INVERNESS-SHIRE, the most extensive county in Scotland, situated between 56° 40' and 57° 36' north latitude, and between 3° 50' and 5° 50' west longitude from Greenwich, is bounded on the north by the shires of Ross and Cromarty; on the east by those of Aberdeen, Banff, Moray, and Nairn, and by the Moray Frith; on the south by the counties of Perth and Argylc; and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. It is from fifty to seventy-five miles in length; in breadth from thirty to fifty miles; and its area is computed at 3036 square miles, of which the space occupied by lakes has been estimated at 132 miles, and the land at 29Ó4, or 1,858,560 English acres.

The exterior outline of this county is exceedingly irregular. On the north-east, where the county town is situated, a narrow tract runs out between Nairnshire and the Moray Frith. Farther to the east, a portion of it is detached and enclosed by the counties of Moray and Banff; Argyleshire penetrates into it from the south-west; and on the west it is indented by Lochs Moidart, Aylort, Nevis, Hourn, and other arms of the sea.

The surface is still more varied, consisting of ranges of lofty mountains, alternating with deep narrow valleys, the beds of a great many lakes and rivers. The most prominent feature is Glenmore, or the Great Glen, for the most part a mile in breadth, and bounded on either side by precipitous high grounds, which traverses the county from south-west to north-east, dividing it into two nearly equal parts. In this glen, from north to south, are Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy, which, being united by the Caledonian Canal, form a line of inland navigation between the east and west seas, or from the Moray Frith on the north-east, to Linnhe Loch, an arm of the Atlantic, on the south-west, a distance of about sixty miles, for frigates of thirty-two guns, and vessels of 600 tons. Loch Ness is remarkable for never freezing, a circumstance ascribed to its great depth; and for its waters having been violently agitated during the great earthquake at Lisbon in November 1755. On each side of this valley there is a number of glens and straths, separated by mountainous ridges, with lakes which receive the waters from the high grounds, and discharge them by outlets, partly into the lakes in the central valley, and partly, by a more direct course, into the arms of the Atlantic on the west, or by rivers which flow from this county into the counties on the east, and thence into the German Ocean.

The western side, or the country between the great valley and the Atlantic, from Argyleshire on the south to Ross-shire on the north, a distance of about seventy miles, is the most wild and mountainous tract of Inverness-shire, and is therefore known by the name of the Rough Pounds ; yet, before reaching the sea-coast, the general elevation is somewhat diminished. In this tract, beginning at the south, the principal divisions are, Moidart, Arasaig, Morar, Knoidart, and Glenelg, which contain a variety of glens or valleys, among which are, Glengarry, Glen Moriston, Glen Urquhart, and Strathglass. The most considerable lakes in this quarter are, Loch Eil, Loch Shiel, Loch Arkaig, Loch Garry, and Loch Maddy. Lochan Uain, in the parish of Kilmorack, about forty miles west from Beauly, is said to have been known to remain frozen all the year through. On the east side of the valley lies the extensive district of Badenoch; at its southern termination is Lochaber; and at its northern the Aird, the most fertile part of the county. These divisions also include a great many glens, lakes, and rivers, extensive woodlands, and not a little productive land. The principal valleys here are Glenroy, noted for its parallel roads, which, it is now agreed, must have been formed by the gradual subsidence of the waters, and not by the hand of man; Strathspey, Strathcrrick, Strathearn, and Strathnairn. Treig, Ericht partly in Perthshire, Laggan, Insch, and Moy, are the names of the most considerable of the lochs in this quarter; and here the Spey, the Findhorn, and the Nairn, and a number of smaller streams, have their source.

The general aspect of Inverness-shire may be further conceived, when it is stated that two thirds of the surface are covered with heath; that only a fortieth part is corn land; and that the corn land, woodlands, and green pastures, together, do not exceed eight acres in an hundred. In many large tracts heath prevails to such a degree that, for twelve or fourteen miles, scarcely any verdure is to be seen, except where a solitary rivulet has occasionally overflowed its banks. On the south of Badenoch there is a flat of deep moss, supposed to be the most extensive in Britain, in which a great number of small lakes are interspersed, some of them containing wooded isles, where the deer, from the inaccessible nature of the ground, find shelter from their pursuers. But the far greater part of the county is occupied with mountains. Ben Nevis, 4380 feet high, stands on the south-west, a little to the east of the Caledonian Canal; Meal Fourvounie, on the west of Loch Ness, is more than 3000 feet high; and Cairngorm, partly in Banffshire, upwards of 4000. It has been remarked, as a singular circumstance, that several of the hills, which are covered with heath on the sides, are green on the summit, and produce valuable pasturage. The productive land lies chiefly on the sea-coast, and along the banks of the lakes and rivers; much of it in the latter situation is alluvial and fertile. There is also clay in a few places; but the prevailing soil is sand, or a sandy loam, well adapted to the growth of barley, potatoes, turnips, and other green crops.

