Aberdour

A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed), 1875

Etymology
The name seems to be Gaelic, and derived from a small stream or rivulet called the Dour, anciently written Dovar, with the prefix abh, water, abh-ir, the mouth of the water, or water to water, and Dour, the stream which falls into the Moray Firth, about 200 yards below the old church.

Boundaries
On the north, it is bounded by the Moray Firth, along which it has a sea-board of about 5½ miles; on the east by the parishes of Pitsligo and Tyrie; on the south by the parishes of Tyrie and Strichen; and on the west by the parish of King-Edward, and by the burn of Chapelden, or Nethermill, which divides Aberdour and Gamrie parishes, and the counties of Aberdeen and Banff.

Extent
The greatest length of the parish, from north-east to south-west, measures in a direct line about 9½ miles, and its greatest breadth from south-east to north-west, 5 miles; exclusive of that portion which is cut off by the parish of Tyrie. This detached portion, which forms part of the barony of Aberdour, lies about two miles from the south boundary of the parish, and within about two miles of the village of Strichen. The whole area, including the detached portion, is estimated at about, 16,500 acres.

Topography
The face of the country is very undulating, especially the west and south-west division, where the hills, bordering on King-Edward parish, attain an elevation of 746 feet above sea level. The western half of the parish is traversed from south-west to north-west by three rivulets, in deep hollows, respectively called the dens of Troup, Auchmedden, and Aberdour. The southern division is traversed from north to south by the den of Glasslaw, through which the northern branch of the Ugie flows, by the village of Strichen, and joins the southern branch of that river at Rora, in Longside. The north and east division is comparatively level, and mostly all cultivated. The parish church, which stands at the north end of the village of New Aberdour, is 200 feet above sea level, and the old castle of Dundargue, on the sea shore, is 65 feet above sea level.

[A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed), 1875]