The
Black Isle is an eastern area of the
HighlandThe Scottish Highlands include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east...
local government council area of
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, within the
countyThe counties of Scotland were the principal divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them.-Origin:...
of
Ross and CromartyRoss and Cromarty is a vaguely or variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use...
. The name nearly always includes the article "the".
It includes the town of
CromartyThe Royal Burgh of Cromarty is a burgh in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.-History:It was previously the county town of the former county of Cromartyshire...
, and such villages as
Conon BridgeConon Bridge is a small village in the Highland region of Scotland.Situated near the market town of Dingwall, on the southern bank of the River Conon, in Ross-shire, it is at the western end of the Cromarty Firth...
,
Muir of OrdMuir of Ord is a village in Highland, Scotland. It is situated near the western boundary of the Black Isle, about 20 km west of the city of Inverness, and 10 km south of Dingwall....
,
MunlochyMunlochy is a small village, in northern Scotland, lying at the head of Munlochy Bay...
,
AvochAvoch is a harbour-village located on the Black Isle, on the Moray Firth. The village's name is pronounced "Och" ....
,
RosemarkieRosemarkie is a village on the south coast of the Black Isle peninsula in northern Scotland-Geography:Rosemarkie lies a quarter of a mile east of the town of Fortrose...
,
FortroseFortrose is a burgh in the Scottish Highlands, located on the Moray Firth, approximately ten kilometres north east of Inverness. The town is known for its ruined 13th century cathedral, and as the home of the Brahan Seer. In the Middle Ages it was the seat of the bishopric of Ross...
,
Tore, and
CulbokieCulbokie is a small village in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland, located on the north side of the Black Isle. The village is 3.5 miles north-east of Dingwall and about 12 miles north of Inverness. There is one school, a shop/post office, a public house and Findon Hall...
Despite its name, the Black Isle is not an island, but a
peninsulaA peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paenīnsula : paene, almost + īnsula, island.A peninsula can also be a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, or spit....
(Gaelic uses the same word,
eilean, for both island and peninsula), surrounded on three sides by water – the
Cromarty FirthThe Cromarty Firth is an arm of the North Sea in Scotland. It is the middle of the three sea lochs at the head of the Moray Firth: to the north lies the Dornoch Firth, and to the south the Beauly Firth....
to the north, the
Beauly FirthThe Beauly Firth is a firth in northern Scotland. It is effectively a continuation of the Moray Firth westward, and is bounded at one end by Beauly and at the other by Inverness . The Kessock Ferry has crossed at the eastern end since the 15th Century...
to the south, and the
Moray FirthThe Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of Scotland...
to the east.
The
Black Isle is an eastern area of the
HighlandThe Scottish Highlands include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east...
local government council area of
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, within the
countyThe counties of Scotland were the principal divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them.-Origin:...
of
Ross and CromartyRoss and Cromarty is a vaguely or variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use...
. The name nearly always includes the article "the".
It includes the town of
CromartyThe Royal Burgh of Cromarty is a burgh in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.-History:It was previously the county town of the former county of Cromartyshire...
, and such villages as
Conon BridgeConon Bridge is a small village in the Highland region of Scotland.Situated near the market town of Dingwall, on the southern bank of the River Conon, in Ross-shire, it is at the western end of the Cromarty Firth...
,
Muir of OrdMuir of Ord is a village in Highland, Scotland. It is situated near the western boundary of the Black Isle, about 20 km west of the city of Inverness, and 10 km south of Dingwall....
,
MunlochyMunlochy is a small village, in northern Scotland, lying at the head of Munlochy Bay...
,
AvochAvoch is a harbour-village located on the Black Isle, on the Moray Firth. The village's name is pronounced "Och" ....
,
RosemarkieRosemarkie is a village on the south coast of the Black Isle peninsula in northern Scotland-Geography:Rosemarkie lies a quarter of a mile east of the town of Fortrose...
