ROSS-SHIRE, a county of Scotland, having that of Cromarty so curiously intermixed with it, that the description of both under one head is a matter not only of convenience, but of necessity. Ross-shire, comprising the districts of Ar-dross, Easter Ross, Ardmeanach or the Black Isle, Kintail, Strathearron, and the island of Lewis, is the most extensive county in Scotland, and second only to Yorkshire as regards Great Britain. The county of Cromarty, on the other hand, is comparatively small. It is divided into ten portions, which are whimsically inserted into various parts of the larger county of Ross, like fragments of a more ancient rock in some newer geological formation. One of these parts is the original county of Cromarty, so called from Cromba, that is, crooked bay, from the windings of its shores, consisting of that portion which lies in the peninsula to the south of the Cromarty Frith, and which surrounds the county town. This part rises like a huge lump to a height of 470 feet above the level of the sea, which washes the base of its cliffs. As a county, it was very inconsiderable both in extent and in value. But by the straggling additions which were made to it towards the end of the seventeenth century, it was increased to fifteen times its former extent. Of these additions, one is that district surrounding Tarbat House, on the northern shore of Cromarty Bay; and a second runs from the south side of Dornoch Frith to Moray Frith, cutting off that portion of the county of Ross which terminates in Tarbat Ness. Two more fragments are found lying on the north of the river Carron, which has its embouchure near Bonnar Bridge; a fifth is that which runs northward from the burgh of Dingwall, taking in Castle Leod and part of Ben Weavish; the sixth lies to the north of Loch Fannich, at some distance to the north-west of which a triangular morsel is found to the north of Loch Nid; the eighth is that which stretches along the southern shore of Little Loch Broom; and the ninth is the large district of Coygach, lying between the northern shore of Loch Broom and Sutherlandshire; to which may be added the Summer Islands at the mouth of Loch Broom, which are about sixty miles distant from the town of Cromarty. As we have already mentioned under the article Cromarty, this strange arrangement of territory was produced by the influence of that great and powerful proprietor, George viscount Tarbat, afterwards earl of Cromarty, who, wishing to have all his various lands included in one shire, got them annexed to his own county in 1685 and 1698. But these were not all, nor the most extraordinary, annexations which he accomplished. For, as a part of the county of Cromarty, we are compelled to notice Royston, or Caroline Park, locally situated within the county of Edinburgh, and but a couple of miles from the Scottish capital. But such arrangements were by no means singular. The district of Ferintosh, belonging locally to Ross-shire, is in fact a part of Nairnshire; and from similar causes many of the houses in the Canongate of Edinburgh belong to different counties in Scotland, from their having been the town residences of Scottish noblemen whose estates lay in those different shires. By the addition of all those portions which we have enumerated, the extent of Cromarty is calculated to be equal to an area of 345 square miles, or about 220,800 imperial acres. It contains only one entire parish, that of Cromarty, the other parts of it being parochially connected with parishes belonging to Rossshire. The two towns of Cromarty and Ullapool belong to it, and its whole population may be estimated at about 5000 or 6000 souls. It is judicially under the jurisdiction of the sheriff of Ross, the sheriff-court being held at Cromarty every alternate Friday; and it is politically united with Ross-shire in returning a member to parliament. It contains about 20,000 arable acres. It has a considerable trade in pork for the English market; and at Cromarty there is a thriving manufactory of hempen cloth, which employs about two hundred individuals.

