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Ross-shire
Ross-shire (/ˈrɒs.ʃaɪər/; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Rois), or the County of Ross, was a county in the Scottish Highlands. It bordered Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire, a county consisting of numerous enclaves or exclaves scattered throughout Ross-shire's territory. The mainland had a coast to the east onto the Moray Firth and a coast to the west onto the Minch. Ross-shire was named after and covered most of the ancient province of Ross, and also included the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The county town was Dingwall.
Ross-shire was abolished in 1889, merging with Cromartyshire to form a new county called Ross and Cromarty. The area is now part of the Highland council area, except for the parts in the Outer Hebrides, which are in Na h-Eileanan an Iar. The name Ross-shire continued to be used by the Royal Mail as a postal county (including for the areas that were formerly in Cromartyshire) until postal counties were discontinued in 1996.
The province of Ross is documented from the 10th century. Prior to that, the area was the northern part of the province of Moray. The boundary between Moray and Ross in the 10th century followed the River Beauly, which also marked the southern extent of Norwegian overlordship at the time. The Scottish crown claimed the overlordship of Ross and neighbouring Caithness (which then included Sutherland) from Norway in 1098, but the process of establishing effective Scottish authority over the area took many years. Whereas Moray to the south was divided into shires (areas administered by a sheriff) during the 12th century, Ross and Caithness at that time were placed under the nominal jurisdiction of the Sheriff of Inverness (one of the three sheriffdoms created covering the province of Moray) rather than being given their own sheriffs.
By the mid-13th century there were sheriffs at Cromarty and Dingwall, both within the province of Ross, but each appears to have had only a small area of jurisdiction around those towns, rather than the larger territories usually given to sheriffs. The Sheriff of Inverness was therefore still responsible for most of Ross and Caithness. The position of Sheriff of Dingwall did not endure.
Following the crown's defeat of the rebellion in 1475 by John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, the Lordship of the Isles was fully absorbed into the kingdom of Scotland. The shire of Inverness was therefore enlarged to take in the Outer Hebrides and some of the Inner Hebrides (notably Skye). An act of parliament in 1504 acknowledged that the shire of Inverness was too big for the effective administration of justice, and so declared Ross and Caithness to be separate shires, with the sheriff of Ross to sit at either Dingwall or Tain.
That act was set aside for most purposes in 1509, and Ross once more came under the sheriff of Inverness. Another act in 1649 re-stated Ross's separation from Inverness-shire, but was only implemented for the purposes of appointing commissioners (as members of the Parliament of Scotland were called). A subsequent act in 1661 finally separated Ross from Inverness-shire for all other purposes. Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth, was subsequently appointed as the first permanent Sheriff of Ross in 1662 (following some resistance from Alexander Stuart, 5th Earl of Moray, who held the position of sheriff of Inverness and was reluctant to cede his authority over Ross).
Most of Scotland's shires had been created centuries earlier, when feudalism was at its height; many shires corresponded to the older comital provinces, or groupings or subdivisions of them. By the time Ross-shire was created in the mid-17th century, there were several powerful landowners in Ross, but the old title of Earl of Ross had become effectively extinct, having been merged into the crown. The vested interests of the landowners influenced the boundaries of the new shire. Whereas the old province of Ross had not included any of the Hebrides, Ross-shire was defined to also included the northern Outer Hebrides, notably the Isle of Lewis, which was owned by Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth, a major landowner in Ross. (The rest of the Outer Hebrides stayed in Inverness-shire.) Conversely, Ross-shire excluded the small area of Cromartyshire, which just covered the area around the town of Cromarty at that time. Ross-shire also excluded other areas north of the River Beauly owned by Clan Fraser of Lovat, which stayed in Inverness-shire where that family was based, and the Ferintosh estate on the Black Isle, which was owned by the Forbes family based in Nairnshire, and so was made an exclave of that county.
In the late 17th century, Cromartyshire was significantly enlarged to take over numerous separate tracts of land across Ross-shire. Despite many being some distance from Cromarty itself, they were owned by George Mackenzie, Viscount of Tarbat, who owned the barony of Cromarty and wanted all his lands to be in the same shire.
