Rattray was a

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

on the coast of

Buchan Buchan is a coastal district in the north-east of Scotland, bounded by the Ythan and Deveron rivers. It was one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas of Aberdeenshire. Etymology The ge ...

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, near Rattray Head and the modern village of Crimond. It lay upon a natural harbour in the

Loch of Strathbeg The Loch of Strathbeg is a shallow freshwater loch on the coast of Buchan in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It lies within the parishes of Lonmay and Crimond. The loch is a designated special protection area because of its importance to birdlife and is ...

, which in former times was an inlet of the sea. Overlooking the harbour entrance was the

Castle of Rattray The Castle of Rattray was a medieval Scotland, Scottish castle, with multiple variations on its structure over approximately six centuries. Originally built as a ''"late 12th- or early 13th century defensive Motte-and-bailey, motte"'' it prov ...

, built by the Comyn family (earls of Buchan). The burgh may have been laid out by the Comyns in the 13th century. It was made a

royal burgh A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

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 ...

in 1564. The harbour entrance began to silt up in the next century, however, and it was finally closed by a storm in 1720. This caused the burgh, which had never been much larger than a village, to enter a terminal decline. By 1732, "there was hardly a vestige of tremaining". All that survives of the burgh today is the ruined Chapel of St Mary and the

motte 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 (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...

of the old castle, now known as Castle Hill.

References

External links

Information leaflet including reconstructions of the chapel and burgh17th-century map of Buchan
{{authority control Villages in Aberdeenshire Former populated places in Scotland Buchan