County town: Forfar
Angus, historically known as Forfarshire from its county town of Forfar, is one of the ancient provinces of Scotland and the heartland of the Pictish kingdom. It became a sheriffdom in the medieval period.
Angus occupies the east coast of Scotland between the Tay and the North Esk, its fertile coastal plain backed by the glens of Angus leading into the Grampians. It was the heartland of the Picts, whose mysterious symbol stones — remarkable carved rocks of the 6th to 9th centuries — are found throughout the county. Glamis Castle, associated with Shakespeare's Macbeth and the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, lies in its vale. Arbroath Abbey, founded in 1178, is where the Declaration of Arbroath — Scotland's declaration of independence — was sealed in 1320. The county's fishing ports and linen industry were significant from the medieval period.
The Statistical Accounts of Scotland — the Old Statistical Account (1791–99) and the New Statistical Account (1834–45) — provide detailed parish-by-parish descriptions of Angus at two moments of transformation. Aubrey draws on these accounts when generating reports for Scottish locations, providing historical context specific to the parish and county.
Scotland's 33 traditional counties, established as sheriffdoms from the 12th century onward, were the administrative framework of the country until the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 replaced them with regional councils. They remain the reference framework for historical records, genealogy, and cultural identity.
An Aubrey report for a specific location in Angus draws on historical maps, archaeological records, Domesday data, Statistical Account records, and landscape history to tell the full story of any site in the county.
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