Maggieknockater

From Wikishire
Jump to: navigation, search
Maggieknockater
Gaelic: Magh an Fhucadair
Banffshire
Maggieknockater in 2007.jpg
Maggieknockater
Location
Grid reference: NJ314457
Location: 57°29’47"N, 3°8’46"W
Data
Local Government
Council: Moray

Maggieknockater is a hamlet on the A95 road between Craigellachie and Mulben in Banffshire.

Until the early 1970s there was large apiary which was well known in the region and has lived on in the Scottish country dance "The Bees of Maggieknockater".[1]

The meaning of Maggieknockater is Gaelic, and means "Field (Magh') of the Fuller" or "Plain of the Hilly Ridge".

History

At nearby Gauldwell Castle (now only with one partial wall left standing) Mary, Queen of Scots, is reputed to have spent the night. The school was closed in the 1960s and the chapel was turned into a home in the early 1970s.

What was once a smithy is now a garage still in the hands of the Maclean family. Maggieknockater formerly had a post office; it opened in June 1876 and closed in 1940.[2]

About the village

Maggieknockater is situated in the heart of Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail, situated less than 4 miles from Dufftown, home of the world-famous Glenfiddich Distillery.

Less than two miles heading east along the A95 from Maggieknockater is the site of a series of demanding Mountain Biking trails, known confusingly as "The Moray Monster Trails". The trails were regenerated and improved during 2005 and 2006.

Outside links

References

  1. John Drewry (1975). "Dance: The Bees of Maggieknockater". http://my.strathspey.org/dd/dance/445/. 
  2. Mackay, James A. (1989) Scottish Post Offices, p. 89. Dumfries: published by the author, ISBN 0-906440-48-3