Forgue

"FORGUE, a parish, in the district of Strathbogie, county of Aberdeen, from six to seven miles (N. E. by E.) from Huntly; containing 2489 inhabitants. The name of this place was originally written Forrig, and is supposed to be derived from the Gaelic language. . . All kinds of grain and green crops are raised; the rotation system is practised, and most other agricultural improvements have been introduced. Particular attention has also been given to the rearing of cattle, of which crosses between the pure Aberdeenshire and the short-horned have proved very successful. Many of the farms are neatly fenced, and all of them well cultivated; and from the comparatively inland situation of the parish, fourteen miles from the sea, with its ornamental and tastefully-arranged plantations, the appearance of the district is particularly agreeable. . . In the parish are the mansions of Cobairdy, Haddo, Corse, Drumblair, Templeland, Auchaber, and Boynes-Mill, most of which are well built; but the mansion of Frendraught, formerly the seat of the Crichton family, is the most distinguished residence in point of situation and scenery. . . Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery of Turriff, synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of Alexander Morison, Esq., of Bognie. The minister's stipend is about £190, with an excellen manse, and a glebe of about twelve acres, valued at £18 per annum. Forgu church, situated upon a gentle eminence, is a neat, commodious, and substantial edifice, built in 1819, and containing 900 sittings. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship, and there is a small episcopal chapel. . . More"
[From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1851) - copyright Mel Lockie 2016]