Inverness, a market town, a seaport; a royal burgh, the county town of Inverness-shire, and the chief town in the Northern Highlands, is in the northern portion of the parish just described. It stands on the river Ness from ½ to 2½ miles from its mouth, and a short distance SW of the Moray Firth end of the Caledonian Canal. It is the centre of the Highland railway system, and is by rail 18½ miles SE by E of Dingwall, 25 WSW of Forres, 37 WSW of Elgin, 108¼ NW by W of Aberdeen, 144 NNW of Perth, 160½ SSW of Wick, 190½ NNW of Edinburgh, and 206½ N of Glasgow, while by road it is 19½ miles SSW of Cromarty, and 61½ NE of Fort William. The Great Glen, after narrowing at the NE end of Loch Ness, begins to widen out as it approaches the point of junction with the great hollows occupied by the Moray and Beauly Firths, and on the level tract thus formed-a plain marked with but few inequalities, lying at but a slight elevation above sea-level, and traversed by the river Ness from SW to NE -stands the whole of the town of Inverness, except the southern outskirts. The town is intersected by the river Ness, and though the greater part of the built space lies E of the course of the river, yet the parliamentary boundary extends almost equally on both sides. The boundary line extends along- the sea-shore from the old pier at Kessock to a point midway between the mouth of the river and Longman Point, and the southward limit is the mouth of the Alltnaskiach Burn, a short distance below the Ness Islands. On all sides, except along the sea margin, the site is hemmed in by rising grounds. The raised sea-beach, which extends along most of the coast from the Spey to Inverness, and up the Great Glen to Loch Ness at a height of from 80 to 90 feet, sweeps round to the E and SE of the town, and stretches away into the interior in a highly cultivated table-land from 1 to 3 miles broad. Behind this is the ridge, which, rising gradually from the plain NE of Culloden, sweeps south-westward at an average height of about 400 feet, and ultimately passes into the mountain chain that flanks the SE side of Loch Ness. The heights on the SW side of the Loch are continued by ridges to Dunean Hill (940 feet) and the round-topped Craig Phadrick; while on the opposite shore of the firth (which at Kessock is only 1000 yards wide), from the Ord Hill of Kessock high ground stretches away westward along the shore of the Beauly Firth, and north-eastward along the district between the Cromarty and Moray Firths, and known as the Black Isle. In the plain are two remarkable little hills at the distance respectively of 1 and 2 miles from the town; the first is Tomnahurich (`the hill of the fairies'), 223 feet high, and shaped like the hull of a ship turned upside down. It is finely wooded, and is now very tastefully laid out as an extramural cemetery; the second is Torbhean or Torvean, a long gravel ridge about 300 feet high, marked with traces of ancient Caledonian fortifications.
The environs of the town are very beautiful, and some of the views of the scenery beyond exceedingly fine. `Inverness,' says Dr M'Culloch in his Letters on the Highlands, where he rises on this point into very unusual enthusiasm, 'has been strangely underrated. .. When I have stood in Queen Street of Edinburgh and looked towards Fife, I have sometimes wondered whether Scotland contained a finer view of its class. But I have forgotten this on my arrival at Inverness. Surely, if a comparison is to be made with Edinburgh, always excepting its own romantic disposition. the Firth of Forth must yield the palm to the Moray Firth, the surrounding country must yield altogether, and Inverness must take the highest rank. Everything is done, too, for Inverness that can be effected by wood and cultivation; the characters of which, here, have altogether a richness, a variety, and a freedom which we miss round Edinburgh. The mountain screens are finer, more various, and more near. Each outlet is different from the others, and each is beautiful; whether we proceed towards Fort George or towards Moy, or enter the valley of the Ness or skirt the shores of the Beauly Firth, while a short and commodious ferry wafts us to the lovely country opposite, rich with wood, and country seats, and cultivation. It is the boast, also, of Inverness to unite two opposite qualities, and each in the greatest perfection-the characters of a rich, open, lowland country, with those of the wildest Alpine scenery, both also being close at hand, and in many places intermixed; while to all this is added a series of maritime landscape not often equalled.' From the Castle Hill- a projection north-westward from the terrace already mentioned-the view has been, and not unjustly, described as magnificent. On the SW the eye ranges over a well-wooded foreground, and along the ridges that bound Loch Ness as far as the dome-shaped peak of Mealfourvonie. To the W is the wooded ridge which terminates in Craig Phadrick, and beyond are the hills that cluster around the upper part of the Beauly Firth. Beyond the gleaming line of the Firths to the N are the wooded ridges that sweep from the Ord Hill of Kessock, westward by Redcastle, and eastward towards Fortrose, from which they pass on and terminate in the rugged Sutors of Cromarty. Beyond, but still at no great distance, rises the huge lumpy Ben Wyvis (3429 feet), with its flat extended top; while to the NE spreads the opening Firth, bounded by the dim, distant mountain ranges of Elgin, Banff, Sutherland, and Caithness. In the Ness, just beyond the parliamentary boundary to the S of the town, are two islands known as Ness Islands. They are beautifully wooded, and the walks through the trees form a very pleasing summer resort. Last century the magistrates used here to give open-air entertainments to the Judges of Assize. The islands are connected with one another and with the banks of the river by light suspension bridges.
