Drumoak

"DRUMOAK, a parish, chiefly in the district and county of Aberdeen, and partly in the county of Kincardine, 11 miles (W. S. W.) from Aberdeen; containing 811 inhabitants. Its original name was Dalmaik, by which it is still generally called by the inhabitants, though the denomination of Drumoak has also been used for more than 300 years. . . . The PARISH approaches in figure to a triangle, but the outline is very irregular. It measures six miles in length, and averages two in breadth, comprising 7190 acres, of which 1797 are in the county of Kincardine. Of the Aberdeenshire portion 3467 acres are under cultivation, 485 are waste or continual pasture (including 50 acres capable of improvement), and 1441 are occupied by wood; of the Kincardineshire portion 798 acres are under cultivation, 793 waste or continual pasture (300 being capable of improvement), and 206 are in wood. . . The turnpike-road from Aberdeen to Braeraar passes through the whole length of the parish. . . Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery and synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of Alexander Irvine, Esq. . . Drumoak old church, removed in 1835, is supposed to have stood about 300 years, and was inconveniently situated on a strip of land stretching into the parish of Petereulter. The present structure, placed on nearly a central spot, is a neat and comfortable place of worship, raised at an expense of about £1000, and contains 630 sittings. A parochial subscription library wa instituted in 1827, and comprises upwards of 300 volumes. The parochial school affords instruction in Latin and mathematics, in addition to the ordinary branches; the master has a salary of £30, with about £11 fees, and receives £10 in meal, for teaching twelve poor children, left by the family of Drum. James Gregory, the inventor of the reflecting-telescope, was a native of the parish. . . More"
[From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1851) - copyright Mel Lockie 2016]