Online Encyclopedia

west of the Ness is the hill of Tomnahurich (Gaelic, " The Hill of the Fairies "), upon which is one of the most beautifully-situated cemeteries in Great See also:

BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain . The open spaces in the town include See also:

Victoria See also:

park, Maggot See also:

Green and the ground where the Northern See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

Meeting—the most important athletic gathering in Scotland—is held at the end of See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September . Inverness is the great distributing centre for the Highlands . Its See also:

INDUSTRIES

industries, however, are not extensive, and consist mainly of See also:

TWEED

tweed (See also:

TARTAN (from F. tiretaine, " linsie-wolsie," Sp. tiritana, a kind of woollen cloth, perhaps so called from its thinness and lightness, cf. Sp. tiritar, to tremble with cold)

tartan) manufactures, See also:

BREWING

brewing, distilling, tanning, See also:

SOAP

soap and See also:

CANDLE (Lat. candela, from candere, to glow)

candle-making; there are also nurseries, See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron-foundries, saw-See also:

mills, See also:

GRANITE (adapted from the Ital. granite, grained; Lat. granum, grain)

granite See also:

WORKS

works, and the shops of the Highland Railway See also:

COMPANY

Company . There is some See also:

SHIPBUILDING

shipbuilding and a considerable See also:

trade with See also:

Aberdeen, See also:

LEITH

Leith, See also:

LONDON

London and the See also:

east See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast generally, and by means of the Caledonian See also:

Canal with See also:

GLASGOW

Glasgow, See also:

Liverpool and See also:

Ireland . The Caledonian Canal passes within 1 m. of the town on its western See also:

side . In Muirtown See also:

Basin are wharves for the loading and unloading of vessels, and at Clachnaharry the Canal enters See also:

BEAULY (pronounced Bewley; a corruption of Beaulieu)

Beauly See also:

Firth . There is little anchorage in the Ness, but at Kessock on the left bank of the river-mouth, where there are piers, a See also:

BREAKWATER

breakwater and a See also:

COASTGUARD

coastguard station, there are several acres of deep water . The river at Inverness is crossed by four See also:

bridges, two of them for pedestrians only, and a railway viaduct . The town, which is governed by a See also:

PROVOST (through O. Fr. prevost, mod. prevot, Lat. praepositus, set over, from praeponere, to place in front)

provost, bailies and See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council, unites with See also:

FORRES (Gaelic, far uis, " near water ")

Forres, Fortrose and See also:

NAIRN

Nairn (Inverness Burghs) in sending one member to See also:

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

parliament . Inverness was one of the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief strongholds of the Picts, and in 565 was visited by See also:

COLUMBA, SAINT (Irish, Colum)

Columba with the intention of converting the Pictish See also:

king Brude, who is supposed to have resided in the vitrified fort on See also:

Craig Phadrick (550 ft.), r, m .

W. of the town . The castle is said to have been built by See also:

Malcolm Canmore, after he had razed to the ground the castle in which See also:

MACBETH

Macbeth according to tradition murdered See also:

Duncan, and which stood on a hill m. to the north-east . William the See also:

Lion (d . 1214) granted the town four charters, by one of which it was created a royal burgh . Of the Dominican See also:

abbey founded by Alexander III. in 1233 hardly a trace remains . On his way to the See also:

BATTLE

battle of Harlaw in 1411 Donald of the Isles burned the town, and sixteen years later See also:

James I. held a parliament in the castle to which the northern chieftains were summoned, of whom three were executed for asserting an See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent See also:

SOVEREIGNTY

sovereignty . In 1562, during the progress undertaken to suppress See also:

Huntly's insurrection, See also:

Queen See also:

Mary was denied admittance into the castle by the See also:

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

governor, who belonged to the See also:

EARL

earl's See also:

FACTION (through the French, from Lat. factio, a company of persons combined for action, facere, to do; from the other French derivative facon comes " fashion ")

faction, and whom she afterwards therefor caused to be hanged . The See also:

house in which she lived meanwhile stands in See also:

BRIDGE

Bridge See also:

Street . Beyond the northern limits of the town Cromwell built a fort capable of accommodating See also:

ROOD (O.E. rod, a stick, another form of " rod, O.E. rodd, possibly cognate with Lat. rudis, a staff)

rood men, but with the exception of a portion of the ramparts it was demolished at the Restoration . In 1715 the See also:

JACOBITES (from Lat. Jacobus, James)

