Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of

Huntly Castle Huntly Castle is a ruined castle north of Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where the rivers Deveron and Bogie meet. It was the ancestral home of the chief of Clan Gordon, Earl of Huntly. There have been four castles built on the site that ...

. Its neighbouring settlements include

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

and

Rothiemay Milltown of Rothiemay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ràth a' Mhuigh'') is a small inland village, built mostly of granite, in the north-east of Scotland and is within the Moray council area bordering neighbouring Aberdeenshire across the river to the s ...

. Both Huntly and the surrounding district of Gordon are named for a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

that originated in the Border country. Huntly is the historic home of the

Gordon Highlanders Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gord ...

regiment which traditionally recruited throughout the North-East of Scotland. Huntly has a primary school (Gordon Primary) and a secondary school (

The Gordon Schools The Gordon Schools is a six-year, non denominational comprehensive co-educational secondary school located in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It takes pupils from Gordon Primary School, Insch Primary School, and smaller primary schools locat ...

) beside Huntly Castle. It is the home of the Deans bakers, which produce

shortbread Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Unlike many other biscuits and baked goods, shortbread does not contain any leavening, ...

biscuits. In November 2007, Deans of Huntly opened their new visitor centre. Four of the owls from the local falconry centre starred in the

Harry Potter films ''Harry Potter'' is a film series based on the eponymous novels by J. K. Rowling. The series is produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and consists of eight fantasy films, beginning with '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's St ...

History

Stewart's Hall, Gordon Street, Huntly (geograph 5636190)

Settlement around the confluence of the Bogie and

Deveron The River Deveron ( gd, Uisge Dubh Èireann), known anciently as the Dovern, is a river in the north east of Scotland. The river has a length of , and has a reputation for its Atlantic salmon, sea trout and brown trout fishing. In its upper rea ...

rivers dates back to the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

period. Settlement remains and the remains of an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

have been excavated on Battlehill on the outskirts of the town. During the first millennium CE the area was dominated by the

Pictish Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographica ...

culture. A very large Pictish settlement and vitrified hillfort was situated locally at

Tap o' Noth The Tap o' Noth is a hill and fort, 8 miles south of Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at grid reference NJ485293. It is the second highest fort in Scotland and its main feature is its well-preserved vitrified wall which encloses an area of ap ...

in Strathbogie. The site represented an important strategic site controlling routes from Moray into

Strathdon Strathdon (; Gaelic: ''Srath Dheathain'') is an area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated in the strath of the River Don, 45 miles west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. The main village in the strath is also called Strathdon, although it was ...

and

Deeside Deeside ( cy, Glannau Dyfrdwy) is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee that flows from nei ...

. The first

motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy t ...

on this settlement was erected by Donchaid McDuff, the Gaelic speaking 2nd

Mormaer of Fife The Earl of Fife or Mormaer of Fife was the ruler of the province of Fife in medieval Scotland, which encompassed the modern counties of Fife and Kinross. Due to their royal ancestry, the earls of Fife were the highest ranking nobles in the re ...

, c.1180. The lands were transferred to the

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of t ...

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

family, the Gordons, in 1352 in retaliation for McDuff’s descendant, David of Strathbogie, defecting from Robert I to Edward I’s cause on the eve of the Battle of Bannockburn. The settlement at the confluence of the Bogie and the Deveron was known as Milton of Strathbogie or The Raws of Strathbogie until 1508. Despite the

boggy A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; ...

lands in the vicinity at that time, the castle at Strathbogie became a key centre for the Gordons of Moray over the following centuries as the family built power through warfare and

dynastic marriage Royal intermarriage is the practice of members of ruling dynasties marrying into other reigning families. It was more commonly done in the past as part of strategic diplomacy for national interest. Although sometimes enforced by legal requiremen ...

, rising to be the dominant family in the North-East of Scotland – the

clan chief The Scottish Gaelic word means children. In early times, and possibly even today, Scottish clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the clan, after whom the clan is named. The clan chief (''ceannard c ...

acquiring the informal title of Cock o' the North. As a result, a thriving settlement serving the evolving palace complex developed. The settlement became a

burgh of barony A burgh of barony was a type of Scottish town ( burgh). Burghs of barony were distinct from royal burghs, as the title was granted to a landowner who, as a tenant-in-chief, held his estates directly from the crown. (In some cases, they might also ...

in 1472. In 1508 the Gordons received a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

enabling them to rename Milton of Strathbogie & the castle to Huntly – the name of their ancestral seat in Berwickshire. During the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Scotland broke with the Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterian in its outlook. It was part of the wider European Protestant Refor ...