Having thus given a general notion of the county of Cromarty as distinct from that of Ross, we may now proceed to consider the united counties under one view. Ross has its name from Ross, a promontory, and probably from that of Tarbat Ness. The united shires lie between 57.8. and 58. 10. north latitude, and between 4. 0. and 5. 46. west longitude from Greenwich. From the extreme northern point of Coygach, to the southern extremity of the Ross-shire boundary, which lies to the north-east of Loch Hourn, in Inverness-shire, the distance may be about seventy-two miles; whilst from Strath Oikel to the Cowrie Water the measurement is not more than thirty or thirty-five miles. The breadth from Tarbat Ness to the extreme western coast to the north of Gairloch is about eighty-five miles. The whole surface may be about 2424 square miles, or about 1,545,600 acres; but to this must be added the Lewis, which contains four of the thirty-three parishes of which the united county of Ross and Cromarty consists. The boundaries are Sutherlandshire and Dornoch Frith on the north, and Moray Frith on the east, Inverness-shire on the south, and the Western Ocean on the west. On the eastern coast Cromarty Frith shoots inland from that of Moray through the narrow strait produced by those grand and picturesque headlands called the Sutors of Cromarty, and expands into a still and land-locked basin, capable of holding the whole navy of Great Britain. The headlands themselves are so lofty and precipitous, that it is not uncommon during gales of wind from the north-eastward, to see waves breaking upon them to the height of an hundred feet, whilst all within is smooth. Stowe, in his Chronicle, calls it “an exceeding quiet and saue hauen ;” Boyce calls it “the hail of seamen ;” and Buchanan is still more particular in his praise of it. It is rather more than five miles broad at the widest part, and its length is about eighteen. The depth averages from nine to twelve fathoms, but in the entrance it in some places exceeds thirty, a depth which nearly doubles that of Moray Frith, into which it opens. The continuity of outline of the western coast is interrupted by many bays and sea-lochs, which afford numerous havens of shelter. From south to north, these are Loch Alsh, with its two branches Loch Duich and Loch Ling; Loch Carron, with its branch Loch Keeshorn; Loch Tor-ridon, Gairloch, Loch Ewe, Loch Greinord, Little Loch Broom, Loch Broom, and Loch Enard. All these exhibit magnificent scenery. That of Loch Torridon, for example, is of the grandest and wildest character; as is likewise that of Loch Duich, rendered peculiarly interesting by the remains of the Castle of Eilean Donnan, the ancient stronghold of the Mackenzies, the Lords of Kintail. The outer [7:19:484]headlands of the western coast of Ross-shire, north of Loch Carron, are composed of sandstone, exhibiting the usual smooth and regular outline characteristic of that formation; and hence the promontories are tame, and of an unvaried reddish coloured aspect, and the shores of the bays are for the most part covered over with brown heath. It is therefore more in the inner recesses of these inlets, and perhaps somewhat inland, that truly beautiful and romantic scenery is to be found. The coast of the island of Lewis is so indented with bays, lochs, creeks, and long and tortuous arms of the sea, as to bid defiance to any enumeration or description within the confined limits assigned to this article.

The general surface of Ross and Cromarty is wild and mountainous, the mountain chains and groups being interspersed with valleys, glens, lakes, and rivers, exhibiting nature in every variety of form and character. The mountains, and particularly those towards the west, are covered with excellent pasture for sheep. Some of the sheep-farms are extensive, and possessed by sheep-farmers of capital, who have introduced the Cheviot breed of sheep, or a cross of that breed. The valleys and glens are depastured by large herds of cattle. Although agriculture is found in patches in the valleys and on the shores of the west coast, the great agricultural district of Ross and Cromarty is that extending from Dingwall along the northern shore of Cromarty Frith, and so onwards in a north-eastern direction along the Moray Frith and that of Dornoch. The soil and climate of Easter Ross are as fine as any in Scotland, the agriculture is of the very best description, and the numerous gentlemen’s seats and extensive plantations with which it is ornamented render this one of' the most pleasant, smiling, and cheerful countries that the stranger can visit. All the grains and other agricultural produce of Britain are here raised in perfection; and if we were desired to fix on a spot in any part of Scotland where the best fruits could be produced, or where the rarest or most delicate plants or trees could best be reared, we should be disposed to fix on Tarbat House, on the northern shore of the Bay of Cromarty. We may further venture to assert, that no traveller of taste can possibly drive along that northern shore, from Dingwall eastwards, without very great enjoyment. The roads made in Ross-shire by the parliamentary commissioners are extensive and excellent, and they are kept in the highest state of repair. Many of the wildest and most unapproachable districts have thus been opened; but there are still many left hermetically sealed against all but the adventurous horseman or the unwearied pedestrian.

