a town of Scotland capital of the county of the same name. The town is small, and situated upon a rock or point of land, which overhangs the sea in a romantic manner, and is much exposed to the east wind; it was formerly a royal borough, but was disfranchised by an act of the privy council of Scotland, in consequence of a petition for that purpose presented by Sir John Urquhart, proprietor of the estate of Cromarty; it is now under the baronial jurisdiction of the earl of Cromarty. The parish extends about seven miles in length, and from one to four in breadth, bounded by the frith of Cromarty on the north. On the banks of the frith the surface is level, and covered with verdure. A bank about two miles from the coast, extends the whole length of the parish, above which the ground is covered with heath and mosses. The soil is everywhere wet and moorish, which makes the seasons late, and the crop uncertain. The coast towards the east is bold and rocky, some of the cliffs being nearly 250 feet perpendicular to the sea; the rest is flat and sandy. After every storm a great quantity of seaweed is thrown ashore, which is partly used as a manure, and partly burnt into kelp, of which there is annually made about 10 or 12 tons. The harbour of Cromarty, inferior, perhaps, to none in Britain for safety, and a commodious quay, was lately built at the joint expense of government and the proprietor of the estate of Cromarty, where vessels of 350 or 400 tons may lie in perfect security. A considerable trade in the hempen or sack-cloth line has been long established in Cromarty and the neighbourhood.

County of, in Scotland, forms a kind of peninsula, washed on three sides by the friths of Cromarty and Moray, and bounded on the south-west and south by the county of Ross. Its extreme extent in length is about 16 miles, and on an average about six and a half or seven in breadth. It was erected into a distinct county about the end of the 17th century, at the request of Sir James MacKenzie, earl of Cromarty, to whom it almost entirely belonged. The face of the country is pleasant; a long ridge of hills extending the whole length in the middle of the county, having a fine declivity on either side towards the shores of the friths. The higher grounds are mostly covered with heath, but towards the shores the soils are light and early. A great many plantations have been lately made out, which will shortly be a great ornament and Cromarty, shelter to the country. The language is generally Cromlech Gaelic, but many speak that broad Scotch, which is commonly called the Buchan or Aberdeenshire dialect. Freestone, granite, and reddish-coloured porphyry, are almost the only minerals, if we except topaz, similar to those of Cairngorm, found in the parish of Kincairdine. Fisheries are very successfully carried on, and pearls of considerable value are sometimes found in the frith of Cromarty, where the river Conal falls into that bay.

Population of the county of Cromarty at two different periods.

| Parish | Population in 1755 | Population in 1799—1798 | |--------|------------------|------------------------| | Cromarty | 2006 | 2184 | | Fodderty | 1483 | 1730 | | Tarbat | 1584 | 1370 | | | 5163 | 5284 |

Increase 121

Frith of, is one of the finest bays in Great Britain; hence called by Buchanan Portus Salutis. It is divided from the Moray frith by the county of Cromarty, and washes the southern shore of the county of Ross. It is about 16 miles in length, and sometimes three in breadth. The entrance is between two promontories or headlands, called the Sutors of Cromarty, which are about a mile and a half distant: there is the finest anchorage ground after passing the Sutors, for several miles up the bay, with deep water on both sides, almost close to the shore, where in most places the coast is so smooth, that supposing a vessel to part her cables (a thing scarcely probable), she might run aground without sustaining much damage. Such is the extent of sea room in the bay, and such is the capacity, that almost the whole British navy might lie here in safety.