, the Gordons were among the leading

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

families in the country and heavily embroiled in Mary, Queen of Scots’ conflict with the reformed church and the

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

magnates The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

. Huntly castle was bombarded and sacked in 1562 (by Mary) and in 1594 by

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

. After the restoration of Gordon titles, the town continued to develop during the 17th and 18th centuries both as a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

and an adjunct to the Gordons’ palace with a wide range of

merchants A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...

and artisans serving the surrounding countryside – in the mid-17th century the town hosted 4 separate glovers. The adjacent parishes of Dunbennan and Kinnoir were consolidated into a single parish of Huntly in 1727, though each of these livings had been in the gift of the

Marquess of Huntly Marquess of Huntly (traditionally spelled Marquis in Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: ''Coileach Strath Bhalgaidh'') is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existin ...

for centuries. During this century, the

Duke of Gordon The title Duke of Gordon has been created once in the Peerage of Scotland and again in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The Dukedom, named after the Clan Gordon, was first created for the 4th Marquess of Huntly, who on 3 November 1684 was c ...

also commenced redeveloping the town as a planned-town with grid-iron streets. The 18th centuries saw the development of the flax industry and associated cottage industries in heckling, spinning,

bleaching Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...

and

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

, though the trade was inhibited in the longer term by poor transport infrastructure to Banff and

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 ...

. Smuggling

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ca ...

was also an important trade at this period until the industry was licensed in 1823. In the 19th century, following the post-Napoleonic slump in the linen trade, the town experienced another period of growth with the establishment of

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

in 1845 coupled with a shift from

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasant ...

farming to capitalist agriculture. Huntly became an important market and shipping centre whilst its surrounding parishes depopulated. In 1836 the town and the Gordon estates passed to the Sussex-based 5th Duke of Richmond by

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officia ...

. Ownership of the feu and much of the land and property remained in the ownership of the Dukes of Richmond and Gordon until August 1936 when all the property and feus in the town along with much surrounding farmland was sold at

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

at Huntly Town Hall in order to pay

death duties An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...

on the

ducal Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

estates. Though the town’s population has varied slightly over the 20th century – with a net outward

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

after the

2nd World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

– the town in 2018 had a population of 4,650. This compares with 4,229 in 1911. Significant demographic growth was over the course of the 19th century from 1000 in 1800 to 3,600 in 1861.

Arts

Huntly is home to Deveron Projects, an arts organisation that invites artists from all over the world to come and live and work in the town. Since 1995 it has worked with a 'town is the venue' methodology, connecting artists, communities and places. It hosts artists and projects that explore local, regional and global topics, such as

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

foraging Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavi ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

, history, politics and art. Over 100 renowned artists have spent time in the town, including

Roman Signer Roman Signer (born 1938 in Appenzell, Switzerland) is principally a visual artist who works in sculpture, art installations photography, and video. Early life and career Born in Appenzell, Switzerland, Signer started his career as an artist later i ...

and

Hamish Fulton Hamish Fulton (born 1946) is an English walking artist. Since 1972 he has only made works based on the experience of walks. He translates his walks into a variety of media, including photography, illustrations, and wall texts. His work is containe ...

. Walking is often used as a medium to bring people together for these projects, and Deveron Projects has a Walking Institute that commissions artists to make walks. Their annual Slow Marathon started in 2012 in collaboration with

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n artist Mihret Kebede. Deveron Projects also runs a community kitchen and gardening projects. In 2013 Deveron Projects won Huntly the Creative Place Award, which recognises 'creativity across Scotland’s smaller communities'.

Geography

Brown Hill is located in Huntly parish.

Sports

There is salmon and trout fishing on the Rivers

and Bogie, which are administered by the River Deveron Salmon Fisheries Board. Its other principal outdoor activities include

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, Nordic Skiing in Clashindarroch Forest, walking, mountain biking and

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

. The local football team is Huntly F.C., the local

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

side is Huntly RFC.

Transport

Huntly railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Huntly railway station. View towards Insch from the pedestrian footbridge.jpg , caption = Looking south towards Insch from the footbridge , borough = Huntly, Aberdeenshire , country = Scotlan ...

is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

serving the town. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the

Aberdeen to Inverness Line 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), an ...

. The station opened on 20 September 1854.

Notable people

* Ian Cameron, father of British Prime Minister, David Cameron, was from

Glass, Huntly Glass is a parish about 8 miles west of Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is now wholly located in Aberdeenshire but before the reorganisation of Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, Scottish county boundaries in 1891 it was partly in Banffshire ...

; he was born at

Blairmore House Blairmore School was an independent boarding preparatory school in Glass near Huntly, Aberdeenshire until its closure in 1993. The site is now owned and used by a Christian organisation called Ellel Ministries International as a prayer, training ...

