is the most extensive county in Scotland, Ross-shire, land, measuring about 80 miles in length by almost as much in breadth, and contains 1,776,000 square acres. It is even more extensive than any county of England, if we except Yorkshire; and contains in it the island of Lewis, which is one of the Hebrides, or Western Isles. The county of Sutherland is the northern boundary of Ross; on the east it is bounded by the county of Cromarty and the ocean; on the south by the thir of Inverness; and on the west by the ocean.
Ross-shire is very fertile in corn, and its eastern coast, which is ornamented with different country seats inhabited by the proprietors, has always been regarded as constituting a part of the Lowlands of Scotland; but the western parts rise into mountains, and properly form part of the Highlands, where the vernacular tongue is the Erse or Gaelic.
Among the different waters which are met with in this county, we may mention the friths of Dornoch and Cromarty, the latter of which stretches far into the land from the Moray frith. The river Ockel, which has its source in the parish of Affin in Sutherlandshire, is one of the chief streams of Ross; and after a course of more than 40 miles, discharges itself into the head of the frith of Dornoch. The river Conan bends its course towards the east coast, and empties itself into the moor inland part of the frith of Cromarty. It contains abundance of salmon, and pearls at one period were found not far from its mouth. The frith of Beauty constitutes the boundary of Ross with Inverness-shire; and this, together with those of Dornoch and Cromarty, are of considerable importance, as they afford access to a great part of it by means of water-carriges. Between the friths of Moray and Cromarty, the coast is bold and rocky, abounding with dreadful precipices and highly romantic views. Along the shore there are numerous caves hollowed out by the hand of nature, some of them extremely deep, and one in particular runs entirely through the rock, a distance of about 150 feet. There are also natural caves on the north side of the frith of Cromarty, some of which, it is said, are of such vast dimensions as to be able to contain about 600 men. From their upper parts there are drops of water continually distilling, and by the petrification thus gradually accomplished, their appearance above resembles the finest marble. In these a variety of birds take up their residence, and pigeons bring forth their young.
The western coast is deeply indented with arms of the sea called bays, or otherwise lochs; among which are great and little Loch Broom, to the southward of which there is a fresh water lake of considerable extent, known by the name of Loch Mari, in the parish of Gairloch. It is about 16 miles long, but its breadth varies considerably. It contains 24 small islands, which are decorated with fir and other trees. We find the ruins of a druidical edifice on the large island called Mari, round which there is a burying ground made use of by the inhabitants on the north side of Loch Mari as a place of interment.
The cod-fishing has been long established at Gairloch, in the same vicinity; nearly 40,000 cod being annually sent to market by a single proprietor. It has also been long celebrated, as well as Loch-Broom, for the herring-fishery. In the parish of Loch Alsh there are extensive banks of corals, which have been found, upon trial, to be valuable manure.
In the level parts of the country between the mountains there are numerous lakes adorned with delightful scenery, and some of them measuring not less than three miles in length. This county is almost wholly mountainous, yet even here we find some which are more memorable than others, and very much calculated to arrest the attention. Tulloch Ard is a mountain of great height, and becomes remarkable on account of the use which was made of it in ancient times. At the commencement of hostilities with any enemy, a barrel of burning tar might be seen flaming from its summit, which was the established signal, in consequence of which the tenants and vassals of Seaforth appeared at the castle of St Donan in twenty-four hours, completely equipped for marching against the foe. The arms of that honourable family have this mountain for a crest. Ben-Uailt, in the parish of Kilcarn, rears its summit above the rest of the mountains, and may be seen across the Moray frith, from the counties of Elgin and Banff. It is constantly covered with snow, from which the family of Foulls must give, if demanded, to his Britannic majesty on any day of the year, a snowball as quit-rent for its tenure of the forest of Uailt. There is plenty of heath and grass around its base, which affords excellent pasture for cattle.
The county of Ross contains 82 proprietors of land, 7 of whom are of the first class, 3 of the second, 12 of the third, 16 of the fourth, and 44 of the fifth class; the valued rent of all these amounting to £5,040l. 10s. 3d. Scots money, as settled in the reign of Charles I., while the real rent is computed at not less than £8,741l. sterling.
