Caithness

The Caith element of the name Caithness comes from the name of a Pictish tribe known as the Cat or Catt people, or Catti (see Kingdom of Cat). The -ness element comes from Old Norse and means "headland". The Norse called the area Katanes ("headland of the Catt people"), and over time this became Caithness.[2]

The Gaelic name for Caithness, Gallaibh, means "among the strangers" (referring to the Norse). The name of the Catti survives in the Gaelic name for eastern Sutherland, Cataibh,[2] and in the old Gaelic name for Shetland, Innse Chat.

Caithness extends about 30 miles (50 kilometres) north-south and about 30 miles (50 km) east-west, with a roughly triangular-shaped area of about 712 sq mi (1,840 km²). The topography is generally flat, in contrast to the majority of the remainder of the North of Scotland. Until the latter part of the 20th century when large areas were planted in conifers, this level profile was rendered still more striking by the almost total absence of woodland.

Caithness landscape, looking towards Halkirk from Beinn Freiceadain

It is a land of open, rolling farmland, moorland and scattered settlements. The county is fringed to the north and east by dramatic coastal scenery and is home to large, internationally important colonies of seabirds. The surrounding waters of the Pentland Firth and the North Sea hold a great diversity of marine life. Notable features of the north coast are Sandside Bay, Thurso Bay and Dunnet Bay, Dunnet Head (the northernmost point of Britain) and Duncansby Head (the north-east tip of Britain); along the east coast can be found Freswick Bay, Sinclairs Bay and Wick Bay. To the north in Pentland Firth lies Stroma, the only major island of the county. Away from the coast, the landscape is dominated by open moorland and blanket bog known as the Flow Country which is the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe, extending into Sutherland. This is divided up along the straths (river valleys) by more fertile farm and croft land. In the far south the landscape is slightly hillier, culminating in Morven, the highest peak in the county at 706 m (2,316 ft).

The county contains a number of lochs, though these are smaller in comparison with the rest of northern Scotland. The most prominent are Loch Heilen, Loch of Wester, Loch Scarmclate, Loch Watten, Loch of Toftingall, Loch Stemster, Loch Hempriggs, Loch of Yarrows, Loch Sand, Loch Rangag, Loch Ruard, Loch an Thulachan, Loch More, Loch Caluim, Loch Tuim Ghlais, Loch Scye, Loch Shurrery, Loch Calder and Loch Mey.

The underlying geology of most of Caithness is old red sandstone to an estimated depth of over 4,000 metres (10,000'). This consists of the cemented sediments of Lake Orcadie, which is believed to have stretched from Shetland to Grampian during the Devonian period, about 370 million years ago. Fossilised fish and plant remains are found between the layers of sediment. Older metamorphic rock is apparent in the Scaraben and Ord area, in the relatively high southwest area of the county. Caithness's highest point (Morven) is in this area.

Because of the ease with which the sandstone splits to form large flat slabs (flagstone) it is an especially useful building material, and has been used as such since Neolithic times.

St John's Loch near Dunnet Head has the distinction of supporting the most northerly hatch of Mayfly in the British Isle.

Caithness is one of the Watsonian vice-counties, subdivisions of Britain and Ireland which are used largely for the purposes of biological recording and other scientific data-gathering. The vice-counties were introduced by Hewett Cottrell Watson, who first used them in the third volume of his Cybele Britannica, published in 1852. He refined the system somewhat in later volumes, but the vice-counties remain unaffected by subsequent local government re-organisations, allowing more accurate comparisons of historical and modern data. They provide a stable basis for recording using similarly sized units, and, although grid-based reporting has grown in popularity, they remain a standard in the vast majority of ecological surveys, allowing data collected over long periods of time to be compared easily.

The underlying geology, harsh climate, and long history of human occupation have shaped the natural heritage of Caithness. Today a diverse landscape incorporates both common and rare habitats and species, and Caithness provides a stronghold for many once common breeding species that have undergone serious declines elsewhere, such as waders, water voles, and flocks of overwintering birds.

Many rare mammals, birds, and fish have been sighted or caught in and around Caithness waters. Harbour porpoises, dolphins (including Risso's, bottle-nosed, common, Atlantic white-sided, and white-beaked dolphins), and minke and long-finned pilot whales[3] are regularly seen from the shore and boats. Both grey and common seals come close to the shore to feed, rest, and raise their pups; a significant population over-winters on small islands in the Thurso river only a short walk from the town centre. Otters can be seen close to river mouths in some of the quieter locations.