History.By Boece and Buchanan Inverness is connected with one of the apocryphal kings, and is assigned an origin at least sixty years before the Christian era; but though it was probably a seat of population in the centre of a closely-peopled district in the remote age of British hill-strengths and vitrified forts, yet the first really authentic notice of the district that we have is in Adamnan's Life of St Columba. From this it may be gathered that about 565 the saint made his way to the Court of Brude, king of the northern Picts, who had his residence ` at some distance, though not far, from the banks of the river Ness.' Dr Reeves, in his edition of Adamnan, is inclined to identify its site with Craig Phadrick; but Dr Skene objects that it is ` unlikely that in the 6th century the royal palace should have been in a vitrified fort on the top of a rocky hill, nearly 500 feet high, and it is certainly inconsistent with the narrative that S. Columba should have had to ascend such an eminence to reach it.' He himself is inclined to place the Pictish capital on the ridge of Torvean, already mentioned, or more probably about ` the eminence E of Inverness called the Crown, where tradition places its oldest castle.' The King, who was, previous to the saint's arrival, lost in paganism, did not give Columba a very cordial welcome, and indeed closed the door of the fort against him; but the saint ` approached the folding doors with his companions, and, - having first formed upon them the sign of the cross, he knocked at, and laid his hand upon, the gate, which instantly flew open of its own accord, the bolts having been driven back with great force.' The incident proved too much for the King, for the Chronicle of the -Picts and Scots tells us he was baptized by St Columba, and Adamnan himself says that ` when the King learned what had occurred, he and his councillors were filled with alarm, and, immediately setting out from the palace, advanced to meet with due respect the holy man, whom he addressed in the most conciliatory and respectful language. And ever after from that day, as long as he lived, the King held this holy and reverend man in very great honour, as was due.' We are further told that the saint had great trouble with the Druids at the King's Court, but vanquished them in many striking ways. The oldest or original castle of Inverness-which stood on the Crown, and which has for centuries been untraceable except by traditional identification of its site-has been invested with a romantic interest, from its connection with Shakespeare's Macbeth. That this edifice was, as Shakespeare assumes, the property of Macbeth is very probable, as he was by birth the Mormaer of Ross, and by marriage also of Moray, and so could hardly fail to have the mastery of the stronghold at the mouth of the Ness. It was not, however, the scene of the murder of King Duncan, for his death is now recognised as having taken place at Bothgowan, which Dr Skene identifies with Pitgaveny, near Elgin. When Malcolm Ceannmor vanquished his father's murderer, he naturally seized his strongholds, and in all probability razed his castle at Inverness, and built instead of it, as a royal residence, a fortress on the summit of the Castle Hill, the site of the present County Buildings. This new castle figured for several centuries as at once a seat of royalty and a place of military strength, receiving at intervals within its walls the kings and princes of Scotland, and regularly serving as a vantage-ground, whence they or their servants overawed the turbulent and rebellious north. Shaw Macduff, second son of the Earl of Fife-who assumed the name of Mackintosh, and who, after assisting Malcolm in crushing an insurrection in Moray, acquired a large extent of property in the north -was made hereditary governor of the castle. In 1245 it became the prison of Sir John Bisset of Lovat, for the imputed crimes of connection with the murder of the Earl of Athole and of doing homage to the Lord of the Isles. It was soon afterwards captured during the minority of one of its hereditary keepers by the Comyns of Badenoch, and from that time till the beginning of next century it remained in their possession. In 1296 it received an English garrison during the visit of Edward I. to the north; but the King himself does not seem to have gone so far. It was again occupied by English troops in 1303, but, like the other strongholds of the land, subsequently passed into the hands of Bruce's followers, and from Bruce's time down to that of James I. it was in the immediate power of the Crown; but at the accession of the latter monarch was, after being repaired and -refortified, again put into the hereditary keeping of the captain of the Clan Chattan, the chief of- the Mackintoshes. In 1427 James I., when on a progress through the north to punish some turbulent chiefs, lived in the castle, and held in it a parliament, to which all the northern barons were summoned. Alexander, Lord of the Isles, was on this occasion made prisoner for a year; and