ROSS-SHIRE, one of the northern counties of Scotland, situated between and north
Ross-shire. latitude, and between 4° and 5° 46' west longitude from Greenwich. Including the small county of Cromarty, which consists for the most part of detached tracts surrounded by Ross-shire, the boundaries are the sea on the east and west, the county of Sutherland on the north, and Inverness-shire on the south. On the east are the Friths of Dornoch, Cromarty, and Moray, arms of the sea which run up into the interior; the latter, the most considerable, washing its south-eastern extremity. The west coast is still more indented with similar, though smaller, inlets, here called lochs; of which the largest are the Great and Little Loch Broom, Loch Groinard, Loch Ewe, Gareloch, where there has long been a regularly productive cod-fishery, Loch Terridon, Lochs Kisserne and Carron, and Loch Duich. From north to south Ross-shire extends about 56 miles, and from east to west somewhat more than 70; having an area, according to the latest authorities, of 2129 square miles, or 1,362,560 English acres, without including the island of Lewis, one of the Hebrides belonging to this county, or the space occupied by the county of Cromarty. In the Agricultural Survey by Sir George Mackenzie, its extent is computed to be greater by about half a million of acres. Ross and Cromarty contain 33 parishes, of which seven are on the west coast, and four in the island of Lewis. One parish lies within the bounds of the synod of Glenelg, and all the rest in that of Ross. Many of these parishes are very large, but the ministers are assisted in their duties by missionaries maintained by the Royal bounty, and the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge.
In the Encyclopædia will be found a pretty full description of this extensive district, to which we must refer, and shall notice here only such circumstances as may be necessary to give a general view of its present condition. Excepting a narrow tract on the sea-coast on the east, where the soil and climate are not unfavourable to cultivation, the general character of Ross-shire is that of a rugged mountainous country, interspersed with narrow glens, fresh water lakes, and mountain streams, with here and there fringes of natural wood, and plantations of some extent, and a few gentlemen's seats; but, upon the whole, it is a wild and desolate region, upon which a great deal of rain falls in summer, and snow in winter, the latter lying among the recesses of some of the mountains all the year. Including the woodlands, only about 9 acres in 100 are supposed to be susceptible of cultivation.
The landed property of Ross-shire, valued in the cess-books at L. 75,043, 10s. 3d. Scots, consisted, in 1811, of 85 estates, of which 50 were under the valuation of L. 500 Scots each, 25 above L. 500, and below L. 2000, and 10 above L. 2000; from which it would appear that they are generally of great extent; the medium size being upwards of 16,000 English acres. But their value is far from being in proportion; the real rent of the lands in that year having been L. 91,089, 18s. 8d., and of the houses L. 2798, 1s. 4d. Sterling; the former affording a mean rental for each estate of not quite L. 1072, or about 1s. 4d. per acre. The principal seats are Brahan Castle, Stewart Mackenzie; Tulloch Castle, Davidson; Fowlis
Castle, Monro, Bart.; Coul, Mackenzie, Bart.; Novar House, Munro, Bart.; Invergordon Castle, Macleod; Balnagowan, Ross, Bart.; Tarbat House, Hay Mackenzie; Geanies House, Macleod; Conan House, Hector Mackenzie, Bart.; Rosehaugh, Roderick Mackenzie, Bart.; Cromarty House, Ross; and Lochalsh, Innes, Bart.
The occupation of this district in an agricultural Rural Economy, and the system of management which prevails among the tenantry, do not differ materially from what we have already described under Inverness-shire and the other Highland counties of Scotland. The native farmers hold a few acres of arable land, with grazings commonly contiguous, but in some cases at a distance;—raise oats, bear or big, and potatoes; and keep a great many cattle and horses, which are always stunted in their growth for want of food, and in severe winters many of them perish. Except in seed-time and harvest, and while they are preparing peat for their winter's fuel, the tenants spend much of their time in idleness, or in the practice of illicit distillation among their hills, though in some parts, particularly on the west coast, also in fishing; and their labour, and that of their cattle, is, generally speaking, irregular and unproductive. Several of the proprietors, however, and some farmers brought hither from other counties, conduct their farming operations upon the most approved system; and upon the east coast all the crops grown in Scotland may be seen under excellent cultivation. Sheep-farming, too, notwithstanding the opposition of the small tenants, has been introduced into this as well as most of the other Highland counties. Leases for nineteen years have become common here as in other parts of Scotland.
The towns are Dingwall, at the bottom of the Frith of Cromarty, Fortrose, Tain, on the south coast of Dornoch Frith; all royal burghs, but very small places, and situated on the east side of the county. On the west, the only place of any consideration is the village of Ullapool, on the banks of Loch Broom, built within these thirty years by the British Society for extending the Fisheries, &c. at an expence of upwards of L. 20,000. But the herring-fishery on this coast, always precarious, having failed for several years in succession, the inhabitants have been often reduced to great distress, and notwithstanding every encouragement, many have abandoned it. It remains to be seen whether the recent repeal of the salt duties may not lead to a more spirited and successful prosecution of the fisheries, so much to be desired for the employment and subsistence of the people of this and other parts of the Highlands, who are by far too numerous to be employed beneficially in agriculture. Even the loch-fishings, hitherto much neglected, might be rendered a valuable resource in this respect.
There is scarcely any thing in Ross-shire that deserves the name of a manufacture, except one of a somewhat peculiar description, and which may be worth notice for that reason. We allude to the practice of obtaining tar, so necessary for the sheep-stocks of the county, and other purposes, from the roots and trunks of the fir-trees found in the mosses. These mosses, which are of great extent here, as
well as in many other parts of Scotland, so generally abound in such materials, that Sir George Mackenzie thinks that more tar might be thus procured than would suffice for home consumption. From these roots the Russians extract considerable quantities of turpentine by a very simple and unexpensive process, described by Dr Howison in a recent communication to the Highland Society of Scotland.
Ross-shire, which has about 90 freeholders, sends one member to Parliament; and in the elections for the Scottish burghs, Dingwall and Tain are associated with Dornoch, Wick, and Kirkwall, and Fortrose with Forres, Nairn, and Inverness. The jurisdiction of one sheriff extends over this and the shire of Cromarty; and his substitutes hold their courts at Tain, Dingwall, and Fortrose, for the mainland of the county, and at Stornoway, in Lewis, for the islands politically attached to it. The population of the two counties of Ross and Cromarty, according to the census of 1801, was 52,291; in 1811 it amounted to 60,853; and in 1821 to 68,828, of which 32,324 were males, and 36,504 were females. The families employed in agriculture were 7947; in trade and manufactures 3356; in other occupations of various kinds 3203. The increase of population from 1811 to 1821 was 13,485.
See the general works quoted under the former Scottish counties, and Sir George Mackenzie's General View of the Agriculture of the Counties of Ross and Cromarty. Also the article CROMARTY in this Supplement. (A.)