The principal rivers of Inverness-shire are, the Spey, which rises from a loch of that name, a little to the east of the Great Valley, and, flowing in a course from southwest to north-east for about ninety-six miles, falls into the sea about eight miles east of Elgin, in Morayshire, carrying with it the waters of 1300 square miles; the Ness, which issues from Loch Ness, and, flowing through the town of Inverness, falls into the Moray Frith, after a [7:12:335]course of six miles; the Lochy issues from Loch Lochy, and has a course of tert miles westward, till it falls into Loch Eil near Fort William; soon after it leaves its parent lake, it is joined, from the east, by the Spean, which is remarkable for being crossed by a bridge, two of the arches of which are ninety-five feet high; and the Beauly, which has its source in the north-west, and carries the united waters of the Glass and other two rivulets into the frith of the same name. The Findhorn and Nairn on the east, and the Garry and the Morriston on the west, are smaller streams. The Foyers, which flows into Loch Ness from the south, is remarkable for its celebrated falls, one of which, according to Dr Garnet, is seventy feet, and the other, half a mile lower, 212 feet. There are cascades not inferior to these in the parish of Kihnorack, on the waters which unite to form the Beauly, and at Loch Leven head in the southern quarter; near which last place there are also some remarkable caverns.

Granite, limestone, slate, marble, brick-clay, abound in many parts of Inverness-shire. Lead has been discovered in Ben Nevis, and at three other places in that neighbourhood, and also at Glengarry, but none of it is wrought. A vein of plumbago has also been found at Glengarry. A great part of the mountain of Ben Nevis is composed of beautiful porphyry. There is no coal, and for want of it much of the limestone is of little value.

From the trees found in great numbers, and some of them of a remarkable size, in all the mosses, there is reason to believe that this country was, at an early period, almost covered with wood; and at present there is a greater space covered with natural pines here than in all the rest of Britain. In Strathspey it is said that three - tiers of stocks have been found, directly above one another, in a moss; from which it is inferred that the deepest must have come to maturity, and been destroyed, before the one next above it was formed. In the same district there are about 15,000 acres of natural firs, besides 7000 of planted firs and larches; and the natural woods on Loch Arkaig, in Glengarry, Glenmoriston, Strathglass, Strathfarrer, and at the head of Loch Shiel, are also very extensive. Full-grown trees of ash, lime, beech, oak, plane, and mountain-ash, are found at Castle Grant, Culloden, and Belladrum, in the northern quarter of the county; but in most other places the woods are in the state of coppice. The birch is in great abundance on the sides of Loch Ness, Loch Laggan, about Rothicmurchus, and in the vale of Urquhart. Part of the great Caledonian Forest extends for several miles near the boundary of this county with Perthshire. Considerable tracts have been planted, chiefly with firs and larches, particularly in the north-east, where the county town is situated, in Badenoch, and on Loch Eil.

There are several fishing villages on the east coast, yet the sea-fishery is not prosecuted to a great extent. But the arms of the sea, and the numerous lakes and rivers, afford an abundant supply of fish. The herring occasionally visits Loch Eil; salmon yield a considerable rent on the rivers Lochy, Beauly, and Ness, and are found also in the Morrer, in Loch Insch in Badenoch, and at Invermoriston. Char is caught in several of the lochs, and flounders and sprats in the Beauly. The moors and woodlands are plentifully stocked with game, viz. red and roe decr, the Alpine and common hare, black game and ptarmigan, grouse, partridges, &c.; and pheasants have lately been introduced. Foxes and wild cats are still numerous, and, in the lakes and rivers, otters. There are also eagles, hawks, and owls; and a multitude of water fowls, particularly swans, resort to Loch Insch, and the other lakes of Badenoch.