Amongst the numerous fresh-water lakes and rivers to be found in Ross and Cromarty, we may particularize the following. On the eastern side of the island we have Loch Ailsh and Loch Craggan, that give birth to the river Oikel, which divides Ross-shire from Sutherland, and which, after a course of forty miles, finds its way into the upper end of Dornoch Frith, near the fine iron-arched bridge of Bonnar. Then, as we move southwards, we have the river Carron and the Water of Fearn, discharging themselves into the same frith. Cromarty Frith receives the large and important stream of the river Conan, which drains off the waters of Lochs Tolimuir, Garrogan, and Garve; Loch Fannich, Loch Roslik, Lochs Lett, Achin, Hular, and Luichart; Loch Benachan, Loch Scolbuck, and Lochs Negin and Nerick, and Loch Gowrie, by the important tributary river Orrin. Lochs Calavie and Gedd furnish their supplies to the river BeauΓy of Inverness-shire. Loch Clunie, half of which is in Ross-shire, pays its tribute to Loch Ness by the river Morrison. On the west coast we have the rivers Shed and Ling, the one tributary to Loch Duich, and the other to Loch Ling; the river Carron discharging into Loch Carron the waters of Lochs Doule and Scaven. In Applecross we have Lochs Lundie and Daroph, and the rivers of Applecross and Torridon, the last mentioned discharging itself into Loch Torridon. Loch Vallich, and a great chain of small lakes, empty their waters into Gairloch, as do Lochs Naheig, Padnascally, and Slat-tadale. The river Ewe, which is only one mile in length, discharges into Loch Ewe the waters of the grand Loch Maree, together with those of Loch Clare and its chain of small lochs, and those of Loch Gurraig; Loch Poolewe also sends its stream into Loch Ewe. Loch Fuir and Loch Shallag have their embouchures in Loch Greinord. The waters of Lochs Arin and Druin find their way into Loch Broom, as do those of Loch Damph and Loch Auchall, and those of Loch Cruisk through the stream of the Strakemort; Loch Kynoch, Loch Lurgan, and Loch Baddagyle send their streams into Loch Enard; and Lochs Skinaskink, Achyle, Vattie, and Fin also discharge themselves into the same bay, at the north-western point of the Coygash part of Cromarty. All these lochs and streams abound with fish, and salmon are particularly abundant in all the rivers, especially in the Oikel and in the Ewe. Short as is the course of this last-mentioned stream, it so swarms with salmon that twenty fish are no uncommon number for an expert angler to take in one day. Loch Maree, from which it derives its stream, is by far the largest and finest lake in Ross-shire. It is eighteen miles long, and from one to three miles broad; and the greater part of it is full sixty fathoms deep, so that it has never been known to freeze even in the most intense frosts. It contains no less than twenty-four islands, and its mountains are magnificent. The highest of the group is Sliabhach or Slioch, which is estimated at about three thousand feet. The Messrs Andersons of Inverness, in their admirable Guide to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, tell us that the scenery of this lake is the most utterly savage and terrific, in its barrenness and loncliness, of any part of this land of the mountain and the flood. A few ash-trees, oaks, birches, and pines, the latter but remnants of a gigantic ancient forest, are seen along the water’s edge, and beautify some of the islands in a high degree. But above this narrow zone scarcely a blade of grass exists, and eternally recurring sheets, precipices, and tables of dark-brown sandstone and quartz rock meet the eye in every direction. Ben Eye, at the south-eastern end, is the only exception, for it consists of two high sharp peaks of pure white quartz rock, and its form is altogether beautiful and stately. The Corries, and the solitudes of Glen Logan, opposite to it, on the other side of the lake, are the favourite haunts of the red deer. Ben Lairg and Stengach, also on the northern shore, are both stupendous mountains: the former recedes to a considerable distance from the margin of the lake, while the latter is visible at once from its base to the summit. Its lower acclivities are remarkably steep, and in one part it presents a front of abrupt lofty cliffs, disposed in great horizontal sections, along the crevices of which' a few aged and fantastically shaped pine-trees are seen casting forth their arms against the western breeze. Its rocks contain an unexampled number of varieties of quartz, and the view from its top is unusually grand and extensive. The easiest way to survey its scenery is from a boat. The path on the northern shore by Letterewe is hardly passable, and that on the opposite side is surpassed by none in the Highlands for ruggedness and sterility. It clambers up many rocky channels of torrents, and then, adapting its course to the shelf of a long ledge of sandstone, it stops suddenly over a precipice, leaving the bewildered stranger in utter uncertainty where he is next to step. Yet there are many beauties mingled with all this ruggedness, and some of the numerous little bays are full of the loveliest features of fairy landscape. In the middle of this romantic lake, there is an island called Island Maree, on which there is a very ancient burying-ground. Some think that it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and that, from this circumstance, both the island and the lake de[7:19:485]rived their name. It contains a number of tombstones covered with inscriptions and hieroglyphical figures, which can hardly now be satisfactorily deciphered. Some of these are believed to be tombs of Danish kings, which induces certain individuals to believe that the name is a corruption from Eilean-nan-Righ, or the King’s Island; whilst others take it from a good man called Saint Maree, who inhabited this island many generations ago, and of whose benevolent and charitable actions many traditions are still preserved in the surrounding districts. In the centre of the island there is a deep well, dedicated to Saint Mary or Maree. To this a strange superstition attaches. Unhappy maniacs are carried to it and made to drink of its waters; after which they are plunged into the lake, and towed round the island at the stern of a boat, in the absurd hope that they will be thus restored to their senses. Fortunately for humanity, this absurd practice is fast wearing out.