Jacobites occupied the royal fortress as See also:

barracks, and in 1746 they blew it up . INVERNESS-SHIRE, a highland county of Scotland, bounded N. by Ross and See also:

Cromarty, and the Beauly and See also:

MORAY

Moray Firths, N.E. by the shires of Nairn and See also:

ELGIN

Elgin, E. by See also:

BANFF

Banff and Aberdeen shires, S.E. by See also:

PERTHSHIRE

Perthshire, S. by See also:

ARGYLLSHIRE

Argyllshire and W. by the719 See also:

ATLANTIC

Atlantic . It includes the See also:

OUTER

Outer See also:

HEBRIDES, THE, or WESTERN ISLES

Hebrides See also:

south of the northern boundary of See also:

Harris, and several of the Inner Hebrides (see HEBRIDES) and is the largest shire in Scotland .

It occupies an See also:

AREA

area of 2,695,037 acres, or 4211 sq. m., of which more than one-third belongs to the islands . The county comprises the districts of Moidart, Arisaig and See also:

MORAR

Morar in the S.W., Knoydart in the W., See also:

LOCHABER

Lochaber in the S., See also:

BADENOCH

Badenoch in the S.E. and the See also:

AIRD, THOMAS (1802-1876)

Aird in the N . Excepting comparatively small and fertile tracts in the N. on both sides of the river Ness, in several of the glens and on the shores of some of the See also:

sea lochs, the county is See also:

WILD, JONATHAN (c. 1682-1725)

wild and mountainous in the extreme and characterized by beautiful and in certain respects See also:

SUBLIME (Lat. sublimis, exalted)

sublime scenery . There are more than fifty mountains exceeding 3000 ft. in height, among them See also:

BEN (from Old Eng. bennan, within)

Ben See also:

NEVIS

Nevis (4406), the highest See also:

mountain in the See also:

BRITISH

British Isles, the extraordinary assemblage of peaks forming the Monadhliadh mountains in the S.E., Ben See also:

ALDER

Alder (3757) in the S., and the See also:

GRAND

grand See also:

GROUP

group of the Cairngorms on the confines of the shires of Aberdeen and Banff . In the north-west the Beauly river (16 m. See also:

long) is formed by the confluence of the See also:

FARRAR, FREDERIC WILLIAM (1831-1903)

Farrar and the See also:

Glass . The Enrick (18 m.), rising in See also:

LOCH, HENRY BROUGHAM LOCH, 1ST BARON (1827-1900)

Loch-nan-Eun, takes a north-easterly direction for several See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

miles, and then flowing due east falls into Loch Ness, just beyond Drumnadrochit, See also:

close to the ruined keep of Castle See also:

Urquhart . The Ness (7 m.), a fine stream for its length, emerges from Loch Dochfour and enters the sea to the north of Inverness . The Moriston (19 m.), flows out of Loch Clunie, and pursuing a course E. by N.E. falls into Loch Ness 4 M. south of Mealfourvounie (2284 ft.) on the western See also:

SHORE

shore opposite Foyers . The Lochy (9 m.), issuing from the loch of that name, runs parallel with the Caledonian Canal and enters Loch Linnhe at Fort William . The Spean (18 m.), flowing westwards from Loch Laggan, joins the Lochy as it leaves Loch Lochy . The Nevis (12 m.), rising at the back of Ben Nevis, flows See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round the See also:

SOUTHERN

southern base of the mountain and then See also:

RUNNING

running north-westwards enters Loch Linnhe at Fort William . The See also:

Leven (12 m.), draining a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of small lochs to the north-west of See also:

RANNOCH

Rannoch, flows westward to Loch Leven, forming during its course the boundary between the shires of Inverness and See also:

ARGYLL, EARLS AND DUKES OF

Argyll .

