Maggieknockater (, meaning "field of the fuller" or "plain of the hilly ridge") is a hamlet on the

A95 road The A95 road is a major road of north-east Scotland connecting the A9 road in the Highlands to the A98 road near the coast. Route It leaves the A9 four miles north of Aviemore. It then goes: *through Drumullie; *near to Dulnain Bridge &n ...

between Craigellachie and Mulben in Scotland in the

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...

, in the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Banffshire Banffshire (; ; ) is a historic county in Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 the area has been spli ...

. Until the early 1970s there was large

apiary An apiary (also known as a bee yard) is a location where Beehive (beekeeping), beehives of honey bees are kept. Apiaries come in many sizes and can be rural or urban depending on the honey production operation. Furthermore, an apiary may refer to ...

which was well known in the region and has lived on in the

Scottish country dance Scottish country dance (SCD) is the distinctively Scottish form of country dance, itself a form of social dance involving groups of couples of dancers tracing progressive patterns. A dance consists of a sequence of figures. These dances are ...

"The Bees of Maggieknockater". At nearby Gauldwell Castle (now only with one partial wall left standing),

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

is reputed to have spent the night. The school was closed in the 1960s and the chapel was turned into a home in the early 1970s. What was once a smithy is now a garage still in the hands of the Maclean family. Maggieknockater formerly had a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

; it opened in June 1876 and closed in 1940.Mackay, James A. (1989) ''Scottish Post Offices'', p. 89. Dumfries: published by the author, Maggieknockater is situated in the heart of

Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail Eight malt whisky distilleries and a cooperage form the Malt Whisky Trail in Scotland's Speyside. Seven of the eight distilleries are in production and operational, whilst the Dallas Dhu distillery is a historic distillery. The Malt Whisky Trai ...

, situated less than from

Dufftown Dufftown ( ) is a burgh in Moray, Scotland. While the town is part of the historic Mortlach parish, the town was established and laid out in the early 19th century as part of a planned new town settlement. The town has several listed 19th centur ...

, home of the world-famous

Glenfiddich Distillery Glenfiddich distillery () is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery located in the Scottish burgh of Dufftown in Moray, Scotland. Is owned by William Grant & Sons. The name Glenfiddich derives from the Scottish Gaelic ''Gleann Fhiodhai ...

. Less than heading east along the A95 from Maggieknockater is the site for Moray's most demanding

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

trails, "The Moray Monster Trails". The trails were regenerated and improved during 2005 and 2006.

References

External links

* * Villages in Moray Hamlets in Scotland {{Moray-geo-stub