EDDERTON, a parish, in the county of Ross-and-Cromarty,
5 miles distant (S. W.) from the town of
Tain; containing 97.5 inhabitants. This place, which
derives its name from its situation among hills that
surround it on all sides except the north, was noted in
the reign of William the Lion for its castle near the
shore of the Firth of Dornoch, erected by that monarch
to command the ferry between the counties of
Ross and Sutherland. In 1227, Ferquhard or Farquhar,
Earl of Ross, having accompanied Alexander II. into
England, challenged a renowned French champion whom
he met at the court of Henry III. to single combat, and,
in gratitude for his victory, founded here on his return
the abbey of Fearn, which he amply endowed for Augustine
monks. From the frequent annoyances, however,
to which the brethren were exposed in this situation,
the founder, at the request of the abbot, removed
the establishment, about the year 1*246, to a more secluded
spot about twelve miles distant, in the parish of
Fearn, where it continued to flourish till the Reformation,
when one-half of its revenues was granted to the
bishopric of Ross, and the remainder to the Ross family
of Balnagown. The parish is bounded on the north
by Dornoch Firth and the Firth of Tain, and is about
ten miles in length, and nearly eight miles in extreme
breadth, comprising an area of 41,760 acres, of which
1630 are arable, 710 woodland and plantation, and the
remainder meadow, pasture, and moor. Its surface is
partly level, consisting of three successive ledges of
table-land, and in other portions diversified with numerous
hills, the most conspicuous of which are, Cambuscurry
to the east, having an elevation of 600 feet
above the level of the sea, and the hill of Struie to the
west, rising to the height of 1000 feet: both these are
wholly within the parish. Cnoc-an-t-Sabhal, on the
southern boundary, is about 1000 feet in height; and
Muidhe-Bhlarie, on the south-west border, has an elevation
of 1300 feet above the sea. There are four small
rivers, which have their source in the parish, the Edderton
burn, the Daan, the Easter Fearn, and the Grugaig:
during the dry season they are very inconsiderable
streams, but after rains they become swollen and impetuous
in their course, and have sometimes been known
to sweep away the bridges built over them.
The SOIL in the higher lands near the sea is gravelly,
in the lower a deep alluvial loam alternated with sand,
and in other places a mixture of clay, gravel, and moss;
the arable lands are in good cultivation, and the system
of husbandry has been improved under the encouragement
given to his tenants by the principal landholder.
Sir Charles Ross. The annual value of real property in
the parish is £1794. The plantations, some of which
are of early date, are oak, birch, and Scotch fir: of the
last there are about 100 acres on the lands of Balnagown
in a very flourishing condition, and chiefly of long
growth. In the deeper mosses are found the trunks and
roots of fir, oak, hazel, and birch, some of them of great
dimensions. The substrata are principally old red sandstone,
conglomerate, and limestone; and in the hill of
Struie are found gneiss, quartz, granite, and whinstone.
The chief residences are, Ardmore House, beautifully
situated; Balblair; and Upper Edderton. There is no
village in the parish: at Ardmore, on the Firth of Tain,
is a good harbour accessible to vessels of 100 tons, and
during the summer several vessels arrive with supplies
of coal, lime, and other merchandise. At Balblair is a
distillery, commenced about fifty years since; it consumes
120 bushels of malt weekly, producing 240 gallons
of whisky, in very high repute. Facility of communication
with Tain, from the markets of which the inhabitants
are supplied with provisions, is afforded by the
turnpike-road to Bonar-Bridgc.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposes Edderton is within the
bounds of the presbytery of Tain, synod of Ross. The
minister's stipend is £203. 14., with a manse, and a
glebe valued at £16 per annum; patron, the Marchi-
oness of Stafford. The former church, erected in 1743
and efficiently repaired in 1794, a neat plain structure
containing 350 sittings, being inconveniently situated, a
new church was built in 1S41 in a more centrical part of
the parish. It is a fine, well-built edifice, with a handsome
belfry and spire; the interior is of elegant appearance,
and will accommodate 800 persons. The members
of the Free Church have taken possession of the old
edifice. The parochial schoolmaster has a salary of £34,
with a house and garden, and the fees average about £5
per annum. A female school, supported by the Society
for Propagating Christian Knowledge, was established in
1837, and a Gaelic school in 1840 by the Gaelic Society
of Edinburgh. Behind the parochial school-house is an
obelisk of rough whinstone, ten feet in height, on which
is sculptured the figure of a fish, probably a salmon,
with two concentric circles below it; and surrounding
the pillar, at a distance of three yards from its base, is
an intrenchment about two feet in height, inclosing an
area within which a fight took place between some of
the inhabitants and a party of Norwegian pirates, when
Carius, the leader of the latter, was killed. The name
of the place is from that event called Carry-Blair. In
the churchyard is a sculptured stone, on which is a warrior
on horseback, with a large cross above, and on the
other side various concentric circles and hieroglyphics.
A complete chain of circular forts formerly surrounded
the parish, but few of them at present are in any tolerable
state of preservation: one, called Dune AUiscaig,
about fourteen feet in height, and having a spiral staircase
within the walls, was demolished in the year 1818
for the sake of the materials which it afforded.