Burn of Monboys is a

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

that rises in the

Mounth The Mounth ( ) is the broad upland in northeast Scotland between the Highland Boundary and the River Dee, at the eastern end of the Grampians. Name and etymology The name ''Mounth'' is ultimately of Pictish origin. The name is derived from ...

, or eastern range of the

Grampian Mountains The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. T ...

, northwest of

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( , ) is a town in Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 11,602 at the 2011 Census. After the demise of the town of Kincardine, which was gradually abandoned after the destruction of its royal cast ...

and south of

Netherley, Aberdeenshire Netherley, Scotland is a village in Aberdeenshire, situated approximately five miles northwest of Stonehaven.United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map Landranger 45, Stonehaven and Banchory, 1:50,000 scale, 2004 Netherley is located in the Mounth area o ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Monboys Burn is a tributary to the

Cowie Water The Cowie Water ( gd, Uisge Chollaidh) is a river of Scotland. Geography The river rises in the Grampian Mountains in Kincardineshire, and discharges to the North Sea in the northern part of Stonehaven,United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map Landra ...

Hydrology

The

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

of the Burn of Monboys rise on the southern and western slopes of the

Meikle Carewe Hill Meikle Carewe Hill is a landform in Aberdeenshire, Scotland within the Mounth Range of the Grampian Mountains. (Grid Reference NO 921 828) The peak elevation of this mountain is 266 metres above mean sea level. Meikle Carewe is a prominent landfor ...

where the stream flows downslope at a first westerly and thence southerly as it makes its way to discharge to the Cowie Water. The southwestern flanks of

Craggie Cat Craggie Cat is a hill landform in the Mounth of the Grampian Mountains at the southern edge of Netherley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The peak elevation of Craggie Cat is 198 metres according to the Ordnance Survey. This hill's southwestern flanks f ...

, a hill in the northeast part of the Burn of Monboys

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

, drain to the Burn of Monboys. The stream has a greenish brown appearance and generally has lush vegetation growing all the way to its margins throughout most of its course of the middle and downstream reaches. The

turbidity Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. Fluids can ...

typically measures approximately 10 JTU and the July flow rate is roughly five cubic feet per second in the headwaters reach. pH levels have been measured at 7.27, very slightly

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...

, but undoubtedly less basic than other area streams due to the drainage from the higher elevation peat moorlands of Meikle Carewe and Curlethney Hills.

History

The

Roman Camp In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...

Raedykes Raedykes is the site of a Roman marching camp located just over northwest of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. National Grid Reference NO 842902. It is designated as a scheduled monument. A marching camp was a temporary camp used mainly for ...

occupied the higher ground of the headwaters area of Burn of Monboys, and the east flank of Raedykes provides

surface runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow) is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when th ...

to the Burn of Monboys. A number of historical analysts, including the 19th century researcher Gabriel Jaques Surenne and 20th century writers Watt and Hogan, hypothesize that 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 ...

was fought in the Burn of Monboys watershed.Archibald Watt, ''Highways and Byways Round Stonehaven'', Gourdas House Publishers, Aberdeen (1984)

References

{{authority control Monboys

Hydrology

History

See also

References