Imperial gazeteer of Scotland, or, Dictionary of Scottish topography > Volume 2

HAROLDSWICK.
47
HARRIS.
to the numerous respectable families in Angus and
the Mearns. Many of these families lost not only
their head, but every male in the house. Lesley of
Balquhain is said to have fallen with six of his sons.
Besides Sir James Scrymgeour, Sir Alexander
Ogilvy the sheriff of Angus, with his eldest son
George Ogilvy, Sir Thomas Murray, Sir Robert
Maule of Panmure, Sir Alexander Irving of Drum,
Sir William Abernethy of Salton, Sir Alexander
Straiton of Lauriston, James Lovel, and Alexander
Stirling, and Sir Robert Davidson, provost of Aber-
deen, with 500 men-at-arms including the principal
gentry of Buchan, and the greater part of the bur-
gesses of Aberdeen who followed their provost, were
among the slain. The Highlanders left 900 men
dead on the field of battle, including the chiefs,
Maclean and Mackintosh. This memorable battle
was fought on the eve of the feast of St. James the
Apostle, the 24th day of July, in the year 1411 ;
" and from the ferocity with which it was contested,
and the dismal spectacle of civil war and bloodshed
exhibited to the country, it appears to have made a
deep impression on the national mind. It fixed it-
self in the music and the poetry of Scotland; a
march, called ' the Battle of "Harlaw," continued to
be a popular air down to the time of Drummond of
Hawthornden ; and a spirited ballad, on the same
event, is still repeated in our age, describing the
meeting of the armies, and the deaths of the
chiefs, in no ignoble strain." Mar and the few
brave companions in arms who survived the battle,
were so exhausted with fatigue and the wounds
they received, that they were obliged to pass the
night on the field of battle, where they expected a
rene >val of the attack next morning ; but when
morning dawned, they found that the Lord of the
Isles had retreated, during the night, by Inverury
and the hill of Benochie. To pursue him was im-
possible, and he was therefore allowed to retire,
without molestation, and to recruit his exhausted
strength.
HAROLD'S TOWER. See Thurso.
HAROLDSWICK, a post-office station and a bay
in the middle of the east side of the island of Unst
in Shetland.
HARPORT (Loch), a ramification of Loch
Bracadale, on the south-west side of the island of
Skye. It deflects to the south-east, extends in
length about 6 miles, and separates the lower part
of Minglnish from the rest of the island. It affords
safe harbourage to vessels.
HARPSDALE. See Hauurk.
HARRAY. See Birsay.
HARRIOTFIELD, a post-office station subor-
dinate to Perth.
HARRIS, a parish, containing a post-office station
of its own name, in the Outer Hebrides of Inver-
ness-shire. It comprehends the southern part of
Lewis, and the small adjacent islands. It is
bounded, on the north, by the parishes of Lochs and
Uig in Lewis ; on the east, by the Mineh and the
Little Minch; on the south, by the sound of Harris,
which divides it from North Uist; and on the west,
by the Atlantic ocean. Its length, from north to
south, measured along the line of communication, is
about 50 miles ; its breadth varies from 8 to 24
miles; and its superficial extent is upwards of 146
square miles. These measurements, however, are
exclusive of the island of St. Kilda, which lies a
very long distance to the west. See Kxlda (St.).
The other isles and islets belonging to it are very
numerous, and some of them very small ; but the
inhabited ones are only eight, — Scalpay, Taransay,
Scarp, Pabbay, Ensay, Killigray, Bernera, and
Anabich.
The northern part of the mainland of Harris is
separated from Lewis by an isthmus of about 9 miles
across, formed by the approximation of the two har-
bours of Loch-Resort on the west coast and Loch-
Seaforth on the east. The whole length, from the
isthmus to the southern end of Harris, where the
Sound of Harris separates it from North Uist, may
be estimated at 25 or 26 miles. Its breadth is ex-
tremely various, in consequence of its being deeply
intersected by several arms of the sea; but it gener-
ally extends from 6 to 8 miles. Harris is again
naturally divided into two districts by two arms of
the sea, called East and West Loch-Tarbert, which
approach so near each other as to leave an isthmus
of not more than a quarter of a mile in breadth.
The northern district, between Tarbert and Lewis,
is termed the Forest, though without a tree or
shrub. It is also sometimes called Na Beannibh,
that is ' the Mountains.' Its surface is exceedingly
mountainous, rising in Clisheih [which see] to
nearly 3,000 feet above the sea. The mountains
are in general bare and rocky ; but the valleys con-
tain tolerable pasturage; and the interstices of the
mountains contain some coarse grass. The largest
stream empties itself into Loch- Resort. Along the
eastern and western shores there are a number of
creeks or inlets of the sea — most of them commodi-
ous harbours — at each of which a colony of tenants
contrive, by a wonderful exertion of industry, to
raise crops from a soil of the most forbidding aspect;
but in the whole of this tract there is not a piece of
good arable land of the extent of 4 acres. There
are several lakes in the valleys, at various altitudes,
but none exceeding 2 miles in length. On the east
coast is the low swampy island of Scalpay ; and on
the west, the high and rocky island of Scarp.
The surface of the ground south of Tarbert is
much of the same appearance as the northern dis-
trict; but the mountains are not so elevated. The
highest are Ronaval, Bencapoal, and Benloskentir,
which have an altitude of nearly 2,000 feet. " The
aspect of this region, as seen from the Minch,"
says a writer in the Edinburgh New Philosophical
Journal, " is singularly uninviting, almost the
whole surface appearing to consist of bare white
rock. Indeed, a more perfect picture of sterility
can scarcely be imagined. Viewed from the west,
however, this district has a very different appear-
ance, — the shores being in general sandy, and the
hills for the most part covered with a green vegeta-
tion. Along the east coast — which is everywhere
rocky and low — there are numerous inlets and
creeks, here denominated bays, that word being
supposed to correspond to the Gaelic baigh, which
latter, however, appears to be nothing else than a
corruption of the Danish voe. Man}' of these afford
good harbours. Many small islands lie along this
coast. The southern shore partakes in a great
measure of the nature of the eastern, being rocky
and low; but toward the west side it exhibits a few
sandy beaches, and ends in a tremendous precipice,
witli a high neck of land running out from it, in
which there are two fine caves. On the west coast
there are, besides several sandy beaches, two great
sands — or fords, as they are here called — namely,
the sand of Northtown and that of Loskentir. They
consist of nearly level expanses, each extending up-
wards of a mile from the sea. At their mouth
there is a long bar formed by the surf and winds,
broken only in one place, close to the adjacent rocky
land, where a channel is formed which admits the
waters of the sea at each tide. These, at spring-
tides, cover the whole sands. The rest of the coast
is rocky, but low, excepting toward Tarbert, where
there, are tremendous cliffs This division is inter-