Inverness-shire

The extent of the lieutenancy area was defined in 1975 as covering the districts of Inverness, Badenoch & Strathspey, and Lochaber. Thus it differs from the county in that it includes parts of what was once Moray and Argyll but does not include any of the Outer Hebrides which were given their own lieutenancy area — the Western Isles.

Loch Quoich

Ben Nevis, Britain's tallest mountain

Inverness-shire is Scotland's largest county and the second largest in the UK as a whole after Yorkshire. It borders Ross-shire to the north, Nairnshire, Moray, Banffshire and Aberdeenshire to the east, and Perthshire and Argyllshire to the south.

Its mainland section covers a large area of the Highlands, bordering the Sea of the Hebrides to the west and Beauly Firth and Moray Firth to the east which provide access to the North Sea. It is split into two by the Great Glen, a roughly 60-mile geological fault which runs south-west to north-east and divides the Northwest Highlands to the west from the Grampian Mountains (including the Monadhliath Mountains) to the east. The glen contains the notable lochs of Loch Ness (Scotland's second largest), Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy, which are connected by the Caledonian Canal; it opens into the south-west into the sea loch Loch Linnhe. Ben Nevis, the tallest peak in Britain, is located to the east of Fort William. The west coast consists of a number of large peninsulas divided by long loch inlets; north-to-south these are Glenelg (shared with Ross-shire), Loch Hourn, Knoydart, Loch Nevis, North and South Morar/Arisaig, Loch nan Uamh, Ardnish, Loch Ailort, Moidart and Loch Moidart. This area was traditionally referred to as the Rough Bounds due to its remoteness and inaccessibility and it remains wild and sparsely populated today. The terrain in Inverness-shire is generally mountainous, with numerous lochs scattered throughout the county, the largest of these being: Loch Ashie, Loch Mhor, Loch Knockie, Loch Duntelchaig, Loch Ruthven, Loch Moy, Loch Alvie, Loch Insh, Loch an Eilean, Loch Killin, Loch Crunachdan, Loch Morlich, Loch Garten, Loch Einich, Loch an t-Seilich, Loch na Cuaich, Loch Coaldair, the Blackwater Reservoir, Loch Treig, Loch Ossian, Loch Laggan, Loch Spean, Loch Ericht, Loch Gulbin, Lochan na h-Earba, Loch Pattack, Loch Eilde Mòr, Loch a' Bhealaich Bheithe, Loch a' Bhealaich Leamhain, Lochan Lùnn Dà-Bhrà, Loch Bruicaich, Loch Meiklie, Loch ma Stac, Loch a' Chràthaich, Loch na Beinne Baine, Loch Lundie, Loch Garry, Loch Beannacharan, Loch Beinn a Mheadhoin, Loch Monar, Loch Mullardoch, Loch Affric, Loch Cluanie, Loch Loyne, Loch Quoich, Loch an Dubh-Lochain, Loch Arkaig, Loch Morar, Loch Beoriad, Loch Dhoire a' Ghearrain and Loch Shiel.

Inverness-shire contains numerous small islands off its west coast which form part of the Inner Hebrides. The largest of these is Skye, separated from the Inverness-shire mainland by the Sound of Sleat; popular with tourists, it is a huge, sprawling island - the second biggest in Scotland - containing numerous peninsulas and offshore islands. The small isle of Eigg is also within Inverness-shire, despite the other Small Isles being in Argyllshire. To the west, across the Little Minch, most of the Outer Hebrides fall within the county, with the notable exception of Lewis which is in Ross-shire. Further west still lie the remote islands of St Kilda, which have been uninhabited since 1930. Much further west, 230 miles from the Outer Hebrides, lies the extremely remote, uninhabitable island of Rockall, which is subject to a territorial dispute with Ireland.

Arms of the former county council

Inverness-shire's coat of arms is blazoned:

Azure, in dexter chief a stag's head and in sinister chief a bull's head both erased and in base a galley, sails furled, oars in action and flagged, all Or. Beneath the shield is an escrol bearing this motto: Air son Math na Siorrachd.

The galley represents Clan Chattan, who aligned themselves under the banner of Somerled, Lord of the Isles. The stag's head comes from the crest of the Frasers of Lovat, while the bull's head comes from the crest of the MacLeods of that Ilk. The motto is in Gaelic and means "For the Good of the County".

