Hide

Drumoak

hide
Hide

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

Etymology
The most ancient name of this parish is mentioned in a bull (1157) of Pope Adrian IV., "Ecclesiam de Dulmayok," pronounced Dal-maik, which in Gaelic signifies, Dail, a field, and Maik of the holy well called St. Maik's, or Moak's, which is near to where the old church stands. The more modern name, Drumoak, appears in a charter, dated 1407, granted by Bishop Gilbert., which is subscribed, "Alexr. de Kynloch prebendarius de Drumoak," and is the more modern name of the parish, differing only in the prefix Drum, in Gaelic, Druim, signifying the ridge of the hill, a name which is more applicable to the general appearance of the parish than Dal, which refers only to the field of St. Moak's Well.

Boundaries
The parish is bounded on the north by the parishes of Echt and Peter Culter; on the east by Peter Culter; on the south by the river Dee; and on the west by the parish of Banchory-Ternan, which is in Kincardineshire.

Extent
The extreme length of the parish, in a direct line along the Dee from east to west, is 3½ miles; and the extreme breadth from north to south, also in a direct line, is 3 miles. The area of that part of the parish in Aberdeenshire is computed to be 5,280 acres, and of that, part which is in Kincardineshire, 1,270 acres.

Topography
The central ridge, or hill of Drum, rises with gentle slopes from the Gormack burn on the north, and from the Dee on the south, to an elevation of 414 feet above sea level, On the east of this hill, there is the Tower of Drum, which stands 300 feet, the church of Drumoak is 254 feet, the Park Station, on the Deeside Railway, is 165 feet. The bridge over the Dee, leading to Durris, is 113 feet. The lowest point in the parish, on the Dee, is below the old church, and St. Maik's Well, and it is about 52 feet above sea level, and the highest point on the river, in the parish, at the Nether Mills of Drum, is about 117 feet. The lowermost point in the parish, on the burn of Culter, which is a little below the Leuchar and Gormack burns, is 123 feet, and at Quidies Mill, on the "Coupars' Road," the latter stream is 200 feet above sea level. The table land at Coalford, on the Deeside Railway, is 152 feet, and the turnpike road at the Mains of Drum, is 172 feet, while to the north-east, of Coalford, the ridge of the Ord Hill rises to about 350 feet, and terminates in the lower ridge of Belskevie on the eastern boundary of the parish.

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