Coull

"COULL, a parish, in the district of Kincardine-O'Neil, county of Aberdeen, 2¾ miles (E. S. E.) from Tarland; containing 744 inhabitants. This place is supposed to have taken its name, which signifies a "corner", from its situation in the south-eastern extremity of the district of Cromar. . . Great improvements in agriculture have been effected during the last thirty years, particularly on the estate of Corse, where almost every thing has been done that could contribute to change its neglected appearance, and increase the value of the property, which is now one of the most beautiful and desirable of its size in the county. . . This parish was formerly attached to the abbey of Arbroath. It is now in the presbytery of Kincardine O'Neil, synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of Sir John Forbes, Bart., of Craigievar. The minister's stipend is about £161 of which about half is received from the exchequer; with a manse, built in 1832, and a glebe of four acres, valued at £7 per annum. The church is plain building, erected in 1792; it has a good-toned bell, of considerable size, cast in Holland in the year 1644, and presented to the church by Mr. Ross, of Mill of Coull. A large portion of the parish has long been annexed, for ecclesiastical purposes, to the parish of Leochel and Cushnie. The parochial school affords instruction in the usual branches; the master has a salary of £26, with about £15 fees, and £40 from the Dick bequest. The ruins of the castle of Corse, erected in 1581 by William Forbes, father of Bishop Patrick Forbes, are still to be seen; and the remains of that of Coull are also visible, on a rocky eminence near the church.. . . More"
[From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1851) - copyright Mel Lockie 2016]