78-594: The River Tarff is a river in Inverness-shire in the Scottish Highlands . It rises between the hills of Gairbeinn and Geal Charn and flows northwards then southwestwards and finally north-northwestwards into the Great Glen where it enters Loch Ness at Fort Augustus . The middle and lower reaches of the river are confined within the gorge of Glen Tarff. Its headwaters have been dammed to form
156-540: A county of a city . The boundaries of the counties of cities were periodically expanded as their urban areas grew. With the exception of the four counties of cities, the other burghs which had been excluded from county council control in 1890 were all placed under the authority of the county councils in 1930. Under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 , the county councils of the two least populous counties, Kinross-shire and Nairnshire, were each paired with
234-448: A large burgh , allowing the town council to continue to provide most local government services. From the 1930s onwards the county council used the former Inverness College building at the corner of Ardross Street and Glenurquhart Road (built 1876) as its offices, renaming it County Buildings . The building was substantially extended in 1963 to provide additional offices, but council meetings continued to be held at Inverness Castle until
312-469: A lord-lieutenant . Following the union of Scotland and England under the Acts of Union 1707 , the term 'county' came to be used interchangeably with the older term 'shire'. From 1748 onwards sheriffs ceased to be automatically appointed to a single shire, with progressively larger sheriffdoms created instead, grouping multiple shires under a single sheriff. Elected county councils were created in 1890 under
390-463: A sheriff . The old province of Moray was broadly split into the three shires of Elginshire , Nairnshire , and Inverness-shire, with Inverness-shire including the areas of the provincial lordships of Badenoch and Lochaber which were subordinate to Moray. Around the same time, the Scottish crown was also trying to secure its control on Ross and Caithness (which then included Sutherland ),
468-627: A beach as the runway. There was an Inverness-shire constituency of the Parliament of Great Britain ( Westminster ) from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (also at Westminster) from 1801 to 1918. The constituency represented, nominally, the county of Inverness minus the parliamentary burgh of Inverness , which was represented as a component of the Inverness District of Burghs constituency. In 1918
546-457: A county basis after 1975 were very few, principally relating to land registration, in which capacity they are known as registration counties . Local government was reorganised again in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 , with the regions and districts being replaced by 32 single-tier council areas . Some of the council areas have the same names as historic counties, but may cover significantly different areas. For example,
624-565: A larger neighbour; Nairnshire with Moray, and Kinross-shire with Perthshire. The county councils of these four counties continued to be elected separately, but most functions were provided through them acting as the "joint county councils" of Perth & Kinross and Moray & Nairn. In 1963 the Government published a white paper which proposed a reduction in the number of counties from thirty-four to between ten and fifteen. A process of consultation between county councils and officials from
702-443: A ruling in abstract terms, as the answer depended on the context; they were one shire for the purposes of the administration of justice, lieutenancy , and parliamentary constituencies , but formed two shires for local government functions. The commissioners were gradually given other local government functions. The commissioners did not exercise powers over any royal burghs within their areas, which were self-governing. In 1707,
780-496: A single county called Ross and Cromarty , and resolved the ambiguity regarding Orkney and Shetland by declaring them to be two separate counties (using the then-prevalent spelling of 'Zetland' for Shetland), after which there were 33 counties. The act also triggered a review of parish and county boundaries to eliminate exclaves and cases where parishes straddled county boundaries. Most of the resulting boundary changes took effect in 1891. The amended boundaries were not just used for
858-681: Is crossed by the Great Glen , which contains Loch Ness and separates the Grampian Mountains to the south-east from the Northwest Highlands . The county also includes Ben Nevis , the highest mountain in both Scotland and the United Kingdom . The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since then, the parts of the county on the mainland and in the Inner Hebrides have been part of