,
FortroseFortrose is a burgh in the Scottish Highlands, located on the Moray Firth, approximately ten kilometres north east of Inverness. The town is known for its ruined 13th century cathedral, and as the home of the Brahan Seer. In the Middle Ages it was the seat of the bishopric of Ross...
,
Tore, and
CulbokieCulbokie is a small village in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland, located on the north side of the Black Isle. The village is 3.5 miles north-east of Dingwall and about 12 miles north of Inverness. There is one school, a shop/post office, a public house and Findon Hall...
Description
Despite its name, the Black Isle is not an island, but a
peninsulaA peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paenīnsula : paene, almost + īnsula, island.A peninsula can also be a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, or spit....
(Gaelic uses the same word,
eilean, for both island and peninsula), surrounded on three sides by water – the
Cromarty FirthThe Cromarty Firth is an arm of the North Sea in Scotland. It is the middle of the three sea lochs at the head of the Moray Firth: to the north lies the Dornoch Firth, and to the south the Beauly Firth....
to the north, the
Beauly FirthThe Beauly Firth is a firth in northern Scotland. It is effectively a continuation of the Moray Firth westward, and is bounded at one end by Beauly and at the other by Inverness . The Kessock Ferry has crossed at the eastern end since the 15th Century...
to the south, and the
Moray FirthThe Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of Scotland...
to the east. On its fourth, western side, its boundary is delineated by rivers. The
River CononThe River Conon is a river in the Highlands of Scotland. It flows into the Cromarty Firth at Conon Bridge....
divides
MaryburghMaryburgh is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland, 2 miles south of Dingwall.It is situated on the northern bank of the River Conon. The village of Conon Bridge is on the other side of the river.- See also :...
, a mile outside
DingwallDingwall is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,026. It formerly functioned as an east-coast port, but now lies inland...
, from
Conon BridgeConon Bridge is a small village in the Highland region of Scotland.Situated near the market town of Dingwall, on the southern bank of the River Conon, in Ross-shire, it is at the western end of the Cromarty Firth...
which is the first village on the Black Isle from the north-western side. Its southwestern boundary is variously considered to be marked by either a minor tributary of the
River BeaulyThe River Beauly is a river in the Scottish Highlands, about 15 km west of the city of Inverness.It is about 25 km long, beginning near the village of Struy, at the confluence of the River Farrar and the River Glass...
separating
BeaulyBeauly , is a town of the Scottish county of Highland, on the River Beauly, 10 miles west of Inverness by the Far North railway line. Its population was measured as 855 in 1901...
(in
Inverness-shireInverness was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland region was a region of eight...
) and
Muir of OrdMuir of Ord is a village in Highland, Scotland. It is situated near the western boundary of the Black Isle, about 20 km west of the city of Inverness, and 10 km south of Dingwall....
(on the Black Isle in Ross and Cromarty), dividing the 2 counties and also delineating the start of the Black Isle; or alternatively, the River Beauly itself, thus including Beauly in the Black Isle despite its official placement in Inverness-shire.
Bottlenose DolphinBottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the Common Bottlenose Dolphin and the Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin , where previous...
s are found in the
Moray FirthThe Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of Scotland...
.
Castles
The ruins of castles on the Black Isle include those of Castlecraig, Redcastle, and Kilcoy Castle. Cromarty House stands on the site of former Cromarty Castle and is built in part from its reclaimed stone and timbers. Kinkell Castle had been recently restored. Former castles of the Black Isle for which there are no physical remains include
Castle Chanonry of RossCastle Chanonry of Ross, also known as Seaforth Castle, was located in the town of Fortrose, to the north-east of Inverness, Highland, Scotland. Nothing now remains of the castle...
and a mound indicating the former site of
Ormond CastleOrmond Castle, also known as Avoch Castle, was a powerful stronghold, overlooking the village of Avoch, on the Black Isle, in the former county of Ross and Cromarty, now part of Highland, Scotland....