The scenery on the river Conan and some of its tributaries is beautiful and interesting. The fails of Rogie are by many considered as inferior only to those of Foyers and Moness. We may indeed affirm that most of the valleys or river-courses in the united counties are more or less worth visiting, for the wild, the romantic, or the retired pastoral scenes which they contain. The waterfall of Glomach, in the parish of Kintail, is one of the highest and finest in the kingdom. It is to be found in a remote uninhabited valley on the estate of Mr Mackenzie of Applecross, about seven miles from the inn of Sheal-house; and it will well repay the lover of the grandeur of nature for any fatigue or trouble which he may have in visiting it. Its height, lately ascertained, without instruments, but as accurately as the nature of the ground admitted, is about 350 feet. At the height of about fifty feet the water meets with a slight interruption from a shelving projection in the rock. This, however, is a circumstance that adds greatly to the effect, by increasing the volume of spray, and producing variety in the form of the fall. But when the river Gir-sac is swollen, the sheet of water is unbroken, terrific, and sublime. The fall is best viewed from a solitary tree standing on a narrow neck of rock projecting towards the water, about 100 feet down the ravine, to the south-west of the fall. There the stream appears to issue from an oblong fissure in the rock, from whence, with a fearful rush, it urges its way, chiefly in one great column, to the pool below, from which, at this station, no outlet can be perceived. The environs of the fall are wild and barren, consisting of great naked sheets of perpendicular rocks partially covered with tufts of grass, ferns, or mountain saxifrage, adding, if possible, to the savage character of the scene.

The mountain groups of Ross and Cromarty are very lofty. They rise gradually from the east coast, and more suddenly and boldly from the western sea, to which the summit-level of the country is more generally approximated. The mountains are all of the primitive formation, the secondary strata being found reclining on it on both sides of the island. The granitic series present extremely abrupt sections towards Moray Frith, and there we also find the older and other sandstones, with argillaceous formations abounding in animal remains, with plates resembling those of the tortoise, pieces of rough skin like that of the shark, the scales and bones of fish; and in a ridge of bituminous shale, near the Cromarty rocks, we find ammonites, bellemnites, scallops plain and striated, pieces of wood, and a thick fleshy-looking leaf resembling that of the aloe. The mineralogical catalogue is large. Limestone, and primitive limestone of the character of marble, are very commonly to be met with. Ironstone is disseminated in great abundance. A vein of iron was worked above 150 years ago on the shores of Loch Maree, the works having been discontinued solely from the failure of wood necessary for fuel. There is a rich vein of iron ore in the parish of Alness, and in the same vicinity there is a vein of lead, and indications of that metal have been found in the parish of Kilteam. A copper-mine at Keeshorn, in the northern district of the parish of Applecross, was considered by Williams as equally rich with any mine of the same metal to be found in Great Britain. On the farm of Scor-raig, on the Dundonnell estate, there is a prodigious quantity of bog-iron ore, which gives a strong and harsh chalybeate taste to all the springs in the neighbourhood. There are various mineral springs in the united shires of Ross and Cromarty, but those which have attained the greatest celebrity are the two wells of Strathpeffer, which have now for many years attracted numerous visitors to their neighbourhood in search of health and recreation. Both of these springs have the smell of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, but the upper spring is stronger than the lower. According to Dr Thomson, the temperature of the lower well, on the 24th of June 1824, was 39°, and that of the upper 39¼° , the day being rainy, and the temperature of the air rather under 60°. The specific gravity of the water of these wells was as follows:

Upper well............1∙00193.

Lower well............1*00091.

An imperial gallon of the upper spring was found to contain,

Sulphuretted hydrogen gas......26∙167 cubic inches.

Sulphate of soda..................67*770 grains.

Sulphate of lime..................39*454 ...

Common salt.......................24*728 ...

Sulphate of magnesia............ 6*242 ...

An imperial gallon of the water from the pump-room yielded

Sulphuretted hydrogen gas......13*659 cubic inches.

The saline contents were similar to those of the upper spring, but in the proportion to them of seven to nine, via.

Sulphate of soda........................52*710 grains.

Sulphate of lime........................30*686 ...

Common salt............................19*233 ...

Sulphate of magnesia................. 4*855

Many of the mountains of Ross and Cromarty are of first-rate British magnitude. Scuirvullin is about 2500 feet high. It consists entirely of micaceous schist, inclining in some places to gneiss, and traversed by a few granite and quartz veins. The rocks lie in thin upright stratiform shapes, which dip in opposite directions all round the mountain; and they contain numerous round nodules of quartz, feldspar, and red garnets. All the common alpine plants are to be met with on Scuirvullin. Ben Weavish, or Ben Uaish, that is, the mountain of storm, is one of the most remarkable mountains, not only in Ross and Cromarty, but in Scotland. Its height, by the late trigonometrical survey, is 3720 feet; but it is most wonderful for its immense bulk, by which it stands prominently distinguished from the other hills around it, so as to be peculiarly striking from great distances. Its corries or ravines are never without snow, so that the proprietor can always fulfil his quit-rent by paying a snowball to his sovereign when required to do so, on any day of the year. The primitive rocks of which it is composed are chiefly a gray gneiss, abounding in large scales of mica and garnets, which impart great beauty to the unpolished rock, though they are not sufficiently pure or free from cracks to be used as ornamental stones. The plants which it presents most interesting to the botanist are, Saxifraga oppositifoUa, Arbutus alpina, Azalea procumbens, Betula nana, &c. Bean Dearig on Loch Broom is 3551 feet in height. It is composed of gneiss, with granite veins and beds of quartz. We might mention many other mountains, but we shall content ourselves with stating, that Tullochard, on the north side of Loch Duich, merits particular notice»
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from being the crest of the Seaforth family, and from its summit in ancient times being used to blaze with those beacon-fires that raised up the whole country at the will of its lord.

The natural woods in Ross and Cromarty, though much diminished, are still numerous, and widely scattered through the glens and over the mountain sides. The trees are chiefly firs, oaks, ash, birch, and alder. The whole face of the wilder country bears the strongest evidence of its having been once covered with extensive forests, fragments of which only now remain in certain places, whilst the mosses or bogs still preserve the trees which have probably fallen by extensive conflagrations. In the central district, the forest of Fainish still stands, twenty miles in extent. But as these ancient forests are diminishing, artificial plantation, already very extensive, is every day increasing with rapid strides; and in many parts of the country even the soil that is apparently the most barren appears to have a tendency to throw up young plants of birch, and in some places of oak, proving that it is so filled with the seeds or roots of those trees that preservation from sheep and cattle is all that is wanting to restore the ancient natural forests. The island of Lewis is almost entirely destitute of trees.