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#1732779935987936-651: Is generally mountainous, with numerous lochs scattered throughout the county. Some of the lochs have been enlarged to use as reservoirs. The larger inland lochs are: Inverness-shire contains numerous small islands off its west coast which form part of the Inner Hebrides . The largest of these is Skye , separated from the Inverness-shire mainland by the Sound of Sleat . It is the second largest island in Scotland and has numerous peninsulas and offshore islands. To
1014-575: The Aberdeenshire council area is much larger than the historic county of Aberdeenshire, also including most of the historic county of Kincardineshire and part of Banffshire , whereas the Renfrewshire council area is much smaller than historic Renfrewshire, only covering the central part of the historic county. Conversely, Fife retained the same boundaries at both the 1975 and 1996 reforms. The historic counties of Scotland are included in
1092-723: The Act of Union united Scotland with England . England also had shires , which had been mostly created in Anglo-Saxon times, and had gradually also come to be known as counties. The word 'county' means an area controlled by a noble called a count in Norman French , or earl in English. Following the Norman conquest , England's earldoms (which, like Scotland's provinces, had previously covered substantially different territories to
1170-639: The County of Inverness , is a historic county in Scotland . It is named after Inverness , its largest settlement, which was also the county town . Covering much of the Highlands and some of the Hebrides , it is Scotland's largest county by land area. It is generally rural and sparsely populated, containing only three towns which held burgh status, being Inverness, Fort William and Kingussie . The county
1248-565: The Glendoe Reservoir which forms the upper water storage basin for the Glendoe Hydro Scheme which began operation in 2009. 57°08′N 4°40′W / 57.133°N 4.667°W / 57.133; -4.667 This article related to a river in Scotland is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( Scottish Gaelic : Siorrachd Inbhir Nis ) or
1326-523: The Glenelg peninsula (shared with Ross-shire), Loch Hourn , Knoydart peninsula, Loch Nevis , North and South Morar / Arisaig peninsula, Loch Ailort , Moidart peninsula and Loch Moidart . The west coast of Inverness-shire was traditionally referred to as the Rough Bounds due to its remoteness and inaccessibility. It remains wild and sparsely populated today. The terrain in Inverness-shire
1404-642: The Highland region and the Western Isles council area, three new constituencies were created to cover the Highland region. The region, until 1996, and the unitary Highland council area, 1996 to present, have been covered by three constituencies since then but there were changes to boundaries and names in 1997 and 2005. In 1999 the areas of the Westminster constituencies became also constituencies of
1482-506: The Highland region, which was redesignated a council area in 1996. The Outer Hebrides parts of the county became part of the Western Isles , which since 1998 has used only the Scots Gaelic version of its name, Na h-Eileanan an Iar . The neighbouring counties prior to the 1975 reforms were (clockwise from north) Ross and Cromarty , Nairnshire , Moray , Banffshire , Aberdeenshire , Perthshire and Argyll . The mainland part of
1560-643: The Highland Council 's area. The Isle of Skye is connected to the mainland by a bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh in Ross-shire. Various bus companies serve the larger towns of the county, such as Stagecoach Group and Scottish Citylink . Shiel Buses operate local buses in the Fort William area. Stagecoach operates several bus routes on the Isle of Skye. Numerous ferries connect the islands of
1638-688: The Highland Region , whilst the Outer Hebrides parts (the districts of Barra , Harris , North Uist and South Uist ) became part of the Western Isles. The parts of Inverness-shire which went to the Highland Region were split between four lower-tier districts : Prior to 1975, each county had appointed a lord-lieutenant . As part of the 1975 reforms, new lieutenancy areas were established instead. Inverness-shire
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#17327799359871716-555: The Index of Place Names (IPN) published by the Office for National Statistics . Each "place" included in the IPN is related to the historic county it lies within, as well as to a set of administrative areas. None of the counties' legal names included the suffix 'shire'. Those counties named after towns therefore had the same name as the town, but were routinely referred to in legal contexts as
1794-576: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 , taking most of the functions of the commissioners of supply. The county councils were abolished in 1975, when local government was reorganised. Following another reorganisation in 1996, Scotland is now divided into 32 council areas . Some of the council areas share names with the historic counties, but in most such cases they have notable differences in their boundaries. The historic counties are still used for certain limited functions, serving as registration counties . There are also lieutenancy areas which are based on