.
History
Conventional middle to modern Black Isle history is well documented at a number of visitor centers and cottage museums sprinkled across the peninsula. According to the
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh EditionThe Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica
's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the day...
, it was originally called Ardmeanach (Gaelic
ard, height;
maniach, monk, from an old religious house on the wooded ridge of Mulbuie), and it derived its customary name from the fact that, since snow does not lie in winter, the promontory looks black while the surrounding country is white.
Rosehaugh, near Avoch, belonged to Sir George Mackenzie, founder of the
Advocates' LibraryThe Advocates' Library is a law library belonging to the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, founded in 1682. Until 1925 it was the deposit library for Scotland, after which the role was taken on by the National Library of Scotland....
in Edinburgh, who earned the sobriquet of "Bloody" from his persecution of the
CovenanterThe Covenanters formed an important movement in the religion and politics of Scotland in the 17th century. In religion the movement is most associated with the promotion and development of Presbyterianism as a form of church government favoured by the people, as opposed to Episcopacy, favoured by...
s. Redcastle, on the shore, near Killearnan church, dates from 1179 and is said to have been the earliest inhabited house in the north of Scotland. On the forfeiture of the
earldom of RossThe Mormaer or Earl of Ross refers to the leader of a medieval Gaelic lordship in northern Scotland, roughly between the River Oykel and the River Beauly....
it became a royal castle (being visited by
Queen MaryMary I was Queen of Scots from 14 December 1542 to 24 July 1567. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King James V. She was six days old when her father died and made her Queen of Scots...
), and afterwards passed for a period into the hands of the Mackenzies of
GairlochGairloch is a small village on the shores of Loch Gairloch on the northwest coast of Scotland...
.
The Black Isle was one of the earliest parts of the northern Highlands to experience agricultural improvements, and was settled with many Lowland shepherds and farmers, especially from the north east.
The Black Isle was the site of a community protest against
Genetically modifiedGenetic engineering, recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification/manipulation and gene splicing are terms that apply to the direct manipulation of an organism's genes. Genetic engineering is different from traditional breeding, where the organism's genes are manipulated indirectly...
agriculture.
Customs
In keeping with many parts of northeast Scotland, Black Isle communities proudly practice traditional local customs. However, unlike some communities, these practices have resisted the lure of commercialism and are prolonged, more appropriately, through the genuine fabric of village life.
Economy
Economic activities on the Black Isle include agriculture, tourism and forestry; it features a whisky distillery. The area also acts as a dormitory for
InvernessInverness is a city in northern Scotland. The city is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is promoted as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
.
See also
- Easter Ross
Easter Ross is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland.The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constituency and a Scottish Parliament constituency...
- Wester Ross
Wester Ross is a western area of Ross-shire, notably containing the villages on the west coast such as:* Lochcarron* Applecross* Shieldaig* Torridon* Kinlochewe * Gairloch* Poolewe* Aultbea* Laide* Ullapool* Achiltibuie...
- Ross-shire
Ross-shire, or the County of Ross, is a former county of Scotland. The county bordered on Sutherland, Cromartyshire , Inverness-shire and an exclave of Nairnshire. It included most of Ross as well as Lewis in the Outer Hebrides...
- Cromartyshire
Cromartyshire was a county in the Highlands of Scotland, consisting of a main portion between Sutherland and Ross-shire and a series of exclaves within Ross-shire. Ross-shire and Cromartyshire were combined as the single county of Ross and Cromarty by the Local Government Act 1889, and this...
- Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty is a vaguely or variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use...
External links
- Black Isle Partnership website
- http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/dialects/nis.htmlListen to recordings of a speaker of Scots
Scots or Lowland Scots is the variety of Germanic language traditionally spoken in lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster. It is not to be confused with Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language varieties traditionally spoken in the Highlands and Hebrides....
from the Black Isle]