The Dulnain (28 m.), rising in the Monadhliath Mountains, iows north-eastwards and enters the See also:

SPEY

Spey near See also:

GRANTOWN

GrantOwn, falling in its course nearly 2000 ft . The Truim (151 m.), rising close to the Perthshire frontier, flows N.N.E. into the Spey . Three great See also:

rivers See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring in Inverness-shire, but finish their course in other counties . These are the Spey, which for the first 6o m. of its course belongs to the shire; the Findhorn (70 m.), rising in the Monadhliath Mountains a few miles N.W. of the source of the Dulnain; and the Nairn (38 m.), rising within a few miles of Loch Farraline . The two falls of Foyers—the upper of 40 ft., the See also:

LOWER

lower of 165 ft.—are celebrated for their beauty, but their See also:

VOLUME

volume is affected, especially in drought, by the withdrawal of water for the works of the British See also:

ALUMINIUM (symbol Al; atomic weight 27.0)

Aluminium Company, which are driven by electric See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power derived from the river Foyers, the intake being situated above the falls . Other noted falls are Moral on the Enrick and Kilmorack on the Beauly . The number of hill tarns and little lakes is very great, considerably more than 200 being named . Loch Ness, the most beautiful and best known of the larger lakes, is 221 M. long, 11 m. broad at its widest point (Urquhart See also:

Bay), has a drainage area of 696 m., and, owing to its vast See also:

DEPTH

depth (751 ft.), uniformity of temperature, and continual See also:

MOVEMENT

movement of its See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters, never freezes . It is the largest See also:

BODY

body of fresh water in Great Britain, and forms See also:

PART

part of the See also:

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme of the Caledonian Canal . A few miles S.W. is Loch Oich (4 M. long), also utilized for the purposes of the Canal, which reaches its See also:

SUMMIT

summit level (105 ft.) in this See also:

lake . To the S.W. of it is Loch Lochy (91 m.), which is also a portion of the Canal . Loch Arkaig (12 m.) lies in the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country of the Camerons, Achnacarry House, the seat of Lochiel, the chief of the See also:

CLAN (Gaelic clann, O. Ir. cland, connected with Lat. planta, shoot or scion, the ancient Gaelic or Goidelic substituting k for p)

clan, being situated on the river Arkaig near the point where it issues from the lake .

The old castle was burnt down by the See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke of See also:

Cumberland, but a few ruins remain . After See also:

CULLODEN

Culloden See also:

Prince See also:

Charles See also:

EDWARD

Edward found shelter in a See also:

cave in the " See also:

Black Mile," as the road between Lochs Arkaig and Lochy is called . Loch Quoich (6 m.) lies N. by W. of Loch Arkaig, and Loch Garry (42 m.) a few miles to the N . E.; Loch Morar (112 m. long by 11 broad) is only about 600 yds. from the sea, to which it drains by the river Morar, which falls over a rocky barrier, at the foot of which is a famous See also:

salmon See also:

POOL

pool . The loch is 1017 ft. deep and is thus the deepest lake in the See also:

UNITED

United See also:

KINGDOM

Kingdom . It contains several islands, on one of which See also:

Lord See also:

LOVAT, SIMON FRASER, 12TH BARON (e. 1667-1747)

Lovat was captured in 1746 . Loch Laggan (7 m.) and Loch Treig (51 m.) in the south of the county are both finely situated in the midst of natural forests . The See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal See also:

salt-water lochs on the Atlantic seaboard are Loch Hourn (" See also:

HELL (0. Eng. hel, a Teutonic word from a root meaning " to cover," cf. Ger. Holle, Dutch hel)

Hell's Lake," so named from the wild precipices rising sheer from the water), running inland for 14 M. from the See also:

Sound of Sleat and separating See also:

Glenelg from Knoydart; and Loch Nevis (14 m.), a few miles farther south . The parallel roads of Glen See also:

ROY, WILLIAM (1726-1790)

Roy, a glen with a north-easterly to south-See also:

WESTERLY

westerly trend, a few miles east of Loch Lochy, presented a problem that long exercised the minds of geologists . At heights of 1148 It., 1067 ft. and 835 ft., there run uninterruptedly along each side of the glen terraces of a width varying from 3 to 30 ft . See also:

LOCAL

Local tradition ascribes them to the Ossianic heroes, and See also:

John See also:

Playfair (1748–1819) argued that they were aqueducts . The fact that they occur also in the neighbouring Glen Gloy and Glen Spean, however, disposes of an artificial origin .

