Blair Collection > Place names in Strathbogie, with notes historical, antiquarian and descriptive

Drumblade. 65
all trace of the tumulus seems to be removed/
It is very much to be regretted we have not a
fuller account of the opening of this tumulus,
because there is no one alive who can give
us any further information. It may have had
some connection with the name of the parish,
although the oldest form does not appear to
warrant any other meaning than I have given.
There are six wells of note in Drumblade,
some of them are Holy-wells, while two have
given names to farms in the parish. Dukewell
can scarcely have been connected with any Duke,
as sometimes suggested. The name appears 12
years after the Marquis of Huntly was created
Duke of Gordon, and it would have required a
very much longer time for the name of a well to
become attached to a farm. There is a tradition
that in old times the tenant was bound by his
lease to preserve the well and the stones around
it, though the reason for this condition is now
forgotten. Garrieswell is the ' well of the Garrie,'
and Brideswell may have been dedicated to St.
Bride (Bridget), though the name may refer to
some old custom no longer remembered. Saint
Hillery's Well, near the church, is the ' well of the
patron saint of the parish,' who was also com-
memorated in Tellar Fair, an old market now
extinct. The Bishop's Well is on the farm of
Cruichie, but who the bishop was is unknown.
The ' Chapel Well ' is at Chapelton, at the foot of
F