ROSS-SHIRE. 



According to the population returns of 18 u, the united 

 counties contain 13,280 houfes, and 60,853 inhabitants. 



Hijlorical Events — Rofsfhire, in very remote times, con- 

 Itituted part of the Pittifh kingdom. At a later period, 

 when the Norwegians obtained poffeffion of the Orkneys, 

 and fubdued the neighbouring counties of Caithnefs and 

 Sutherland, it feems to have fhared the ufual fate of fron- 

 tier provinces, and to have belonged alternately to the 

 Norwegians and to the Scotch. According to the Icelandic 

 ■writers, it made part of the dominions of the earls of Ork- 

 ney ; but in the " Defcriptio Albania?," both the counties 

 of Rofs and Moray are mentioned as comprehended within 

 Scotland ; and other accounts itate that part of Rofsfhire 

 was poffefled by the princes of the Hebrides, or lords of 

 the Ifles. The truth probably is, that, favoured by their 

 peninfular fituation, the inhabitants of Rofs paid little refpefi 

 to the authority of any of their powerful neighbours. Rofs- 

 fhire formed a comitatus, or earldom, as early as the 11th 

 century ; but of the hiitory of its firil earls fcarcely any 

 authentic document exifls. What is remarkable, however, 

 contrary to the cuftom in moil other feudal poileflions, this 

 earldom feems to have defcended to heirs female as well as 

 to heirs male. Hugh, one of the earls of Rofs, was (lain 

 at the battle of Halidon-hill, in 1333. William, his fon, fuc- 

 ceeded, who appears to have had fome claim to the Weflern 

 ifles, as in a variety of charters, yet extant, he is ilyled 

 earl of Rofs, and lord of Skve. This nobleman flew Ray- 

 nold of the Ifles in a fray at Perth ; but in endeavouring to 

 eftablifli a right to his poileffions by force, he was com- 

 pletely thwarted. William left ilTue an only daughter, 

 who married Walter Leflie, and thereby gave him a title 

 to the earldom. His fon and fucceflor, Alexander, ef- 

 poufed one of the daughters of the regent of Scotland, 

 Robert, duke of Albany, and had by her a daughter, 

 Euphemia, who, while a child, was induced to reiign her 

 rights to the regent's fon, who thereby became earl of Rofs 

 and Buchan. He did not, however, long enjoy his honours 

 and poiTeffions in quiet, for on the death of Euphemia, as 

 is generally believed by poilon, Donald, lord of the Ifles, 

 afferted his title to the earldom of Rofs, and being received 

 by the inhabitants, not only fucceeded in obtaining poileflion 

 of the diftrift, but extended his dominions as far fouth wards 

 as the Grampian hills, and trail fmitted them to his pofterity. 

 John, his fon and fucceilor, who lived in the middle of the 

 15th century, was one of the molt powerful chieftains of 

 his age. He ufed the ttyle of an independent prince, made 

 treaties with Edward IV. of England, &c. ; and, indeed, 

 the extent of his territories might well juftify fuch conduct, 

 as his fway was acknowledged over at lealt a fourth part 

 of the whole kingdom of Scotland. 



General yl/pecJ. — On the eaitern coaft of Rofsfhire, to a 

 ihort diftance from the fea, the country is comparatively 

 flat, and being chiefly inhabited by perfons fpeaking the 

 Englifh language, has been long conlideredto be part of the 

 lowlands of Scotland. This tract is extremely fertile and 

 well cultivated, and abounds with feats belonging to opulent 

 and refpeftable proprietors, by whofe exertions it has been 

 greatly improved of late years. The climate is more fa- 

 vourable to agricultural purfuits than in molt of the 

 northern diftritts of our ifland ; fo likewife is the foil, 

 which, in many parifties, is a deep loam, capable of yielding 

 very large crops of wheat. In fhort, fuch are the natural 

 advantages of this narrow traft, that it is confidered little 

 inferior to Fifeftiire, either in point of foil or climate. 

 Unfortunately, however, the portion of it fufceptible of 

 arable culture, though nearly fixty miles in length, rarely 

 exceeds a mile and a half in breadth, except in the pariflies 

 4 



of Nigg and Tarbet. The foils here are, of courfe, various. 