Much of the centre of Caithness is known as the Flow Country, a large, rolling expanse of peatland and wetland that is the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe. Around 1,500 km² (580 sq mi) of the Flow Country is protected as both a Special Protection Area (SPA) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the name Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands,[4][5] and a portion is further designated as the Forsinard Flows national nature reserve.[6]

In 2014 44 square miles (110 km²) of the eastern coastline of Caithness between Helmsdale and Wick was declared a Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area under the title East Caithness Cliffs.[7] The cliffs are also designated as both a Special Protection Area and a Special Area of Conservation.[8][9]

The Caithness landscape is rich with the remains of pre-historic occupation. These include the Grey Cairns of Camster, the Stone Lud, the Hill O Many Stanes, a complex of sites around Loch Yarrows and over 100 brochs. A prehistoric souterrain structure at Caithness has been likened to discoveries at Midgarth and on Shapinsay.[10] Numerous coastal castles (now mostly ruins) are Norwegian (West Norse) in their foundations.[11] When the Norsemen arrived, probably in the tenth century, the county was inhabited by the Picts,[12] but with its culture subject to some Goidelic influence from the Celtic Church. The name Pentland Firth can be read as meaning Pictland Fjord.

Numerous bands of Norse settlers landed in the county, and gradually established themselves around the coast. On the Latheron (south) side, they extended their settlements as far as Berriedale. Many of the names of places are Norse in origin.[13] In addition, some Caithness surnames, such as Gunn, are Norse in origin.[14]

For a long time, sovereignty over Caithness was disputed between Scotland and the Norwegian Earldom of Orkney. Around 1196, Earl Harald Maddadsson agreed to pay a monetary tribute for Caithness to William I. Norway has recognised Caithness as fully Scottish since the Treaty of Perth in 1266.

The study of Caithness prehistory is well represented in the county by groups including Yarrows Heritage Trust,[15] Caithness Horizons[16] and Caithness Broch Project.

The Caithness constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain (1708 to 1801) and the Parliament of the United Kingdom (1801 to 1918) represented essentially the county from 1708 to 1918. At the same time however, the county town of Wick was represented as a component of Tain Burghs until 1832 and of Wick Burghs until 1918.

Between 1708 and 1832 the Caithness constituency was paired with Buteshire as alternating constituencies: one constituency elected a Member of Parliament (MP) to one parliament and then the other elected an MP to the next. Between 1832 and 1918 Caithness elected an MP to every parliament.

In 1918 the Caithness constituency and Wick were merged into the then new constituency of Caithness and Sutherland. In 1997 Caithness and Sutherland was merged into Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.

The Scottish Parliament constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross was created in 1999 and now has boundaries slightly different from those of the House of Commons constituency. It was replaced by the larger constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Ross in 2011.

The modern constituencies may be seen as more sub-divisions of the Highland area than as representative of counties (and burghs). For its own purposes, however, the Highland Council uses more conservative sub-divisions, with names which refer back to the era of district councils and, in some cases, county councils.

In the Scottish Parliament Caithness is represented also as part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region.

John o' Groats

Thurso

Wick

In 2011, Caithness had a resident population of 26,486 (23,866 in 2001).

There are two towns in Caithness: Thurso and Wick.

There are also a few villages large enough to have amenities such as a shop, a cafe, a post office, a hotel, a church or a bank. These include Castletown, Dunbeath, Dunnet, Halkirk, John o' Groats, Keiss, Lybster, Reay/New Reay, Scrabster and Watten.

Other, smaller settlements include:

Thurso train station, the northernmost station in the UK

Caithness is served by the Far North railway line, which runs west–east across the middle of the county serving Altnabreac and Scotscalder before splitting in two at Georgemas Junction, from where the east branch continues to Wick whilst the north branch terminates at Thurso.

Stagecoach Group provided bus transport between the major towns, and on to Inverness via Sutherland and Ross-shire.[30]

The ferry port at Scrabster provides a regular service to Stromness in the Orkney Islands. Ferries also run from Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope on South Ronaldsay. A summer-only ferry runs from John o' Groats to Burwick on South Ronaldsay.

Wick Airport provided regular flights to Aberdeen and Edinburgh until 2020 when Loganair and Eastern Airways cancelled their flights to wick.[31] In 2021 there were no scheduled flights to and from Wick Airport. Starting on the 11th April 2022, Eastern Airways started a scheduled operation to Wick from Aberdeen.[32]

At the beginning of recorded history, Caithness was inhabited by the Picts, whose language Pictish is thought to have been related to the Brythonic languages spoken by the Britons to the south. The Norn language was introduced to Caithness, Orkney, and Shetland by the Norse occupation, which is generally proposed to be c. AD 800.[33] Although little is known of that Norn dialect, some of this linguistic influence still exists in parts of the county, particularly in place names. Norn continued to be spoken in Caithness until perhaps the fifteenth century[34] and lingered until the late 18th century in the Northern Isles.