when once more set free, returned with an army at his heels to wreak vengeance on his keepers. He got into the town, under the pretence of friendship for it, and then immediately pillaged the place and set it on fire; but his bold attempt to seize the castle was successfully resisted. In 1455 John, his successor (who was quite as turbulent as he), or more probably Donald Balloch of Isla, acting as John's lieutenant, rushed down upon the town, and, after taking the castle by surprise, again plundered and burned the town. In 1464 the castle was visited and temporarily occupied by James III., and in 1499 by James I V. In 1508 the keepership of the castle was conferred hereditarily on the Earl of Huntly; and in 1751 we find the Duke of Gordon claiming £300 as compensation for the abolition of his hereditary office of constable of the castle of Inverness. In 1555 the castle received the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, and was the scene of a Convention of Estates and of extraordinary courts, summoned by her to quiet the Highlands and punish caterans and political offenders; and the Earl of Caithness was consigned to one of its dungeons because he had harboured freebooters. In 1562 Queen Mary, having entered the town attended by the Earl of Moray, was refused admission to the castle, as the governor was a retainer of the Earl of Huntly, who was in rebellion. She was in consequence obliged to take up her residence and hold her Court in a private house, till, her troops having been strengthened by the accession of the Mackintoshes, the Frasers, and the Munroes, the castle was reduced and the governor hanged. In 1644, on intelligence of the descent of a party of Irish on the west coast to join the Marquis of Montrose, the castle was put in thorough repair and fully garrisoned, and next year it successfully held out under Hurry against a regular siege by Montrose's troops. In 1649 Mackenzie of Pluscarden, Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty, and other royalists took the castle, demolished the fortifications, and left the ruins to decay and desolation. The time of the Revolution, however, saw it again patched up and used as a stronghold for the Jacobites, the magistrates of the burgh being warmly attached to the cause of the dethroned dynasty. It was, however, soon wrested from them, and again used as a royal fort. In 1718 the government of George I. repaired it, converted the ancient part into barracks for Hanoverian troops, added a new part to serve as a governor's house, and gave the whole structure the name of Fort George. From engravings and from the description in Burt's Letters from the Highlands, written in 1725, it appears to have been an imposing battlemented structure of six stories, with sharp-pointed roofs and corner turrets. In 1745 it was occupied successively by Sir John Cope and the Earl of Loudon on behalf of the government; while in 1746 it fell into the hands of Prince Charles Edward on his return from England, and was blown up. Though the castle was thus rendered uninhabitable and useless, a large part of the walls long remained entire; but now nothing is left save two bastions with part of the curtain wall, on the E side of the ascent from the Castle Wynd. The site h as since been occupied by the County Buildings and prison.
What may have been the appearance of King Brude's munitio and domus mentioned by Adamnan it is impossible to tell, but the huts of the common people, which must have stood near at hand, would be the earliest representatives of the buildings that form the burgh of Inverness; and the somewhat better dwellings that would naturally cluster round the subsequent stronghold on the Crown would represent the second stage of the town's growth. Some have even regarded the stone with a hole in its centre, which was dug up a number of years ago to the E of the road by Kingsmills to Perth, as the socket of the original cross, but this is highly doubtful. Certain it is that even after it had ceased to be the capital of Pictland, the place still remained of importance, and early came into prominence as one of the principal centres of the country. Tradition even-in face of the fact that such things were unknown at the time- asserts that its erection into a royal burgh was in the time of Malcolm Ceannmor. Though that cannot, therefore, be the case, yet it was by David I. constituted one of the six chief places of the kingdom-loca capitalia Scotiæ comitatuum per totum regnum-where the King's Justiciar held his court. It was at the same time made a royal burgh and the seat of a sheriff, whose authority extended over all the N of Scotland, and was thus one of the earliest free towns in the kingdom. William the Lyon seems to have regarded the rising burgh with particular favour, for he granted it four separate charters by which persons residing beyond the bounds of the burgh were prohibited from making `cloths dyed and shorn contrary to the assize of David I.,' and the burgesses were granted exemption from wager of battle