. The territory of Inverness-shire is divided into estates of great extent, and, in proportion to the rental of the county, of great value. In 1804 more than the half, if we may judge from the old valuation, belonged to seven proprietors, and as much more was held by other six, as made the possessions of these thirteen individuals equal to more than two thirds of the whole; each of them, at a medium, must, therefore, have contained about 100,000 acres. There are thirty-nine estates valued at above L.500, and thirty-five estates below L.500 and above L.100. The greatest landed proprietors are Lord Macdonald, the Earl of Seafield, Mr Fraser of Lovat, Mackintosh of Mackintosh, Macleod of Macleod, Macdoncll of Glengarry, Colonel Cameron of Lochiel, Lord Glenelg, the Earl of Moray, Chisholm of Chisholm, Colonel Macniel of Barra, Lord Dunmore, Mr Grant of Ballindalloch, Mr Stewart of Belladrum, Mr Baillie of Lochaber, Mr Grant of Glenmoriston, &c. The valuation taken in 1601 was L.73,188. 9s. Scots, and in 1811 the real rent of the lands was L.195,843. 15s. sterling, and of the houses, L.9235. 2s. sterling. The valuation taken in 1814 was L.152,078. 12s. 2∣d.; but this sum is nothing like the real rent, being made, merely for collecting the property tax. There are several estates of very considerable income, though not of great extent, such as Muirtown, Insches, Culduthell, and others. The old valuation of the whole of Scotland, as fixed about the middle of last century, and which is still the rule by which county assessments are imposed, is to the actual rent of the lands alone in 1811, as L.l Scots is to L. 1.263 sterling; whereas in this county, rents have risen in so much greater a proportion than in the rest of Scotland, chiefly perhaps owing to the introduction of sheep-farming, that its valuation is to its actual rent only as L.l Scots is to L.2.675 sterling; and it is worthy of remark, that this rise cannot be ascribed in any considerable degree to the outlay of capital by proprietors, in building or otherwise, as in most other parts of Scotland.

Of the occupiers of the land, tacksmen, small tenants, and cottars, of the size of the farms, and the rural economy of the county generally, we have little to say in addition to what we have already offered under the Highland counties of Scotland in the preceding part of this work. Small spots of corn-land contiguous to the hamlets, of which the alternate ridges or lands belong to different cultivators, who used to interchange their allotments once a year, and more recently only once in three years; a larger space of outfield beyond this, part of which is constantly cropped till it is exhausted, and then left to nature, when another part, which had been treated in the same manner, but which has been somewhat restored in the mean while by the folding of cattle, takes its place; and beyond this outfield, separated from the higher grounds by a head dike, large tracts of common pasture; these, with their miserable huts, their irregular and always inefficient labour, their indolence, and their poverty, present a striking picture of what must have been the condition of the great body of the people of' Scotland during the feudal ages; but it is not now, as it was then, somewhat relieved by hospitality and protection on the one side, and respect, gratitude, and attachment, on the other.

This system, indeed, has been gradually approaching to its termination during the last thirty years, and in some parts of Inverness-shire it exists no longer in its original form. The change has been chiefly effected by the introduction of saccp, which has occasioned many complaints, and probably much real suffering for a time to many individuals, but which is likely in the end to be most advantageous to the public at large. With respect to its effect on population, one main topic of declamation, it has not been such as its opponents allege; for the population of Inverness-shire, any more than of the Highlands in general, has not diminished. On the contrary, its increase in this county, from 1755 to 1811, has been much greater than in [7:12:336]eHaddingtonshire and the other merely agricultural districts of Scotland. Within that period, it has increased from 64,656 to 78,336, or upwards of twenty-one per cent., whilst that of all Scotland has not been more than forty-four per cent.; and it is well known that the far greater part of this apparently general increase has been occasioned by the extension of manufactures and commerce, and is chiefly confined to a few districts.

The principal exports are cattle, sheep, wool, timber, and slates. The corn grown in the county, chiefly bear or big, and oats, and only on the east coast wheat, is all consumed within itself, much of the bear in illicit distillation; as well as all the potatoes, the most important article of food for the greater part of tlrfe year; and the products of the dairy. It imports coals, lime, flour, oatmeal, groceries, and other articles of domestic consumption. The manufactures are, bagging from hemp, thread, kelp to a considerable extent on the west coast, with some tiles and bricks. There are also tan-works, breweries, bleachfields, and an iron-foundery; and some attempts have been made at different periods to carry on branches of the woollen manufacture.

