Coull, a parish of S Aberdeenshire, whose church stands 3¼ miles NNW of Aboyne station, this being 32½ miles W by S of Aberdeen. It is bounded N by LeochelCushnie, E by Lumphanan, S by Aboyne, W by Logie Coldstone and Tarland-Migvie. Irregular in outline, it has an utmost length from NNE to SSW of 5f miles, a varying breadth of 5¾ furlongs and 47/8 miles, and an area of 9053 acres. The drainage is carried mainly to the Dee, but partly also to the Don-by the Burn of Tarland to the former, and to the latter by the Burn of Corse. In the extreme SE the surface sinks to 410 feet above sea-level, thence rising westward to Scar Hill of Tillyduke (984 feet), and northward to *Mortlich (1248), Leadhlich (1278), *crag (1563), and Loanhead (994), where asterisks mark those summits that culminate on the confines of the parish. The rocks are all of primary formation, the eastern hills consisting chiefly of reddish, the western of greyish, granite; and the soils vary from gravel-mixed clay to loam and moorish uplands. A 'Druidical' circle on Tomnaverie, a number of small cairns upon Corse Hill, and traces of the Terry Chapel on Newton of Corse make up the antiquities, with the ruined castles of Corse and Coull. The latter at the opening of the 13th century was the seat of the great Durward family, of whom it was said that, a Durward dying, the church bell of Coull tolled of its own accord. A stately pile, it measured some 50 yards square, and had five turrets and four hexagonal towers. Corse Castle bears date 1581, and, though long roofless, is comparatively entire. The lands of Corse, forming part of the barony of Coull and O'Neil, were in 1476 bestowed on Patrick Forbes, armour-bearer to James III., and youngest son of the second Lord Forbes. Among his descendants were Patrick Forbes (1564-1635), Bishop of Aberdeen from 1618; and his son, John Forbes (1593-1648), the scholar and Episcopalian confessor, whose estate was repeatedly ravaged by the famous freebooter Gilderoy. The bishop's male line failing with his grandchildren, Corse passed to the Forbeses of Craigievar, and now is held by the late Sir John Forbes' second son, James Ochoncar Forbes, Esq. (b. 1837; suc. 1846), who owns 1946 acres in the shire, valued at £1679 per annum. His modern mansion, near the old castle, is 3¼ miles NW of Lumphanan station, and 4¾ NE of Coull church. Two proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 2 others holding between £100 and £500, and 1 between £50 and £100. In the presbytery of Kincardine O'Neil and synod of Aberdeen, Coull has since 1621 given off the Corse division quoad sacra to Leochel-Cushnie; the living is worth £202. The church (1792; restored 1876; 220 sittings) has a fine-toned bell that was cast in Holland in 1644. A public school, with accommodation for 103 children, had (1880) an average attendance of 83, and a grant of £79, 12s. 6d. Valuation (1881) £4006, 15s. 7d. Pop. (1801) 679, (1831) 767, (1851) 734, (1871) 824, (1881) 783.—Ord. Sur., sh. 76, 1874.
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errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from
the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be
different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original
text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity.
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