1872-464: The Middle Ages for judicial purposes, being territories over which a sheriff had jurisdiction. They were distinct from the various older mormaerdoms , earldoms and other territories into which Scotland was also divided, which are collectively termed the provinces of Scotland by modern historians. The provinces gradually lost their functions, whereas the shires gradually gained functions. From
1950-661: The Monadhliath Mountains ) to the east. The glen contains the notable lochs of Loch Ness (Scotland's second largest), Loch Oich , and Loch Lochy , which are connected by the Caledonian Canal . The Great Glen opens to the south-west into the sea loch of Loch Linnhe . Ben Nevis , the tallest peak in Britain, is located to the east of Fort William. The west coast consists of a number of peninsulas divided by long sea loch inlets; north to south these are
2028-573: The Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868 , generally being divided into smaller constituencies. The group of constituencies within each county was termed the 'parliamentary county'. Elected county councils were introduced in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 , taking most of the functions of the commissioners of supply, which were eventually abolished in 1930. The 1889 Act also merged Ross-shire and Cromartyshire into
2106-537: The Scottish Office was begun to effect the amalgamations. Following a change of government, it was announced in 1965 that a "more comprehensive and authoritative" review of local government areas would be undertaken. In 1966 a Royal Commission on Local Government in Scotland, chaired by Lord Wheatley , was appointed. The commission's report in 1969 recommended the replacement of the counties with larger regions. In 1970 another change in government control
2184-634: The Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood ). The boundaries of Scottish Parliament constituencies have not altered since then. The Holyrood constituencies are within the Highlands and Islands electoral region . Since 1983, Inverness has appeared in the names of Westminster and Holyrood constituencies as tabled below. Shires of Scotland The Shires of Scotland ( Scottish Gaelic : Siorrachdan na h-Alba ; Scots : Scots coonties ), or Counties of Scotland , were historic subdivisions of Scotland . The shires were originally established in
2262-585: The "Shire" suffix a separate word, as for example "Berwick Shire", "Roxburgh Shire", "the Shire of Selkirk otherwise known as Etterick Forest", and in the north to "Murray" (Moray), "Inverness Shire", "Aberdeen Shire", "Banff Shire", "Ross Shire". The map of Boswell's and Johnson's A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1773) gives "Shire" to every one shown, including "Angus Shire" and "Fife Shire". The Ordnance Survey 's official maps produced from
2340-506: The 'shire of X' or 'county of X' in order to distinguish the county from the town. However, in general usage, many of the counties had 'shire' appended to their names, particularly those named after towns. The first detailed county maps of Scotland were produced in the late 17th century. John Adair's maps of c. 1682 included the names of Midlothian , East Lothian , Twaddall and Wast Lothian (the latter also as "Linlithgowshire" ). The county maps of Herman Moll (c. 1745) preferred to keep
2418-501: The 14th century, but there were more pronounced changes to the shires of the Highlands and Islands into the 17th century, as the Scottish crown sought to consolidate its authority over the whole kingdom. From the 17th century the shires started to be used for local administration apart from judicial functions. In 1667 Commissioners of Supply were appointed in each shire to collect the land tax. There were 33 shires at that time, which were each given their own commissioners of supply, with
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2496-412: The 16th century, the shires served as constituencies , electing shire commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland . From 1667 each shire had commissioners of supply responsible for collecting local taxes; the commissioners of supply were subsequently given various local government functions as well. From 1797, the shires also served as areas for organising the militia , which was the responsibility of
2574-588: The 1891 boundary changes, which sought to eliminate cases where parishes straddled county boundaries, there were 33 parishes in the county. Many changes have taken place since the Reformation period: The Highland Main Line connects Inverness by rail to Perth to the south, Kyle of Lochalsh to the west, and Thurso / Wick to the north. The West Highland Line connects Fort William to Mallaig . The Inverness to Aberdeen main line also serves Nairn within
