The Sartorial Seafarer

The north east of Scotland has relied on the sea to provide life and livelihoods for hundreds of years. The location chosen was Port Errol Harbour which was commissioned by William Harry Hay, the 19th Earl of Errol in 1875. The harbour sits beneath the imposing ruins of Slains castle which was the home of the Hay's of Errol since 1597. It is said that while visiting Cruden Bay and walking along the craggy cliff edged coast on a stormy bleak night to Slains the inspiration for Count Dracula came to Bram Stoker.

"The harbour of Port Erroll is a tiny haven of refuge won from the jagged rocks that bound the eastern side of Cruden Bay. It is sheltered on the northern side by the cliff which runs as far as the Watter's Mou', and separated from the mouth of the Water of Cruden, with its waste of shifting sands, by a high wall of concrete. The harbour faces east, and its first basin is the smaller of the two, the larger opening sharply to the left a little way in. At the best of times it is not an easy matter to gain the harbour, for only when the tide has fairly risen is it available at all, and the rapid tide which runs up from the Scaurs makes in itself a difficulty at such times. The tide was now at three-quarters flood, so that in as far as water was concerned there was no difficulty; but the fierceness of the waves which sent up a wall of white water all along the cliffs looked ominous indeed." Excerpt from The Watters Mou by Bram Stoker.