A Wee Tour Round Boddam 3.

Boddam is a small coastal village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is 29 miles north of Aberdeen and 3 miles south of Peterhead. Sea cliffs rise to 200 feet, south of the village: a coastal path leads along these to the Bullers O Buchan.

The settlement at the entrance to Boddam was for many years simply known as Stirling thats where my father was born, in 2004, it was renamed Stirling Village, to avoid confusion with the newly granted and named city of Stirling

In the 16th century at the time Boddam castle was being built the chief of the clan was George Keith, Earl Marischal who currently had made substantial modifications to Dunnottar Castle. Compared to this elaborate fortress, Boddam Castle was a much more conservative residence.
Today only fragmentary ruins remain of Boddam Castle. The headland location chosen by the Keiths for their castle was guarded by the start of the cliffs that run for five miles south west from here to Slains Castle and Cruden Bay. About half way along this stretch of cliffs is the Bullers of Buchan, a collapsed sea cave forming an almost circular pot and an arch.

The last member of the Keith family to occupy Boddam Castle was William Keith (1669-1749). He was born at the castle he and his father supported the first Jacobite rebellion of 13 November 1715, and in the battle of Sheriffmuir that lasted two days, the Jacobites were defeated. When this failed they fled abroad only returning after the Act of Indemnity. In the subsequent decades William held several commissions in North America including Surveyor General for the Southern District of the Americas and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. However, his father was implicated in the 1715 Jacobite rebellion and was financially ruined. When he died in 1718, William inherited both his father's estates and the debts. He was never able to recover from the latter ultimately dying penniless in the Old Bailey debtors prison in 1749. In the subsequent decades Boddam Castle drifted into ruin and was never repaired.

The Boddam lighthouse was completed in 1827 by Robert Stevenson. The lighthouse tower is 35m high, and there are 166 steps leading to the top. The distinctive red & white band was added in 1910. Buchan Ness Lighthouse was automated in 1988, and the foghorn, known locally as the Boddam Coo fell silent in 2000.
A relative of mine George Troup b.1794 stone mason to trade was one of the original builders of the lighthouse on a stormy day it is quite a sight sitting on its rock.
During WW1 about a hundred German prisoners were sent from Stobs Camp to work in the granite quarries nearby, this also happened during WW2.
Today, Boddam serves largely as a commuter settlement for Aberdeen and Peterhead but still in the fishing industry and continues on a smaller scale, in particular for lobster & Crab from the few boats surviving that still use the harbour The village has yet retained public facilities such a post office, two hotels and an inn, a library, fish and chip shop, local shop, two car garages, a public hall and a local primary school the rocky ground around the lighthouse is quite spectacular even more during bad weather.
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