2652-416: The 19th century onwards adopted the practice of adding 'shire' to the end of the name of each shire named after a town, and also used the names Argyllshire, Buteshire, Ross-shire (prior to its merger with Cromartyshire in 1889) and Morayshire, despite those four not being named after towns. Some counties had alternative names by which they were sometimes known. In five cases the legal name was changed during
2730-490: The 20th century: Other alternative names sometimes used informally included 'The Mearns' for Kincardineshire, 'Tweeddale' for Peeblesshire, 'Ettrick Forest' for Selkirkshire, and 'Teviotdale' for Roxburghshire. Until the 1930s, the General Post Office advised against included county names in addresses, recommending they only be used in those cases where it was necessary to distinguish between post towns with
2808-453: The English language version of the area's name from Western Isles to Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Scots Gaelic for 'Western Isles'), to be used in both English and Gaelic contexts. Inverness-shire is Scotland's largest historic county by land area. At the 1921 census it was reported to have an area of 4,211 square miles (10,910 km ). Of the historic counties in the UK as a whole, only Yorkshire
2886-1026: The Isles . The stag's head comes from the crest of the Frasers of Lovat, while the bull's head comes from the crest of the MacLeods of that Ilk. The motto is in Gaelic and means "For the Good of the County". Civil parishes are still used for some statistical purposes, and separate census figures are published for them. As their areas have been largely unchanged since the 19th century this allows for comparison of population figures over an extended period. Parishes had parish boards from 1845 to 1894 and then parish councils from 1894 to 1930. They have had no administrative functions since 1930. In 1854 there had been 36 civil parishes, 7 of which had straddled county boundaries. Following
2964-594: The Outer Hebrides, the Inner Hebrides, and the Scottish Mainland. There are three airports in the county: Inverness , Benbecula , and Barra . All three operate flights within Scotland, with Inverness also providing flights to other cities in the UK as well as some destinations in Europe. Barra Airport is famous within aviation circles as it is the only airport in the world where scheduled flights use
3042-481: The Post Office used the form Morayshire, and used Ross-shire for the mainland part of Ross and Cromarty. Otherwise, it omitted the 'shire' suffix. The Post Office also used the spelling 'Shetland' rather than the legal spelling of 'Zetland'. The county council of Dunbartonshire considered a motion to change that county's name to 'Lennox' in 1956. Supporters of the idea argued that as well as bringing back into use
3120-548: The Sheriff of Inverness was then also made responsible for the Outer Hebrides and some of the Inner Hebrides , notably Skye . An act of parliament in 1504 acknowledged that the shire of Inverness was too big for the effective administration of justice, and so declared Ross and Caithness to be separate shires. That act was set aside for most purposes in 1509; the northern areas eventually regained their independence from
3198-413: The area around Aviemore . Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 , taking most of the functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930). The burgh of Inverness was deemed capable of providing its own county-level local government functions, and so it was excluded from the administrative area of the county council, although
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3276-410: The authority of the county councils. Following the example of Edinburgh, three of the burghs outside county council control were subsequently also made independent from their host county for other functions too, with the provost of such burghs acting as lieutenant, being Glasgow in 1893, Dundee in 1894, and Aberdeen in 1899. Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow were then each known as
3354-472: The basis for the authority of the earls and other nobles in their provinces. Those office holders who were displaced were compensated. The reforms of 1748 therefore saw the effective end of any meaningful function for the provinces, with the shires or counties thereafter being the main administrative divisions of Scotland. Also in 1748, under the Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747 , the office of sheriff principal
3432-466: The boundaries of Inverness-shire. Notable changes included gaining the Small Isles of Canna , Muck and Rùm from Argyll. Exceptionally, the parish of Croy and Dalcross was allowed to continue to straddle Inverness-shire and Nairnshire. The boundary changes all took effect in 1891. Inverness was subsequently brought within the administrative area of the county council in 1930, but classed as
3510-464: The counties and the parliamentary counties, which was resolved when constituencies were next reviewed in 1918 . Secondly, valuation rolls continued to have effect over the area for which they had been originally compiled. Thirdly, any ecclesiastical rights or jurisdictions were unaffected by the changes to boundaries (a provision more relevant to the parish changes than the county ones). Burghs were towns with certain rights of self-government. Prior to
