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{{Short description|Committee area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
[[File:ScotlandAberdeenshireBuchan.png|thumb|right|Map of Scotland showing the present-day committee area of Buchan]]

'''Buchan''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ʌ|x|ən}} is a coastal district in the north-east of [[Scotland]], bounded by the [[Ythan]] and [[Deveron]] rivers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Buchan|publisher=The Gazetteer for Scotland|url=https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst7438.html|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref> It was one of the original [[Provinces of Scotland|provinces]] of the [[Kingdom of Alba]].{{sfn|MacQueen|2008|p=287}} It is now one of the six [[committee area]]s of [[Aberdeenshire]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://committees.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/FunctionsPage.aspx?dsid=36644&action=GetFileFromDB|publisher=Aberdeenshire Council|title=Minutes of Buchan Area Committee|date=23 April 1996|access-date=6 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606230704/http://committees.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/FunctionsPage.aspx?dsid=36644&action=GetFileFromDB|archive-date=6 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The genesis of the name ''Buchan'' is shrouded in uncertainty,<ref name="Jackson">{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Kenneth |title=The Gaelic Notes in the Book of Deer |date=2 March 1972 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521082648 |page=39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_I8AAAAIAAJ&dq |access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref> but may be of [[Pictish]] origin.<ref name="Jackson"/> The name may involve an equivalent of [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''buwch'' meaning "a cow".<ref name="Jackson"/><ref name="cpns">{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=W.J. |last2=Taylor |first2=Simon |title=The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland |date=2011 |publisher=Birlinn LTD |isbn=9781906566357 |edition=reprint }}</ref> American academic [[Thomas Owen Clancy|Thomas Clancy]] has noted cautiously the similarity between the territory names ''Buchan'' and ''[[Marr, Scotland|Marr]]'' to those of the Welsh commotes ''[[Cantref Bychan]]'' and ''[[Cantref Mawr]]'', meaning "small commote" and "large commote", respectively.<ref name="UGlas">{{cite web |last=Rhys |first=Guto |title=Approaching the Pictish language: historiography, early evidence and the question of Pritenic |url=http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6285/7/2015RhysPhD.pdf |website=University of Glasgow |publisher=University of Glasgow}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Buchan Ness and its lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 5802128.jpg|thumb|Buchan Ness, near Peterhead]]
The first documentary record of Buchan is a reference in the ''[[Chronicle of the Kings of Alba]]'' to the death of King [[Indulf]] at the hands of Vikings in Buchan in 962, a death separately recorded in a 12th-century king list as taking place at [[Cullen, Moray|Cullen]].{{sfn|Woolf|2007|p=193}} Cullen is to the west of the River Deveron, in an area where the [[Earls of Buchan]] held land as late as the 13th century, suggesting that Buchan's boundaries at this time extended as far west as the [[River Spey]].{{sfn|Woolf|2007|p=194}}

In [[Picts|Pictish]] times, Buchan was located within the kingdom of [[Cé (Pictish territory)|Cé]]. There is considerable ancient history in this geographic area, especially slightly north-west of [[Cruden Bay]], where the [[Catto Long Barrow]] and numerous [[tumuli]] are found.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hogan |first=C Michael |date=2008-08-17 |title=Catto (Long Barrow) |url=https://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/11227/catto#fieldnotes |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=themodernantiquarian.com}}</ref>

At one time, the district of Buchan comprised all the land between the [[River Don, Aberdeenshire|Don]] and Deveron, but now the land between the Don and the Ythan is known as [[Formartine]], so ''Buchan'' has taken on a restricted sense.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mGlBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA94 |title=Collections for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, Volume 4 |date=1843 |editor-last=Robertson |editor-first=Joseph}}</ref>

== Features ==
[[File:View to Mormond Hill White Horse figure - geograph.org.uk - 235788.jpg|thumb|[[Mormond Hill]], Buchan's highest point]]
The Buchan area has a population of 39,160 (2001 census) and an area of {{cvt|547|km2}}. It contains the town of [[Peterhead]] and is adjacent to the committee and administrative areas of [[Banff and Buchan]] and [[Formartine]].

[[Peterhead]] is the largest town in Buchan and Aberdeenshire; the principal whitefish-landing port in Europe; and a major oil industry service centre. Equally important is the nearby gas terminal at [[St Fergus]]. [[Remote Radar Head Buchan]], an [[RAF]] air-defence radar unit, is located near Peterhead.

Attempts are being made to counter the negative effects of several recent key company closures and economic threats. Inland, the area is dependent upon agriculture, and many villages have seen a decline in population and services. Issues affecting Banff and Buchan also apply here, as does the future of the oil and gas industry. Part of Buchan benefits from EU aid coverage. Opportunities exist through the Buchan Local Action Plan to safeguard and enhance the economic future of Peterhead and Buchan.

The [[Formartine and Buchan Way]] runs through Buchan.

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=MacQueen |first=Hector L. |chapter=Scotland: Politics, Government and Law |editor-last=Rigby |editor-first=S. H. |title=A Companion to Britain in the Later Middle Ages |year=2008 |location= Chichester |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=0470998776 |pages=283–308}}
* {{cite book |last=Woolf |first=Alex |year=2007 |title=From Pictland to Alba 789–1070 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=9780748612345 }}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060527155406/http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/early/scotland.cfm?id=162 1714 map showing Buchan]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050220032410/http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/early/record.cfm?id=240 1745 Map showing the sheriffdom of Aberdeen (Buchan and Mar)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060427181250/http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/early/record.cfm?id=163 1745 Map showing the sheriffdom of Aberdeen (Buchan and Mar)]

{{Coord|57.52|N|2.00|W|type:adm3rd_region:GB_dim:20000|display=title}}

{{Scottish provinces|mainland|state=uncollapsed}}
{{Buchan, Aberdeenshire places|state=uncollapsed}}
{{Aberdeenshire places|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Buchan| ]]
[[Category:Provinces of Scotland]]
[[Category:Committee areas of Aberdeenshire]]