Sutherland
Encyclopedia
Sutherland is a registration county
, lieutenancy area
and historic administrative county
of Scotland
. It is now within the Highland
local government area. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich 'IcAoidh (NW), Asainte (Assynt), and Cataibh (East). However, Cataibh will often be heard used as referring to the area as a whole.
The county town
, and only burgh
of the county, is Dornoch
. Other settlements include Bonar Bridge
, Lairg
, Brora
, Durness
, Embo
, Tongue
, Golspie
, Helmsdale
, Lochinver
, Scourie
and Kinlochbervie
. The population of the county as at the 2001 Census
was 13,466.
The administrative county became a local government area in 1890, and was abolished in 1975, when the Sutherland district was created as one of eight districts of the Highland local government region
. The region was created at the same time as the district. The district was abolished in 1996, when the region became a unitary council area.
The name Sutherland dates from the era of Norse
rule and settlement over much of the Highlands and Islands
, under the rule of the jarl
of Orkney. Although it contains some of the northernmost land in the island of Great Britain
, it was called Suðrland ("southern land") from the standpoint of Orkney and Caithness
.
The North-West corner of the County, traditionally known as the Province of Strathnaver, was not incorporated into Sutherland until 1601. This was the home of the powerful and warlike Clan Mackay, and as such was named in Gaelic, Dùthaich 'Ic Aoidh, the Homeland of Mackay. Even today this part of the county is known as Mackay Country, and, unlike other areas of Scotland where the names traditionally associated with the area have become diluted, there is still a preponderance of Mackays in the Dùthaich.
As well as Caithness to the north and east, Sutherland has North Sea
(Moray Firth
) coastline in the east, the historic county of Ross and Cromarty
(formerly Ross and Cromarty) to the south, and Atlantic coastline in the west and north. Like its southern neighbour, Wester Ross
, the county has some of the most dramatic scenery in the whole of Europe, especially on its western fringe where the mountains meet the sea. These include high sea cliffs, and very old mountains composed of Precambrian
and Cambrian
rocks.
The inland landscape is rugged and very sparsely populated. Despite being Scotland
's 5th largest historic county, it has a smaller population than a medium-size lowland Scottish town. It stretches from the Atlantic in the west, up to the Pentland Firth
and across to the North Sea
. The sea-coasts boast very high cliffs and deep fjords in the east and north, ragged inlets on the west and sandy beaches in the north. As would be expected, much of the population is based in seaward towns, such as Helmsdale
and Lochinver
, which until very recently made much of their living from the rich fishing of the waters around the British Isles
. The remote far north west point of the county, Cape Wrath
is the most north westerly point in Scotland
.
The county has many rugged mountains such as Ben Hope
, the most northerly Munro
. The western part comprises Torridonian sandstone underlain by Lewisian gneiss
. The spectacular scenery has been created by denudation
to form isolated sandstone peaks such as Foinaven
, Arkle (hill)
, Cùl Mòr
, Suilven
and Stac Pollaidh
. Such mountains are attractive for hill walking and scrambling
, despite their remote location. Together with similar peaks to the south in Wester Ross
, they have a unique structure with great scope for exploration. On the other hand, care is needed when bad weather occurs owing to their isolation and the risks of injury. The county also has many fine beaches, a remote example being Sandwood Bay
, which can only be reached by foot along a rough track. The number of visiting tourists is naturally, minimal.
Transport links are poor: the A9 road main east coast road is challenging north of Helmsdale
, particularly at the notorious Berriedale Braes
, there are few inland roads, the east coast Far North Line
north-south single-track railway line and no airports. Much of the former county is poor relative to the rest of Scotland
with few job opportunities beyond government funded employment. Further education is provided by North Highland College, part of the University of the Highland and Islands. The Ross House Campus in Dornoch was the first establishment in the UK to provide a degree in Golf Management. The Burghfield House Campus, also in Dornoch, is an hotel school.
Sutherland is perhaps best known for its saddest memory: The Highland Clearances
: The forceful eviction of people from their homes in the 18th century by the landowners to make way for large sheep farms. Sutherland suffered more than most parts of the Highlands, scattering people far and wide across the globe. The clearances also saw many forced to move from their inland homes to live along the coast scraping a life as fisherfolk. It was the villages produced by this policy that formed the last Gaelic speaking communities to be found on the east coast of Scotland
, as discovered by Nancy Dorian
in the early 1960s, and there are still some native speakers of the East Sutherland dialect of Gaelic in this area.
