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Kingseat
Stone (Period Unassigned), Well (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Kingseat
Classification Stone (Period Unassigned), Well (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Betteral Well; King Seat; King's Seat
Canmore ID 20308
Site Number NJ91NW 2
NGR NJ 9012 1931
NGR Description NJ 9012 1931 and NJ 8983 1931
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/20308
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish New Machar
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Gordon
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ91NW 2 9012 1931 and 8983 1931.
(NJ 9012 1931) King Seat (NR) (Site of)
(NJ 8983 1931) Betteral Well (NR) (Site of)
OS 6" map, Aberdeenshire, 2nd ed., (1901).
"There is a stone in the courtyard of a farm in the parish, on which tradition says that one of the early Kings of Scotland (Malcolm Canmore) seated himself....he had water brought to him from a well in the immediate neighbourhood, which proved so grateful and refreshing...that he pronounced nature's beverage to be better than ale......." Hence, the farm is called Kingseat, and the well, the Betteral (Better-ale) Well. The well is now covered over and the water led to a drain; and the stone has been removed, but it is supposed that the site marked is correct.
New Statistical Account (NSA) 1845 (Rev G Moir, 1842); Name Book 1865.
There is now no trace of King Seat. On the site of Betteral Well, there is a modern well on concrete with a metal cover, and three other similar structures in the same field.
Visited by OS (NKB) 20 March 1964.
The original position of the stone known as the King Seat lies on the summit of a low rise immediately N of Kingseat farmsteading (1st edition OS 6-inch map, Aberdeenshire 1870, sheet lvi). The steading is now disused and has been partly demolished, and the area in which the stone was located has been disturbed by quarrying and the construction of tracks. The well was not visited.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, IF), 5 November 1996.
