Bennachie ( ;

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

: ''Beinn na Cìche'') is a range of hills 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 Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

.Whiteley, A.W.M. (Ed.) (1976). ''The Book of Bennachie''. The Bailies of Bennachie. . Mostly anecdotes and verse about the mountain and its surroundings. It has several tops, the highest of which, Oxen Craig, has a height of . Though not particularly high, compared to other peaks within Scotland, the mountain is very prominent, owing to its isolation and the relative flatness of the surrounding terrain, and dominates the skyline from several viewpoints. The peak that stands out the most visually is Mither Tap (518 m, 1699 feet) and from its top there are good views of the county to the north and east. Most of the tops lie along an east / west

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

, with the exception of Millstone Hill (409 m) an outlier or spur which is separated from and to the south of the main ridge. Mither Tap has an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

on its summit. Unlike with many other hilltop forts in the area, there are no signs of

vitrification Vitrification (, via French ') is the full or partial transformation of a substance into a glass, that is to say, a non- crystalline or amorphous solid. Glasses differ from liquids structurally and glasses possess a higher degree of connectivity ...

in the stone. Bennachie is visible from a number of distant points; to the north it is visible from

Longman Hill Longmanhill is a Bronze Age long barrow situated atop a prominent rounded landform in northern Aberdeenshire, Scotland near Banff Bay. Due to the low-lying coastal plain characteristics, the elevation of Longmanhill affords a long-distance view as ...

, a point considerably to the north.

Etymology

The etymology of Bennachie is uncertain. Suggestions include "Initially ''Beinn a Cioch'', the hill of the nipple or pap." It has also been translated as the "‘Mountain of Ce’" , a king mentioned in the List of legendary kings of Pictland.

History of the area

From 1800 to 1859 common land on the east side of Bennachie was home to a community of squatters known locally as the

Colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

. A small number of families led a

crofting Crofting (Scottish Gaelic: ') is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production peculiar to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man. Within the 19th-century townships, individual crofts were est ...

life often doing skilled work, such as dyking and quarrying, for local landowners. After 1859 the Colony dwindled as the common land was broken up and divided amongst the local estates. However, the last of the original colonists, George Esson, lived on the hill until his death in the 1930s. Visitors to Bennachie can explore the remains of the Colony and extensive work is being done on site and amongst local parish records to determine the history of the Colonists.

Mither Tap

In the 1870s

Christian Maclagan Christian Maclagan (1811–10 May 1901) was a Scottish antiquarian and early archaeologist, described by one author as "the earliest female archaeologist in the British Isles," and certainly among the earliest examples. She is known for her ...

, an early Scottish archaeologist, surveyed and conducted excavations at Mither Tap in 1876 and 1881. In 2019 the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

Northern Picts Project conducted an excavation at Mither Tap. It has been suggested as a possible site of the battle of

Mons Graupius The Battle of Mons Graupius was, according to Tacitus, a Roman military victory in what is now Scotland, taking place in AD 83 or, less probably, 84. The exact location of the battle is a matter of debate. Historians have long questioned some ...

Paths and environment

The range of hills is a popular destination for walkers since it is relatively close to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. The

Gordon Way The Gordon Way is a waymarked hiking trail in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It runs for through the Bennachie Forest. The route was one of a series maintained by the Forestry Commission and Aberdeenshire Council. In 2016, the council withdrew co ...

is a waymarked trail that traverses the Southern flank of Bennachie between the Visitors Centre in the East and Suie Car Park to the West. Most of the Bennachie range is owned by

Forestry and Land Scotland Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) () is an executive agency responsible for managing and promoting Scotland's national forest estate: land, predominantly covered in forest, owned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the nation. It was formed o ...

, which maintains a network of paths on and around the hills, several car parks and a

visitor centre A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic c ...

located at the eastern foot of the range. A volunteer conservation charity, th
Bailies of Bennachie
founded in 1973, helps with this work and with other environmental and archaeological activities on the hill. There are several marked paths, including fairly easy ascents of Oxen Craig and Mither Tap that start from the centre. In 2023, the Bailies of Bennachie received the Community Initiative Award at

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

Scotland’s Nature of Scotland Awards 2023.

Gallery

File:Bennachie from the North.jpg, Bennachie from the North. Peaks are from left to right: Mither Tap, Craigshannoch, Bruntwood Tap, Oxen Craig, Watch Craig. File:Oxen craig.jpg, Oxen Craig from Mither Tap File:Mither tap view north.jpg, View north from Mither Tap File:Bennachie panorama by Bruce McAdam.jpg, Bennachie viewed from the South, with the peak of Mither Tap to the right. File:Mither tap summit.jpg, View from the summit of Mither Tap

References

External links

* Computer-generated virtual panorama
Oxen Craig
* Flickr Group devoted to Bennachie photo
Flickr Bennachie Group

Forestry Commission Website for Bennachie
* Bailies of Bennachie a Bennachie Voluntary Conservation Societ
Stuart McHardy, ''The Goddess in the Landscape of Scotland'' Virtual Tour of Mither Tap
{{Hillforts in Scotland Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Eastern Highlands Mountains and hills of Aberdeenshire Archaeological sites in Aberdeenshire Hill forts in Scotland Bronze Age sites in Scotland Iron Age sites in Scotland Mountains and hills of the United Kingdom with toposcopes Pictish sites in Scotland Hill forts