Owing to its isolation from the rest of the country, Sutherland was reputedly the last haunt of the native wolf, the last survivor being shot in the 18th century. However, other wild life has survived, including the golden eagle
, sea eagle
and pine marten
amongst other species which are very rare in the rest of the country. There are pockets of the native Scots Pine
, remnants of the original Caledonian Forest
.
, with its own elected county council, in 1890, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889
. At that time, one town within the county, Dornoch
, was already well established as an autonomous burgh
with its own burgh council. Parish
councils, covering rural areas of the county were established in 1894. In 1897, Sutherland introduced the world to the transfer station, where burgh residents could deposit and/or claim otherwise unwanted goods.
Dornoch, a royal burgh
, served as the county's administrative centre.
The parish councils were abolished in 1931 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929
. The county council and the burgh council were abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
. The 1973 act also created a new two tier system, with Sutherland as a district within the Highland
region.
, the county was divided between Caithness and Sutherland local government districts within the Highland
region
, with Tongue
and Farr areas of the county of Sutherland becoming part of the Caithness district (which also included the area of the county of Caithness). Also, the Kincardine
area of the county of Ross and Cromarty
was merged into the new Sutherland district. Shortly after its creation, however the boundary between the districts of Sutherland and Caithness were redrawn to follow that between the counties.
The region was also created in 1975, as one of nine two-tier local government regions of Scotland. Each region consisted of a number of districts and both regions and districts had their own elected councils
. The creation of the Highland region and of Sutherland as a district involved the abolition of the one burgh
council in Sutherland, Dornoch
, as well as abolition of the Sutherland county council
.
In 1996 local government in Scotland was again reformed, to create 32 unitary council areas. The Highland region became the Highland unitary council area, and the functions of the district councils were absorbed by the Highland Council.
s to represent them.
Until 1999 the Sutherland management and committee areas consisted of seven out of the 72 Highland Council wards. Each ward elected one councillor by the first past the post system of election.
In 1999, however, ward boundaries were redrawn but management area boundaries were not. As a result area committees were named for and made decisions for areas which they did not exactly represent. The new Sutherland committee area consisted of six out of the 80 new Highland Council wards.
New wards were created for elections this year, 2007, polling on 3 May and, as the wards became effective for representational purposes, the Highland Council's management and committee structures were reorganised. The Sutherland management area and the Sutherland area committees were therefore abolished. The management area is now divided between two of the five new ward management areas of the council's new Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross corporate management area.
) community council
s have no statutory
powers or responsibilities and are not a tier of local government. They are however the most local tier of statutory representation. Here is a list of Highland Community Councils (scroll to Sutherland).
Under the 1973 act, they were created in terms of community council schemes created by the district councils which were created under the same act. The Sutherland district scheme was adopted in 1975.
Statutory status for community councils was continued under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, and the Sutherland scheme is now the responsibility of the Highland Council.
represented the county from 1708 to 1918. At the same time however the county town of Dornoch
was represented as a component of the Northern Burghs constituency.
In 1918 the Sutherland constituency and Dornoch 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. In the Scottish Parliament
Sutherland is represented also as part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region
.
mystery series, the fictional towns of Lochdubh and Strathbane are located in Sutherland.
perception of the land as 'southern' (Suðrland meaning "Southland"). The Norse referred similarly to the Western Isles as Suðreyjar (the "Southern Isles"), southern in relation to the "Northern Isles" of Orkney, Shetland and the Faroe Islands
.
Sutherland has two main names in the county's indigenous Scottish Gaelic: Cataibh may be used for the whole county, but tended historically to apply to the south east, and Dùthaich MhicAoidh (Mackay Country) which was used for the north west, sometimes referred to as Reay Country in English. Cataibh can be read as meaning among the Cats and the Cat element appears as Cait in Caithness. The Scottish Gaelic name for Caithness, however, is Gallaibh, meaning among the Strangers (i.e. the Norse who extensively settled there).
Registration county
A registration county was, in Great Britain and Ireland, a statistical unit used for the registration of births, deaths and marriages and for the output of census information. In Scotland registration counties are used for land registration purposes....
