 The route was that taken by William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal and the Marquess of Montrose when they led a Covenanter army of 9000 men in the battle of the Civil War in 1639.For centuries prior to the collapse of local marine fisheries in the 1900s, Portlethen Village derived its livelihood from use of small oceangoing wooden boats in pursuit of North Sea fish.It also has a small public house called The Neuk frequented by Jimmy fra nichts and the nightshift.