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Skene

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

Etymology
The name of this parish seems to have been derived from the Gaelic Skian, which signifies "a dagger or knife," which is said to have been the weapon used by the person who killed a wild boar which had attacked the king whilst hunting within the King's Forest of Stocket, for which service, tradition says, thc progenitors of the family of Skene got as a reward the greater part of the lands in the parish. Hence the name of the family and that of the parish.

Boundaries
The parish of Skene is bounded on the north by the parishes of Kemnay, Kintore, and Kinellar; on the east by Newhills and Peter Culter; on the south by part of Peter Culter; and on the west by Echt and part of Cluny.

Extent
From the lowermost point on the Leuchar burn to the top of Scrapehard on the Kintore boundary, the distance is six miles in a direct line; and from the west of the Brimmond in Newhills, to the Garlogie Mills, the distance is four miles, also in a direct line. The whole area is computed to be 10,500 acres.

Topography
The surface of the parish is gently undulatory, the highest land being upon the northern division. The hill of Kinmundy is 632 feet, the Souterhill is 698 feet, and the ring post on the Keirhill is 744 feet above sea level. The hill of Auchronie, which is on the Kinellar boundary, is 731 feet, and the church is 405 feet. The Bishop-dams bridge, on the eastern boundary with Peter Culter, on the Alford road, is 379 feet; the loch of Skene is 276 feet, and the bridge on the Bogintorry burn, bounding with Cluny also on the Alford road, is 320 feet. On the southern division of the parish the hills, or the rising grounds, are of inferior height; the hill of Wester Carnie being 402 feet, Hillhead of Carnie is 450 feet, and the hill of Ord, in the south-east corner of the parish, is 463 feet. The bridge at the Garlogie Mills, on the Echt road, is 258 feet, and the lowest point in the parish is on the Leuchar burn and about 234 feet above sea level.

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