772 SUTHERLA 
SUTCOMBE, a parish of England in Devonshire; 5j 
miles north-by-east of Holsworthy. 
SUTE, s. Sort. I believe only misprinted.—Touching 
matters belonging to the church of Christ, this we conceive 
that they are not of one sute. Hooker. 
SUTERA, or Sutekra, a town of Sicily, in the Val di 
Mazzara, with 4000 inhabitants; it is 16 miles north-north¬ 
east of Girgenti, and nearly 20 miles from any part of the 
coast; so that its trade is limited, and it is seldom visited by 
travellers. 
SUTHBURY HILL, a hill of England, in Wiltshire, be¬ 
tween Everley Warren and Luggershall. It is the highest in 
the county, and has the traces of a vast fortification, sup¬ 
posed to have been Danish. 
SUTHERLAND CREEK, a river of Upper Canada, 
which runs into the lake of St. Francis. 
SUTHERLAND POINT, the south point of entrance 
into Botany Bay, so called from Forby Sutherland, one 
of Captain Cook’s seamen, who was buried there in the 
year 1770 
SUTHERLANDSHIRE, one of the most northerly 
counties in Scotland, extending the whole breadth of the 
island, from the German to the Atlantic oceans. It is situ¬ 
ated between Lat. 57. 53. and 58. 33. N. and between long. 
3. 40. and 5. 13. W. from London. It was erected into a 
separate sheriffdom in the year 1633, having previous thereto, 
together with the other northern counties, been included 
within that of Inverness. It is bounded on the west for a 
distance of 40| miles, by the Mynch, an arm of the Atlantic 
ocean, which separates it from the islands of Harris and 
Lewis; on the north, for a distance of 50 miles, by the 
Northern ocean; on the east, for a distance of 37£ miles, by 
the county of Caithness; on the south-east, for a distance of 
32 j miles, by the Moray frith; and on the south and south¬ 
west, for a distance of 52|- miles, by the Dornoch frith, the 
Oickel, and some lesser streams, which separate it from the 
county of Ross. The name of Sutherland signifies the south 
part of Caithness; that province having originally included 
both counties. The name of Caithness signifies the Ness or 
promontory of the province of Catuibh, the Gaelic name for 
this district, which is the appellation by which Sutherland is 
still known in the dialect of the inhabitants; while Caithness 
is called Gallaibh, or the country of the Gauls or strangers. 
This county was inhabited by the three clans of Sutherland, 
Mackay, and Macleod. The clan of Sutherland is called 
Chattach, and their chief Moir-f hear Chattabibh, the lord or 
the great man of Sutherland. When that dignity is vested 
in the female, her designation is Ban Mhoir-f hear Chattaibh, 
the great lady of Sutherland, the patronymic by which Lady 
Stafford, as countess of Sutherland, is universally styled in 
the Highlands. This clan occupied the shores of the Moray 
frith and the glens terminating on that coast, with a consi¬ 
derable part of Caithness ; and included, besides those of the 
name of Sutherland, the inferior septs of the Gunns, Banner- 
mans, Murrays, Matheisons, with many of the name of 
Gordon and Mackay. The northern and north-western 
coasts, and the adjoining straths, together with a part of 
Caithness, belonged to the Mackays, of whom lord Reay is 
the chief. Strathnaver, formerly the seat of his family, was 
acquired by the Earl of Sutherland in the 17th century. The 
south-west portion of the county, or Assynt, was the 
country of the Macleods, from whom it was conquered by the 
clan Kenzie, and came by purchase into the family of 
Sutherland towards the middle of the last century. 
The county of Sutherland, though it never has been sur¬ 
veyed, is computed to contain 1,840,000 acres, deducting 
32,000 for salt water lochs. The north-western districts, 
extending from the Kyles Ku of Assynt to the water of 
Borgie, is the property of lord Reay, and comprises about 
400,000 acres. The greater proportion of the remainder 
comprises the estate of Sutherland, which is washed on one 
side by the Northern ocean, and on the other by the Moray 
and Dornoch friths, and is computed to contain more than 
N D S H I R E. 
