Field Visit
Date 21 July 1993
Event ID 624092
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/624092
There are two clusters of buildings, characterised by faced-rubble footings up to 0.9m in thickness, at the E and W ends of haughland on the S side of the River Dee, some of which are depicted on the current edition of the OS 1:10,000 map under the name of Dalvorar. The 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Aberdeenshire 1869, sheet xcvii) also depicts some unroofed buildings - the W group (centred on NO 0390 8934) under the name of Dail a'Mhoraire Mhor (three buildings and three enclosures) and the E cluster (centred on NO 0435 8925) as Dail a'Mhoraire Bheag (five buildings). Parts of the haughland have been cleared of stone and may have been cultivated, although no rig is visible.
The W settlement (Dail a'Mhoraire Mhor) is largely situated at the N edge of the haughland, along the S side of the Dee, although there are two parallel buildings (MAR93 471-472) levelled into the heather-covered valley-side to the S.
Thirteen buildings (MAR93 392-394, 397, 399-400, 469, 471-475) measure between 5.8m by 3.6m and 13.8m by 3m internally, while two larger buildings measure 15m by 4.4m internally (MAR93 396) and 19.3m by 4m internally (MAR93 469). Two of the buildings (MAR 399, 400) are constructed with square angles and lie parallel to each other, perhaps forming a relatively late element in the settlement. The N side of one building (MAR93 400) still stands up to 2.5m in height and has been mortared. It is wider than most other township buildings, at 4.5m, and has a window and joist-sockets in the N wall, and may have been the centre of a post-clearance sheep farm (Watson and Allan 1990), with which the drystone field banks enclosing the haughland to the E, N and W may be related (see also NO08NW 2-5, 8, 9).
The two parallel buildings which have been suggested as a post-clearance sheep-farm, have characteristics which match those of the buildings at the shooting-lodges of Bynack and Geldie. The mortar-walled building (MAR93 400) is similar to the lodge-houses at Bynack and Geldie (N0 08NW 17 and NN 98NE 1), whilst the other building (MAR93 399), which has three entrances on one side and what may be drains running across it, may have been a stables. In addition, following the abandonment of the sheep-farm in about 1832, Dalvorar was let to James Duff esq., a relation of the Earl of Fife, who may have used it as a shooting-lodge (Aberdeen University Library MS 3175).
There are two stone-walled enclosures, both depicted as hedged on the 1st edition of the OS map (ibid) attached to two of the buildings (MAR93 395, 400). A rectangular stony platform (MAR93 468), which may have been a stack-stand, is also situated within the scatter of buildings (NO 0388 8930).
There are two kilns amongst the buildings of the W settlement. The better-preserved kiln (MAR93 398) has a bowl measuring 2.1m by 1.9m across and 0.8m deep, and while what may be a ruinous kiln, set within a mound measuring 5.5m in diameter (MAR93 395), lies in one of the enclosures.
A hut (MAR93 470), measuring 6.1m by 2m within faced-rubble walls 1m in thickness and 0.3m in height, is situated above the steep slopes forming the S bank of the Dee and lies to the SW of the buildings, immediately to the W of an unnamed burn.
The E settlement consists of seven buildings (MAR93 383, 385-8, 390-1), two huts (MAR93 384, 389) and a kiln (MAR93 382). The buildings are aligned from E to W and generally measure between 11.3m by 4.1m and 6.2m by 3.2m internally with one larger building (MAR93 388) measuring 17.8m by 3.3m internally. The huts measure between 5.4m by 2.5m and 2.4m and 1.8m internally, and the bowl of the kiln measures 1.9m across. A ruinous drystone wall cuts across the angle of the Dee to the SE and NW of the buildings.
Dalvorar is depicted on Farquharson's map of the Forrest of Mar (1703) (National Library of Scotland) and is also shown on Roy's map (Roy 1747-55), although under the name of Dubrach, presumably transposed from the settlement to the W. Robertson's map of 1822 (Robertson 1822) also shows the site, in a location which would correspond to the mortared, two-storey building (NO 0386 8933, MAR93 400) which may have been the focus for a post-clearance sheep farm.
(MAR93 382-400, 468-475)
Visited by RCAHMS (DCC) 21 July 1993
