Deeside, the southern border of the Northeast shires of Aberdeen and Banff, is very much frontier country – its lonely passes through a barely penetrable mountain range were of massive strategic importance for centuries. The legions of Emperor Septimus Severus came in by Elsick Mounth in the early third century ad, and the B974 Fettercairn–Banchory road marks the way taken by Edward I’s army as it withdrew from the North-east in 1296, as well as the route Macbeth took to his doom two and a half centuries before.

In this book, Daniel MacCannell looks at the rich and varied lost legacy of this haunting part of Scotland, from castles, houses, and whole villages to hospitals, illicit stills and even a number of lochs. In addition to tangible things, he also considers much else that has been ‘lost’ from the history, landscape and collective memory of the area – such as forgotten astronomers, inventors, roisterers and rebels; the local Gaelic of the area which has now died out; the wolf, which lived freely there until the 1680s; and the ways of life of past generations of Deeside people. The result is a vivid and stimulating insight into the way Deeside has changed over many hundreds of years.