800,000 acres. The residue of the county is divided among 
ten other proprietors. 
The face of the country is extremely mountainous and 
rocky towards its western extremity. At first view nothing 
appears but vast groups of mountains, towering in succession 
above one another, and covered with heath. The valleys 
diverge from the central mountains in every direction. 
Some of them are from 30 to 40 miles in length, and ex¬ 
tremely narrow, forming separate districts, divided from one 
another by ridges of inaccessible mountains, and watered 
by rapid streams, which sometimes form mosses and lakes of 
various dimensions. Owing to the high northern latitude 
of the county of Sutherland, and its almost insular position, 
the air is moist and sharp, and the exposure to the sea-breeze 
renders it adverse to the rapid growth of timber, especially 
near the coast. In sheltered bays and glens, where the soil 
is deep, trees reach a respectable size, such as at Dunrobin 
Castle, Tongue House, and Skibo. The wych-elm, the sy¬ 
camore, and the ash, thrive best. Of the latter sort, there 
are two trees at Dunrobin, which measure twelve feet in cir¬ 
cumference at the height of eight feet from the ground. 
The climate is variable; but though the winters are tedious 
and boisterous, it is seldom that the snow lies long upon the 
coast, and even in the interior it prevails less than in the 
central Highlands of Inverness and Perthshire. The springs 
are cold and ungenial, and are frequently prolonged late into 
the year, so that the summers are consequently short. But 
as the sun at this season has great power during the day, 
owing to the length of time it is above the horizon, and the 
heat being much increased by the intense reflection from the 
hills, a most rapid vegetation takes place, and the harvest, 
upon the coast side, is got in earlier than in a large propor¬ 
tion of Scotland. Indeed, the wheat upon the coast side, 
has been housed, more than once, before that of a consider¬ 
able district of England. The evenings, however, are never 
warm, and among the mountains are always very cold, 
piercing, and chilly, frequently accompanied with mildews 
and early frosts, which, sweeping down the glens and the 
courses of the burns, destroy every sort of crop and culti¬ 
vated vegetable. The commencement of October is gene¬ 
rally fine clear weather, but the remainder of the year is 
boisterous and unsteady. 
This county may be considered as divided into three dis¬ 
tricts, namely, the eastern, near the German ocean; the 
western, on the coast of the Atlantic; and the middle, or 
central district. The eastern district consists of a strip of 
level land, which runs along the coast side, and is from a 
quarter to a mile in breadth. The climate here is more 
favourable than that in Morayshire, for bringing corn to 
maturity, and is said not to differ materially.from East Lo¬ 
thian, except that it has a somewhat later spring, and an 
earlier winter. It is sheltered from the northern blast by a 
ridge of mountains, from the Ord of Caithness to the vicinity 
of the Little Ferry, or Strath-fleet, whose bold and heathy 
front affords shelter, and reflects the rays of the meridian sun 
upon the cultivated ground between them and the Moray 
frith. These mountains are from 300 to 800 feet above the 
level of the sea. The middle district resembles the other 
parts of the North Highlands: it consists of the four straths 
or valleys of the rivers of Helmsdale, Brora, Fleet and Oickel, 
with their tributary streams issuing from the adjoining 
mountains. The soil between the mountains is a sharp loam. 
Black cattle and sheep are the staple commodities on which 
the farmers and tacksmen depend for the payment of their 
rent. 
The shores bordering the Atlantic are bold; and the 
whole district is wild, rocky, and mountainous. The Assynt 
mountains, viz., Ben-mor Assynt, Glass-bhein, Bencanap, 
Ben-choinag, or the Sugar loaf mountains, Ben-evie, Craig- 
Rou; also the Ben-mor, and Stack-ben of Edderachylis, 
are huge barren mountains of immense height, without 
scarcely a stalk of heath to be seen on their barren surface; 
even their bases, and the track of country that borders the 
Atlantic, 
