Seatown (Botany)

The parish of Crimond used to operate fishing boats from the Burn of Rattray estuary in Strathbeg Bay until the dunes eventually sealed it from the sea to form the Loch of Strathbeg in the 1720s. There was no more fishing until the Rattray Estate built the new fishing village at Rattray Head around 1795. Officially the Seatown of Rattray, it quickly became known as Botany after the desolate penal colony recently established in 1788 at Botany Bay in Australia. Most of the new population arrived in 1803 comprising a few fishermen from Boatlea and a few locals.

Although the sea was abundant with cod, fishing was poor as many days were lost due to the weather and hazardous waters around Rattray Head. Fisher families had given up on Botany after a short period, and by the mid 1830s only a few farming families occupied the village. After further advertising for fishermen in 1838, a few fisher families moved to Botany around 1842 where they endured a very meagre existence, quite often living off the many rabbits, ducks, and gulls in the area. The village struggled on during the next hundred years or so until the middle of the 20th century, and there now remains only piles of rubble and a few ruins.