page_title: Evanton
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Evanton / Culture
caption_attribution_description: Modern ruins of the church.
context_page_description: Evanton is a small village in Easter Ross, in the Highland Council Area of Scotland. It lies between the River Sgitheach and the Allt Graad, is 24 kilometres north of Inverness, some 6.5 km south-west of Alness, and 10 km northeast of Dingwall.
  The village has a dozen or so streets, the main one being Balconie Street. It has been described by analysts at The Highland Council as a "commuting settlement", because most of the inhabitants work in other areas of Easter Ross and the greater Inverness area.
  The current town was founded in the early 19th century by Alexander Fraser of Inchcoulter/Balconie who named it after his son Evan, but the core of the village buildings date from the Victorian era. Evanton has several tourist attractions, including the Fyrish monument, the Black Rock Gorge and the ruined church of Kiltearn lying near the River Sgitheach as it flows into the Cromarty Firth, as well as other miscellaneous natural, historical and archaeological attractions in the surrounding area.
  There are two churches, one Church of Scotland and one Free Church of Scotland. There is one primary school, but the nearest high schools are in Dingwall and Alness.
context_section_description: In 1845, the local minister wrote that "the language generally spoken is an impure form of Gaelic, but it is rapidly losing ground" and that "in Evanton, both English and Gaelic are spoken indifferently". The minister wrote that the people, especially the children, learned English with ease after they had learned to write Gaelic. The minister also gave some reasons why the people were keen to learn English, telling us that "English being the language universally spoken by the higher classes, the mass of the people attach a notion of superior refinement to the possession of it". Half a century previously, Harry Robertson had praised the spirit of one watchmaker in the region, but added "it is a pity that he can hardly read nor write, and hardly speaks English".
  Today, one can see Gaelic written on the walls of the parish church, but the language has effectively died out, and English is totally dominant. Nevertheless, there are still some 72 residents (4.3%) of the village who know the language. The village is also a big location on the Highland folk-circuit, and enjoys a vibrant musical culture in the Gaelic tradition. It is a regular practice for local musicians to meet in  one of the licensed establishments in the town, and engage in evening-long sessions. Many prominent musicians on the Celtic music scene have visited, including Eilidh Steel and Dougie MacLean.
caption: The old church of Kiltearn, 2005. The current church is located in the heart of Evanton, on Balconie Street.
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