Clyne, a parish of E Sutherland, containing the coast village of Brora, with a station on the Sutherland railway and a post office. It is bounded NW by Farr, N by Kildonan, NE by Kildonan and Loth, SE by the German Ocean, and SW by Golspie and Rogart. Its utmost length is 21½ miles from NW to SE, viz., from Creag nah-Iolaire to Brora; its width from NE to SW varies between 3½ and 8½ miles; and its area is 75,911¾ acres, of which 283¼ are foreshore and 1110 water. The seaboard, 3¾ miles long, is low and sandy, followed at no great distance by the railway. The river Brora flows 1¾ mile E along the Rogart boundary, next 12¾ miles ENE, SE, and E, through the interior to the sea at Brora village; its principal affluent, the Blackwater, rising on Ben-an-Armuinn, in the NW angle of the parish, runs 15½ miles SW, partly along the Rogart boundary, but chiefly through the interior, and itself receives Skinsdale river, which has a winding course- eastward, south-eastward, and southward-all within Clyne parish, of 13 miles. Loch Brora (43/8 miles x 3½ furl.) is much the largest sheet of water. Others are Gorm Loch Beag (3 x 1½ furl.) and triangular Gorm Loch Mor (4 x 3½ furl.) to the N, and Loch Bad na h-Earba (3½ x 2 furl.)and An Eilthirich (3 x 2 furl.) to the S, of the Blackwater; besides Lochs Bad an Aon-Tighe (6 x 2 furl.), Beannach (4½ x 3 furl.), and Gruideach (3¼ x 2 furl.) on the Rogart border, and 22 tinier tarns. The surface has a general north-westward rise, elevations to the S of the Brora and the Blackwater being *Cagar Feosaig (1239 feet), *Beinn nan Corn (1706), Carrol Rock (684), Kilbrare Hill (1063), and Cnoc Leamhnachd (961), where asterisks mark those summits that culminate on the border of the parish; and to the N, Socach Hill (730), *Ascna Greine (924), Beinn Chol (1767), Ben Smeorale (1592), *Meall an Liath Mor (1608), Cnoc a Ghrianian (689), *Cnoc a Chrubaich Mhoir (1368), *Cnoc an Leathaid Mhoir (1423), Creag Mhor (2338), and *Creag nah-Iolaire, the two last being summits of Ben-an-Armuinn. Carboniferous rocks occur along the coast, and include coal, sandstone, limestone, and shale. The soil around Brora is light and gravelly, naturally poor; but, for its hilly character, the parish comprises a considerable amount of arable land, held mostly in small holdings. Of sheep farms the largest is Kilcolmkill, on the northern shore of Loch Brora, it being leased in 1879 by General Tod Brown for £1171At Clynelish, 1¼ mile NNW of Brora, is the only distillery in the county; its whisky is widely celebrated, and it distils between 1300 and 1400 quarters of barley per annum. Other industries have been already noticed under Brora. Kilcolmkill occupies the site of a Columban cell, and was a seat of a branch of the Gordons; the Duke of Sutherland is almost sole proprietor. Clyne is in the presbytery of Dornoch and synod of Sutherland and Caithness; the living is worth £241. The parish church, built about 1770, and enlarged and repaired in 1827, contains 900 sittings, and stands 1¾ mile NNW of Brora. At the latter there is also a Free church; and Clyne public school, with accommodation for 250 children, had (1879) an average attendance of 41, and a grant of £34,13s. 6d. Valuation (1882) £5785. Pop. (1801) 1653, (1851) 1933, (1861) 1886, (1871) 1733, (1881) 1812.—Ord. Sur., shs. 103,109,108, 1878-80.
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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
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