Balfour Aberdeenshire is a settlement on Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. Balfour lies south of the River Dee

River Dee, Aberdeenshire

The River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen...

.

History

Roman legion

Roman legion

A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...

s marched from Raedykes

Raedykes

Raedykes is the site of a Roman marching camp located just over 3 miles NW of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. National Grid Reference NO 842902...

 to Normandykes

Normandykes

Normandykes is the site of a Roman marching camp to the southwest of Peterculter, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The near-rectangular site, measuring approximately , covers about of the summit and eastern slopes of a hill overlooking the River Dee and the B9077 road further south. Aerial photographs...

 Roman Camp through the Durris Forest, not far from Balfour as they sought higher ground evading the bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

s of Red Moss

Red Moss, Aberdeenshire

Red Moss is a wetland bog in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, located at the northwestern edge of the village of Netherley. The moss is designated a national Site of Special Scientific Interest by Scottish Natural Heritage, due to its biodiversity and undisturbed character. The elevation of Red Moss is...

 and other low-lying areas associated with the Burn of Muchalls

Burn of Muchalls

The Burn of Muchalls is an easterly flowing stream in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that discharges to the North Sea. Its point of discharge is on a rocky beach set with scenic sea stacks...

. That march used the Elsick Mounth

Elsick Mounth

The Elsick Mounth is an ancient trackway crossing the Grampian Mountains in the vicinity of Netherley, Scotland. This trackway was one of the few means of traversing the Grampian Mounth area in prehistoric and medieval times. The highest pass of the route is attained within the Durris Forest...

, one of the ancient trackway

Trackway

A trackway is an ancient route of travel for people or animals. In biology, a trackway can be a set of impressions in the soft earth, usually a set of footprints, left by an animal. A fossil trackway is the fossilized imprint of a trackway. Trackways have been found all over the world...

s crossing the Mounth

Mounth

The Mounth is the range of hills on the southern edge of Strathdee in northeast Scotland. It was usually referred to with the article, i.e. "the Mounth". The name is a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic monadh which in turn is akin to the Welsh mynydd, and may be of Pictish origin...

 of the Grampian Mountains, lying west of Netherley

Netherley, Aberdeenshire

Netherley, Scotland is a village in Aberdeenshire, situated approximately five miles northwest of Stonehaven. Netherley is located in the Mounth area of the Grampian Highlands. At the western edge of Netherley is a significant wetland bog known as Red Moss. To the southwest of Netherley lie...

. The important Mesolithic

Mesolithic

The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....

 settlement of Balbridie

Balbridie

Balbridie is the site of a Neolithic timberhouse in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated in the south Deeside near the B9077 road. This archaeological site is one of the earliest known permanent neolithic settlements in Scotland, dating to 3400 to 4000 BC...

is located nearby.