, lieutenancy area
Lieutenancy areas of Scotland
The lieutenancy areas of Scotland are the areas used for the ceremonial lord-lieutenants, the monarch's representatives, in Scotland. They are different from the local government council areas, the committee areas, the sheriffdoms, the registration counties, the former regions and districts, the...
and historic administrative county
Counties of Scotland
The counties of Scotland were the principal local government divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them. They are often referred to as historic counties....
of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It is now within the Highland
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
local government area. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich 'IcAoidh (NW), Asainte (Assynt), and Cataibh (East). However, Cataibh will often be heard used as referring to the area as a whole.
The county town
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
, and only burgh
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
of the county, is Dornoch
Dornoch
Dornoch is a town and seaside resort, and former Royal burgh in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east...
. Other settlements include Bonar Bridge
Bonar Bridge
Bonar Bridge is a village on the north bank of the Kyle of Sutherland, in the Parish of Creich in the Highland council area of Scotland.The Kyle of Sutherland is a river estuary of the Rivers Oykel, Cassley, Shin and Carron that all enter the Kyle above the bridge at Bonar.The estuary and the...
, Lairg
Lairg
Lairg is a village in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. It has a population of about 700and is situated at the south-eastern end of Lairg is a village in [[Sutherland]], [[Highland |Highland]], [[Scotland]]...
, Brora
Brora
Brora is a village in the east of Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland. The village is situated where the A9 road and the Far North Line bridge the River Brora...
, Durness
Durness
Durness is a huge but remote parish in the northwestern Highlands of Scotland, encompassing all the land between the Moine to the East and the Gualin to the West...
, Embo
Embo
For the scientific organisation, see European Molecular Biology Organization.Embo is a village in the Highland Council Area in Scotland and the former/postal county of Sutherland, about 2 miles NNE of Dornoch....
, Tongue
Tongue, Highland
Tongue is a coastal village in northwest Highland, Scotland, in the western part of the former county of Sutherland. It lies on the east shore above the base of the Kyle of Tongue and north of the mountains Ben Hope and Ben Loyal...
, Golspie
Golspie
Golspie is a coastal village in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. It has a population of around 1,650 people. It is located picturesquely on the shores of the North Sea in the shadow of Ben Bhraggie ....
, Helmsdale
Helmsdale
Helmsdale is a village on the east coast of Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. The modern village was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed from the surrounding straths as part of the Highland Clearances....
, Lochinver
Lochinver
Lochinver is a village on the coast in the Assynt district of Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. A few miles northeast is Loch Assynt which is the source of the River Inver which flows into Loch Inver at the village. There are 200 or so lochans in the area which makes the place very popular with...
, Scourie
Scourie
Scourie , historically spelled "Scoury", is a village on the north west coast of Scotland, about halfway between Ullapool and Durness. It is in the traditional county of Sutherland, now part of the Highland council area, and the population of the village is just over two hundred. It is known as the...
and Kinlochbervie
Kinlochbervie
Kinlochbervie is a harbour village in the north west of Sutherland, in the Highland region of Scotland. In 2001 the population was 480.The majority of local industry is based upon the fishing industry...
. The population of the county as at the 2001 Census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
was 13,466.
The administrative county became a local government area in 1890, and was abolished in 1975, when the Sutherland district was created as one of eight districts of the Highland local government region
Regions and districts of Scotland
The local government areas of Scotland were redefined by the Local Government Act 1973 and redefined again by the Local Government etc Act 1994....
. The region was created at the same time as the district. The district was abolished in 1996, when the region became a unitary council area.
The name Sutherland dates from the era of Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
rule and settlement over much of the Highlands and Islands
Highlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are broadly the Scottish Highlands plus Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides.The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 applied...
, under the rule of the jarl
Earl
An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...
of Orkney. Although it contains some of the northernmost land in the island of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, it was called Suðrland ("southern land") from the standpoint of Orkney and Caithness
Caithness
Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
.
The North-West corner of the County, traditionally known as the Province of Strathnaver, was not incorporated into Sutherland until 1601. This was the home of the powerful and warlike Clan Mackay, and as such was named in Gaelic, Dùthaich 'Ic Aoidh, the Homeland of Mackay. Even today this part of the county is known as Mackay Country, and, unlike other areas of Scotland where the names traditionally associated with the area have become diluted, there is still a preponderance of Mackays in the Dùthaich.
