Caithness
Caithness (
Gallaibh in
Gaelic)
[The Cait element of Caithness is Pictish or Goidelic in origin but the origin of Caithness is Norse or Norn, and may be read as meaning Horn (or Nose) of Cait. The Gaelic name, Gallaibh, means land of the Norse (or of the foreigner). The Cait element of Caithness is represented as Cat in Cataibh, the Gaelic name for Sutherland, and as Cait in Na h-Innse Cait, the Old Irish for Shetland.] is a
committee area of
Highland Council,
Scotland; a
lieutenancy area; and a
registration county,
Caithness was formerly a
district within the
Highland region from 1975 to 1996 and a
local government county with its own
county council from 1891 to 1975. The name was used also for the
earldom of Caithness and the
Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (1708 to 1918). The boundaries of
Caithness are not identical in all contexts.
Caithness has a land boundary with
Sutherland. Otherwise it is bounded by sea. The land boundary follows a
watershed and is crossed by two
roads (the
A9 and the
A836) and one
railway. Across the
Pentland Firth ferries link Caithness with
Orkney, and Caithness has also an
airport at
Wick.
Wick is a
Royal Burgh and is the former
county town. The only other
burgh in Caithness is
Thurso.
In 2001 Caithness had a resident population of 23,866 and settlement centres include those of
Berriedale,
Burnside,
Castletown,
Dunnet,
Halkirk,
Haster,
John O'Groats,
Latheron,
Mey,
Reay,
Sibster,
Thurso,
Watten and
Wick.
[Ordnance Survey grid references:]
* Towns and villages:
** Berriedale:
** Burnside:
** Castletown (Drill Hall):
** Dunnet:
** Halkirk:
** Haster:
** John O'Groats:
** Latheron:
** Reay:
** Thurso (Town Hall):
** Watten:
** Wick (High Street):
* Topographical features:
** Morven (the highest point of Caithness): Caithness extends about 40
miles (64
kilometres) north-south and about 30 miles (50 km) east-west. The general aspect of Caithness, which measures in area about 712 square miles (1844 km²), is flat; and this peculiarity is rendered still more striking by the almost total absence of
forest.
|
Caithness landscape, looking towards Halkirk from Beinn Freiceadain |
Most of Caithness is old red
sandstone to an estimated depth of over 4,000
metres. This consists of the cemented sediments of
Lake Orcadie, which is believed to have stretched from
Shetland to
Grampian during the
Devonian period, about 370 million years ago. Fossilised fish and plant remains are found between the layers of sediment. Older metamorphic (
granite) rock is apparent in the
Scaraben and
Ord area, in the relatively high southwest area of the county. Caithness' highest point (
Morven) is in this area.
Because of the ease with which the sandstone splits to form large flat slabs (
flagstone) it is an especially useful building material, and has been used as such since
Neolithic times.
Caithness is a land of open, rolling
farmland,
moorland and scattered settlements. The area is fringed to the north and east by dramatic coastal scenery and is home to large, internationally important colonies of
seabirds. The surrounding waters of the
Pentland Firth and the
North Sea hold a great diversity of marine life. Away from the coast, the landscape is dominated by open
moorland and blanket
bog, divided up along the
straths (
river valleys) by more fertile
farm and
croft land.
The Caithness landscape is rich with the remains of pre-historic occupation. These include the
Grey Cairns of Camster, the
Stone Lud, the
Hill O Many Stanes, a complex of sites around
Loch Yarrows and over 100
brochs. And numerous coastal castles (now mostly ruins) are
Norse in their foundations. When the Norsemen arrived, probably in the 10th century, the county was probably
Pictish, but with its culture subject to some
Goidelic influence from the
Celtic Church. The name Pentland Firth can be read as meaning Pictland Fjord.
Numerous bands of Norse settlers landed in the county, and gradually established themselves around the coast. On the
Latheron (south) side, they extended their settlements as far as Berriedale. Most of the names of places, and not a few of the surnames in the lowland parts of the county, are Norse in origin. A dialect of the
Norn language was spoken, although almost nothing is known about it.
For a long time sovereignty over Caithness was disputed between Scotland and the
Norwegian Earldom of Orkney. Circa 1196 Earl Harald Maddadarsson agreed to pay a monetary tribute for Caithness to
William I. Norway has recognised Caithness as fully Scottish since the
Treaty of Perth in 1266.
Scottish Gaelic was spoken in the west of the county into the 20th century, although it is believed to be extinct now. It is sometimes erroneously claimed to have never been spoken in Caithness although interestingly the Gaelic name for the region,
Gallaibh, translates as "Land of the Gall (
non-Gaels)" . The language boundary changed over time, but the
New Statistical Record in 1841 says,
"On the eastern side of [the Burn of East Clyth] scarcely a word of Gaelic was either spoken or understood, and on the west side, English suffered the same fate".
Historically, the
Anglic language of Caithness has been defined and named, usually, as
English. There is little or no evidence, predating the late 20th century, of
Scots being used as a name for Caithness
dialect, but there is now, in some quarters, a tendency to see and name it as a form of
Scots language.
