Forgue

   FORGUE, a parish, in the district of Strathbogie, county of Aberdeen, 6½ 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. The parish is bounded on the north by the river Doveran, which separates it from Rothiemay, in Banffshire, and on the south by the Urie; it measures between nine and ten miles in length, and about six miles and a half at its greatest breadth, from east to west, comprising 9000 or 10,000 acres mostly under tillage, and a considerable extent of plantations, moor, and waste. The surface is diversified with knolls and acclivities, straths and holms; and the scenery is consequently picturesque and interesting, except in the direction of the Foudland hills, which are in the southern quarter, and, from their barren and dreary aspect, being covered with stunted health, impress upon that part of the parish a bleak and uninviting appearance. The Foreman, a prominent hill of conical form, with its sides well wooded, rises in the northern district, near the Doveran, to the height of 1000 feet, and commands from its summit extensive and varied prospects: a path passed by Queen Mary, when she travelled over this elevation to Rothiemay House, still goes by the name of the Queen's road. Rivulets, many of which abound with trout, flow in every direction, and, after enlivening and beautifying the lands, fall into the larger streams. The soil comprehends sand, gravel, loam, clay, and moss, and the ground therefore differs very much in quality; all kinds of grain and green crops are raised, and the rotation system is practised, with which most other agricultural improvements have been introduced. Particular attention has also been shown in 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 well cultivated; and the comparatively inland situation of the parish, it being fourteen miles from the sea, with the well laid-out grounds in tillage, and the ornamental and tastefully-arranged plantations, renders the appearance of the district particularly agreeable. The rocks consist of the common stone found in most of the neighbouring parishes, and limestone, the latter of which, some time since, was extensively quarried. The rateable annual value of Forgue is £8540.

   The parish contains the mansions of Cobairdy, Haddo, Corse, Drumblair, Templeland, Auchaber, and BoynesMill, most of them well built; but the mansion of Frendraught, the ancient seat of the Crichton family, is, in point of situation and scenery, the most distinguished residence. There are six mills, and at Glendronach is a distillery. The turnpike-road from Huntly to Banff, and another from Huntly to Aberdeen, pass through the parish; the chief communication for trade is with Banff, Portsoy, Macduff, Inverury, and Huntly, and Sunderland coal is occasionally imported for fuel. Fairs are held for the sale of cattle and sheep, and for general traffic, at Hawkhall, on the third Tuesday in April, the last Thursday in May, and the third Tuesday in September, all O. S. Forgue is in the presbytery of Turriff and synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of Alexander Morison, Esq., of Bognie; the minister's stipend is £191, with an excellent manse, and a glebe of about 12 acres, valued at £18 per annum. The church, situated upon a gentle eminence, is a neat, commodious, and substantial edifice, built in 1819, and containing 900 sittings, which are all free. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship; there is a small episcopal chapel, and about seven miles from the church is a preaching station, belonging to Seceders, but now deserted. The parochial school affords instruction in Latin and mathematics, besides all the elementary branches; the master has a salary of £34, a house, a portion of the Dick bequest, and £20 fees. There is a savings' bank; and the poor enjoy the benefit of a charitable bequest of £20 per annum. The antiquities comprise the remains of several Druidical temples; vestiges of a Roman redoubt, as is supposed; and the ruins of the ancient castle of Frendraught, at the conflagration of the tower of which, in 1630, Viscount Aboyne, eldest son of the Marquess of Huntly, and four others, perished. The Admirable Crichton, who flourished about the middle of the sixteenth century, is said to have been born at Frendraught, the principal seat of the family, and from which they derived the title of Viscount.