3588-590: The county constituency was divided between two new constituencies, the Inverness constituency and the Western Isles constituency . The Inverness constituency included the burgh of Inverness, other components of the district of burghs being divided between the Moray and Nairn constituency and the Ross and Cromarty constituency . In 1983, eight years after the local government county of Inverness had been divided between
3666-486: The county council still chose to base itself there. Inverness-shire County Council held its first meeting on 22 May 1890 in the county's main courthouse at Inverness Castle , which had been rebuilt in 1836. The 1889 Act also led to a review of boundaries, with exclaves being transferred to a county they actually bordered, and parish and county boundaries being adjusted to eliminate cases where parishes straddled county boundaries. There were several such changes affecting
3744-677: The county council's abolition in 1975. In 1955 the UK Government claimed sovereignty over Rockall , an uninhabited islet in the North Atlantic Ocean , which lies 301 kilometres (187 statute miles; 163 nautical miles) west of St Kilda . Under the Island of Rockall Act 1972 , Rockall was assigned to the Harris district of Inverness-shire. The UK claim on Rockall is disputed, particularly by Ireland . Local government
3822-673: The county had a coast to the east onto the Moray Firth , and a much longer coast to the west onto the Sea of the Hebrides . The historic county boundaries of Inverness-shire are still used for certain functions, being a registration county . There is also an Inverness lieutenancy area which covers the mainland part of the pre-1975 county and the Small Isles , as well as the parts of the historic counties of Argyll and Moray that were transferred to Highland. The mainland part of Inverness-shire
3900-426: The county, with the exception of the burgh of Edinburgh , which from 1482 had appointed its own sheriff. Edinburgh was thereafter sometimes described as the "city and county of the city of Edinburgh" to distinguish it from the surrounding "county of Edinburgh" (Midlothian). When county councils were created in 1890, the 26 largest burghs were allowed to retain their independence, but smaller burghs were placed under
3978-457: The division of the country (as it then was) into shires by the conversion of existing thanedoms . The shires occasionally covered the same area as a province; for example, the shire of Forfar covered the same area as the province of Angus . More often though, the shires were groupings or subdivisions of the provinces. For example, the province of Lothian was covered by the three shires of Linlithgow , Edinburgh and Haddington . Conversely,
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#17327799359874056-459: The exception of the sheriffdom of Orkney and Shetland, where separate bodies of commissioners were created for each group of islands. Orkney and Shetland having one sheriff but two sets of commissioners of supply led to ambiguity about their status. At a court case in 1829, the Court of Session was asked to rule on whether Shetland and Orkney formed one shire or two. The court declined to give such
4134-517: The government of Scotland. The document listed the twenty-three shires then existing and either appointed new sheriffs or continued heritable sheriffs in office. The remaining shires were formed either by the territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Scotland , or by the subdivision of existing sheriffdoms. There were occasional changes to the shires; those of the Lowlands were relatively stable from
4212-489: The grouped shires were nevertheless still considered separate shires, retaining separate commissioners of supply. In 1794 Lord-Lieutenants were appointed to each county, and in 1797 county militia regiments were raised, bringing Scotland into line with England, Wales and Ireland. In 1858 police forces were established in each shire under the Police (Scotland) Act 1857 . The counties lost their role as constituencies under
4290-428: The historic counties, but with some notable differences. The early Kingdom of Alba was subdivided into smaller territories under the control of various ranks of noble, including mormaers , earls , and thanes . As Alba expanded and evolved into the Kingdom of Scotland , it took in various other territories as it grew. There was no single collective term for these territories at the time, but modern historians now use
4368-407: The introduction of county councils in 1890, there were two main types: royal burghs and police burghs . Some burghs were additionally classed as parliamentary burghs , excluding them from the constituency of the wider county. Royal burghs were independent from the county's commissioners of supply, but police burghs were not. Both types of burgh were subject to the authority of the sheriff court of