From the great extent and immense variety of elevation and of surface of Ross and Cromarty, it naturally contains by much the greater part, if not nearly all, the plants to be found in the Flora Scotica; and in the same way, speaking generally, almost all the animals to be found in the zoology of Scotland have been discovered to belong to it. The larger wild quadrupeds are red and roe deer, hares, alpine hares, foxes, badgers, wild cats, &c. Grouse, ptarmigan, black game, and partridges abound; and in some places pheasants have been introduced, and have amazingly increased. We are not aware that any attempt has been as yet made to restore to the older forests that magnificent bird, once indigenous to them, we mean the Tetrao wrogallus, cappercailzie, or cock of the woods; but such an attempt would be highly desirable, and, from the facility with which the live birds may now be obtained from Norway, it might be made with comparative ease. The golden eagle and the ospray are both common, as well as all the other birds of prey. Water-fowls of all kinds abound on the coasts; and the frith of Cromarty is especially remarkable for the number and variety of sea-fowl which may be obtained by the skilful sportsman. In severe winters it frequently happens that many wild swans are shot there. The list of fishes, both marine and fresh-water, is very ample. Salmon, as already noticed, are especially abundant; and the trouts of Loch Luichart, and many other lakes, are far famed. The pearl mussel, Mya margaritifera, is found in the stream of the river Conan, and frequently affords pearls of remarkable beauty. In Strath Conan bees are much cultivated, and a great deal of honey is made in that district.

The landed property of these united counties is chiefly divided into estates, which are more extensive in surface than valuable in rent, the average of them being upwards of 16,000 imperial acres. The whole is valued in the cess-books at L.75,043. lθs. 3d. Scots, and in 1811 the real rent was valued at about L.91,089. 18s. 8d. sterling, affording a mean rental for each estate of not more than L.1075, or about, one shilling and fourpence an acre. But we are disposed to think that this last calculation would now be considerably increased, both by the more extensive and better managed occupation of the hills with sheep-farms, and the improvement which has taken place on the agricultural districts. As a sample of the best soil, we may state, that the average rent of arable land in the parish of Dingwall is about L.2 an acre, though some of it is as high as L.4∙. lOs. The wages of farm-servants in the same district are L.7 or L.8 in money, seven bolls of meal, a quarter of an acre of potatoes, and a free house and garden, altogether worth about L.20. Occasional labourers get about seven shillings and sixpence a week, and country artisans about nine shillings. Mason-work is from L.l. 16s. to L.2 a rood, journeymen being paid about twelve shillings a week. Carpenters are paid from ten to twelve shillings, and slaters about twelve shillings a week. The gentlemen’s seats are numerous in Ross and Cromarty, but they are chiefly situated in the eastern or more cultivated districts.

We have already said that the system of agriculture pursued in the more favourable and more strictly agricultural districts of Ross and Cromarty does not fall below the standard of more southern counties. The farms are extensive, and generally let on leases of nineteen years’ duration. They are for the most part well enclosed, and the dwelling-houses and other buildings are large and commodious. In the poorer districts, and especially on the west coast, and in Lewis, where the farmers hold only a few acres of arable land, they raise oats, bear or big, and potatoes; and in many places where grazings are attached, they rear a great many cattle and horses of the Highland breed, both of which are often very much stinted in their growth for want of sufficient food in severe winters. Illicit distillation, which once so much occupied these smaller tenants, has now, we believe, been effectually put an end to, chiefly by the introduction of legal small stills. The climate, particularly towards the west coast, may well be termed rather a weeping one; and the carrying of the crops in the western districts is often an exceedingly precarious operation. But where there is so great a variety of surface, we must also look for a great variety of climate. The following meteorological tables, taken from the Statistical Account of the Parish of Dingwall, may furnish a general average view of the climate of the more thickly inhabited districte.
[table]
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[table]

The introduction of steam-navigation has already begun to improve Ross and Cromarty, not only by making them more easily accessible, but by the opening which it has created for the export of cattle and sheep to London. The change in this respect may be readily conceived, when we consider the immense land-journey which the animals had to undergo before they could be brought to the London market They were driven off in a lean state, and were fed in southern pastures before they could there be produced. Now, a Ross-shire farmer has it in his power to send them direct to the London market, so fed as to be in a condition for immediate slaughter; and thus he is placed on an equality, with regard to expense of transport, with any English farmer who may not be fifty or sixty miles from London. The effect of this in raising the value of property in these and other northern counties may easily be imagined.

