Drumblade

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

Etymology
The ancient name of this parish appears to have been Drumblait, and derived from the Gaelic Druim, a ridge, and blait, or bleat, which may signify covered, or barely "covered ridges."

Boundaries
The parish is bounded on the north and east by the parish of Forgue, on the south by Insch and Gartly, and on the west by Huntly.

Extent
The greatest length of the parish, measured in a direct line from south to north, is 7 miles; and its greatest breadth, also in a direct line from east to west, is about 6 miles. The whole area is computed to be 8,610 acres.

Topography
The southern division of the parish is composed of a series of rounded hills which run along the north side of the Ury, or Glen Water, from Bainshole, to the hills of Cocklarachy, on Bogieside. The northern division of the parish is diversified by ridges and small rounded hills, which generally lie in a south and north direction, having gentle slopes, which are cultivated along with the lower valleys on both sides of the central ridge of Lessendrum, which, in Gaelic, signifies the end of the ridge.

The lowermost point on the burn of Forgue in this parish, near Newmills of Pitfancy, is 306 feet above sea level, the church of Drumblade is about 400 feet; and the water of Ury, on the Forgue boundary, in the glens of Foudland, is 648 feet. The Huntly Station of the Great North of Scotland Railway is about 400 feet above sea level.

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