Watten, a parish, containing a hamlet of the same name, near the centre of the eastern portion of Caithness. It is bounded N by the parishes of Bower and Wick, E by the parishes of Wick and Latheron, S by the parishes of Latheron and Halkirk, W by the parish of Halkirk, and NW by the parish of Bower. The shape is an irregular oblong, measuring about 7 by 6½ miles, with a projection about 3 miles long and 1½ mile wide passing S from the S side, and another small footshaped projection standing out for 1¼ mile at the SW corner. The boundary line on the N is artificial, but elsewhere it is largely natural, following from Wick Water northward the high ground between the Achairn and Strath Burns-two tributaries of the Wick-to the Moss of Leanas, where it cuts across the Camster Burn, curves round the high ground at Hill of Bigcus (628) and Stemster Hill (815)-this portion forming the southern projection-and thence N by W to Spital Hill (577) between Spital Quarries and Banniskirk Quarries, and thereafter irregularly north-eastward back to the northern boundary W of Loch Watten. The extreme length of the parish, from North Watten Moss on the N, 2 miles N of Loch Watten, southward to Hill of Bigcus, is 11¼ miles; the average breadth of the greater part of it is 6 miles; and the total area is 31, 751.549 acres, of which 1172.134 are water. The height of Loch Watten is 55 feet above sea-level, and from this the surface undulates upward in all directions except due E, reaching a height of 300 feet or over along the greater part of the western, south-eastern, and eastern borders, and of from 70 to 200 feet on the NE. One-fourth part of the parish to the N is mostly under cultivation, but the rest is moor and rough grazing land. There are, what is rare in Caithness, a few acres of woodland. The soil varies from stiff friable clay and loam to moorish earth, the latter being most abundant. The underlying rock is Old Red Sandstone, but in the form of flagstone, which is worked on the NW at Spital Quarries. Near the N end of the parish is the large Loch Watten (2¾ miles x 5/8 mile; 55 feet); near the centre of the W side, 25/8 miles SW of Loch Watten, is Loch of Toftingale (¾ x 3/8 mile; 235 feet); and in the SW and S are the small lochans called the Dubh Lochs of Shielton and the Dubh Lochs of Munsary. The drainage of the northern part of the parish is carried off by the streams flowing to Loch Watten and the upper 15/8 mile of Wick Water, which issues from the E end of the loch; in the SW the drainage is carried off by the streams flowing to Loch of Toftingale, by the Burn of Acharole issuing from it, and smaller streams flowing to the latter; and in the S and E by the Strath Burn and the smaller streams flowing to it. The Strath and Acharole Burns unite ½ mile S of the hamlet of Watten, and the joint stream enters Wick Water immediately after it has left Loch Watten. There is good fishing both in Loch Watten and in Loch of Toftingale, the trout in the former being from ½ lb. to 3 lbs., and in the latter about ½ lb. Loch Watten is preserved, but the other is open to the public. There are traces of stone circles at Halsary and Moss of Wester Watten, and of Picts' houses or weems; and NW of the church at Stonehone is a standing-stone, said to mark the burial place of Skuli, Jarl of Orkney, who, according to Torfaeus, was buried at Hofn, though Hofn is more probably rather to be identified with Huna. Backlass, 2 miles W by S of the village, was in the end of last century the dwelling-place of a noted robber, David Marshall, who seems to have been a northern Rob Roy. To the N of Loch Watten the parish is traversed for 4½ miles by the Georgemas and Wick portion of the Highland Railway, with a station at the E end of the loch, 153¾ miles NE of Inverness, and 7½ WNW of Wick. Bower station also is close to the NW border of the parish. To the S of the loch is one of the main lines of road from Wick to Thurso, which passes through the parish for 5½ miles; and the road from Thurso to Lather on runs for 1 mile across the SW corner. There are also in the N a number of good district roads. The hamlet, the old name of which was Achingale, is near the E end of the loch, and has a post office. There are fairs at the church on the last Tuesday of October o. s., and the first Tuesday of November, and at Stoneh one on the fourth Tuesday of December. Watten is in the presbytery of Caithness and synod of Sutherland and Caithness, and the living is worth £311 a year. The parish church, a very old building with 750 sittings, is near the station, a short distance NE of the loch; and there is a Free church at the village. Under the school board Gersa, Lanergill, and West Watten schools, with accommodation for 70, 110, and 103 pupils respectively, had in 1884 attendances of 39, 49, and 67, and grants of £44, 6s. 9d., £41, 2s. 9d., and £74, 11s. 6d. The chief proprietors are Sir Robert Anstruther of Balcaskie, Bart., and Thomas Adam, Esq. of Lynegar, and the rest of the land is almost entirely in the hands of the Duke of Portland, E. W. Horne, Esq. of Stirkoke, and W. S. T. Sinclair of Freswick. Valuation (1860) £5947, (1885) £8611, 14s., including £503 for railway. Pop. (1801) 1246, (1831) 1234, (1861) 1491, (1871) 1453, (1881) 1406.—Ord. Sur., sh. 116, 1878.
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