The importance of the fisheries to Ross and Cromarty may be estimated from the following table, furnished by Mr Dunsmure, the secretary of the Board of Commissioners for the Herring Fishery.
[table]
[table]

In the above table, it must be observed that the column of persons employed comprehends not only the fishermen, but the coopers, labourers, gutters, packers, and those engaged in cleaning and drying the fish. It is also to be noticed, that the Loch Carron fishery district includes the Isle of Skye in Inverness-shire. The official brand applied by the officers of the board to the casks of herrings cured and packed, strictly according to the acts of parliament by which the commissioners are guided, is so highly estimated as to give a confidence and a ready sale, and a superiority of price, in all foreign markets, which no herrings can obtain without it. It is therefore becoming every day more and more highly appreciated both by fish-curers and merchants. Every kind of fish that frequents the northern seas may be taken on the coasts of Ross and Cromarty, particularly on those of the island of Lewis. The Broad Bay flounder of Stornoway is the finest in the world. The saithe is much more delicate than the whiting. The haddock is remarkably good. In Lewis, in the parish of Lochs alone, above 100, 000 lobsters are sent annually to the London market Whales, porpuses, and grampuses, are often driven on shore in Lewis in numbers amounting to a hundred and fifty or more, and varying from five to thirty feet in length.

The manufacture of kelp is still extensively practised [7:19:488]especially on the western coast and in Lewis; but the price is now so low and fluctuating, and the time and trouble bestowed in making it so great, that it is believed the sea-weed employed would be much more profitably used as manure.

The burghs of Cromarty, Dingwall, and Tain, along with Dornoch, Wick, and Kirkwall, return a member to parliament. Fortrose and Rosemarkie, two small adjacent towns included in one burgh, return a member along with Inverness, Nairn, and Forres, Besides these burghs, the united county has several villages or small towns in it, such as Contin, Shildag, Domie, Plocktown, and Ullapool, which last has 500 or 600 inhabitants. Stornoway, in Lewis, is a thriving burgh of barony, with some good streets of houses, and a considerable quantity of shipping, and, with its suburbs and environs, it contains nearly 3000 inhabitants. Sheriff and commissary courts, bailie, excise, and justice of peace courts, are regularly held in it.