in civil cases, and from paying toll on their merchandise anywhere within the kingdom. Three of these charters are still in possession of the corporation, and form the commencement of a series of ancient municipal records which is fuller than that of almost any other burgh in the kingdom. William also caused a fosse to be dug round the town on condition that the burgesses should erect a good palisade and agree to keep it in repair. During the period previous to the invasion of Scotland by Edward I., the Scottish kings occasionally visited the burgh on those frequent occasions when their power was called into play by incursions of the Norse and the northern Vikings, or the necessity of quelling the insurrections of the wild inhabitants and the turbulent chiefs of the adjacent country. In 1229 a powerful chief named Gillespick M `Scourlane burned the town, spoiled the Crown lands adjacent to it, and, in his effort to assume royal authority, slew all who would not acknowledge his authority, but was afterwards defeated, captured, and beheaded. In 1233, according to Cardonel, Alexander II. founded a convent at Inverness for the Dominican Friars. Taylor, in his Edward I. in the North of Scotland, says that this same monarch-who was a benefactor of the burgh in various ways-settled also a colony of Franciscans or Grey Friars, who have given name to the modern street and the burying-ground; but there is some obscurity on this point, for Provost Inglis, in a MS. dated 1795, and now in the Advocates' Library, says that the monastery at Inverness was always ` called by the inhabitants "The Grey Friars," although the only one of which we have an account in history was that founded by the Dominican Order.. It appears by the town's records, that the stones of the Friars' Kirk were sold in the year 1653 to Colonel Lilburne, commanding the troops of the Commonwealth, for building a fort at the river mouth, which was called Oliver's Fort.' In 1372, during a quarrel between the Abbot of Arbroath and the Bishop of Moray, the followers of the former burned the town of Inverness and the Dominican Monastery, but it must soon have been restored again, for the decision of the Bishops of Moray and Ross in the dispute between the Wolfe of Badenoch and his wife was read ` in the church of the Preaching Friars, Inverness, the 2d day of the month of November in the year of the Lord 1389.' Mention of the monastery occurs from time to time in various documents down to 1559, when the prior and brethren were obliged to give up their property to the safe keeping of the Provost and Magistrates of Inverness. What became of the silver chalices, spoons, etc., handed over, is not known, but the tenements, rents, etc., were speedily taken possession of by their keepers; and, in 1567, a formal grant of all the property 'which formerly pertained to the Dominican or Preaching Friars' was obtained from Queen Mary, and this was further confirmed by James VI. in 1587.
In the thirteenth century the trade of the burgh was extensive, and was, like so much of the northern trade in those days, mostly in the - hands of Flemings. The principal exports were wool, cloths, furs, hides, fish, and cattle-the furs possibly including beaver skins; for, according to Boece, beavers were at one time found on the banks of Loch Ness, and one of the Scottish Acts of Parliament in the time of David I. records ` beveris skins' among Scottish exports. Inverness was at this time too the principal station for the herring fishing in the Moray Firth, and, in 1263, the Chamberlain's accounts mention that Lawrence le Graunt, sheriff of the county, paid 20 marks for 20 lasts of herrings which he had purchased for the king's household, and 105 shillings and 3 pence for their freight to Leith. Materials for shipbuilding too abounded in the neighbourhood, and, in 1249, Hugh de Chatellar, Count of St Paul and Blois, had a vessel built here which Matthew Paris mentions as being called ` the wonderful ship,' on account of its great size. After the accession of Bruce, and during the successive reigns of the Stewarts till near the Union, Inverness was constantly exposed to predatory visits from the islesmen and the northern clans, and there is a long record of skirmishes between its inhabitants and their assailants, and of black mail paid as the price of the forbearance of rapacious neighbours. At times, too, stratagems were tried, and tradition records how, in the end of the fourteenth century, when a large body of islesmen advanced to Kessock Ferry, and sent a message menacing the town with destruction if a large ransom were not paid, the provost affected to agree to the terms dictated, and sent a large quantity of spirits as a present to the chief and his followers. When the islesmen, rushing headlong into the trap, had got helplessly drunk, the provost and citizens pounced on them and slew almost the whole. Their foes had, however, a subsequent revenge, for, in 1411, the town was burned by Donald, Lord of the Isles, while he was on his way to Harlaw.