As well as Caithness to the north and east, Sutherland has North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
(Moray Firth
Moray Firth
The Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotland...
) coastline in the east, the historic county of Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use...
(formerly Ross and Cromarty) to the south, and Atlantic coastline in the west and north. Like its southern neighbour, Wester Ross
Wester Ross
is a western area of Ross and Cromarty in Scotland, notably containing the villages on the west coast such as:* Lochcarron* Applecross* Shieldaig* Torridon* Kinlochewe * * * Aultbea* Laide* Ullapool* Achiltibuie...
, the county has some of the most dramatic scenery in the whole of Europe, especially on its western fringe where the mountains meet the sea. These include high sea cliffs, and very old mountains composed of Precambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
and Cambrian
Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
rocks.
Landscape
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
's 5th largest historic county, it has a smaller population than a medium-size lowland Scottish town. It stretches from the Atlantic in the west, up to the Pentland Firth
Pentland Firth
The Pentland Firth , which is actually more of a strait than a firth, separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland.-Etymology:...
and across to the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. The sea-coasts boast very high cliffs and deep fjords in the east and north, ragged inlets on the west and sandy beaches in the north. As would be expected, much of the population is based in seaward towns, such as Helmsdale
Helmsdale
Helmsdale is a village on the east coast of Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. The modern village was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed from the surrounding straths as part of the Highland Clearances....
and Lochinver
Lochinver
Lochinver is a village on the coast in the Assynt district of Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. A few miles northeast is Loch Assynt which is the source of the River Inver which flows into Loch Inver at the village. There are 200 or so lochans in the area which makes the place very popular with...
, which until very recently made much of their living from the rich fishing of the waters around the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. The remote far north west point of the county, Cape Wrath
Cape Wrath
Cape Wrath is a cape in Sutherland, Highland, in northern Scotland. It is the most northwesterly point on the island of Great Britain. The land between the Kyle of Durness and the lighthouse that is situated right at the tip, is known as the Parph, two hundred and seven square kilometers of...
is the most north westerly point in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
The county has many rugged mountains such as Ben Hope
Ben Hope
Ben Hope is a mountain in northern Scotland. It is the most northerly Munro, standing alone in the Flow Country south-east of Loch Hope in Sutherland. The mountain is a roughly triangular wedge, with a great crag on the west, with two lower shoulders to the south and northeast...
, the most northerly Munro
Munro
A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over . They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet , who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3,000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain...
. The western part comprises Torridonian sandstone underlain by Lewisian gneiss
Lewisian complex
The Lewisian complex or Lewisian Gneiss is a suite of Precambrian metamorphic rocks that outcrop in the northwestern part of Scotland, forming part of the Hebridean Terrane. These rocks are of Archaean and Paleoproterozoic age, ranging from 3.0–1.7 Ga. They form the basement on which the...
. The spectacular scenery has been created by denudation
Denudation
In geology, denudation is the long-term sum of processes that cause the wearing away of the earth’s surface leading to a reduction in elevation and relief of landforms and landscapes...
to form isolated sandstone peaks such as Foinaven
Foinaven
Foinaven is a mountain in Scotland, situated in the far north-west corner of the Scottish Highlands. Like many of the monolithic mountains that surround it, the mountain is within the Moine Thrust Belt and is made up of imbricated layers of Cambrian quartzite which overlie the older Lewisian...
, Arkle (hill)
Arkle (hill)
Arkle is a mountain in Sutherland, situated in the far north-west corner of the Scottish Highlands. Like its sister Foinaven, the mountain is made up of glistening white Cambrian quartzite, laid down around 530 million years ago on an uneven basement of much older Lewisian gneiss...
, Cùl Mòr
Cùl Mòr
Cùl Mòr is a shapely, twin summited mountain in the far north west of Scotland whose higher summit is the highest point of Inverpolly. It is almost completely separated from its southern neighbour, Cùl Beag...
, Suilven
Suilven
Suilven is one of the most distinctive mountains in Scotland. Lying in a remote area in the west of Sutherland, it rises almost vertically from a wilderness landscape of moorland, bogs and lochans known as Inverpolly National Nature Reserve....
and Stac Pollaidh
Stac Pollaidh
Stac Pollaidh is a mountain in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The peak displays a rocky crest of Torridonian sandstone, with many pinnacles and steep gullies. The crest is extremely weathered , suggesting that it was not covered in ice during the last Ice Age.The name Stac Pollaidh is often...
