River Brora

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Brora, a river and a loch of SE Sutherland. The river is formed in the NW corner of Rogart parish, at 783 feet above sea-level, by head-streams that rise at altitudes of from 1500 to 1600 feet. Thence it flows 26 miles S, SE, ENE, and again SE, through Rogart and Clyne parishes, till it falls into the sea at Brora village. Its principal affluent is the Blackwater. Loch Brora, an expansion of the river, 4 miles WNW of the village, is 4 3/8 miles long, and, at the widest, 3½ furlongs broad, at two points narrowing to only 70 yards. The river itself has long been regarded as one of the best trout and salmon streams in Scotland; and in the loch a salmon breeding establishment has been carried on by the Duke of Sutherland since 1872. The number of ova collected in 1873 amounted to 1,105,000, a figure never exceeded up to 1880. Loch Brora displays grand features of rock and wood; is overhung, in the upper part of its right side, by Carrol Rock (684 feet); looks, in most views, to be a chain of three lakes; and contains, near its lower end, an islet on which stood anciently a hunting seat of the Earls of Sutherland.—Ord. Sur., sh. 103,1878.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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