Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

SUT
735
SWI
qnnad sacra parish of Stoer, which constitute the
presbytery of Dornoch ; the quoad civilia parishes of
Durness, Edderachylis, Fan-, and Tongue, and the
quoad sacra parishes of Kinlochbervic and Strathy,
which constitute the presbytery of Tongue; and
part of the quoad civilia parish of Reay, which be-
longs to the presbytery of Caithness; — all in the
svnod of Sutherland and Caithness. The Duke of
Sutherland is joint patron with the Crown of Criech,
and sole patron of all the other quoad civilia parishes
in the presbytery of Dornoch, and of the parish of
Farr. The Crown is patron of all the other parishes.
In 1834, there were 13 parochial schools, conducted
by 1.5 teachers, and attended by a maximum of 1,067
scholars, and a minimum of 430; and 43 non-par-
ochial schools, conducted by 45 teachers, and at-
tended by a maximum of '2,038 scholars, and a mini-
mum of 701. — Sutherlandshire, till some time after
the abolition of hereditary jurisdictions, formed part
of the sheriffdom of Caithness. The county sends
one member to parliament. Constituency, in li?3S,
134. Quarter-sessions are held at Dornoch on the
first Tuesday of March, May, and August, and the
last Tuesday of October; justice-of-peace small-
debt-courts are held on the first Tuesday of every
month at Dornoch, and the first Wednesday of every
month at Brora ; and sheriff's small-debt-courts are
held in April and October at Tongue, Lairg, and
Port-Gower. The valued rent, in 1674, was £'26,093
Scottish ; and the real property as assessed, in 1815,
was £33,878. Population, in 1811,23,629; in 1821,
23.840; in 1831, 25,518, in 1841, 24,666. Houses,
in 1841, 4.821.
The earldom of Sutherland, a title to which that
of Duke of Sutherland in the peerage of the United
Kingdom was recently added, is asserted to be the
most ancient existing peerage in Britain, and at least
has for ages been the premier earldom of Scotland.
Hugh Freskin, the first undoubted figurant in con-
nexion with it, or with its subsequent possessors,
came into Scotland from Flanders, in the reign of
David I., and obtained from that prince the lands of
Strathbrock in Linlithgowshire. Hugh probably
acted an astute and valorous part in subduing the
Moraymen at their insurrection in 1130; and, in
guerdon of his services, he acquired from his royal
master some of the richest lands in the beautiful and
fertile plain of Moray. William Freskin, the for-
mer's eldest son and heir, received additional grants
of land ; and Hugh Freskin, William's eldest son,
acquired the broad estate of Sutherland, which was
forfeited by the Earl of Caithness by his rebellion in
1197. Whether this Hugh obtained, along with the
estate, the title of Comes or Earl, seems a matter of
dispute. His son, however, " Willielmus Dominus
de Sutherlandia, filius et hseres quondam Hugonis
Freskyn," unquestionably died Earl of Sutherland
about the year 1248; and he is usually reckoned the
1st Eail, and is said to have obtained the peerage
from Alexander II., about 1228, for assisting to
crush a powerful northern savage, of the name of
Gillespie. William, the 2d Earl, was with the Scot-
tish armies at Bannockburn and Brigland, and wore
his title during the long period of 77 years. Ken-
neth, the 3d Earl, fell at the battle of Halidon-hill
in 1333. William, the 4th Earl, married the second
daughter of King Robert Bruce ; and made grants
to powerful and influential persons of numerous lands
which he held in the counties of Inverness and Aber-
deen, to win their support of his eldest son John's
claim to the succession to the Crown. • John was
selected by his uncle, David Bruce, or David II., as
heir of the throne ; but he died in England, while a
hostage there for the payment of the King's ran-
som. William, the brother of John, and the 5th
1 Earl, fought at the battle of Otterburn. Of the four
[ succeeding Earls, nothing of public interest is re-
| corded. Elizabeth, the sister-german of John, the
9th Earl, Countess of Sutherland in her own right,
and the tenth person who held the earldom, married
Lord Aboyne, and was succeeded by her son, John,
who was poisoned in 1567 at Helmsdale. See Loth.
The next four Earls were each the son of the pre-
ceding. John, the 16th Earl, figured conspicuously
both as a statesman and as a soldier, and obtained
leave to add to his armorial bearings the double
' tressure circonfeurdelire,' to indicate his descent
from the royal family of Bruce. Elizabeth, the in-
fant daughter and only child of William, the 18th
Earl, who died in 1766, succeeded in that year to
the earldom, yet a sharp contest to her right was
conducted, on the ground that the title could not
legally descend to a female heir, and terminated in
her favour by an adjudication of the House of Lords
in 1771. The Countess, the nineteenth person in
the line of succession, married, in 1785, George
Granville Leveson Cower, Viscount Trentham, eld-
est son of Earl Gower, afterwards Marquis of Staf-
ford, by his second wife, Lady Louisa Egerton,
daughter of the 1st Duke of Bridgewater. His
lordship succeeded to his father's titles, became the
second Marquis of Stafford; and, in 1833, he was
raised to the dignity of Duke of Sutherland. The
Duchess of Sutherland, Countess in her own right,
held the earldom during the long period of 72 years
and 7 months, and died in January, 1839 ; when she
was succeeded by her eldest son, George Granville,
the present Duke. As Marquis of Stafford, the
Duke claims descent, by bis father's paternal line,
from the Earls of Bath, and the youngest son of
Rollo, Duke of Normandy, and, by his father's ma-
ternal line, from the princess Mary, the second
daughter of Henry VII.
SUTORS of "CROMARTY. See Cromarty-
Frith.
SUURS AY, a small Hebridean island in the sound
of Harris. It lies 2j miles south-south-east of Ber-
nera, and 1J mile north-north-east of Hanbeg in
North Uist. It is between 2 and 3 miles in circuit.
SWANSTON, a small village on the lower de-
clivity of the Pentlands, in the parish of Colinton,
5 miles south-south-west of Edinburgh. Popula-
tion, in 1834, 110.
SWEETHEART-ABBEY. See Newabbey.
SWIN (Loch), an inlet of the sea, on the coast
of Argyleshire, opposite the island of Jura. It is
10i miles long, and from 5 furlongs to 2 miles broad.
It runs up north-north-eastward, in a line slightly
divergent from that of the coast, so as to enclose a
long and very slender peninsula; and it flings out
several long, narrow arms, in lines nearly parallel
to its own direction, so as to peninsulate various
belts of hill-ground on its coasts. At its entrance
lies a cluster of islets; on one of which are well-
preserved remains of an ancient chapel and vaulted
cell, with an elegant and curiously sculptured sar-
cophagus. A series of abrupt and lofty hills encom-
passes the loch; and they terminate in rocky and
deeply indented shores, and, over much of their de-
clivity, are opulently wooded. The scenery is strik-
ing and full of character. On the east shore, about.
2 miles from the entrance, stand the fine ruins of
Castle-Swin.
SWINNA, or Swona, a small island of Orkney,
belonging to the parish of South Ronaldshay :
which see. It lies on the north side of the Pentland
frith, off the entrance of Scalpa-Flow, If mile west
of Barth-head in South Ronaldshay, and 3 miles
south-east of Cantick-head in Walls. It is about
1} mile in length, and less than half-a-mile in mean