. Such mountains are attractive for hill walking and scrambling
Scrambling
Scrambling is a method of ascending rocky faces and ridges. It is an ambiguous term that lies somewhere between hillwalking and rock climbing. It is often distinguished from hillwalking by defining a scramble as a route where hands must be used in the ascent...
, despite their remote location. Together with similar peaks to the south in Wester Ross
Wester Ross
is a western area of Ross and Cromarty in Scotland, notably containing the villages on the west coast such as:* Lochcarron* Applecross* Shieldaig* Torridon* Kinlochewe * * * Aultbea* Laide* Ullapool* Achiltibuie...
, they have a unique structure with great scope for exploration. On the other hand, care is needed when bad weather occurs owing to their isolation and the risks of injury. The county also has many fine beaches, a remote example being Sandwood Bay
Sandwood Bay
Sandwood Bay is a natural bay in Sutherland, on the far north-west coast of mainland Scotland. It is best known for its mile-long beach and Am Buachaille, a sea stack, and lies about 5 miles south of Cape Wrath...
, which can only be reached by foot along a rough track. The number of visiting tourists is naturally, minimal.
Transport links are poor: the A9 road main east coast road is challenging north of Helmsdale
Helmsdale
Helmsdale is a village on the east coast of Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. The modern village was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed from the surrounding straths as part of the Highland Clearances....
, particularly at the notorious Berriedale Braes
Berriedale Braes
Berriedale is a small village on the northern east coast of Caithness, Scotland, on the A9 road between Helmsdale and Lybster, close to the boundary between Caithness and Sutherland. It is sheltered from the North Sea...
, there are few inland roads, the east coast Far North Line
Far North Line
The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick.- Route :...
north-south single-track railway line and no airports. Much of the former county is poor relative to the rest of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
with few job opportunities beyond government funded employment. Further education is provided by North Highland College, part of the University of the Highland and Islands. The Ross House Campus in Dornoch was the first establishment in the UK to provide a degree in Golf Management. The Burghfield House Campus, also in Dornoch, is an hotel school.
Sutherland is perhaps best known for its saddest memory: The Highland Clearances
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and the North American colonies...
: The forceful eviction of people from their homes in the 18th century by the landowners to make way for large sheep farms. Sutherland suffered more than most parts of the Highlands, scattering people far and wide across the globe. The clearances also saw many forced to move from their inland homes to live along the coast scraping a life as fisherfolk. It was the villages produced by this policy that formed the last Gaelic speaking communities to be found on the east coast of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, as discovered by Nancy Dorian
Nancy Dorian
Nancy C. Dorian is an American linguist who has carried out research into the death of the East Sutherland dialect of Scottish Gaelic for over 40 years, particularly in the villages of Brora, Golspie and Embo....
in the early 1960s, and there are still some native speakers of the East Sutherland dialect of Gaelic in this area.
Owing to its isolation from the rest of the country, Sutherland was reputedly the last haunt of the native wolf, the last survivor being shot in the 18th century. However, other wild life has survived, including the golden eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
, sea eagle
Sea Eagle
Sea eagle mainly refers to Sea eagle, birds of prey of the genus Haliaeetus.It may also refer to:-Aerospace:* Sea Eagle , British, anti-ship missile* Sea Eagle * Supermarine Sea Eagle, 1920s British passenger flying boat-Sports:...
and pine marten
Pine Marten
The European Pine Marten , known most commonly as the pine marten in Anglophone Europe, and less commonly also known as Pineten, baum marten, or sweet marten, is an animal native to Northern Europe belonging to the mustelid family, which also includes mink, otter, badger, wolverine and weasel. It...
amongst other species which are very rare in the rest of the country. There are pockets of the native Scots Pine
Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...
, remnants of the original Caledonian Forest
Caledonian Forest
The Caledonian Forest is the name of a type of woodland that once covered vast areas of Scotland. Today, however, only 1% of the original forest survives, covering in 84 locations. The forests are home to a wide variety of wildlife, much of which is not found elsewhere in the British...
.