4446-478: The local government functions of the county councils, but were also applied for all other administrative functions, including justice, militia, school boards and other functions, with just three exceptions. Firstly, the boundary changes did not affect any parliamentary constituencies, which remained as they were when last reviewed under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 . This led to some divergence between
4524-414: The mainland or other islands. There are thirteen islands in the Outer Hebrides that were in Inverness-shire prior to 1975 and were inhabited at the 2011 census. Inverness-shire County Council was granted a coat of arms in 1927, based on the design of the council's official seal . The blazon read: The galley represents Clan Chattan , who aligned themselves under the banner of Somerled, Lord of
4602-480: The mainland provinces north of Moray. The Scottish crown had claimed them since 1098, when Norwegian overlordship of that area had been ceded to Scotland but, like Moray, they had remained largely independent. Whereas Moray was divided into shires at some point during the 12th century, Ross and Caithness were not made shires at that time. Instead, the Sheriff of Inverness was given authority (at least nominally) over
4680-506: The new council areas. The lieutenancy areas continue to be defined as they had been in 1975 despite the abolition of the districts on which they were based. The boundaries of the historic county of Inverness-shire (as it was following the 1891 boundary changes) are still used for some limited official purposes connected with land registration, being a registration county . In 1998 the Western Isles Council formally changed
4758-474: The northern provinces too. By the mid-13th century, there were sheriffs at Cromarty and Dingwall in Ross, but the extent of their control was fairly limited, with the Sheriff of Inverness still responsible for most of Ross and Caithness. The position of Sheriff of Dingwall did not endure. In the 15th century, the quasi-independent Lordship of the Isles was fully incorporated into the kingdom of Scotland, and
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#17327799359874836-500: The old provinces, with more administrative functions being given to the sheriffs. In 1667 Commissioners of Supply were established for each shire, which would serve as the main administrative body for the area until the creation of county councils in 1890. Following the Acts of Union in 1707, the English term 'county' came to be used interchangeably with the older term 'shire'. In 1870, Cromdale and Grantown-on-Spey were transferred from Inverness-shire to Elginshire in exchange for
4914-595: The others ( Canna , Muck and Rùm ) in Argyll. As the Small Isles formed a single parish, the 1891 boundary review charged with placing parishes in a single county opted to place the whole parish in Inverness-shire. There are eleven islands in the Inner Hebrides that were in Inverness-shire prior to 1975 and were inhabited at the 2011 census . These are islands as defined by National Records of Scotland; some are tidal islands or have fixed links (bridges / causeways) to
4992-515: The pleasure of the monarch. Following the unsuccessful Jacobite Rising of 1745 the government took the opportunity of overhauling county government. In 1748, under the Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746 , hereditary sheriffs were abolished, with the right to appoint all sheriffs returning to the crown. The same act also abolished other hereditary jurisdictions including regality, justiciary and others; these had formed
5070-499: The same name. The Post Office changed its policy in the 1930s, requiring the name of the county in which the post town lay to be included in most cases, with the exception of certain post towns which were large and well-known places, or which gave their names to their counties. Like the Ordnance Survey, the Post Office appended 'shire' to the legal name for all counties named after towns. For counties not named after towns,
5148-493: The sheriff of Inverness with the creation of the shires of Sutherland in 1633, Caithness in 1641, and Ross-shire in 1661. Ross-shire also included the northern Outer Hebrides, notably the Isle of Lewis . After 1661, Inverness-shire therefore comprised the western part of the province of Moray on the mainland, the southern Outer Hebrides, and some of the Inner Hebrides. Over time, Scotland's shires became more significant than
5226-469: The sheriffs. Despite the shires of Scotland not being controlled by a count or earl as their English counterparts had once been, following the union of 1707, the term 'county' also came to be used for Scottish shires. The office of sheriff or steward had become hereditary in certain families in the majority of sheriffdoms. At the accession of George II in 1727, twenty-two sheriffs were hereditary, three were appointed for life and only eight held office at