The grains usually cultivated in the shire of Ross are barley, oats, peas, beans, potatoes, and wheat on particular occasions. A great part of the county, however, is converted into grass, owing to the want of markets for the consumption of other productions; and those who adopt this plan find it more for their interest than that which is usually followed in more fortunate situations. The soil in general is good; some of it bears luxuriant crops, and the vast improvements in modern agriculture, if carefully attended to, would make the most unfavourable spots become worthy of cultivation. Lime, marl, and flinty land, constitute the manure which is used by gentlemen and extensive farmers, while smaller tenants substitute a compost of earth and dung, in the proportion of three loads of the former to one of the latter. The country in general lies open, but the farms of gentlemen and some of the wealthier tenants are inclosed; and such as are so are reckoned one half more valuable than those which are open.
Would proprietors in this county grant their tenants leases for 19 at least, instead of 5 or 7 years, they would hold out a stimulus to industry and improvement which cannot possibly be felt as circumstances now stand. What encouragement has a man to bestow money and labour on the property of another, of which he knows he must be deprived in the course of seven years! The man who holds a farm during such a trifling period, must tear all out of it he can at the least possible expense, and leave it to the proprietor, when he departs, little better than a common.
The proprietors of the county of Ross have of late become very attentive to different species of improvements; In this county there are many remains of antiquity, the most memorable of which we shall here enumerate. There is a Druidical circle or temple on the eastern part of the county, and parish of Kiltarn, consisting of twelve large stones placed perpendicularly, and so arranged as to form two ovals, which are united together, and having equal areas, measuring 13 feet each from east to west, and ten feet in the middle from north to south.
There is a large obelisk in the parish of Nigg, with figures of different animals on one side of it, and a cross on the other, executed with considerable taste. The former is conjectured to be of greater antiquity than the latter. According to tradition, it was erected to perpetuate a shipwreck suffered by the Danes, at which time three sons of the king of Denmark are supposed to have perished, and to have been interred in the place on which the obelisk stands. In the churchyard of Nigg there once stood another of a similar nature, likewise supposed to have been erected by the Danes, which in consequence of a violent wind was thrown down about the year 1725. The sculpture is still in a state of tolerable preservation, and resembles that which is found on the other monuments left by that people in different parts of Scotland.
Craigichenichan in the parish of Kincardine, is memorable for being the place where the celebrated marquis of Montrose fought his last battle, when he was defeated by Colonel Strachan. Having swummed across the Kyle, he lay for some time concealed in Allt; but on being discovered, he was apprehended, and sent prisoner to Inverness. The ground on which the battle was fought derived its name from the issue of that interesting day; for the signification of Craigichenichan is, the Rock of Lamentation. There is still seen in the parish of Avoch, the foundation of a large castle of great antiquity, on the summit of a hill in the neighbourhood of Cattletown Point, elevated about 200 feet above the level of the sea. Some people call this Ormondy hill; and tradition has given the name of Douglas castle to the ruins. It covers a space of ground in the form of a parallelogram, the longest sides of which measure 350, and the shortest 160 feet, so that the whole area contains upwards of 6,300 square yards.
According to tradition, there are many places in the eastern district of this county where bloody battles were fought, either with the invading Danes and Norwegians, with daring plunderers, or between rival clans, who bitterly contended for superiority. Large collections of stones, called cairns, direct the traveller to the spots where the remains of the dead were deposited, who had fallen in the field of battle. There are manifest indications of an encampment on a large plain to the westward of the church of Edderton, where a battle is said to have been fought with the invading Danes. In its vicinity there is an extensive circle of earth, about two feet higher than the circumjacent ground, being flat at the top, with an obelisk in the centre about 10 feet in height, on which a number of rude figures may still be traced. This is regarded as the tomb of some Danish prince.
