Glenmoriston or Glen Moriston is a river glen in the Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

, that runs from Loch Ness

Loch Ness

Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. Its surface is above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster, also known affectionately as "Nessie"...

, at the village of Invermoriston

Invermoriston

Invermoriston is a small village 7 miles north of Fort Augustus, Highland, Scotland. The village is on the A82 road, at a junction with the A887. The village's most visited attraction is the Thomas Telford bridge, built in 1813, which crosses the spectacular River Moriston falls...

, westwards to Loch Cluanie

Loch Cluanie

Loch Cluanie is a loch in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland at the south-east end of Glen Shiel. It is a reservoir, contained behind the Cluanie Dam, constructed by Mitchell Construction and completed in 1957 as part of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board's Glenmoriston project to...

, where it meets with Glen Shiel

Glen Shiel

Glen Shiel is a glen in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland.The glen runs approximately 9 miles from north-west to south-east, from sea level at the village of Shiel Bridge and Loch Duich to the Cluanie Inn at the western end of Loch Cluanie and the start of Glenmoriston.W. H...

. The A887 and A87 roads pass through Glenmoriston.

The Glen is dominated by the River Moriston, which in Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....

 might mean "River of the Waterfalls". The river is a big attraction for fishers, but also for birdwatchers who come to see osprey

Osprey

The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...

 and eagle

Eagle

Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

s fishing on the river. The river crashes over waterfalls at Invermoriston into Loch Ness, passing under an original Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...

 bridge, built in 1813.
About five miles along the glen from Invermoriston is Loch Dundreggan, "Dundreggan" being of Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....

 origin and meaning "Dragon Haugh". Here the natural force of the river is tapped through a hydro-electric dam, which supplies power to the area. Water is let out of the dam on Tuesdays, making it a popular attraction for white water rafting and canoeing. After a feasibility study in Glen Affric

Glen Affric

right|300px|thumb|Glen AffricGlen Affric is a glen south-west of the village of Cannich in the Highland region of Scotland, some to the west of Loch Ness. The River Affric runs along its length, passing through Loch Affric and Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin .It used to be part of the lands of the Clan...

, Wild Boar were re-introduced by the charity Trees for Life

Trees for Life (Scotland)

Trees for Life is a registered charity in Findhorn, Moray, formed in 1989 by Alan Watson Featherstone, as a direct result of the inspiration and example of Richard St. Barbe Baker, the 'Man of the Trees'...

 to a large fenced area of the Dundreggan Estate in November 2009.

Glenmoriston Footprints

Not far east of Torgoyle Bridge are the Glenmoriston Footprints. From the bridge, head towards Invermoriston. About a quarter of a mile beyond a cluster of houses on the right is a short stone wall on the right where the verge widens enough to park a car. Opposite this is a small gate and a path leading in about thirty yards to a stone cairn. Immediately behind this are two "footprints", bare patches of earth about the size and shape of footprints.

They are said to be the footprints of Finlay Munro, otherwise known as the Highland Evangelist, a native of Tain. After a productive ministry on the island of Lewis, he made a tour of the southern Highlands during which he preached in Glenmoriston in 1827. His sermon, on the text "Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel" (Amos 4:12), was generally well received but some Catholics from Glengarry heckled him, calling him "a cheat and a liar" Munro is supposed to have closed his Bible and retorted that the ground on which he stood would bear witness to the truth of what he said until the Day of Judgement comes. Thus the marks on the ground are said to be his footprints, where nothing will grow.

Other history

The glen is also steeped in Jacobite

Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...

 history. After the Battle of Culloden

Battle of Culloden

The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government...

 in 1746, the pretender to the Scottish throne, Bonnie Prince Charlie

Charles Edward Stuart

Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...

escaped to safety through Glenmoriston. Here the Prince took refuge in a cave up in the hills where the River Doe flows down into the glen. He was famously protected by the Seven Men of Glenmoriston, in spite of a £30,000 reward (around £4.25 million today). By the side of the road is Roderick Mackenzie's cairn, a tribute to a loyal supporter of the Prince who pretended to be Charlie and allowed himself to be captured and killed by the English – giving the real prince time to escape to safety. Glenmoriston is commonly misspelled as Glenmorriston especially in history books.

Census Data

Census data from 2001 as applied to the IV63 7 postcode district (Glenmoriston and Invermoriston).

Population - 264. (Glenmoriston - 102, Invermoriston north of river - 75, Invermoriston south of river 87)

Born in England - 37% (Highest in the Highlands. Rises to 47% in Glenmoriston).

Born in Scotland – 55% (Lowest in the Highlands. Decreases to 46% in Glenmoriston)

Retired - 24.4% (Highest in the Highlands).

Average age - 45.6 (6th oldest out of 113 postal areas in the Highland region).

Percentage of households with children - 22% (98th out of 113).

Percentage of children - 17.5%. (101st out of 113 areas ).

In good health - 68% (99th out of 113 areas).

Households as second or holiday homes - 58% (2nd highest out of 113).

Percentage of households rented from council - 4.4% (12th lowest out of 113, and no housing association stock).

Amount of rented housing decrease 1991-2001 - 50%. (Second worst in the Highlands)