Edderton, a parish of NE Ross-shire, containing Balblair distillery and Edderton station on the Highland railway near the S shore of Dornoch Firth, 5½ miles WNW of Tain, and there having a post and railway telegraph office. It is bounded N by Dornoch Firth, E by Tain, SE by Logie-Easter, S by KilmuirEaster and Rosskeen, and W by Kincardine. Its utmost length, from E to W, is 8 ¼ miles; and its breadth, from N to S, varies between 41/8 and 55/8 miles. The shore-line, closely followed for 8 ¼ miles by the Highland railway, is everywhere sandy, except where Struie Hill descends to the water's edge, and there it is fringed with rocks. Cambuscurrie Bay, where a Danish fleet is said to have once cast anchor, is now not more than a fathom deep at high water; but Ardmore has a tolerable harbour. Four rivulets-Edderton Burn, Allt Muidh a Bhlair, Easter Fearn Burn, and Wester Fearn Burn-drain the interior to the firth, and, though of small volume in dry weather, are easily swollen by heavy rains, and then are very impetuous. To the W lies triangular Loch Muidh a Bhlair (2 ¼ x 1¾ furl.). From the low narrow terrace that marks the old sea-margin of the firth, the surface rises inland to 1000 feet at Edderton Hill, 1116 at Cnoc an t-Sabhail, 794 at Cnoc Al nan Gamhainn, 1082 and 1218 at Struie Hill, 1274 at Cnoc an Liath-bhaid, 1566 at Beinn Clach an Fheadain, 1792 at Cnoc Muidh a' Bhlair, 1763 at Beinn nan Oighreagan, 682 at Cnoc Bad-a-bhacaidh, 728 at Carr Dubh, and 1845 at Cnoc Leathado na Siorramachd, the first and last of which summits mark the eastern and western limits of the parish. The leading formation is Old Red sandstone, mixed a good deal with granite, gneiss, and schistose limestone. The soil along the coast is very light, and mostly rests on a sandy bottom; inland it may be said to range in a regular series upward of gravel, deep alluvial loam, poor sand, and a mixture of gravel, moss, and clay. Fear Abbey, rebuilt in 1338 within the parish to which it now gives name, was originally founded about 1227 in the western extremity of Edderton, and has bequeathed its name to several localities. Scandinavian round towers of the kind called ` duns, ' that formerly were numerous on the hills, have all been mainly or entirely destroyed; but two sculptured stones stand near the old church, the one in the graveyard, the other behind the old school-house. (See Carryblair.) Edderton is in the presbytery of Tain and synod of Ross; the living is worth about £331. The present parish church, erected in 1842, is a handsome edifice, containing 700 sittings. The old parish church of 1743 was soon after the Disruption taken possession of by the adherents of the Free Church. A public school, with accommodation for 150 children, had (1880) an average attendance of 79, and a grant of £78, 11s. Valuation (1881) £4661, 13s., of which £3266, 5s. was held by Sir Charles Ross of Balnagowan. Pop. (1801) 899, (1831) 1023, (1861) 836, (1871) 860, (1881) 789.—Ord. Sur., shs. 93, 94, 1881-78.
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