FODDERTY, a parish, in the county of Ross-and-Cromarty,
'2 miles (W.) from Dingwall; containing,
with the villages of Auchterneed, Keithtown, and Maryburgh,
the island of Balblair, and part of the quoad
sacra districts of Carnoch and Kinloch-Luichart, 2437
inhabitants. The name is probably derived from two
words in the Gaelic language, signifying a meadow along
the side of a hill, a description characteristic of the
celebrated valley of Strathpeffer, which is chiefly comprised
in this parish. The ancient history of Fodderty
is very imperfectly known, but it appears to be closely
connected with that of the famous McKenzies, of whom
Roderick McKenzie was knighted by James VI.; George,
the grandson of Roderick, was made secretary of state
to Queen Anne, with the dignity of Earl of Cromarty,
and in I69S he obtained an act to annex all his lands
in Ross-shire to the county whence he derived his title.
Fodderty comprehended a large part of these lands;
and thus it happens that, though locally situated in Ross,
it belongs to the county of Cromarty. The length of
the parish, from north to south, is about eleven miles;
it is nine miles in breadth from east to west, and is
bounded by Dingwall on the east, by Coutin and Kinloch-
Luichart on the west, by Kincardine and Kiltearn
on the north, and by Urray on the south. Strathpeffer,
which is principally in the parish, is nearly six miles
long and three-quarters of a mile broad; it is encompassed
by lofty hills, and watered by the Peffery rivulet.
In every direction the views from the eminences are very
fine. The lofty and massive Ben-Wyvis, 3426 feet high,
and partly in the parish; Knock-Farril, on which is a
strikingly marked vitrified fort; the vale of Strathpeffer,
with its venerable castle; the town of Dingwall, the
Firth of Cromarty, and the interesting scenery of Tulloch
Castle, interspersed in different directions with the round
tops of wild and rugged hills, all unite to complete a landscape
of considerable interest. Loch Ussie, containing
several islands, and encompassed with thriving plantations,
is also a pleasing object.
The SOIL slightly varies, but in general it is found to
be a dark loamy mould, with a stiff clayey subsoil. A
large portion of the land is in a state of high cultivation;
about 1000 acres are under fir and larch plantation, and
the remainder is hill pasture. The annual value of real
property in the parish is £6092. The strata differ considerably,
exhibiting gneiss on the higher grounds, and
in the lower parts red sandstone and conglomerate; in
many places is a slaty rock with black whinstone, and
in others a bituminous schist, mixed with pyrites. The
noble mansion of Castle-Leod, built by Sir Roderick
Mc Kenzie in I6I6, was the residence of the Earls of
Cromarty (a title now extinct), and is of truly baronial
appearance, five stories high, and turreted. It stands at
the base of a hill beautifully rounded at the summit,
and in the midst of extensive parks adorned with
various kinds of trees, many of them of ancient growth
and gigantic stature. Among these is a chesnut-tree,
measuring at the bottom of its trunk twenty-four feet in
circumference; the w idth of its branches is ninety feet.
There is a great variety of mineral springs in the parish,
but the most celebrated is the Strathpeffer Spa, which
has been brought into great repute within the last thirty
or forty years. It has two wells, one much stronger
than the other, both impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen
gas, and said to be highly efficacious in nervous
and dyspeptic complaints. A considerable number of
respectable houses have been built in the vicinity of the
spa, the fame of which has drawn many visiters. A
large and convenient pump-room was erected in 1819,
vhich is regularly supplied with the public papers; an
hotel has been built at Blar-na-ceaun, within about half
a mile of the pump-room, and there is an inn also on the
east side with comfortable accommodations. An hospital,
or infirmary, has been formed, through the exertions
of J. E. Gordon, Esq., for the poor who resort to
the spa for the benefit of its waters: it can accommodate
fifty persons. There is a penny-post in the parish;
and between the months of May and October, during
the visiting season, a conveyance runs twice a day to
Dingwall, where it meets the Inverness coach. On the
river Conon is a salmon-fishery; andin the small stream
of the Peffery, black trout are frequently taken.
Ecclesiastically the parish is within the bounds of the
presbytery of Dingwall, synod of Ross. The stipend of
the minister is £'2.55, with a manse, built in 1796, and a
glebe and garden of thirteen acres: the patronage belongs
to the Marchioness of Stafford, daughter of the
late John Hay Mc Kenzie, Esq., of Cromarty. Fodderty
parish church, a plain but pleasing structure, built
in 1807, and enlarged in 1835, accommodates 600 persons
with sittings: the service is alternatively performed
in English and Gaelic. In the village of Maryburgh
is also a church, recently erected, distant from
the parish church about five miles. A parochial school
is maintained, in which the classics and the ordinary
branches of education are taught; the master has a
salary of £36, with a house, and £20 fees. Near Fodderty
is Temple-croft, or Cro'wht-an-Tetim puil, in which
stone coffins containing skeletons have been found. On
the heights of the Hilton estate is a sepulchral cairn,
measuring '260 feet in circumference; and in the same
neighbourhood are the remains of some Druidical temples.
There are two huge stones on either side of the
church, vulgarly reported to have been thrown at his
enemies by the far-famed Fingal, the hero of Ossian,
and to have remained in their present position. Several
other relics of antiquity are to be seen in the parish.
See Carnoch and Kinloch-Luichart.