From the west sea a few vessels come up to Fort William, from which the exports are wool, skins, herrings, kelp, and slates. The most considerable village is Maryburgh, or Gordonsburgh, near Fort William. Grantown is a neatly built village on the great road along the Spey, and, under the auspices of Sir James Grant, the proprietor, it has made considerable progress. It contains a townhouse and prison, with a well-endowed school; and a few years ago a factory was begun for carding and spinning wool, and for making blankets and woollen cloths. Fairs are held for the sale of cattle, sheep, and wool, at Fort William, Beauly, Grantown, and Kingussie, and four in the year in Inverness, where there is also a well-supplied market every Tuesday and Friday. Some years back an easy communication was formed throughout the greater part of the county, by means of the roads made under the direction of theParliamentary Commissioners for Highland Roads and Bridges, half the expense of which is borne by the county, and the other half is granted by parliament.

Amongst the antiquities of Inverness-shire, which we can only notice generally, are the circles of stones ascribed to the Druids, which are found in many parts of the county, particularly at Corrimony in its northern quarter; two artificial mounts in the parish of Petty, supposed to have been places for administering justice; round buildings, called Picts’ Houses, in Glenelg, and other parts; forts, built without mortar, one of which, called Castle Spynie, two miles east from the church of Beauly, encloses a circle of fifty-four yards, and another, in the parish of Laggan, stands on a rock, a hundred yards in perpendicular height; vitrified forts on the hill of Craig Phadric, about two miles from Inverness, Dundhairdghall in Glen Nevis, and Dun Thion near the river Beauly; and a variety of castles, of which Inverloehy Castle a building of great extent and unknown antiquity, on the banks of the Lochy, near Fort William, is, perhaps, the most remarkable. On a hill near Inverness, called the Castle Hill, stood the castle of the Thane of Cawdor where Macbeth is said to have murdered Duncan. It was razed by Malcolm Ceanmore, who removed the town to the northward, where it now stands, granted its first charter, and built a fortress on the site of the old town, which was repaired in 1715, and finally demolished in 1765. Cromwell erected a citadel at the mouth of the river Ness, which was demolished by Charles II.

There is a chain of forts stretching across the island, along the line of the Caledonian Canal. Fort George is a regular fortress, mounting eighty guns, with barracks for 3000 men; it was begun in 1747, and completed in twenty years, at an expense of about L. 160,000. It is situated eleven miles eastward from Inverness, upon a neck of land on the Moray Frith, opposite to Fortrose in Ross-shire. Fort Augustus, also a regular fortification, though a place of no great strength, with four bastions, and barracks for 400 men, is situated at the west end of Loch Ness, nearly midway between the east and west seas. It was first built in 1730, at some distance from Loch Ness; but having been demolished by the rebels in 1745, it was afterwards rebuilt nearer the lake. Fort William, built in the reign of William HL, is situated on a navigable arm of the sea, called Loch Eil, at the south-western termination of the great valley. These forts are now useless in a military point of view, though kept in a state of good repair, and answering as barracks for a few soldiers. On Culloden Moor, a level heath to the eastward of Inverness, on the 16th April 1746, was fought the battle which put an end to the rebellion of 1745; the greater part of this heath is now covered with plantations.

Inverness-shire contains twenty-eight entire parishes, and shares several others with the counties of Argyle, Nairn, and Moray. Of these, twenty are on the mainland, and the remainder in its islands. Some of the parishes on the mainland, as well as in the islands, would form a square of twenty miles each. Kilmalie and Kilmoraek are still larger, extending in length about sixty miles, and in breadth almost thirty. Many of the inhabitants are Roman Catholics, particularly in the districts of Moidart, Arasaig, Morar, and Knoidart, on the west side. The county sends one member to parliament, and the town of Inverness, along with Forres, Nairn, and Fortrose, choose one for the burghs. The sheriff holds courts at four places, two of which, Inverness and Fort William, are for the mainland, and two more for the isles in Skye and Long Island. The population of the whole shire in 1811, 1821, and 1831, is given in the annexed table. (See the Statistical Account of Scotland ; Playfair’s Description of Scotland; Robertson’s Survey of Inverness-shire ; The Beauties of Scotland, vol. V.; and the General Report of Scotland.}
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