Snowdrops and lost industry at Bungyietoun.

The policies of Philorth House are really waking up, there are now fully open snowdrops throughout the wood. The wood garlic leaves are pushing through and unfurling bright green leaves so that the wood is already pungent. There was much bird activity, rooks flying high in the tree tops and loudly drumming woodpeckers.

Snowdrops carpet the wood underneath this massive horse chestnut tree. Later they will be succeeded by a carpet of celandines. The original name of farm here was   Bungyietoun, from the Gaelic for yellow and Scots toun -a farm. This is generally thought to have originated because of the gorse or broom which may have grown here. Grey Granite thinks that the celandines may be responsible.

Morning sunshine catching the chimney of the gasworks. There was still  a thin layer of ice on the shaded puddles despite the bright sunshine.

 During the 19th century it was quite common for large country houses to have their own private  gas works. Coal gas was a cheaper and safer form of lighting than the alternatives of candles or oil lamps.as early the 1780's Lord Saltoun was encouraging the use  of coal in the burgh because local supplies of peat were becoming exhausted.  By 1797 Fraserburgh Town Council had set up a coal yard and was selling small quantities of coal,  brought by sea from areas such as Northumberland, to the poor.  Fraserburgh had a town  gasworks from 1840.

There are references dating back to 1616 of  a waulkmill at Bonyetoun, one of many spelling variants   of  Bungyietoun, where in 1639 reference was also made to Troquhardie from the Gaelic torr chardaire -'Hill of the wool carder' suggesting that earlier industry at Philorth may have included small scale weaving. 

The gas works probably supplied gas to the original   Philorth House was built in 1666  at was when then known as Bungyietoun, where the estate home farm was situated,   by Sir Alexander  Fraser, 10th Lord Saltoun. The 10th Lord Saltoun was severely wounded at the battle of Worcester but was rescued and nursed back to health by his servant James Cardno who managed to get Lord Saltoun back to Fraserburgh.  The house underwent several renovations and alterations between 1874 and 1876 becoming an impressive L plan house with a massive crow stepped block with central pepperpot turreted round towers and an enormous chimney and buttress at one end. There were stair towers at the back of the house which had, as was usual, the main rooms on the first floor. Philorth House,  became the seat of the Frasers of Philorth until it was almost completely destroyed by fire on 25  March 1915.

Looking across the Wilderness towards the present Philorth House, the ruins of the original house  can just be made out hidden in the trees to the right of the building..