was a chief opponent of Robert the Bruce in the civil war that paralleled the War of Scottish Independence. He should not be confused with the better known John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, ...

, as compensation for Comyn's renunciation of his claim to part of the Lordship of Galloway, Balliol's ancestral lordship. This effectively extended the bounds of the Earldom southward, though the

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

and castle of Fyvie remained in crown hands. The thanage must later have been

escheat Escheat () is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied t ...

ed and returned to crown hands, as between 1341 and 1346 David II granted half of Formartine to his sister Margaret and her husband William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland, and the other half to another of his sisters Matilda and her husband Thomas Isaac. Formartine reverted again to the crown in 1373 on the death of the Earl of Sutherland, and was granted in 1377 to John, Earl of Carrick, the heir to the throne, and then in 1382 as a

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

to James Lindsay, the son of David Lindsay of Crawford, and Carrick compensated with a £100 per year

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...

.The district has a long history. The early history of this locale is evidenced by the survival of a number of prehistoric features, including a number of

tumuli A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

References

Bibliography

* * * {{coord, 57, 23, 46, N, 2, 17, 13, W, region:GB_type:adm3rd, display=title Committee areas of Aberdeenshire Tumuli in Scotland