Map of Inverness-shire

Civil parishes are still used for some statistical purposes, and separate census figures are published for them. As their areas have been largely unchanged since the 19th century this allows for comparison of population figures over an extended period.

In 1854 in Inverness-shire there were 29 civil parishes; 7 part civil parishes; and 5 parliamentary parishes.[5]

Many changes have taken place since the Reformation period:

• North Uist was a union of the ancient parishes of Kilmuir and Sand; South Uist of the parishes of Benbecula, Howmore, and Kilpeter.[7]
• Croy and Dalcross, and Kiltarlity and Convinth, were united c. 1500.[8][9]
• Abernethy and Kincardine, and Urquhart and Glenmoriston, were united at the Reformation.[10] At the same time Petty was formed by the union of the ancient parishes of Petyn and Bracholy (or Brackley).[11]
• Boleskine and Abertarff, and Inverness and Bona, and Daviot and Dunlichity, were united in 1618.[12][13][14] At the same time Kirkhill was formed by a union of the ancient parishes of Wardlaw and Farnua.[15]
• Duthil and Rothiemurchus were united in 1630.[16]
• Small Isles was created from Sleat in 1726; unusually, there was no parish church and the congregation met in the schoolhouse on Eigg.[17] There are some indications that Canna and Kildonan (Eigg) may have been medieval parishes at an earlier date.[18][19]
• At some point in the 19th century Arisaig and Moidart were created out of Ardnamurchan parish (the rest of this parish lay in Argyllshire). Arisaig (aka Kilmorie) and another parish, Eilean Fhianain, were medieval parishes united to Ardnamurchan at the Reformation.[20]
• Portree was created out of parts of Snizort and Kilmuir parishes in 1726.[21]
• Kingussie and Insh, and Moy and Dalarossie, were united at an unknown date.
• Minginish (Skye) was absorbed into Bracadale; Trumpan was absorbed into Duirinish; Uig was absorbed into Snizort;[22] Rodel was absorbed into Harris;[7] Kilmaluoc (Raasay) was absorbed into Snizort or Kilmuir.[23]

The Skye Bridge, opened 1995

Barra's unique beach airport runway

The Highland Main Line connects Inverness by rail to Perth to the south, Kyle of Lochalsh to the west, and Thurso/Wick to the north. The West Highland Line connects Fort William to Mallaig. The Inverness to Aberdeen main line also serves Nairn within the Highland Council's area.

The Isle of Skye is connected to the mainland by a bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh in Ross-shire.

Various bus companies serve the larger towns of the county, such as Stagecoach Group and Scottish Citylink. Shiel Buses operate local buses in the Fort William area. Stagecoach operates several bus routes on the Isle of Skye.[24]

Numerous ferries connect the islands of the Outer Hebrides, the Inner Hebrides, and the Scottish Mainland.

There are three airports in the county: Inverness, Benbecula, and Barra. All three operate flights within Scotland, with Inverness also providing flights to other cities in the UK as well as some destinations in Europe. Barra Airport is famous within aviation circles as it is the only airport in the world where scheduled flights use a beach as the runway.[25]

There was an Inverness-shire constituency of the Parliament of Great Britain (Westminster) from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (also at Westminster) from 1801 to 1918. The constituency represented, nominally, the county of Inverness minus the parliamentary burgh of Inverness, which was represented as a component of the Inverness District of Burghs constituency.

In 1918 the county constituency was divided between two new constituencies, the Inverness constituency and the Western Isles constituency. The Inverness constituency included the burgh of Inverness, other components of the district of burghs being divided between the Moray and Nairn constituency and the Ross and Cromarty constituency.

In 1983, eight years after the local government county of Inverness had been divided between the Highland region and the Western Isles council area, three new constituencies were created to cover the Highland region. The region, until 1996, and the unitary Highland council area, 1996 to present, have been covered by three constituencies since then but there were changes to boundaries and names in 1997 and 2005.

In 1999 the areas of the Westminster constituencies became also constituencies of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). The boundaries of Scottish Parliament constituencies have not altered since then. The Holyrood constituencies are within the Highlands and Islands electoral region.

Since 1983, Inverness has appeared in the names of Westminster and Holyrood constituencies as tabled below.

• Politics of the Highland council area