The burgh had a new charter granted to it by James III., and, in addition to that given by James VI. already mentioned, this monarch, who seems to have had considerable favour for the burgh, granted what is known as the 'great charter' in 1591, and this was ratified by the Estates in the time of Charles II. The importance of Inverness, as the key of the Highlands, was fully recognised by Oliver Cromwell, and it accordingly became the locality of one of the four forts which he constructed for the purpose of overawing Scotland. This building-now popularly known as the Citadel- was erected in 1652-57 on the N side of the town, on the E bank of the river Ness, near its mouth, and cost £80, 000. ` It was a regular pentagon, surrounded at full tide with water sufficient to float a small bark. The breastwork was three storeys high, all of hewn stone, and lined with brick inside. The sally-port lay towards the town. The principal gateway was to the north, where was a strong drawbridge of oak, and a stately structure over it with this motto: "Togam tuentur arma." From this bridge the citadel was approached by a vault 70 feet long, with seats on each side.' At opposite sides of the area, within the ramparts, stood two long buildings, each four stories high-the one called the English building because built by Englishmen, and the other called the Scottish building because built by Scotchmen. In the centre of the area stood a large square edifice three stories high, the lower part occupied as a magazine and provision store, and the highest part fitted up as a church, covered over with a pavilion roof, and surmounted by a tower with a clock and four bells. There was accommodation for 1000 men. ` England supplied the oak planks and beams; Strathglass, the fir; recourse was had to the monasteries of Kinloss and Beauly, the Bishop's Castle of Chanonry, the Greyfriars' Church, and St Mary's Chapel, in Inverness, for the stone-work; and so abundant were the provisions and supplies of the garrison that a Scots pint of claret sold for a shilling, and cloth was bought as cheap as in England.' Under the keen administration of the Commonwealth the fort so annoyed the Highland chiefs, that, at their request, and in acknowledgment of their loyalty, it was destroyed soon after the Restoration, when its buildings became a quarry for the burghers, and their materials were freely carried off and used in the construction of many of the existing houses in town. Part of the ramparts too was taken away, but the greater part still remains, while a portion of the fosse, in a widened and improved condition, is now included in the harbour.
Subsequent to the Revolution the inhabitants of Inverness distinguished themselves by enthusiastic attachment to both Prelacy and Jacobitism. So much so indeed was the former in favour, that in 1691, when a Presbyterian minister was for the first time after the abolition of Episcopacy appointed to the vacant church, the magistrates stationed armed men at the church doors to prevent his admission. Duncan Forbes of Culloden, father of the famous Lord President Forbes, who attempted to force him into the interior, was driven back, and the resistance continued till a regiment of soldiers appeared on the scene and placed the presentee in the pulpit at the point of the bayonet. For years afterwards the magistrates used every means to support and forward the Jacobite cause, and at the accession of George I. to the throne, they openly opposed and endeavoured to prevent his proclamation, and roused the populace to a riot. In 1715 Inverness was occupied by the Macintoshes for the Jacobites, but the post was recovered by the exertions of the lairds of Culloden and Kilravock, aided by Lord Lovat, and the castle was then repaired as already noticed. During the rebellion of 1745-46, and especially in the stir which preceded and followed its closing scene at Culloden, the town was regarded as virtually the capital of the losing side. ` The English troops committed excesses unusual even in a foreign country, and Provost Hossack, going to remonstrate, is, by tradition, said to have been kicked downstairs by Cumberland's orders. Hundreds were confined in the parish church, and many taken out to the churchyard and shot. The stone behind which they knelt, as also that on which the soldiers rested their muskets and took aim at their victims, are still seen.' Charles Edward and Cumberland when in Inverness lived in turn in the same house. It belonged to Lady Mackintosh, the widow of the twentieth chief of the clan, and stood on the W side of Church Street. It is said to have been the only house then in Inverness having a reception-room without a bed in it. From this time onwards the path of the burgh has been one of peace and prosperity, and but few modern events of note need here be noticed. The first public coach between Inverness and Perth began to run in 1806, and took over two days to accomplish the distance, and in 1811 a mail coach began to run to Aberdeen, and about 1819 continued its course to Tain and to Staxigoe near Wick. On the night of 16 Aug. 1816 the whole place was alarmed by a smart shock of earthquake, which threw down the chimney tops of many houses, twisted the old steeple, and set the bells a-ringing. In 1822 the town was much benefited by the opening of the Caledonian Canal, and subsequently in 1855 by the opening of the Inverness and Nairn railway, which was extended to Keith in 1858, and was thus the beginning of the present extensive Highland Railway system, which, in 1863 and subsequent years, extended itself over the north of Scotland. The Free Libraries Act was adopted in 1877, and a building, costing £3482, for a library of 5440 vols., museum, and school of art, was opened in Castle Wynd in 1883. In 1877 also, in consequence of the territorial rearrangement of the army, the Government resolved to make Inverness a garrison town, and barracks are (1883) being erected on ground at the Crown to the E of the town. They are Scottish Baronial in style, and are to cost £60,000. The territorial regiment to be connected with this-the 79th-district is the old 79th Highlanders or The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. The Highland and Agricultural Society have held their show at Inverness in the years 1831, '39, '46, '56, '65, '74, and '83, and it was visited by the late Prince Consort on 16 Sept. 1847, when he was present at the Northern Meeting ball. The town is the birthplace of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the author of Primitive Marriage, the North American traveller (17831820), and of J. F. M'Lennan, LL.D. (1827-81).
