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Highlands of Scotland

THE, a somewhat vague and indefinite geographical division of Scotland, N. and W. of a line running N. E. from Dumbarton on the Clyde through the counties of Dumbarton, Stirling, Perth, Forfar, Kincardine; then N. W. through Aberdeen, Banff, Moray, and Nairn to the shores of the Moray Firth. The Highlands are generally subdivided into two parts, the West Highlands and the North Highlands; the former of which contains the shires of Argyll and Bute, the Southern Hebrides, and part of Perth and Dumbarton; the latter comprehends the counties of Inverness, Ross, Sutherland, the districts of Athol, Ranothers belonging to Inverness and Ross. and the Isles of Skye, Lewis, Lewis, and The mountainous parts of Banff, Moray; Aberdeen, and Kincardine are also recognized as forming part of the Highlands; while Caithness (partly) and the Orkney and Shetland Isles are excluded, because their inhabitants are of Scandinavian origin. The whole of the district, which ous. embraces the Celtic-speaking part of Scotland, is wild, rugged, and mountain- The W. coast is indented by many narrow arms of the sea, and is flanked by numerous islands. Forming, by their natural characteristics, a region distinct from the Lowlands of Scotland, the Highlands were long in a state of political semi-independence. What especially separated this region from the rest of Scotland was not only the Celtic language and blood, but also the clan system and all connected with it.