Welcome to the Highlands
Living, working and visiting the Highlands provides opportunities to find out more about some of the of the history and cultural heritage of the Scottish Highlands.
Castles
With a history of wars, battles and clan disputes, the Scottish Highlands has a number of striking castles, many of which are now popular attractions. Situated in a Nairnshire village 15 miles from Inverness, Cawdor Castle is perhaps best known for its connection to Shakespeare’s ‘Scottish Play’, Macbeth, in which the title character is made Thane of Cawdor. However, the Bard’s tragedy is highly fictionalised and the castle was built around a 15th century tower house, long after the real-life, 11th century King Macbeth.
Standingon a headland overlooking Loch Ness and now in ruins, Urquhart Castle was founded in the 13th century, featured in the Wars of Scottish Independence and was destroyed in the 17th century to prevent its use by Jacobite forces. It is managed by Historic Scotland as one of the country’s most popular visitor attractions. In Skye, Dunvegan Castle is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland, having been stronghold of the chiefs of the Clan MacLeod for more than 800 years. In Caithness, Castle of Mey is the most northerly castle on the British mainland and was the holiday home of the late Queen Mother and still visited by Royals.
Clans and tartan
Derived from the Gaelic word ‘clann’, meaning ‘children’ a clan is a kinship group which engenders a sense of shared identity and descent. Many clans have their own chief, and most are associated with a particular geographical area. Historically, many clansmen took their chief’s surname as their own as a show of solidarity which was reciprocated by protection or sustenance. Tartan is a pattern made up of criss-crossed bands in multiple colours, it comes in many patterns, with most associated with a particular Scottish clan. Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns.
Crofting
Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production that remains, despite many challenges, important to the area’s economy and culture of the Highlands and Islands. However, few people can survive economically by crofting alone, and many crofters must find other income streams to make a living.
Culloden
Five miles from Inverness, the site of the last pitched battle on British soil and the defining confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Uprising, Culloden Battlefield is managed by the National Trust for Scotland. In the battle, fought on 16th April 1746, forces led by Charles Edward Stewart – Bonnie Prince Charlie – were decisively defeated by British Government (Hanovarian) troops commended by the Duke of Cumberland.
Distilleries
Scotland has five distinct whisky-producing regions – Highland, Speyside, Islay, Campbeltown and Lowland – and there are around 100 malt whisky distilleries in the country. Where a whisky is produced can impact greatly on its flavour, with the source of the water and the presence of peat, for example, having a bearing on taste. Examples of whiskies produced in NHS Highland’s area are Laphroaig (Islay), Old Pulteney (Wick), Glenmorangie (Tain) and Talisker (Skye).
Gaelic
Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. The 2011 census showed that more than 57,000 people in Scotland spoke the language. Although its use is declining, there are strong moves to revive it and the number of Gaelic speakers aged under 20 is actually on the increase. A language development body, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, exists, and there is a Gaelic language television channel, BBC Alba, the name taken from the Gaelic word for Scotland.
Highland Clearances
In the 18th and 19th centuries, estates in the Highlands moved from arable and mixed farming to more profitable and less labour-intensive sheep farming, and ‘cleared’ surplus tenants from their land. This process, known as the Highland Clearances, were often brutal and sometimes violent, and had a devastating effect on livelihoods and Highland culture, with many people forced overseas to start a new life.
Highland Games
Highland Games are held throughout Scotland and in other countries to celebrate Scottish – and particularly Highland – culture. They typically feature piping, drumming and Highland dancing, as well as sporting events such as caber tossing. The largest Highland Games in the world, the Cowal Highland Gathering, is held every August in Dunoon.
Inverness
Known as the capital of the Highlands, Inverness is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and NHS Highland. It has enjoyed considerable economic and population growth in recent times and has been ranked fifth out of 189 British cities for its quality of life, the highest of any Scottish city. In a survey conducted in 2015, Inverness was found to be the happiest place in Scotland. It is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe.
John o’Groats
Renowned as the starting/finishing point of a long-distance challenge popular with charity fund-raisers – Land’s End, in Cornwall, is 876 miles away – John o’Groats is not quite the most northerly point of mainland Britain; nearby Dunnet Head has that honour.
Landscape
Covering around 41 per cent of Scotland’s land mass, the area covered by NHS Highland features most of the most dramatic scenery in the UK, with striking mountain ranges and numerous lochs, the largest of which is Loch Ness. Some 23 miles long and more than 750 feet deep, it is by volume the largest body of fresh water in the UK. However, it is perhaps best known for sightings, alleged or otherwise, of the Loch Ness Monster. ‘Nessie’ has a close relative, ‘Morag’ in Loch Morar in Lochaber.
There are numerous islands within NHS Highland’s area, only a handful of which are populated. The largest is Skye, with a population of around 10,000. Until the opening of the Skye Bridge in 1995, it was linked to the mainland solely by ferries. There was widespread opposition to the tolls charged for using the bridge and in 2004 the tolls were abolished.
Ben Nevis (1,346m) is the UK’s highest mountain and dominates the landscape around the town of Fort William. The next five highest mountains in Scotland are in the Cairngorms range, largely situated within NHS Highland’s area.
Shinty
A stick-and-ball game played mainly in the Highlands, shinty has an important role in the social and sporting life of many communities. The sport, which has variants in other parts of the world, is governed by the Inverness-based Camanachd Association. A hybrid sport has been developed with some features drawn from shinty and the similar Irish sport of hurling. This composite-rules game, shinty-hurling, allows Scotland and Ireland to play annual international matches.
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NHS Highland
May 2016