The town itself, viewed apart from its surroundings, might be called almost entirely lowland, and it will hear comparison with most of the best modern towns of the same size in Great Britain. Defoe, in his Journey through Scotland (1723), says there were then ` two very good streets in this town, and the people are more polite than in most towns in Scotland. They speak as good English here as at London, and with an English accent; and ever since Oliver Cromwell was here they are in their manners and dress entirely English;' and Burt says that but few houses in the town were slated. Still later the houses were mostly mere thatched cottages, with here and there town mansions in the Flemish style belonging to the landed proprietors of the surrounding district. Many of the houses were ranged along narrow lanes or closes, with their gable ends to the street, while some had outside stone staircases ascending to the entrance on the first floor, and others opened off inner courts with arched doorways. A vigorous course of change seems to have set in about 1775, and again in the close of last century under the then Provost William Inglis. Before 1740 harness and saddlery of all sorts were so little required that in that year the magistrates found it necessary to advertise for a saddler to come and settle in the town; and prior to 1775, when the first bookseller's shop was opened in the burgh, the few people in the large tract of country around who were able, and had occasion, to write letters, were supplied with materials by the postmaster. About the middle of last century a hat had not graced any head in the north except that of a landed proprietor or a minister, and when it was first assumed by a burgher in the person of the deacon of the weavers it excited the highest ridicule of the blue-bonneted multitude, and drew from them such constant twitting and raillery, as only the stoutest pertinacity and the sturdiest independence could have enabled the worthy deacon to resist. At the same period the universal costume was Celtic and primitive, and so late as about 1790 only three ladies with straw bonnets were to be seen in the High Church. Now old customs, usages, and costume have almost entirely disappeared, and the old games of shinty, etc., have gone along with them. The Inverness pronunciation of English, which Defoe particularly notices, still enjoys a character of great purity, and of being little, if at all, affected by the broad forms of the usual lowland dialect. This is generally ascribed to the influence of the soldiers of the commonwealth during the years they occupied Cromwell's fort.
Lines of Street, etc.The section of the town on the right bank of the river includes all the site of the original town, together with many of the modern extensions, while the section on the left bank is entirely modern, and exhibits somewhat greater regularity of plan. The principal streets on the SE side are High Street, Bridge Street, Petty Street, Inglis Street, Church Street, Union Street, Academy Street, Chapel Street, Shore Street, and Castle Street; the principal ones on the NW side are Huntly Street, Telford Street, Celt Street, Grant Street, Queen Street, Kessock Street, Telford Road, Tomnahurich Street, and Ardross Street. The central district, representative of the old town, forms an acute-angled triangle of which the sides are Church Street, Inglis Street, and Academy Street, and this is still the centre of population and business. The streets were first causewayed, sewers formed, and footpaths laid with flags in 1831. In High Street on the site now occupied by the British Linen Company's Bank was the old town-house of Lord Lovat. The house in which Queen Mary lodged when refused admission to the castle was, according to tradition, in Bridge Street, which is one of the oldest streets in the town. Castle Street takes its present name from the neighbourhood of the castle, part of whose walls, as already noticed, adjoin the W side. The old name was Domesdale, as it led to the place of execution. The large burying-ground known as the Chapel-yard in Chapel Street is the cemetery of the Dominican monastery already mentioned. Before the present entrance to it was formed, it had a neat richly-sculptured gateway with the inscription, 'Concordia parvæ. res crescunt. Union Street, extending from Academy Street to Church Street, was opened up shortly after the completion of the railway system in 1863. The prosperity following this led also to the formation of Innes Street and Ardross Street, the reconstruction of the greater part of Tomnahurich Street, and the formation of a number of new streets towards Muirtown and Merkinch.