County, burgh and parishes, 1890 to 1975
Sutherland became a local government countyCounties of Scotland
The counties of Scotland were the principal local government divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them. They are often referred to as historic counties....
, with its own elected county council, in 1890, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889
The Local Government Act 1889 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the Act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland...
. At that time, one town within the county, Dornoch
Dornoch
Dornoch is a town and seaside resort, and former Royal burgh in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east...
, was already well established as an autonomous burgh
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
with its own burgh council. Parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
councils, covering rural areas of the county were established in 1894. In 1897, Sutherland introduced the world to the transfer station, where burgh residents could deposit and/or claim otherwise unwanted goods.
Dornoch, a royal burgh
Royal burgh
A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished in 1975, the term is still used in many of the former burghs....
, served as the county's administrative centre.
The parish councils were abolished in 1931 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929
The Local Government Act 1929 reorganised local government in Scotland from 1930, introducing joint county councils, large and small burghs and district councils...
. The county council and the burgh council were abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
The Local Government Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that reformed local government in Scotland, on May 16, 1975....
. The 1973 act also created a new two tier system, with Sutherland as a district within the Highland
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
region.
District, 1975 to 1996
In 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
The Local Government Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that reformed local government in Scotland, on May 16, 1975....
, the county was divided between Caithness and Sutherland local government districts within the Highland
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
region
Regions and districts of Scotland
The local government areas of Scotland were redefined by the Local Government Act 1973 and redefined again by the Local Government etc Act 1994....
, with Tongue
Tongue, Highland
Tongue is a coastal village in northwest Highland, Scotland, in the western part of the former county of Sutherland. It lies on the east shore above the base of the Kyle of Tongue and north of the mountains Ben Hope and Ben Loyal...
and Farr areas of the county of Sutherland becoming part of the Caithness district (which also included the area of the county of Caithness). Also, the Kincardine
Kincardine (disambiguation)
Kincardine or Kincardine-on-Forth is a town in Fife, Scotland.Kincardine may also refer to:Places in Scotland:*Kincardineshire or County of Kincardine, former county, and its defunct mediaeval county town...
area of the county of Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use...
was merged into the new Sutherland district. Shortly after its creation, however the boundary between the districts of Sutherland and Caithness were redrawn to follow that between the counties.
The region was also created in 1975, as one of nine two-tier local government regions of Scotland. Each region consisted of a number of districts and both regions and districts had their own elected councils
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
. The creation of the Highland region and of Sutherland as a district involved the abolition of the one burgh
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
council in Sutherland, Dornoch
Dornoch
Dornoch is a town and seaside resort, and former Royal burgh in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east...
, as well as abolition of the Sutherland county council
County council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...
.
In 1996 local government in Scotland was again reformed, to create 32 unitary council areas. The Highland region became the Highland unitary council area, and the functions of the district councils were absorbed by the Highland Council.
Management area and area committees, 1996 to 2007
In 1996, Sutherland and the other seven districts of the Highland region were merged in to the unitary Highland council area, under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994. The new Highland Council then adopted the former districts as management areas and created a system of area committeeArea committee
Many large local government councils in the United Kingdom have a system of area committees, with responsibility for services in a particular part of the area covered by the council....
s to represent them.
Until 1999 the Sutherland management and committee areas consisted of seven out of the 72 Highland Council wards. Each ward elected one councillor by the first past the post system of election.
In 1999, however, ward boundaries were redrawn but management area boundaries were not. As a result area committees were named for and made decisions for areas which they did not exactly represent. The new Sutherland committee area consisted of six out of the 80 new Highland Council wards.
New wards were created for elections this year, 2007, polling on 3 May and, as the wards became effective for representational purposes, the Highland Council's management and committee structures were reorganised. The Sutherland management area and the Sutherland area committees were therefore abolished. The management area is now divided between two of the five new ward management areas of the council's new Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross corporate management area.
Community councils, 1975 to present (2007)
Although created under local government legislation (the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
The Local Government Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that reformed local government in Scotland, on May 16, 1975....
) community council
Community council
A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain.In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies...
s have no statutory
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
powers or responsibilities and are not a tier of local government. They are however the most local tier of statutory representation. Here is a list of Highland Community Councils (scroll to Sutherland).
Under the 1973 act, they were created in terms of community council schemes created by the district councils which were created under the same act. The Sutherland district scheme was adopted in 1975.
