COUNTIES OF EOSS AND CEOMAETY. 6 9 



lapool. Dingwall is the county town. It was created a royal 

 burgh by Alexander II. in 1227, and has now a population of 

 2125. The beautifully wooded plain upon which it stands was 

 once a swampy marsh, but thorough drainage and spirited agricul- 

 ture has made it one of the most lovely valleys in the north of 

 Scotland. The burgh lies snugly among rich clumps of handsome 

 trees at the entrance of the Strathpeffer Valley, famous all over 

 the kingdom, and even beyond it, for the healing powers of its sul- 

 phurous springs. The scenery around the " strath " is very fine, 

 the air pure and dry, and for several years past it has been one of 

 the most fashionable summer resorts in Scotland. The junction 

 of the Hijihland and Dingwall and Skve Eailwav is at Dincjwall, 

 and a short canal from the Cromarty Firth enables small vessels to 

 reach the town. The town mainly consists of one street, about a mile 

 in length, and while the majority of the houses are irregularly situ- 

 ated and unpretentious in an architectural point of view, still there 

 are a good many very handsome residences, most of which have 

 sprung up within the past twenty-five or thirty years. Traces of 

 what was once the principal seat of the Earls of Eoss are seen 

 close by, while in the neif^hbourhood there is a vitrified fort on a 

 conical hill. The Caithness, Sutherland, and Eoss Eifle Militia 

 have their head-quarters at Dingwall. 



!N'ext in importance comes Tain, situated on the south shore of 

 the Dornoch Firth, and containing a population of 2287. It was 

 created a royal burgh by ]\Ialcolm Canmore, and about the be- 

 ginning of the thirteenth century St Duthus, its patron saint, 

 and Bishop of Eoss, constituted it the ecclesiastical capital of 

 Eoss-shire. The tower in the Town House is very ancient, and 

 tlie bell which hangs in the freestone spire that surmounts it is 

 about 200 years old. This interesting structure is now encircled 

 by a very handsome Town's House. On a beautiful level be- 

 tween the town and the firth stand the remains of a very ancient 

 chapel, said to have been erected to the memory of St Duthus 

 about the close of the thirteenth century. It is recorded that in 

 tliis chapel the wife and daughter of Ih-uce took refuge, but the 

 Karls of Eoss are credited with liavin<^ " draizj^ed them forth and 

 given them up to the English," It is also said that James Y. 

 made a barefoot pilgrimage to this ruin in 1527. Close by the 

 town's liouse are the well-preserved ruins of a collegiate church, 

 founded in 1471, and remarkable for its beautiful Gothic archi- 

 tecture. Tlie streets are very irregular, but still the town has a 

 cleanly lik(\il)le appearance. 



Cromarty hus a population of 2180. It is situated at the 

 north-east corner of tlu; ])lack Jsle, and lias very ])rftty sur- 

 roundings. Sir .lohn Sinclair and other sages predicted that 

 Cromarty long ere now would liavc become one of tlie ])rincipal 

 centres of commerce in the north of Scotland, and though, unfor— 



