Rattray (historic: Rettre; occasionally: Rattery; Scottish Gaelic: Raitear), (found at grid reference NK088578) had been settled as far back as 4000 BC and was named a Royal Burgh in 1563 by Mary, Queen of Scots, "to put an end to the disputes about superiority over it between William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal and George Hay, 7th Earl of Erroll". The ancient burgh was located near to Crimond, Scotland, but the village was largely destroyed and never recovered after a storm in the 18th century that covered it in shifting sands from the nearby dunes at Rattray Head.