Bridges.The Ness was, up to the year 1664, crossed by a wooden bridge, which is characterised by one of Cromwell's officers as ` the weakest that ever straddled over so strong a stream.' It communicated with the town on the right bank of the river by an arched way which was surmounted by a house. In Sept. 1664 a crowd of upwards of 100 persons caused the fall of the frail structure, though, curiously, none of the persons on it at the time was seriously injured. A new one was erected between 1685 and 1689 partly by public subscriptions and partly by large contributions from the town funds. It was a substantial structure of seven arches, and stood till 1849, when it was swept away by a flood, and in place of it the present suspension bridge in a line with High Street was constructed by Government at an expense of £26,000. Farther up, at the upper end of Ness Bank, is a handsome suspension footbridge erected at a cost of £2000 raised by subscription, and opened in 1882. Below the main suspension bridge is also another suspension foot-bridge in the line of Greig Street, erected by public subscription in 1878, and lower still are a wooden bridge near the harbour and a railway viaduct. The former was first erected by subscription in 1808 ; the latter is a massive stone structure of five arches of 73 feet span, four land arches of 20 feet span, and two girder bridges of 37½ and 25 feet span, one over Shore Street and the other over Anderson Street.
Public Buildings, etc.The Town Hall stands in High Street, opposite the end of Church Street. It is a building in the Scottish style with Flemish features, and cost about £15,000. The building, which was designed by Messrs Matthews & Lawrie, originated from a bequest of £6000 made by Mr Grant of Bught for the purpose of erecting a public hall. It was begun in 1878, and opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on 19 Jan. 1882. In the centre of the principal front which faces the open space known as the Exchange is a gable with round towers at the sides and an oak spirelet, while a large panel over the centre window has the town's arms sculptured on it. The windows on the main staircase are of stained glass, showing the royal arms, the town's arms, and the Scottish arms. The main hall is 66 feet long, 35 wide, and 33 high, with a ceiling of pitch pine panelled and decorated with heraldic emblems. The windows contain stained glass, some showing the arms of the Scottish clans, of the trade incorporations of the burgh, the royal arms, and the Scottish arms, others allegorical representations of Art, Science, Law, Agriculture, Education, and Literature. It contains a capitally executed copy of Phillip's portrait of the late Prince Consort, a good copy of Ramsay's portrait of Flora Macdonald, portraits of Duncan Forbes of Culloden and of some other men of more local note, as well as a bust of the late Dr Carruthers, by Alexander Munro. Offices are provided in the building for the town chamberlain and the town clerk. In the centre of the Exchange is a fountain presented to the town in 1880 by Dr G. F. Forbes, which serves as a protection for the palladium of the burgh, the well-known Clach-na-cudhin or 'stone of the tubs,' which used at one time, long ere the question of water supply became troublesome, to stand in the centre of the street, and was then employed by the servant girls as a convenient resting place for tubs in passing to and from the river. The old cross, which used also of old to stand out in the street, is now placed at the W end of the new hall. The old townhall-a very plain building of 1708-stood on the same site, and was removed to make way for the present structure. The County Hall, locally known as the Castle, stands on the Castle Hill, a short distance SE of High Street, and occupies the site of the old castle formerly noticed. The present building, erected in 1834-35, after designs by Mr Burns of Edinburgh, at a cost of £7500, is a massive square castellated structure of somewhat squat proportions. Adjoining it is the County Prison built in 1843 and legalised in 1849. It harmonises in style with the County Hall, and with its numerous turrets helps to give dignity to the whole structure on the hill. Within the Castle are the rooms where the Northern Circuit Justiciary Courts are held. In the Court House is a portrait by Raeburn of the late Charles Grant, long M.P. for the county. One of the early prisons was a vault in the masonry between the second and third arches of the old stone bridge already noticed. It was a dismal chamber of about 12 feet square, and light was admitted by a small grated opening on the S side of the pier. The entrance was by an opening in the roadway of the bridge from which a flight of stairs led to a massive iron door. It seems to have been used till late in the 18th century, and must have been a wretched abode. There was another tolbooth in Bridge Street, of the sanitary arrangements of which some idea may be gathered from the entry in the town records in Sept. 1709, that the town-clerk 'paid an officer 4s. 6d. Scots to buy a cart of peats to be burnt in the tolbooth to remove the bad scent;' and in Dec. 1737, the magistrates ordered the town-clerk to purchase 'an iron spade to be given to the hangman for cleaning the tolbooth.' It must have been a very wretched place, for in an official memorial from the Town Council to the Commission of Supply, it is described as consisting 'only of two small cells for criminals and one miserable room for civil debtors,' and it is further declared that there were' at present and generally about thirty persons confined in these holes, none of which is above thirteen feet square.' This was in 1786, and the building was demolished about 1790, and was replaced by a new one erected at the corner of Church Street and High Street at a cost of £3400, of which £1600 was for the steeple which still stands, although the other buildings were removed in 1854. The steeple is 130 feet high, and was much twisted by the earthquake of 1816, but was straightened some years after. The Music Hall is a large building in Union Street, erected subsequent to 1864, and since 1871 licensed for the performance of plays; but for this purpose it is pretty much superseded by the Inverness Theatre in Bank Street, which was opened in Nov. 1882. The latter belongs to a joint stock company, and is a plain building with comfortable accommodation for an audience of 700.
