SUTHERLAND. 151 



loch in the county. The day, however, was such a stormy 

 one that I was completely beaten away from it. Two or 

 three trout were got, one of which was about one pound 

 weight. They are highly esteemed for their fatness 

 and flavour, the result of their feeding upon the fresh- 

 water shrimp, which is said to abound in the loch. Sir 

 William Jardine first made known these trout to science, 

 as gillaroo or " gizzard " trout, from the discovery of the 

 indurated stomachs they possess ; but, I believe, more 

 recent investigations have not established their affinity 

 with the gillaroo of one or two of the Irish lakes. 



It may be of interest to mention here, that this part of 

 the county has been rendered famous by the defeat and 

 subsequent capture of the Marquis of Montrose, when 

 fighting for the cause of Charles the Second in the year 

 1650. Montrose, after landing in the Orkney Islands, and 

 traversing the counties of Caithness and Sutherland with 

 his army, had reached Carbisdale, a few miles on the 

 Rosshire side of Strath Oykel, where he was attacked by 

 the Presbyterian forces led by Colonel Strachan, and 

 utterly routed. Montrose escaped from the field with 

 much difficulty with a few followers, and wandered amongst 

 the Sutherland hills above Strath Oykel. A large reward 

 having been offeredf or his head, he was, after enduring 

 for a short time great privations, captured by Neil 

 M'Leod, the Laird of Assynt, who conveyed him to his 

 Castle of Ardvreck, whence he was afterwards taken to 

 Edinburgh, and there beheaded.* Ardvreck Castle is now 

 a prominent ruin on the shores of Loch Assynt, where it 



* Brown's History of the Highlands. Vol. II. 



