New Colony Book!
November 2011
A new book 'The Bennachie Colony Project: Examining the Lives and Impact of the Bennachie Colonists' (100pp + 4pp colour) published by the Bailies of Bennachie is now on sale!
The book considers the lives of the "Colonists" who squatted on the eastern slopes of Bennachie. Although other individual farmsteads existed across the hill, this area developed into a community of near-neighbours who intermarried and co-existed for a large part of the19th century. The surviving documentary evidence has been examined and brought together to create an accurate picture of the lifestyles and social conditions of those times. It charts the life of the Colony from its beginnings in the opening years of the century, through its vibrant and successful period of growth to its demise at the hands of the surrounding lairds in the 1870s.
Jennifer Fagen, a PhD student from Aberdeen University’s Department of Anthropology, has drawn upon official historical data housed within parish records, poor law registers and newspapers of the time. From these and other sources, she has woven a moving narrative dealing with the hard lives of a rural population fighting against the odds to maintain a disappearing way of life.
If you are a Bailie member you can get the book for £8.00 plus post and package.