. * Ronald Center (1913–1973), composer, lived there from 1943 until his death in 1973, teaching first at the Gordon Schools, then privately. *

Willie Donald William Alexander Donald (29 July 1953 – 13 November 2022) was a Scottish cricketer and administrator. A right-handed batsman and right-armed medium-pace bowler, Donald played for the Scotland national cricket team in 8 first-class and 32 L ...

(1953–2022), first-class cricketer and former president of

Cricket Scotland Cricket Scotland, formerly known as the Scottish Cricket Union, is the governing body of the sport of cricket in Scotland. The body is based at the National Cricket Academy, Edinburgh. The SCU was formed in 1908, but underwent a major restru ...

Iona Fyfe Iona Fyfe (born 16 January 1998) is a Scottish singer from Huntly, Aberdeenshire known for singing Scots folk songs and ballads. In 2016, she was a semi-finalist of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award and, in 2017 and 2021, was a finalist of the ...

(born 1998), award-winning Scots singer and musician. *

Elizabeth Gordon, Duchess of Gordon Elizabeth Gordon, Duchess of Gordon (''née'' Brodie; 20 June 1794 – 31 January 1864), was a Scottish noblewoman. In 1813, she married George Gordon, Marquis of Huntly, afterwards the 5th Duke of Gordon. She was a member of the Scottish E ...

(née Brodie; 1794 – 1864), was a Scottish noblewoman and church patron * John Henderson (born 1973), a PDC darts player, is from Huntly. *

James Legge James Legge (; 20 December 181529 November 1897) was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the London ...

(1815–1897), scholar and missionary to China, was born in Huntly and educated there and at King's College Aberdeen, before leaving to his first mission post in Malacca in 1839. Across the next 43 years he worked in Hong Kong translating all the classic books of the Confucian canon in a huge series of books, a set still considered to be the gold standard of English translations today. He frequently returned to Huntly across his life in China, bringing three young Chinese lads to live there and get "a good Scottish education" in 1845. By the time they returned to China in 1848 they had all been invited to meet Queen Victoria, then a lively young woman. Legge retired from his mission work in Hong Kong in 1873, was named the first Oxford Professor of Chinese in 1876, and lived there until his death. His father Ebenezer Legge had been Mayor of Huntly, and the Legge family home is still in use, on the main square. *

George MacDonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational church, Congregational Minister (Christianity), minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature a ...

(1824–1905), writer, and influence upon JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. Some of his novels, especially the Robert Falconer and Alec Forbes of Howglen play partly in Huntly, even if the name of the town is changed, and give an introduction to the life in Huntly in the 19th century. * William Milne (1785–1822), born at

Kennethmont Kennethmont (archaically Kinnethmont) is a village in the Marr area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately south of Huntly. It has a population of approximately 470 people. Kennethmont children attend Kennethmont Primary School and the Gor ...

near Huntly, was the second British Protestant missionary to China (following Robert Morrison). He was the founding headmaster of the first Anglo-Chinese school,

Ying Wa College Ying Wa College (also referred to as YWC, Anglo-Chinese College, ) is a direct subsidised boys' secondary school in Kowloon, Hong Kong near Nam Cheong station. It was established (as the Anglo-Chinese College) in Malacca in 1818 by the first P ...

, in 1818 at Malacca. (This school was subsequently moved to Hong Kong by James Legge in 1843 and still exists.) * George Philip, (1800–1882) was a cartographer, map publisher and founder of the publishing house

George Philip & Son Ltd George Philip (1800–1882) was a cartographer, map publisher and founder of the publishing house George Philip & Son Ltd. Family George Philip was born in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, to a staunchly Calvinist family. In 1819 George travelled to Live ...

. He was born in Huntly. * John Perie (1831–1874) VC, born in Huntly. *

Jo Pitt Jo Pitt (22 February 1979 – 2 May 2013) was a Scottish equestrian Paralympian. Early life Pitt came from Huntly, Aberdeenshire, and studied at Oatridge College, West Lothian. She had right-sided hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Career Pitt re ...

, para-equestrian (1979-2013), was from Huntly. *

Andrew Young Andrew Jackson Young Jr. (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian L ...

, (born 1992) cross-country skier with several

world cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

podiums. *

William Mellis Christie William Mellis Christie (5 January 1829 – 14 June 1900) is the namesake for the Canadian Mr. Christie brand of cookies and biscuits, owned by Nabisco. Christie was born in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the only child of John Christie and Jane ...

(1829–1900), founder of the Canadian Mr. Christie brand of cookies and biscuits.

References

External links

Experience Huntly websiteGazetteer of Scotland (1836) entry for Huntly, accessed 28 December 2011
* ttp://www.gordon-pri.aberdeenshire.sch.uk/ Gordon Primarybr>The Gordon Schools
{{Authority control Towns in Aberdeenshire