All Topics  
Tongue, Highland

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Tongue, Highland
 
 
  Topics Tongue, Highland Topic Home

Tongue is a coastal village
Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, larger than a hamlet , but smaller than a town or city. Though generally located in rural areas, the term urban village may be applied to certain urban area neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in Beirut, Lebanon....
 in northwest Highland
Highland (council area)

The Highland Council areas of Scotland area is a local government area in the Scottish Highlands and the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole....
, Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 (in the western part of the former county of Sutherland
Sutherland

Sutherland is a registration county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland and historic administrative Counties of Scotland of Scotland. It is now within the Highland Council areas of Scotland....
. It lies on the east shore above the base of the Kyle of Tongue and north of the mountains Ben Hope
Ben Hope

Ben Hope is a mountain in northern Scotland. It is the most northerly Munro, standing alone in the flow country south-east of Loch Hope in Sutherland....
 and Ben Loyal
Ben Loyal

Ben Loyal is an isolated mountain of 764 m in Sutherland, the northwestern tip of the Scotland Scottish Highlands. It is a Corbett located south of the Kyle of Tongue, and provides good views of the Kyle, Loch Loyal to the east, and Ben Hope to the west....
.

The area was an historic crossroad for Gaels, Picts and Vikings, and it was the last group who named it. "Tongue," in this case, is from the Old Norse "Tunga." Contrary to popular belief, it does not refer to the shape of the Kyle of Tongue (though the kyle can be described as "tongue-shaped"), but 'tunga' as a geographical term refers to a piece of land shaped like a spit or tongue.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Tongue, Highland'
Start a new discussion about 'Tongue, Highland'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Tongue is a coastal village
Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, larger than a hamlet , but smaller than a town or city. Though generally located in rural areas, the term urban village may be applied to certain urban area neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in Beirut, Lebanon....
 in northwest Highland
Highland (council area)

The Highland Council areas of Scotland area is a local government area in the Scottish Highlands and the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole....
, Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 (in the western part of the former county of Sutherland
Sutherland

Sutherland is a registration county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland and historic administrative Counties of Scotland of Scotland. It is now within the Highland Council areas of Scotland....
. It lies on the east shore above the base of the Kyle of Tongue and north of the mountains Ben Hope
Ben Hope

Ben Hope is a mountain in northern Scotland. It is the most northerly Munro, standing alone in the flow country south-east of Loch Hope in Sutherland....
 and Ben Loyal
Ben Loyal

Ben Loyal is an isolated mountain of 764 m in Sutherland, the northwestern tip of the Scotland Scottish Highlands. It is a Corbett located south of the Kyle of Tongue, and provides good views of the Kyle, Loch Loyal to the east, and Ben Hope to the west....
.

The area was an historic crossroad for Gaels, Picts and Vikings, and it was the last group who named it. "Tongue," in this case, is from the Old Norse "Tunga." Contrary to popular belief, it does not refer to the shape of the Kyle of Tongue (though the kyle can be described as "tongue-shaped"), but 'tunga' as a geographical term refers to a piece of land shaped like a spit or tongue. That particular piece of land, on which the village and the kyle are located, is the terminal moraine
Moraine

A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past ice age....
 of the Kyle of Tongue glacier.

Tongue is the main village in a series of crofting
Crofting

Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production unique to the Scottish Highlands and the Islands of Scotland.Within crofting townships, individual croft are established on the better land, and a large area of poor quality hill ground is shared by all the crofters of the township for grazing....
 township
Township

A township is a settlement which has the status and powers of a unit of local government. Specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country....
s, that run through Coldbackie
Coldbackie

Coldbackie is a crofting township in Sutherland, Scotland.It lies at the head of the Kyle of Tongue, two miles north east of Tongue, Highland....
, Dalharn, Blandy, the harbour of Scullomie
Skullomie

Skullomie is a small fishing and crofting hamlet, at the head of Tongue Bay, in Lairg, north shore of Sutherland, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scotland council area of Highland Council area....
 to the deserted township of Slettel. The village saw a key battle between a Jacobite
Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the House of Stuart kings to the thrones of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland....
 treasure ship and two ships of the Royal Navy in 1746, which resulted in the Jacobite crew trying to slip ashore with their gold. They were then caught by the Navy, supported by local people who were loyal to Hanover
George II of Great Britain

George II was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-L?neburg and Prince-elector#High Offices and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death....
, which cost Bonnie Prince Charlie valuable support in the run-up to Culloden
Battle of Culloden

The Battle of Culloden was the final clash between the French-supported Jacobitism and the House of Hanover British Government in the 1745 Jacobite Rising#The 'Forty-Five'....
.

Tongue House is the historic seat of the Clan Mackay
Clan MacKay

The Clan Mackay is an ancient and once powerful Scottish clan from the country's far north in the Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old province of Moray....
, after they abandoned Caistreal Bharraich
Varrich Castle

Varrich Castle is located in the far north of the Scottish highlands near to the village of Tongue, Highland, Scotland. The castle, known as Caisteal Bharraich in the Gaelic language, stands on the foot slopes of the mountain Ben Loyal in Sutherland, on a local high point of rock, overlooking both the Kyle of Tongue and the village of Tongue...
 (Castle Varrich). The ruins of the castle, built at Tongue in the eleventh century after the clan were expelled from their ancestral Province of Moray to County Sutherland, are a popular tourist attraction.

The Village includes a youth hostel, a craft shop, a general store and garage, a bank and a post office and two hotels, the Tongue Hotel and the Benloyal. It is connected to the west side of the Kyle by a causeway, built in 1971.

In Gaelic - 'Tunga' indicates the village; whereas Caol Thunga, indicates the kyle.