Banff is a town in the Banff and Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Banff is situated on Banff Bay and faces the town of Macduff across the estuary of the River Deveron. Banff is a former burgh, and until 1975 was the county town of Banffshire. The origin of the name is uncertain; it may be derived from the Scottish Gaelic banbh 'piglet' (Old Irish banb 'suckling pig'); buinne, a stream; or a contraction of Bean-naomh, the holy woman (as is reflected in the town's coat-of-arms). William J. Watson writes: "It is true that Banff is Banb in the Book of Deer and Banbh in modern Gaelic - one syllable. On the other hand, banbh, a sucking pig, is not appropriate - one might say it is impossible - as the name of a place or district."
Banff's first castle was built to repel Viking invaders and a charter of 1163 AD shows that Malcolm IV was living there at that time. During this period the town was a busy trading centre in the "free hanse" of Northern Scottish burghs, despite not having its own harbour until 1775. The first recorded Sheriff of Banff was Richard de Strathewan in 1264, and in 1372 Royal Burgh status was conferred by King Robert II. By the 15th century Banff was one of three principal towns exporting salmon to the continent of Europe, along with Aberdeen and Montrose.
Seventeenth century Scotland was lawless and some of the worst offenders were members of the nobility. According to records kept by historian William Cramond, the tolbooth (courthouse and prison) of Banff was, in 1628, the site of an altercation between Lord Banff and James Ogilvie, his relative. Reportedly, he struck James Ogilvie upon the head with a baton during a court hearing. Twenty of his friends and followers then attacked poor Ogilvie with swords before chasing him into the street and finishing him off with a pistol shot.
Banff and Macduff are separated by the valley of the River Deveron. This unpredictable river was finally tamed by the seven arched bridge completed in 1779 by John Smeaton. An earlier bridge had been built in 1765, but was swept away in 1768. The old ferry was brought back into use, until it was lost in a flood in 1773.
A public meeting was held in 1800 and passed a resolution for the building of a turnpike road between Turiff and Banff as the existing road was in a sad state of repair. Later 19th century transport improvements included the building of two railway lines, from Macduff to Turiff in 1860 and the Banff, Portsoy and Strathisla railway in 1859 which connected to the main Aberdeen to Inverness line.
Currently, the languages spoken in the town and in its vicinity tend to be the Doric dialect of Scots, and English.
