Blackdog is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

approximately 2 miles north of the city limits of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

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 ...

. The nearby area serves as a

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

ground,Classic Shooting
and is used by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

for training.British Army shooting grounds
In WW2, the beaches near Blackdog were mined in response to fears of a German invasion, resulting in several fatalities. 10 March 1941 at North Beaches of Blackdog, Sapper Leslie Alfred Whitney - Royal Engineers (age 23) when a "toadstool" he was arming detonated. 17 March 1941 at Millden Links, Corporal Charles Crowe - Gordon Highlanders (age 24) and on 18 March 1941 at Millden Links, Private Colin Innes - Gordon Highlanders (age 22) were all killed by landmines. The minefields were cleared in 1944 by 11th Company Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal, during the clear up a Wasp (converted Bren gun carrier) used for flamethrowing to burn off vegetation was blown up when it hit a mine. One person lost a hand and several were injured. A

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

called ''The Black Dog'' can be found in the nearby suburb of Bridge of Don, Aberdeen. It is the location of the onshore substation of the

European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), also known as the Aberdeen Bay Wind Farm is an offshore wind test and demonstration facility located around 3 kilometres off the east coast of Aberdeenshire, in the North Sea, Scotland. It was ...

. An interchange at Blackdog marks the northern end of the

Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR), unofficially also the City of Aberdeen Bypass, is a major road that wraps around the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. The road stretches north from Stonehaven through Kincardineshire and crosses both t ...

, a bypass around Aberdeen.Transport Scotland
A four-mile (7 km) stretch between Parkhill and Blackdog opened in June 2018.

References

Hamlets in Scotland Villages in Aberdeenshire {{Aberdeenshire-geo-stub