DYCE, a parish, in the district of Aberdeen and county of AberDEEN,
7 miles (N. N. W.) from Aberdeen containing
472 inhabitants. This parish was in remote times called
the chapelry of St. Fergus, to whom the present church
was dedicated; and it is supposed that, with several
adjacent parishes, it was anciently connected with the
cathedral of Old Machar. It is about six miles in extreme
length, and between three and four in breadth,
and contains 4667 acres. Dyce is bounded by the parish
of Fintray on the north, by that of Newhills on the
south and south-west, by Kiuellar on the north-west,
and by Old and New Machar on the east. The surface
is not marked by any very striking peculiarities, being
in general tolerably level, with the exception of the land
in the north-west, whence the broad hill of Tyrebagger
slopes towards the south-east for a distance of about
three miles, and then loses itself in the plain below.
The river Don runs along the northern and eastern
boundaries of the parish, and after a further course of a
few miles in a south-eastern direction, falls into the
German Ocean two miles north of Aberdeen: the troutfishing
during the months of March and April is very
superior.
The finest soil is that of the low grounds along the
banks of the river, consisting of alluvial deposit, and
producing rich and heavy crops; in the other parts the
soil is indifferent, and on the summit of the hill of Tyrebagger
poor and thin. The number of acres under cultivation
is 2910, in wood II76, and in waste 5S1 acres,
out of which 237 are considered capable of profitable
cultivation. The system of agriculture here followed is
a rotation of five, six, or seven years: the five years'
consists of grain; turnips; bear, and sometimes oats,
with clover and rye-grass; hay or pasture; and pasture.
Large flocks of sheep were formerly to be seen, but they
have been greatly diminished since the inclosures and the
plantations in the parish were made, and there are now
but a small number kept for home consumption: the
cattle are mostly the native Aberdeen, frequently crossed
with the short-horned breed, and in some grounds these
latter are preferred unmixed. The farm-houses are in
general good and substantial dwellings, and some of
them very superior; the steadings are complete sets of
buildings of a quadrangular form, slated, and usually
supplied with threshing-mills. On the smaller farms.
however, the houses and inclosures are of an inferior
description, though in a state of progressive improvement.
Great changes have been effected within the last
twenty or thirty years on the inferior soils, six or seven
hundred acres of which have been successfully treated;
and a large embankment has been raised as a protection
against the destructive inundations of the river Don,
the floods of which have recently been much augmented
through the multiplication of drains. The annual value
of real property in the parish now amounts to £35/0.
The prevailing rock in the district is granite; a large
supply of it is obtained from quarries in the hill of Tyrebagger,
and stone has at various times been cut for the
Bell-rock lighthouse, Sheerness quay, Deptford quay,
the West India docks, the Custom-house of London,
St. Katherine's docks, and new London bridge. Very
extensive plantations of Scotch fir and larch have been
made on the hill, which are the resort of roe-deer, blackcock,
and wood-cock; but the grouse that were so numerous
before the formation of plantations have almost
entirely disappeared. On the lower grounds are found
partridges, snipe, wild-duck, hares, and rabbits. The
inhabitants of the parish are employed chiefly in agriculture,
and in working in the quarries. The great
tnrnpike-road from Aberdeen to Inverness, via Huntly,
runs along the western boundary for about two miles;
and the turnpike-road from Aberdeen to Banff crosses
the eastern quarter. The centre is intersected by the
canal from Aberdeen to Inverury, by which coal, lime,
and manure are brought up, and grain and other farm
produce sent back, passage-boats plying on it twice a
day during summer. Among the mansions are, Caskieben,
the seat of Dr. Alexander Henderson, author of a
work on wines, and Pitmedden, both modern buildings.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposcs the parish is within the
bounds of the presbytery and synod of Aberdeen. The
stipend of the minister is £160, of which nearly a third
is drawn from the exchequer; there is a manse, with
good offices, built some few years since, and the glebe is
valued at £J. 10. per annum: patron, John Gordon Gumming
Skene, Esq. Dyce church is an old edifice of uncertain
date, small and uncomfortable. It stands at the
northern extremity of the parish, upon a rocky point
formed by a winding of the river Don, and commands a
fine view, extending to twenty miles, of the scenery with
which the course of that stream is ornamented. There
is a parochial school, in which Latin is taught, with
the usual branches of education; the master has the
maximum salary, fees amounting to about £8, and an
allowance from the fund of the late Mr. Dick. The
chief relic of antiquity is a Druidical temple situated on
the southern slope of Tyrebagger hill, and commanding
an extensive view of the sea-coast and the lower grounds;
it is formed of ten large pieces of granite, disposed about
eight feet distant from each other, in the form of a
circle, and rising to the height of from five to ten feet
above the ground. In the churchyard is one of the
oblong monumental stones commonly supposed to be of
Runic origin, but justly traced to more recent times;
among a great variety of other sculpture, it is marked
by a cross, forming a prominent object in the graving.
About a mile above the bridge of Dyce (where the Banff
road crosses the river), and half a mile south from the
river, is a round deep hollow, in the middle of an arable
field, called The Lady's Jointure: the tradition respecting
it is, that, long ago, a lady of Dyce, having teased
her lord for a certain portion of the estate to be set
apart as her jointure, was taken to the bottom of this
hollovi', and told that she should receive as much of the
property as she could then see; which was only about
an acre. Urns have sometimes been discovered in the
parish. Arthur Johnston, a celebrated Latin scholar,
was connected with this place.