Aberdeen

Aberdeen Coat of Arms

Aberdeen is a port city and the residence of the Count of Aberdeen, within the Commonwealth of England. Situated on the North Sea, between the mouths of the Don and Dee rivers, 130 mi. northeast of Edinburgh.

The original town was settled by Flemings, about 1130, during the reign of David I, receiving its charter from William the Lion about 1175. During the Middle Ages. it was the most important city north of the Firth of Forth and was the Bruce's main port for supplies during the War of Independence. During the War of the Three Kingdoms between 1644 and 1647, the city was plundered on both sides. It was taken and ransacked by Royalist troops under the command of George Gordon in 1646. Afterwards a bubonic plague killed a quarter of the city. It has suffered under a brutal marshal law for the last three years.

In 1494, King's College was founded by Bishop Elphinstone, and in 1593 George Keith, Earl Marischal, established Marischal College. This latter is built in the Gothic style. Many of the buildings in the main city were built recently, in the 16th century. The harbour suffers from silting, so that while Aberdeen's important for fishing, large frigates cannot make use of it. It remains a highly commercialised market^4R town, however.

Goods produced in and around Aberdeen includes granite^3R for building, distilling^2R, general cloth, cotton cloth^3R, burlap and wool cloth; masonry, shipbuilding^2R, herring and salmon. Aberdeen also transships goods from the Cairngorm Range west of the city and the small villages of Ellon, Huntly and Stonehaven. Population (c.1650), 18,413.