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Ross-shire AI simulator
(@Ross-shire_simulator)
Ross-shire
Ross-shire (/ˈrɒs.ʃaɪər/; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Rois), or the County of Ross, was a county in the Scottish Highlands. It bordered Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire, a county consisting of numerous enclaves or exclaves scattered throughout Ross-shire's territory. The mainland had a coast to the east onto the Moray Firth and a coast to the west onto the Minch. Ross-shire was named after and covered most of the ancient province of Ross, and also included the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The county town was Dingwall.
Ross-shire was abolished in 1889, merging with Cromartyshire to form a new county called Ross and Cromarty. The area is now part of the Highland council area, except for the parts in the Outer Hebrides, which are in Na h-Eileanan an Iar. The name Ross-shire continued to be used by the Royal Mail as a postal county (including for the areas that were formerly in Cromartyshire) until postal counties were discontinued in 1996.
The province of Ross is documented from the 10th century. Prior to that, the area was the northern part of the province of Moray. The boundary between Moray and Ross in the 10th century followed the River Beauly, which also marked the southern extent of Norwegian overlordship at the time. The Scottish crown claimed the overlordship of Ross and neighbouring Caithness (which then included Sutherland) from Norway in 1098, but the process of establishing effective Scottish authority over the area took many years. Whereas Moray to the south was divided into shires (areas administered by a sheriff) during the 12th century, Ross and Caithness at that time were placed under the nominal jurisdiction of the Sheriff of Inverness (one of the three sheriffdoms created covering the province of Moray) rather than being given their own sheriffs.
By the mid-13th century there were sheriffs at Cromarty and Dingwall, both within the province of Ross, but each appears to have had only a small area of jurisdiction around those towns, rather than the larger territories usually given to sheriffs. The Sheriff of Inverness was therefore still responsible for most of Ross and Caithness. The position of Sheriff of Dingwall did not endure.
Following the crown's defeat of the rebellion in 1475 by John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, the Lordship of the Isles was fully absorbed into the kingdom of Scotland. The shire of Inverness was therefore enlarged to take in the Outer Hebrides and some of the Inner Hebrides (notably Skye). An act of parliament in 1504 acknowledged that the shire of Inverness was too big for the effective administration of justice, and so declared Ross and Caithness to be separate shires, with the sheriff of Ross to sit at either Dingwall or Tain.
That act was set aside for most purposes in 1509, and Ross once more came under the sheriff of Inverness. Another act in 1649 re-stated Ross's separation from Inverness-shire, but was only implemented for the purposes of appointing commissioners (as members of the Parliament of Scotland were called). A subsequent act in 1661 finally separated Ross from Inverness-shire for all other purposes. Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth, was subsequently appointed as the first permanent Sheriff of Ross in 1662 (following some resistance from Alexander Stuart, 5th Earl of Moray, who held the position of sheriff of Inverness and was reluctant to cede his authority over Ross).
Most of Scotland's shires had been created centuries earlier, when feudalism was at its height; many shires corresponded to the older comital provinces, or groupings or subdivisions of them. By the time Ross-shire was created in the mid-17th century, there were several powerful landowners in Ross, but the old title of Earl of Ross had become effectively extinct, having been merged into the crown. The vested interests of the landowners influenced the boundaries of the new shire. Whereas the old province of Ross had not included any of the Hebrides, Ross-shire was defined to also included the northern Outer Hebrides, notably the Isle of Lewis, which was owned by Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth, a major landowner in Ross. (The rest of the Outer Hebrides stayed in Inverness-shire.) Conversely, Ross-shire excluded the small area of Cromartyshire, which just covered the area around the town of Cromarty at that time. Ross-shire also excluded other areas north of the River Beauly owned by Clan Fraser of Lovat, which stayed in Inverness-shire where that family was based, and the Ferintosh estate on the Black Isle, which was owned by the Forbes family based in Nairnshire, and so was made an exclave of that county.
In the late 17th century, Cromartyshire was significantly enlarged to take over numerous separate tracts of land across Ross-shire. Despite many being some distance from Cromarty itself, they were owned by George Mackenzie, Viscount of Tarbat, who owned the barony of Cromarty and wanted all his lands to be in the same shire.