SPEY  , a

river in the Highlands of Scotland . It rises in Mt Clach-a-Cheannaiche in the north of Lochaber, in Inverness-shire, at a height of 1497 ft. above the sea . A mile from its source it forms the small Loch Spey, and 31 M. lower down it expands into the larger Loch Inch . After crossing the boundary of Elginshire, below Grantown, it pursues an extremely serpentine course, as far as Craigellachie, where it begins to flow due northwards, becoming wholly a Moray stream as it approaches Fochabers, and falling by several mouths into the Moray Firth at Kingston . Its total length is about I ro m . It is the most rapid river in Scotland and is nowhere properly navigable, though at Speymouth in its lowest reaches some ship-building has been intermittently carried on . The strength of its current is due partly to its lofty origin, and partly to the volume of water contributed by numberless affluents from the mountainous regions of ifs birth . The more important tributaries are, on the left, the Markie, Calder, Dulnain, Tulchan, Ballintomb and Rothes and, on the right, the Mashie, Truim, Tromie, Feshie, Nethy, Avon, Fiddich and Mulben . Its area of drainage is 1300 sq. m . At certain points the stream attains a considerable width, as at Alvie, where it is 150 ft. wide, and at Kingussie, where its width is from 8o to roo ft . From below Craigellachie, and especially on the low-lying coast-land, pools or stretches of fair size become frequent . For beauty of scenery Strathspey holds its own with any of the great valleys of Scotland .

As a

salmon river the Spey yields only to the Tay and Tweed . It passes many interesting spots in its long career, such as Laggan; Cluny Castle, the seat of Cluny Macpherson; Craig Dhu, the " black rock," and Kingussie . It flows past the pine forests of Rothiemurchus; Granton, the capital of Strathspey; Cromdale, where the clans-men suffered defeat at the hands of William III.'s troops in 1690; Ballindalloch, with a splendid Scottish baronial castle, the seat of the Macpherson-Grants; and Charlestown of Aberlour and its fine cataract .