Statutory status for community councils was continued under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, and the Sutherland scheme is now the responsibility of the Highland Council.
Constituency
The Sutherland constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United KingdomParliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
represented the county from 1708 to 1918. At the same time however the county town of Dornoch
Dornoch
Dornoch is a town and seaside resort, and former Royal burgh in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east...
was represented as a component of the Northern Burghs constituency.
In 1918 the Sutherland constituency and Dornoch were merged into the then new constituency of Caithness and Sutherland
Caithness and Sutherland (UK Parliament constituency)
Caithness and Sutherland was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
. In 1997 Caithness and Sutherland was merged into Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (UK Parliament constituency)
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...
.
The Scottish Parliament constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...
was created in 1999 and now has boundaries slightly different from those of the House of Commons constituency. In the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
Sutherland is represented also as part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region
Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions
Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions were first used in 1999, in the first general election of the Scottish Parliament , created by the Scotland Act 1998....
.
Sutherland in popular culture
In M. C. Beaton's Hamish MacbethHamish Macbeth
Hamish Macbeth is a fictional police officer who serves as his town's detective in a series of mystery novels created by M. C. Beaton . The novels are published in the UK by Constable & Robinson. In an interview, the author recalls,...
mystery series, the fictional towns of Lochdubh and Strathbane are located in Sutherland.
Notable people with Sutherland connections
- James Graham, of Lochinver, professional Gaelic singer and first male winner of the BBC Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Award (2004)
- James Smith, ex-pupil of Dornoch Academy, former chairman of Shell UK
- George Mackay BrownGeorge Mackay BrownGeorge Mackay Brown , was a Scottish poet, author and dramatist, whose work has a distinctly Orcadian character...
(1921-1996), 'Bard of Orkney', whose mother was born in StrathyStrathyStrathy is a scattered community in the Highland area of Scotland.Strathy is on the north coast of Scotland, on the A836 road some twenty miles west of Thurso... - John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
(1940-1980), a frequent visitor to DurnessDurnessDurness is a huge but remote parish in the northwestern Highlands of Scotland, encompassing all the land between the Moine to the East and the Gualin to the West...
, on which the song 'In My Life' was reputedly based - Carol-Anne Farquhar, of Strathy, member of Dòchas
- Iain McLeod, born in Strathy Point, formerly of ShoogleniftyShoogleniftyShooglenifty are an Edinburgh-based six-piece Celtic fusion band that tours internationally. The band blends Scottish traditional music with influences ranging from electronica to alternative rock...
, current collaborator with Nuala Kennedy - Joe Strummer (1952-2002), Frontman of The Clash. Born John Graham Mellor in Ankara, Turkey. His mother, Anna Mackenzie, was a crofter's daughter born and raised in Bonar Bridge.
Footnotes
Sutherland derives from a NorseNorsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
perception of the land as 'southern' (Suðrland meaning "Southland"). The Norse referred similarly to the Western Isles as Suðreyjar (the "Southern Isles"), southern in relation to the "Northern Isles" of Orkney, Shetland and the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
.
Sutherland has two main names in the county's indigenous Scottish Gaelic: Cataibh may be used for the whole county, but tended historically to apply to the south east, and Dùthaich MhicAoidh (Mackay Country) which was used for the north west, sometimes referred to as Reay Country in English. Cataibh can be read as meaning among the Cats and the Cat element appears as Cait in Caithness. The Scottish Gaelic name for Caithness, however, is Gallaibh, meaning among the Strangers (i.e. the Norse who extensively settled there).
See also
- Subdivisions of ScotlandSubdivisions of ScotlandFor local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" which are all governed by unitary authorities designated as "councils"...
- Clan SutherlandClan SutherlandClan Sutherland is a Highland Scottish clan whose traditional territory is located in the region of Sutherland in northern highlands of Scotland and was one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The clan seat is at Dunrobin Castle, Sutherland...
- List of pre-1975 counties of Scotland
External links
(www.highland.gov.uk)- Miss DempsterCharlotte Louisa Hawkins DempsterCharlotte Louisa Hawkins Dempster was a British novelist, essayist and author. She is also noted as a collector of folklore, especially in the area Sutherlandshire....
"Folk-Lore of Sutherlandshire" Folk-Lore Journal. Volume 6, 1888.