In Ross and Cromarty there are many ancient and curious remains. In the parish of Nigg, the site of the castle of Dunskeath, built by William the Lion in the year 1174, is still to be distinguished. At Shandwick is the Clach-a-Charridh, or the Stone of the Burial-place. On one side of it a large cross is still to be traced, wrought with an intricate maze of runic knotting. On the sides of the shaft are two animals resembling an elephant and a lion, above each of which there is a figure that appears to lean forward from a cross. On the reverse side of the obelisk there are processions, hunting scenes, and combats. The ground surrounding the spot where it stands was for centuries used as a place of interment. There is a similar though smaller stone in the church-yard of Nigg. It originally stood near the gate, but it was thrown down by the fall of a belfrey in 1725, and it is now fixed to the eastern gable. The top is of a triangular shape, and it has on one side of it two priest-like figures attired in long garments, each furnished with a book, and inclining forward as if intent on reading and devotion. Between them is a small circular table or altar; and a dove seems to descend from above with a circular cake in its bill. Under the table there are two large dogs. Lower down on the stone there is a cross, and the spaces above and below the arms of it are divided into rectangular compartments of mathematical exactness. The hieroglyphics of the opposite side are in lower relief; and in the centre appears the chief figure, that of a man attired in long garments, caressing a fawn, with a lamb and harp directly fronting him. In the space beneath there is a man clashing a pair of cymbals, and a man on horseback surrounded by animals of the chase; while on the upper part of the stone there are dogs, deer, and armed huntsmen, with an eagle or raven surmounting the whole. These obelisks or crosses are supposed to be of Scandinavian origin. Craig-chenichan, or the Rock of Lamentation, in the parish of Kincardine, is memorable for being the place where the Marquis of Montrose was defeated by Colonel Strachan, after which he swam across the Kyle, and lay concealed in Assint, until apprehended and sent prisoner to Inverness. On the summit of Ormondy Hill, 200 feet above the level of the sea, near Castletown Point, in the parish of Avoch, are the foundations of a large and very ancient castle, to which tradition has given the name of Douglas. On a large plain to the westward of the church of Eddertown there are indications of an encampment, where a battle is said to have been fought with the Danes. In its vicinity there is an extensive circle of earth, about two feet higher than the circumjacent ground, flat on the top, with an obelisk in the centre ten 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, in the parish of Fearn, are remarkable. The former measured ninety-nine by twenty-five feet within the walls. It was used for divine service till October 1742, when the roof fell in and killed thirty-six people. The castle of Lochlin is supposed to be more than five centuries old. It stands on an eminence about six miles to the eastward of Tain. Its plan is that of two squares united at the angles, in which there is a staircase leading to the top of it, which is sixty feet high. The castle of Cadboll, of which little remains, is supposed to be yet more ancient than that of Lochlin. There is a tradition that no one ever died in it; and that about a century and a half ago, a certain Lady May, whose lingering diseases made her long for death, was removed from it at her own request that she might die, and her wish is said to have been gratified immediately after her removal. In the parish of Kirkmichael, and close on the edge of a precipice rising from the shore of Cromarty Frith, is Tigh-na-Craig, or the House of the Rock. It is a very curious old building, fifty feet in height, of great antiquity, having been erected by the Urquharts, barons of Cromarty. In Loch Carron are the ruins of Strome Castle; and at Lan-ganduin there is one of those buildings called Duin, which are so frequent on the west coast. The castle of Eilean Donnan, on an insulated point between Lochs Ling and Duich, in Kintail, though greatly dilapidated, is still a fine picturesque ruin. It is supposed to have been built in the time of Alexander the Third. It was long the baronial strength of the lords of Kintail; but after the battle of Glen-sheil in 1719, it was demolished by a ship of war. Some of the cannon-balls fired against it have been found nearly a mile above the castle. Near Ob-Inag, in the parish of Glensheil, is to be found a fine specimen of what has been called the Pictish Tower. At Dingwall are the remains of the ancient castle of the earls of Ross. The hill of Knock-farril, in the parish of Fodderty, is crowned with one of those curious and puzzling morsels of antiquity, usually known by the name of vitrified forts. The walls enclose nearly an acre of level ground, from which Craig Phadric near Inverness, and Dunskaith on the northern Sutor of Cromarty, are distinctly visible, and so it is connected with a chain of these signal-posts. It is probable that the early inhabitants of the country burned their beltane fires on these signal-hills; and these we know were so immense that they might very well account for the vitrification of the circular walls of dry stone which were erected to prevent the fuel from being blown about and dispersed. There are many ancient single stones, and circles of stones, and cairns, in different parts of Ross and Cromarty. In Lewis are to be found the following ruins of religious houses: St Collums in Ui, St Cowstans in Garrabost, and St Aula in Gress. On the Flannel Isles, called by Buchanan Insuloe Sacroe, the ruins of religious houses are still extant. At Mealister and Pabay are the remains of nunneries; and there is a similar ruin on the island of St Colme, in the entrance to Loch Erisort. At Carloway there is a fine specimen of those towers already mentioned, perfectly circular, and thirty feet high; and there are three or four more in Barras parish. In the year 1831, a considerable number of little figures, carved in ivory, were found in the sands at the head of the Bay of Uig. We saw them in Edinburgh, and they appeared to us very much to resemble the kings and pieces at chess.

There are many curious caves both on the east and west coasts of Ross and Cromarty; but the most remarkable is the Seal Cave, in the parish of Stornoway, in Lewis, which is considered to be only secondary in grandeur, and in the splendour of its stalactitic formations, to the famous cave in Skye.

The principal clans in Ross and Cromarty are the Mackenzies, Rosses, Frasers, Mackays, Macraes, and Munroes. Gaelic is universally spoken, though it is less used on the eastern than on the western side of the county. In Lewis it is the chief language. The Highland dress is now seldom worn, except on occasions of ceremony or festivity.

The following table contains an abstract of the population of Ross and Cromarty at three different periods.
[7:19:489]
[table]