Oyne, a parish in Garioch district, central Aberdeenshire, with a post office under Insch and a station on the Great North of Scotland railway, 4 miles W by N of Inveramsay Junction and 24½ NW of Aberdeen. It is bounded N by Culsalmond, NE by Rayne, E by Chapel of Garioch, S by Monymusk, W by Keig and Premnay, and NW by Insch. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 61/8 miles; its breadth varies between 11/8 and 3½ miles; and its area is 10,1511/10 acres, of which 104/5 are water. The Don flows 2¼ miles east-south-eastward along the southern, the Ury 3 miles south-eastward along the north-eastern, boundary; and to the Ury run the Buin of Shevock along the Culsalmond border, and Gadie Burn across the interior. The surface sinks along the Don to 300, along the Ury to 283, feet; and thence it rises to 415 feet at the parish church, 558 at Ardoyne, 1698 at the Mither Tap of Bennochie, and 1340 at Millstone Hill. Bennochie, parting the Gadie's valley from the Don's, and occupying close upon half of the entire area, forms a stupendous barrier between the northern and the southern district, the former of which has the richest soil, and contains four-fifths of the population. Granite is the predominant rock, and has been quarried; trap of hard texture and a deep blue hue is used for dykes and ordinary masonry; and-rock crystal, topaz, jasper, and short are found. The soil of the low grounds is mostly friable and fertile; on the slopes of Bennochie is much mixed with granite debris; and on the higher parts of the mountain is heath or moss, which here and there gives place to deep bog, furnishing supplies of peat-fuel to several neighbouring parishes. Nearly 3000 acres are in tillage; about 1850 are under wood; and the rest of the surface is either pastoral or waste. Antiquities are three stones with Runic sculptures and the ruins of Harthill Castle. The historian, John Leslie (1526-96), who afterwards was Bishop of Ross, became parson of Oyne in 1559. Pitmedden, Pittodrie, Tillyfour, and Westhall are mansions; and 6 proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 2 of from £50 to £500, and 4 of from £20 to £50. Oyne is in the presbytery of Garioch and the synod of Aberdeen; the living is worth £221. The parish church, built in 1807, stands conspicuously on an eminence 1½ mile E by S of the station. It has an harmonium (1881), and contains 475 sittings. There is also a Free church; and a public school, with accommodation for 150 children, had (1883) an average attendance of 118, and a grant of £113, 7s. Valuayion (1860) £4840, (1884) £5791, 8s. 6d., plus £731 for railway. Pop. (1801) 518, (1831) 796, (1861) 1127, (187l) 1050, (1881) 962.—Ord. Sur., sh. 76, l874.
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