The abbey and castle of Lochlin are the most remarkable remains of antiquity in the parish of Fearn, the former of which is said to have been first built of mud, but afterwards constructed of more durable materials. It measured 99 feet in length within walls, was 25 feet fix inches broad, and its walls were 24 feet in height. This abbey continued to be employed as a place of worship till the month of October 1742, at which time the roof fell in during divine service, and 36 persons are said to have lost their lives by this melancholy accident. The castle of Lochlin is supposed to be more than five centuries old. It is situated on an eminence about six miles to the eastward of Tain, and seems evidently to have been erected as a place of security against the sudden incursions of any invading enemy. Its form resembles that of a double square united at the angles, in which union there is a staircase leading to the top of it, which is about 60 feet in height. The squares are not of equal and similar dimensions, the one towards the west measuring 20, and the other towards the east about 38 feet every way, fortified with three turrets of such dimensions, that any one of them can contain three or more men with ease. The castle of Cadboll, of which few remains can now be traced, is supposed to be more ancient than that of Lochlin, deriving all its interest from a singular tradition, viz. that no person ever died in it, though inhabited for ages;—a circumstance, however, which may be satisfactorily accounted for without recurring to the marvellous.
Many of the inhabitants becoming weary of life, requested to be removed; and a lady May in particular, whose residence it was about 100 years before the present period, and whose lingering diseases made her long for death, begged that she might be carried out of it, which was at last granted in consequence of her impertinency; and we are told that after her removal she instantly expired. The cave or subterraneous dwelling in the district of Applecross, is considered by many, and with great probability, as the quondam magazine of plunder, rather than the habitation of men; and perhaps the same may be said of every other place of a similar nature to be met with in this county. The castle of Donan in the peninsula of Kintail, which is now in ruins, was probably built in the reign of Alexander III. of Scotland, with a view to oppose the incursions of the Danes. It was demolished by a ship of war in the year 1719, after the battle of Glenfheil, a mile above which some of the bullets fired against it are occasionally found, employed by the people as weights in felling butter and cheese.
The chief clans in Ross-shire are the Mackenzies, Roffes, Frazers, Mackeys, Macraes, and the Munros, all of whom speak Gaelic, and wear the Highland dress, esteeming the earl of Seaforth as their head, being the lineal descendant of Mackenzie Lord Seaforth, who was attainted for his concern in the rebellion. This county contains 30 parochial districts, sends one member to the British parliament, and by a census taken in 1801, in consequence of the population act, it was found to contain 52,291 inhabitants, being an increase of 9,798 since the return to Dr Webster in 1755. The following table exhibits a view of the population of this county according to its parishes at two different periods.
| Parish | Population in 1755 | Population in 1790-1798 | |----------|-------------------|------------------------| | Alness | 1090 | 1121 | | Applecross| 835 | 1734 | | Avoch | 1457 | 1318 | | Contin | 1949 | 2500 |
| Parish | Population in 1755 | Population in 1790-1798 | |----------|-------------------|------------------------| | Dingwall | 1030 | 1379 | | Eddertown| 780 | 1000 | | Fearn | 1898 | 1600 | | Gairloch | 2050 | 2200 | | Glenfheil| 529 | 721 | | Killearnan| 945 | 1147 | | Kilmuir, Easter| 1095 | 1973 | | Wester | 1367 | 1805 | | Kiltearn | 1570 | 1616 | | Kincardine| 1743 | 1600 | | Kintail | 698 | 840 | | Kirkmichael| 1371 | 1234 | | Lochalsh | 613 | 1334 | | Lochbroom| 2211 | 3500 | | Lochcarron| 771 | 1068 | | Logie, Easter| 850 | 1125 | | Nigg | 1261 | 1133 | | Rolckeen | 1958 | 1700 | | Roefmarkie| 1140 | 1262 | | Tain | 1870 | 2100 | | Urquhart | 2590 | 2901 | | Urray | 2456 | 1860 |
| Island of Lewis | |-----------------| | Barvas | 1995 | 2006 | | Lochs | 1267 | 1768 | | Stornaway | 1812 | 2639 | | Uig | 1312 | 1898 |
Total, 42,493
Increase, 7,653