John See also:

MacCulloch (1773--1835) propounded the theory that they were lacustrine and not marine, and See also:

Agassiz followed him with the See also:

SUGGESTION

suggestion that the water had been held up by a barrier of See also:

glacier See also:

ICE (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Eis)

ice . This view is now generally accepted, and the roads may therefore be regarded as the gently sloping banks of lakes dammed up by glacier ice . Glen More-nan-Albin, or the Great (;len, is a vast " See also:

FAULT (Mid. Eng. faute, through the French, from the popular Latin use of fallere, to fail; the originallof the Latin being replaced in English in the 15th century)

fault," or dislocation, 62 m. in length, through which See also:

Thomas See also:

TELFORD, THOMAS (1757—.1834)

Telford constructed (1804–1822) the Caledonian Canal connecting Loch Linnhe and the Moray Firth . Glen More is said to be liable to shocks of earthquake, and Loch Ness was violently agitated at the See also:

time of the great See also:

LISBON (Lisboa)

Lisbon earthquake (1755) . Among the glens renowned for beauty are Glen Urquhart and Glen Moriston to the west of Loch Ness, Glen Feshie in the east, and Glen Nevis at the southern base of Ben Nevis . Glen Garry, to the west of Loch Oich, gave its name to the well-known cap or " See also:

bonnet " worn both in the Highlands and Lowlands . In Glen Finnan, at the See also:

head of Loch See also:

SHIEL, LOCH

Shiel, Prince Charles Edward raised his See also:

standard in 1745, an incident commemorated by a See also:

MONUMENT (Lat. monumentum or monumentum; from monere, to advise, bring to mind, remind; the German equivalent is Denkmal)

monument erected in 1815 by Alexander See also:

Macdonald of Glenaladale . The great straths or valleys are in the north and east, the chief among them being Strathfarrar, Strathglass and See also:

STRATHNAIRN, HUGH HENRY ROSE

Strathnairn, and the heads of Strathearn and Strathspey . See also:

GEOLOGY (from Gr. yp7, the earth, and Abyor, science)

Geology.—Almost the entire area of this county is occupied by the younger Highland See also:

SCHISTS (Gr. vxq'ecv, to split)

schists and metamorphic rocks . East of Loch See also:

ERICHT, LOCH

Ericht and the rivers Traim and Spey as far as Airemore and between there and Duthel there are quartzites and quartzose schists; on the remaining area the various kinds of schistose and gneissose See also:

rock have hardly been worked out in detail . Granite masses occur in numerous isolated patches; the largest is on the eastern boundary and includes the flanks of See also:

CAIRN (in Gaelic and Welsh, Carn)

Cairn Gorm, Cairn Tout, Braeriach, Cara See also:

Ban and Meall Tisnail . Other smaller ones are found at Ben Nevis, where the lower part of the mountain is granite, the upper part porphyritic See also:

FELSITE

felsite; between Moy and Ben Buidhe Mhor; E. of Foyers, including Whitebridge, Aberchalder and Loch Farraline; at Ben Alder, \V. of Loch Ericht and another between that loch and the river Pattack; at Banavie on the W. of the river Lochy; around the upper end of Loch Clunie and at several other places .

The dioritic See also:

mass of Rannoch See also:

MOOR

Moor just enters this county between Loch Ericht and Loch See also:

OSSIAN

Ossian . The Old Red See also:

SANDSTONE

Sandstone extends into this county from Nairn through Culloden Moor past Inverness and down Loch Ness to a point south of Foyers; it occurs also on the south-east side of Loch Oich, and around Beauty, where it forms the falls of Kilmorach . These rocks consist at the base of coarse breccias and conglomerates passing upwards into See also:

CHOCOLATE

chocolate-coloured sandstone and flags, with the shaly series containing See also:

LIMESTONE

limestone nodules known as the See also:

fish See also:

bed from the abundance and importance of its fossil contents; it is well exposed in the Big Burn and near Loch Ashie . At a higher See also:

HORIZON (Gr. 6pfTwv, dividing)

horizon come more See also:

PURPLE

purple flags and grits . The Great Glen which traverses the county is an old See also:

LINE

line of See also:

earth fracture along which displacements have been produced during more than one See also:

GEOLOGICAL

geological See also:

period . Roches moutonnees, glacial striations and moraines and other evidences of the great Ice See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age are abundant, besides the parallel roads of Glen Roy to which allusion has already been made . Thelowest of these terraces is prolonged into Glen Spean . At numerous places on the coasts the remains of old marine terraces occur at too ft. and 25 ft. above the sea . Of the small isles belonging to Inverness-shire those of See also:

Rum and Eigg are of the greatest See also:

INTEREST

interest . The northern part of Rum is made of See also:

TORRIDONIAN

Torridonian rocks, shales below and red sandstones above; altogether over lo,000 ft. are visible . These rocks have suffered thrusting and the shales are thus made in places to overlie the See also:

sand-stones . A few patches of Torridonian occur in the south .