 In the pariflies of Fodderty, Dingwall, Kiltearn, Nigg, and 

 Eaitern Fern, a rich, deep loam prevails. About Contin, 

 and in the pariflies of Alnefs, Rofekeen, and Kilmuir, the 

 foil is light, but fufficiently favourable for general crops. 

 The other portions confift of a conltant fucceffion of lofty- 

 mountains. The central diftrift, however, may be juitly 

 defcribed as a beautiful Highland country, the hills being 

 covered with a profuhon oi grafs, and every where inter- 

 iected by ftraths, or valleys, many of them extremely rich 

 and fertile ; but on approaching the weitern coaft the gene- 

 ral afpeft is uninviting. The traveller who climbs a moun- 

 tain beholds around him a profpedt exhibiting a defolate and 

 dreary region, where nothing can be feen but vait rocky 

 mountains, with tiunmits broken, ferrated, and fpringing 

 into various forms. Yet amidft thefe hills, lo dreary to the 

 light, and producing little but heath, fome valleys, at once 

 beautiful and fertile, intervene, which might be cultivated with 

 advantage, did not the climate to which they are fubjefted 

 deter the inhabitants. During March and April, the 

 weather is commonly friendly to the operations of the 

 hufbandman. In the autumnal months rain falls in fuch 

 quantities, as to lay the ripening corn flat upon the fields, 

 and to iwell every trifling Itream into a torrent, by which 

 the lands are dripped of their produce, and fand and ttones 

 are fubitituted. The fair days in this diftrift, according to 

 a regifter kept at Lochallh, are eftimated at 143 in number 

 annually ; but in the months of Auguft, September, Oc- 

 tober, and November, not more than five days in thirty are 

 free from rain. The foils in the valleys, both here and in 

 the middle diftrift, are moftly alluvial, and partake, in 

 general, of thofe of the nature of the furrounding mountains. 

 At the head of the bay of Applecrofs the foil is fandy ; and 

 on its fouthern fide relts on lime-ltone. At KeefhorH it is of 

 the fame defenption, and very fertile. The foil of Ter- 

 ridon is light and gravelly, with the exception of a few 

 patches of mofs ; which have lately been brought into a 

 Itate of cultivation. At loch Carron, a great variety of 

 foil may be obferved within a very limited fpace. On the 

 flat fpots along the fhore the foil is light and ftony ; oh 

 the higher and Hoping grounds, a fandy loam ; and at the 

 head of the loch it is of a loofe clayey confidence. 



Mineralogy The mineral produces of thefe counties are 



but very little known, becaufe the fubterranean contents have 

 hitherto been but little inveftigated. Coal is indicated in 

 every part of the Black ifle, in Cromarty, and throughout 

 all the eaitern parts of Roisfhire. Lime-ltone is abundant 

 on the weitern coaft, where it is leait wanted, and is like- 

 wife partially found at Kirkan, and in the eaitern diftrift, 

 particularly in the vicinity of Geanies and Cadboll. Copper 

 has been wrought in primary lime-ftone near Keelhorn ; 

 but the mine is for the prefent abandoned. In the parifh 

 of Kiltearn, fmall quantities of lead-ore have been dif- 

 covered ; and a vein of the fame metal, very rich in filver, 

 appears in the parifti of Alnefs. Here alfo is a ftratum of 

 iron-ltone, which is plentiful in mod parts of the eaitern 

 diltrict. At Poolew yet remain the ruins of a large fmelt- 

 ing-furnace, the exiltence of which (hews the manufacture 

 of iron to have been once an important bulinefs in that 

 part of the country. Marie has been found in large quan- 

 tities in the fame didrift, particularly at Culrain, near the 

 fea ; and on the welt coalt, in the parifh of Lochalfh, is an 

 immenfe bank of fhell-fand, the right of property in which 

 has been for many years a fubjeft of litigation between 

 Mr. Innes of Lochalfh, and the clergyman of the parifh, 

 Mr. Downie, the former contending that it belongs to him as 

 proprietor of the eftate of Lochalfh, and the latter, that it lies 



within 