It is sometimes erroneously claimed that Gaelic has never been spoken in Caithness, but this is a result of language shift to Scots,[35][36][37][38][39][40] and then towards Standard Scottish English during recent centuries.[41] The Gaelic name for the region, Gallaibh, translates as "Land of the Gall (non-Gaels)", a name which reflects historic Norse rule. Gaelic speakers seem to first figure in the early stage of the Scandinavian colonisation of Caithness, gradually increasing in numerical significance from the 12th century onwards.[42] Gaelic has survived, in a limited form, in western parts of the county.[41]

Scots, often referred to as English, began supplanting Norn in the early 14th century at the time of the Wars of Scottish Independence.[43] The emergent Northern Scots dialect became influenced by both Gaelic and Norn[44] and is generally spoken in the lowlying land to the east of a line drawn from Clyth Ness to some 4 miles (6 km) west of Thurso.[45] The dialect of Scots spoken in the neighbourhood of John o' Groats resembles to some extent that of Orkney. Since the 17th century, Standard Scottish English has increasingly been replacing both Gaelic and Scots.

Records showing what languages were spoken apparently do not exist from before 1706, but by that time, "[I]f ye suppose a Parallel to the hypotenuse drawn from Week to Thurso, these on the Eastside of it speak most part English, and those on the Westside Irish; and the last have Ministers to preach to them in both languages." Similarly, it is stated at that time that there were "Seven parishes [out of 10 or 11] in [the Presbytery of] Caithness where the Irish language is used."[46]

As previously indicated, the language mix or boundary changed over time, but the New Statistical Record in 1841 says: "On the eastern side of [the Burn of East Clyth] scarcely a word of Gaelic was either spoken or understood, and on the west side, English suffered the same fate". Other sources state:

• "There are Seven parishes in [the Presbytery of] Caithness where the Irish language is used, viz. Thurso, Halkrig [Halkirk], Rhae [Reay], Lathrone [Latheron], Ffar [Farr], Week [Wick], Duirness [Durness]. But the people of Week understand English also." (Presbytery of Caithness, 1706)[46]
• "A presbytery minute of 1727 says of 1,600 people who had 'come of age', 1500 could speak Gaelic only, and a mere five could read. Gaelic at this time was the principal language in most parishes except Bower, Canisbay, Dunnet and Olrig".[47]
• "Persons with a knowledge of Gaelic in the County of Caithness (in 1911) are found to number 1,685, and to constitute 6.7 per cent of the entire population of three years of age and upwards. Of these 1,248 were born in Caithness, 273 in Sutherland, 77 in Ross & Cromarty, and 87 elsewhere.... By an examination of the age distribution of the Gaelic speakers, it is found that only 22 of them are less than 20 years of age."[48]

According to the 2011 Scotland Census, 282 (1.1%) residents of Caithness age three and over can speak Gaelic while 466 (1.8%) have some facility with the language. The percentage figures are almost exactly the same as for all of Scotland (1.1% and 1.7%, respectively).[49] Nearly half of all Gaelic speakers in the county live in Thurso civil parish. The town of Thurso hosts the only Gaelic-medium primary school unit in all of Caithness (see Language in Thurso).

The bilingual road sign policy of Highland Region Council has led to some controversy in the region. In 2008, eight of the ten Caithness representatives to the Highland Council tried to prevent the introduction of bilingual English-Gaelic road signs into the county.[50] The first bilingual sign in Caithness was erected in 2012.[51] In 2013, a bilingual road sign on the A99 road next to Wick Airport was damaged by gunfire within 24 hours of it being placed. Gaelic-speaking Councillor Alex MacLeod, at the time representing Landward Caithness in the Highland Council, referred to it as "an extreme anti-Gaelic incident".[52]

Constituencies

• Caithness (UK Parliament constituency) (1708 to 1918)
• Tain Burghs (UK Parliament constituency) (1708 to 1832)
• Wick Burghs (UK Parliament constituency) (1832 to 1918)
• Caithness and Sutherland (UK Parliament constituency) (1918 to 1997)
• Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (UK Parliament constituency) (1997 to present)
• Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Scottish Parliament constituency) (1999 to 2011)
• Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (Scottish Parliament constituency) (2011 to present)

Other

• Caithness Broch Project
• Caithness Glass
• Clan Gunn
• Clan Sinclair
• Counties of Scotland
• List of counties of Scotland 1890–1975
• Local government in Scotland
• Local government areas of Scotland 1973 to 1996
• Maiden Paps, Caithness
• Medieval Diocese of Caithness
• Politics of the Highland council area
• Subdivisions of Scotland

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caithness.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Caithness".

• Caithness Community Website
• Caithness Dialect
• Caithness Dialect at Scots Language Centre
• Caithness Arts website
• Castletown and District Community Council website
• Castletown Heritage Society
• Dunnet and Canisbay Community Council
• Castle of Mey website
• Castle Sinclair Girnigoe
• Caithness forum
• Caithness alternative community forum
• Caithness Broch Project