Gazetteer of Scotland

IN V
yards, nearly an Englifh acre and a
half. The whole building would re-
quire from 500 to 600 men to defend
it." From the name of the weftern
tower, and other circumftances, it is
probable this caftle was occupied by
the Curmnings, in the time of Edward
I. of England, when this clan was at
its zenith of power ; and, previous to
that period, by the Thanes of Loch-
aber, particularly by Banc ho, or
Ban quo, the predeceffbr of the royal
family of Stuart. A little below the
.caftie is a pleafant walk, ftill called
Bancho's walk. Near this place were
fought two famous battles ; one in
3427, between Donald Balloch, bro-
ther of Alexander Lord of the Ifles,
and the Earls of Caithnefs and Marr,
in which the forces of the latter were
defeated ; the other battle was in Fe-
bruary 1645, when the celebrated
Marquis of Montrofe completely de-
feated the Campbells under the Mar-
quis of Argyll.
INVERMAY ; a place in the pa-
rifh of Forteviot, in Perthihire, where
the fmall river May falls into the Erne.
It is famous for its birks (birch), ce-
lebrated in the beautiful Scots fong,
" The birks of Invermay." Here is,
in a molt romantic fituation, the man-
fion-houfe of Colonel Belches ; an e-
legant modern building, finely con-
trafted with an ancient tower in its
vicinity.
INVERNESS-SHIRE is one of the
moil extenfive counties in Scotland,
bounded on the N. by Rofs-fhire, and
part of the Moray Frith ; on the E.
by the fhires of Elgin, Moray, and
Aberdeen ; on the S. by Perth and
Argyll ; and on the W. by the At-
lantic ocean. A fmall infulated diftrict,
between the fhires of Banff and Mo-
ray, is annexed to it ; and feveral of
the Hebrides are politically attached
to this county. It comprehends the
diftricts of Badenoch, Lochaber, and
Glenelg, with feveral fmaller diftricts
pr glens ; as, Glengary, Glenmorifon,
Glenfhiel, &c. ; the iflands which are
annexed to it are, Harris, North and
South Uiji, Benbecula, Skye, Barra,
Eigg, and the fmaller iflets which are
fituated on its coafts. It is further
fubdivided into 31 parochial diftricts.
The mainland, excluding the ifles, ex-
tends in length from the point of A-
r'rfaig on the W. to the point of Ar-
INV
derjier on the E. where Fort George \i
built, about 93 miles ; and its greateft
breadth is nearly 50 miles. The broad
vale, called Glen-more-na-h'' alabin, ex-
tends through the very center of the
county from E. to W. occupied by
the large expanfes of Loch Nefs, Loch
Oich, Loch Lochy, and that arm of the
fea called Locheil, communicating with
Loch Linnhe, through which it has
been propofed to cut a navigable ca-
nal from the eaftern to the weftern
oceans; (vide Glen-more-na-hala-
bin ;) befides thefe, there are feveral
other lakes, particularly Loch Archaig t
Loch Laggan, Loch Garry, &c. with
the northern extremity of Loch Ericht.
On each fide of this extenfive vale,
the furface is wild, barren, and moun-
tainous ; Benevis, the higheft mountain
in Britain, raifing its fnow-clad head
4370 feet above the level of the fea,
and many other mountains approach
to near that elevation. On the banks
of the lakes, and in the valleys, there
are many tracts of good arable land,
and the country is every where inter-
fered by numerous rapid currents,
which, uniting, form feveral large ri-
vers. The moft noted of thefe are,
the Spey, Nefs, Lochy, Garry, Glafs,
Sec. which, with the lakes, abound
with trout and falmon : the fmall ri-
ver of Foyers, noted for its tremen-
dous cataract, is alfo in this county j
(vide Spey, Ness, Foyers, &c.)
The weftern fhore, particularly of the
diftricts of Moidart, Arifaig, Morror,
and Knoydart, are indented with nu-
merous bays, creeks, and arms of the
fea (called lochs), which might be
rendered excellent fifhing ftations. On
the confines of the county there are
extenfive tracts of natural wood ; evi?
dent remains of much larger forefts,
The fir woods of Glenmore and Strath'
fpey, the property of the Duke of Gor-
don and Sir James Grant, are fup-
pofed to be far more extenfive than
all the other natural woods in Scot-
land together. Of late, the attention
of the farmer has been called to the
improvement of agriculture, and many
have adopted the moft approved modes
of hufbandry; but, in a country fo
wild as the interior of Invernefs-fhire,
the advances in hufbandry muft be
very flow. On the eaftern coaft, in-
deed, and in the neighbourhood of
the navigable lakes, the ufe of lime as