Other quotes, :"Persons with a knowledge of Gaelic in the County of Caithness (in 1911) are found to number 1,685, and to constitute 6.7 per cent of the entire population of three years of age and upwards. Of these 1,248 were born in Caithness, 273 in Sutherland, 77 in Ross & Cromarty, and 87 elsewhere. .... By an examination of the age distribution of the Gaelic speakers, it is found that only 22 of them are less than 20 years of age." (J. Patten MacDougall, Registrar General, 1912)
"A presbytery minute of 1727 says of 1,600 people who had 'come of age', 1500 could speak Gaelic only, and a mere five could read. Gaelic at this time was the principal language in most parishes except Bower, Canisbay, Dunnet and Olrig" (Omand, D.
From the Vikings to the Forty-Five, in
The Caithness book)
The underlying geology, harsh climate and long history of human occupation have shaped this rich and distinctive natural heritage. Today we see a diverse landscape incorporating both common and rare habitats and species, and Caithness provides a stronghold for many once common breeding species that have undergone serious declines elsewhere, such as
waders,
water voles and flocks of
over-wintering birds.
Many rare mammals,
birds and fish have been sighted or caught in and around Caithness waters.
Harbour porpoises, dolphins (including
Risso's,
bottle-nosed,
common,
Atlantic white-sided and
white-beaked dolphins) and
minke and
long-finned pilot whales are regularly seen from the shore and boats. Both
grey and
common seals come close to the shore to feed, rest and raise their pups, and
otters can be seen close to river mouths in some of the quieter locations.
Caithness was a district of the
Highland local government region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996. When created, under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the district included the whole of the county plus
Tongue and
Farr areas of the neighbouring
county of Sutherland. The boundary was soon changed, however, to correspond with that between the counties. Caithness was one of eight districts in the Highland region.
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 Caithness as a district involved the abolition of the two
burgh councils in Caithness,
Wick and
Thurso, as well as the Caithness
county council. The
royal burgh of Wick, which had served as the county's administrative centre, became the administrative centre for the district.
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.
Since 1996 the Highland council has maintained
area committees named for the former districts, but the boundaries of the committee areas may not always follow those of the districts.
See also: Politics of the Highland council areaThe
committee area consists of 10 out of the 80
Highland Council wards. Each ward elects one
councilor by the
first past the post system of election.
The area is represented by six
independent councillors, three
Liberal Democrat councillors and one
Labour councillor.
The area does not include the village of
Reay, which is within the
Sutherland area. Most of the parish of Reay, however, is within the Caithness area.
Community councils
The area of the former Caithness district of the
Highland region (as abolished in 1996) is divided between 12
community councils
[External link: List of community councils, Caithness.org].
Boundaries date from circa 1975, when the
regions and districts system of local government was created. They have no correspondence with the boundaries of now existing
Highland Council wards, which were created in 1999.
Two of the community councils are officially 'inactive', due to lack of nomination of candidates for election to the councils.
Parishes
Historically, for civil administration purposes, the county of Caithness has been divided between 10
parishes.
Prior to implementation of the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, these were also parishes of the
Church of Scotland, and one Caithness parish straddled the boundary between the county of Caithness and the
county of Sutherland. For civil administration purposes, implementation of the act redefined boundaries so that any parish would be entirely within a particular county.
Parish councils were created under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1894.
The councils were abolished under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 and, as civil administration areas, parishes were rendered redundant by provisions of the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which came into effect in 1975.
List of parishes
The
Caithness constituency of the
House of Commons of the
Parliament of Great Britain (1708 to 1801) and the
Parliament of the United Kingdom (1801 to 1918) represented essentially the county from 1708 to 1918. At the same time however, the county town of
Wick was represented as a component of
Tain Burghs until 1832 and of
Wick Burghs until 1918.
Between 1708 and 1832 the Caithness constituency was one of the
Buteshire and Caithness alternating constituencies: one constituency elected a
Member of Parliament (MP) to one
parliament and then the other elected an MP to the next. Between 1832 and 1918 it was a separate constituency, electing an MP to every parliament.
In 1918 the Caithness constituency and Wick 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.
The modern constituencies may be seen as more sub-divisions of the
Highland area than as representative of counties (and burghs). For its own purposes, however, the Highland Council uses more conservative sub-divisions, with names which refer back to the era of district councils and, in some cases, county councils.
In the
Scottish Parliament Caithness is represented also as part of the
Highlands and Islands electoral region.
See also
*
Buteshire and Caithness (UK Parliament constituencies) (1708 to 1918)
*
Tain Burghs (UK Parliament constituency) (1708 to 1832)
*
Wick Burghs (UK Parliament constituency) (1832 to 1918)
*
Caithness and Sutherland (UK Parliament constituency) (1918 to 1997)
*
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (UK Parliament constituency) (1997 to present)
*
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Scottish Parliament constituency) (1999 to present)
See also
Wikipedia articles
*
Local government in Scotland*
Regions of Scotland*
Subdivisions of ScotlandExternal pages
*
Caithness Community website*
Caithness Dialect*
Caithness Tartan