5304-411: The shire of Ayr covered the three provinces of Carrick , Cunninghame and Kyle . Shires were sometimes created which did not endure. For example, there was a Sheriff of Dingwall in the mid-13th century, and in 1293 shires of Lorn and Kintyre were created, which were later merged into the shire of Argyll . In 1305 Edward I of England , who had deposed John Balliol , issued an ordinance for
5382-562: The shires) were reorganised to generally correspond to individual shires, which therefore also became known as counties. Unlike in England, Scotland's shires remained quite distinct territories from its earldoms and other provinces in 1707. Whereas English earls by that time had little or no role in local administration, Scottish earls and other nobles continued to exercise significant authority in their provinces, having powers of regality to hold courts which operated in parallel with those of
5460-580: The term provinces , or provincial lordships for the smaller ones. Malcolm III (reigned 1058 to 1093) appears to have introduced sheriffs as part of a policy of imitating the administrative structures then being used in England by its Norman rulers. The provinces formed part of the feudal hierarchy of land ownership, but justice was administered by sheriffs, appointed to separately defined shires. More shires were created by Edgar (reigned 1097 to 1107), Alexander I (reigned 1107 to 1124), and in particular David I (reigned 1124 to 1153). David completed
5538-538: The west, across the Little Minch , most of the Outer Hebrides fall within the county, with the notable exception of Lewis which is in Ross-shire. Further west still lie the remote islands of St Kilda , which have been uninhabited since 1930. Much further west, 230 miles from the Outer Hebrides, lies the extremely remote, uninhabitable island of Rockall , which is subject to a territorial dispute with Ireland . The Small Isles were historically split between Inverness-shire and Argyll, with Eigg in Inverness-shire and
5616-410: Was administered by larger sheriffdoms and counties no longer served as constituencies. As part of the 1975 reforms, lord-lieutenants ceased to be appointed to counties, instead being appointed to new lieutenancy areas based on groups of the new districts. The lieutenancy areas loosely corresponded to the pre-1975 counties, but with some notable differences. The administrative functions left operating on
5694-517: Was anciently part of the Province of Moray , ruled by the Earls or Mormaers of Moray , sometimes as a vassal of the Scottish crown, and at other times effectively as a separate kingdom. The province was finally brought fully into the Kingdom of Scotland during the 12th century. In order to secure the Scottish crown's authority over the area, it was divided into shires , being areas administered by
5772-443: Was followed by the publication of a white paper in 1971 implementing the commission's reforms in a modified form. The abolition of counties "for local government purposes" was enacted by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , with counties playing no part in local government after 16 May 1975, being replaced by regions and districts. The counties had already lost almost all their non-local government functions by this time; justice
5850-474: Was larger. Its mainland section covers a large area of the Highlands , bordering the Sea of the Hebrides to the west and Beauly Firth and Moray Firth to the east which provide access to the North Sea . It is split into two by the Great Glen , a roughly 60-mile geological fault which runs south-west to north-east and divides the Northwest Highlands to the west from the Grampian Mountains (including
5928-421: Was reduced to a largely ceremonial one, with a sheriff depute or sheriff substitute appointed to each 'county, shire or stewartry'. Twelve of the smallest counties were paired to form sheriffdoms, a process of amalgamation that was to continue until the twentieth century, and thus led to the sheriffdoms and the shires having different boundaries. Where multiple shires were grouped into a single sheriffdom after 1748,
6006-406: Was reformed in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which replaced Scotland's counties, burghs and landward districts with a two-tier structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts for most of Scotland. A single-tier structure of island areas was used for Orkney , Shetland and the Western Isles . The mainland and Inner Hebrides parts of Inverness-shire became part of
6084-424: Was split between three lieutenancy areas: The last Lord Lieutenant of the county, Donald Hamish Cameron of Lochiel , became Lord Lieutenant of the new Inverness lieutenancy area. Further local government reforms in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 saw the regions and districts created in 1975 abolished and replaced with single-tier council areas . The former Highland region became one of
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