Braemar

The modern village sits over the Clunie Water, a strategically important crossing on the Elsick Mounth, an ancient trackway used by Picts and Romans. It is located in the upper end of the historical Earldom of Mar, literally the ''Braes o' Mar. The Scottish Gaelic name Bràigh Mhàrr'' ('Upland of Mar') was originally applied to the general area; using Braemar for the village dates to around 1870. Before the 11th century, there were separate hamlets on each bank of the Clunie, Auchendryne on the west and Castleton on the east, or Bail Chasteil. According to legend, Malcolm III came to the area in around 1059, and built a timber bridge connecting the east and west banks. 'Kindrochit' means bridge end and the castle is assumed to have been built to protect the crossing. The ruins are considered to be largely of 14th-century origin, replacing the presumed timber-construction of the original castle. In 1795, a Roman Catholic Mass house was built on the high-ground to the west of Auchendryne, giving the name to Chapel Brae, which was used as a school. ==Geography==

Braemar is approached from the south on the A93 from Glen Clunie and the Cairnwell Pass and from the East also on the A93 from Deeside. Braemar can be approached on foot from the west through Glen Tilt, Glen Feshie, Glen Dee (by the Lairig Ghru), and Glen Derry (by the Lairig an Laoigh). Braemar is within a one-and-a-half-hour drive of Aberdeen, Dundee, and Perth. The village is overlooked from roughly northwest by Carn na Drochaide (818 m), from roughly northeast by Creag Choinneach (538 m), from roughly southwest by Carn na Sgliat (690 m), and from roughly southwest by Morrone (859 m). ==Language==

In the 1891 census, 59.2% of the population of Braemar spoke the Gaelic language "habitually"; the percentage of those actually able to speak the language (despite not having much opportunity to) would have been somewhat higher. The small crofting township of Inverey (Inbhir Èidh) was 86.3% Gaelic-speaking, most non-speakers being originally from Lower Deeside. The Gaelic spoken in the Aberdeenshire Highlands shared most features in common with the Gaelic of Strathspey and East Perthshire. The last native-speaker of the local Gaelic dialect died in 1984, though there are still surviving native-speakers of the similar Strathspey dialect. At the 2001 census, out of a total population of 839 in Crathie and Braemar Civil Parish, only 5 (0.6%) claimed to be Gaelic-speakers. ==Braemar Gathering==

Known colloquially as "The Games" and originating from those believed to have been held by Malcolm III, an annual Highland games gathering is held at Braemar on the first Saturday in September and is traditionally attended by the British royal family. In 1746, the Act of Proscription stopped all clan gatherings, but following its repeal in 1782, the old enthusiasms for such events returned. The current Chieftain of the Braemar Gathering is King Charles III. Lots of events are held, including: • hill running; • heavy events; • light events; and • Highland dancing. The Highland dancing is high quality owing to careful selection by the organisers. As the dancing boards are located right in front of the patrons' pavilions, some of the dancers have been watched by members of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III. Another event that happens at Braemar is the presentation of the Aberdeenshire League/Walker's Shortbread League winners. The overall top six dancers from across certain Highland games held over the summer are presented with their awards. Each dancer receives a tin of Walker's shortbread (hence the nickname 'Shortbread League') and a commemorative vase, picture or something similar. File:Braemar Highland Games - John Mitchell - ABDAG004878.jpg|Braemar Highland Games by John Mitchell, 1898 File:John_Campbell_Hamilton-Gordon,_1st_Marquess_of_Aberdeen_and_Temair_and_Cornelia_Sorabji,_first_Indian_woman_to_practice_at_the_bar_in_India.jpg|John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair and Cornelia Sorabji, the first Indian woman to practise law in India, at the 1924 Braemar Gathering File:braemargames_2006_06.jpg|Participants at the 2006 Games ==Amenities==

Braemar has a golf course, two large hotels (Fife Arms and Invercauld Arms) as well as many smaller hotels and private homes offering bed and breakfast-style accommodation and a large SYHA hostel. On the southern edge of the village there is also a caravan site. Braemar also has a small post office/village shop and mountain bike hire. The Morrone Birkwood Nature Reserve is a nature reserve on the edge of the village reached from the car park at the top of Chapel Brae. There are three churches in Braemar. St Andrew's Catholic Church, St Ninian's Chapel (Scottish Episcopal Church) which is located in the grounds of the Mar Lodge Estate (sharing a Priest with Aboyne & Ballater), and Braemar Church of Scotland (sharing a minister with Crathie Kirk). == Transport ==

There is a bus service connecting Dundee, Braemar, and Aberdeen. ==Climate==

. Like most of the United Kingdom, Braemar experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) though somewhat cooler than lowland areas, verging on a subpolar oceanic climate. Braemar is the third-coldest low-lying place in the UK after the villages of Dalwhinnie and Leadhills with an annual mean temperature of . Braemar has twice entered the UK weather records with a low temperature of , recorded on 11 February 1895 and again on 10 January 1982. This record is shared with Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands. Braemar has an annual average of 98 days of air frost and 157 days with 1 mm or more of rainfall. Snowfall can be heavy in winter and early spring, and often accumulates to depths of or more. was recorded by weather watcher Chris Booth on 9 February 2021. On 30 September 2015, Braemar had one of the largest recorded diurnal ranges of temperature in the UK, as well as recording the warmest and coldest temperatures for the UK for September 2015; the maximum temperature was and the minimum was . The next day it was again the coldest and warmest place in the UK. The minimum temperature was and the maximum was a new October record for Braemar — . Braemar recorded later that month, so for the second month in a row Braemar recorded the warmest and coldest monthly temperatures for the UK. On 2 November 2015 a new record high temperature for November in Braemar was set . On 11 February 2021 Braemar made national news after a temperature of was recorded. It was the lowest February temperature since 1955 and the UK's coldest night since 30 December 1995. ==Notable people==

• John Farquharson, S.J. (1699-1782), son of Lewis Farquharson the Elder, Laird of Inverey and Auchindryne, who became an outlawed Roman Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus assigned to Clan Chisholm and Clan Fraser of Lovat in The Aird, Strathglass, and Strathfarrar between 1729 and 1753. His lost manuscript collection of local Scottish Gaelic literature and lays from the Fenian Cycle of Celtic Mythology later played an important role in the Ossianic controversy. In 2025, Margot Robbie, the American actress, was reported to have bought a house in the town. ==See also==