Ross, Scotland

Ross (Scottish Gaelic: Ros) is an area of Scotland. It was first recorded in the tenth century as a province. It was claimed by the Scottish crown in 1098, and from the 12th century Ross was an earldom. From 1661 there was a county of Ross, also known as Ross-shire, covering most but not all of the province, in particular excluding Cromartyshire. Cromartyshire was subsequently merged with the county of Ross in 1889 to form the county of Ross and Cromarty. The area is now part of the Highland council area.

The western and eastern parts of Ross are known as Wester Ross and Easter Ross. Wester Ross is sparsely populated, containing part of the Northwest Highlands mountains and having extensive sea lochs along its coast onto the Minch. Easter Ross has a coast onto the Moray Firth. Ross's main towns are Dingwall (which was the county town of Ross-shire), Cromarty, Fortrose, Invergordon and Tain, all of which lie on its eastern coast. Cromarty and Fortrose are on the Black Isle peninsula.

Ross gave its name to the medieval Diocese of Ross, which was based at Fortrose Cathedral. The name Ross is still used by the Church of Scotland for the Presbytery of Ross.

The name Ross may derive from a Gaelic word meaning "headland", perhaps a reference to the Black Isle. Another possible origin is the West Norse word for Orkney – Hrossey – meaning horse island.

Excavations of a rock shelter and shell midden at Sand, Applecross on the coast of Wester Ross have shown that the coast was occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.

Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography lists a tribe called the Decantae occupying the area that would later become Easter Ross. It may be doubted whether the Romans ever effected even a temporary settlement in the area of the modern county. In Roman times, and for long afterwards, the land was occupied by Picts, who, in the 6th and 7th centuries, were converted to Christianity by followers of Saint Columba. Throughout the next three centuries the natives were continually harassed by Norwegian Viking raiders, of whose presence tokens have survived in several place-names (Dingwall, Tain, and others). At this time the country formed part of the Province of Moray (Latin: Moravia), which then extended as far as the Dornoch Firth and the River Oykel.

The principal relics of antiquity - mainly stone circles, cairns and forts - appear in the eastern district. A vitrified fort crowns the hill of Knockfarrel in the parish of Fodderty, and there is a circular dun near the village of Lochcarron. Some fine examples of sculptured stones occur, especially those that, according to tradition, mark the burial-place of the three sons of a Danish king who were shipwrecked off the coast of Nigg. The largest and handsomest of these three crosses - the Clach a' Charridh, or Stone of Lamentation - stands at Shandwick. It is about 10 feet (3 m) high and contains representations of the martyrdom of St Andrew and figures of an elephant and dog. It fell during a storm in 1847 and was broken into three pieces, two of which were joined back together and re-erected; it is now preserved in a glass pavilion. On the top of the cross in Nigg churchyard are two figures with outstretched arms in the act of supplication; the dove descends between them, and below are two dogs. The cross was knocked down by the fall of the belfry in 1725, but has been riveted together. The third stone formerly stood at Hilton of Cadboll, but was removed for security to the grounds of Invergordon Castle.

Among old castles are those of Loch Slin Castle, in the parish of Fearn, said to date from the 13th century; Ballone Castle, in the parish of Tarbat, once a stronghold of the Earls of Ross; the remains of Dingwall Castle, their original seat; and Eilean Donan in Loch Alsh, which was blown up by British warships during the abortive Jacobite rising in 1719.