The Northern Meeting Rooms are near the head of Church Street. The building, which was erected by subscription, is spacious but heavy and clumsy. There is a ball-room and a dining-room, each being 60 feet long by 30 wide. In the ball-room is a full length portrait of the last Duke of Gordon (a copy of Lawrence's picture in the Aberdeen County Hall), one of his wife by Hayter, and a kit-cat of the celebrated Jane, Duchess of Gordon, by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Northern Meeting, instituted in 1788, is the great gathering of the North, and is attended by nobility and gentry from all parts of the kingdom. The meeting is held annually in September, the forenoons being devoted to exhibitions of highland games and the evenings to balls. There is a permanent pavilion on the SW side of Ardross Street, in the park in which the games, etc. are held. The park is also used as a cricket ground by the Northern Counties Cricket Club. The Young Men's Christian Association Building, at the foot of Castle Street, fronting High Street, was erected in 1868 at a cost of £3500. It has composite pillars surmounted by a frieze, cornice. and entablature. Over the hall windows are medallion of eminent men, and over the door is a colossal group representing Faith, Hope, and Charity. The Workmen's Club is in Drummond Street. It dates from about 1862, and has a billiard and bagatelle room, and a library and reading-room. The library contains over 7000 volumes, including a donation of books from the Queen. The Volunteer Drill Hall, near the entrance to Bell's Park, is an extensive building, erected in 1873 at a cost of £1400. The Public Markets, with entrances from Academy Street, Church Street, and Union Street, were erected in 1870 at a cost of £3000, and occupy a former open market space. The main front is to Market Street, opposite the railway station, and has a large apartment suitable for a public hall or a corn exchange. The railway station stands at the SW end of Academy Street, and fronts the end of Union Street. There is a large hotel adjoining. The greater part of the present structure (which replaced a plainer building on the same site) was erected in 1875-76 at a cost of £12,000, and £6000 was again spent on extensions in 1881. The style is Italian, with a good deal of ornament. The railway company have large workshops farther to the E. The head office of the Caledonian Bank is in High Street, opposite Castle Street. Above the basement, which contains two finely carved archways, is a large portico with four fluted Corinthian columns supporting a pediment flanked by large vases with medallion portraits of the Queen and Prince Albert. In the tympanum is a finely executed group of allegorical figures by Ritchie, of Edinburgh. 'The centre figure is Caledonia, holding in her hand the Roman fasces emblematical of unity. On the right is a figure representing the Ness, from whose side rises another female form symbolic of a tributary stream. On the extreme right are two small figures rowing a bark representing Commerce. On the left is Plenty pouring out the contents of her cornucopia, a reaper with an armful of cut corn, a shepherd and sheep emblematical of the rural interests of the country. 'The Town and County Bank occupies a handsome block of buildings which was purchased for it in 1877 for £3700. The Northern Infirmary stands on the left bank of the Ness to the SW of the Cathedral, and was erected in 1803-4. It has a long plain front with a centre and two wings, and is supported by public and private collections and subscriptions. The Northern Lunatic Asylum stands about 1¾ mile SW of the town, on the face of the slope between Dunean and Craig Phadrick, at a height of 320 feet above sea-level. The position is commanding and the view magnificent. The buildings were erected in 1860 under the Lunacy Act (Scotland) of 1857 at a cost of £45,000. The frontage extends to about 600 feet, there are two central pavilion towers 90 feet high, and the building, with its sharp pointed roofs and angle turrets, is plain but bold. There is accommodation for about 350 inmates. The grounds, including airing grounds, gardens, and farm, extend to 176 acres, held at an annual feu-duty of £370. The Poorhouse stands on the old Highland Road less than 1 mile S of the town, and was erected in 1860-61 at a cost of about £6000. It is a handsome building, with accommodation for 170 inmates, and the grounds extend to about 6 acres. The Dispensary and Vaccine Institution for the Sick Poor in Huntly Street was established in 1832, and is supported by voluntary contributions, though a recent bequest has given it an endowment of about £150 a year. A Highland Orphanage on the cottage system is at present in course of erection on the Culduthel road.
Churches.The Blackfriars must have had a church in connection with their monastery, and there seem to have been chapels dedicated to St Giles, to St Thomas, and to the Virgin Mary. The two latter were about the present Chapel-yard, and the former occupied the site of the present Established High Church in Church Street. Provost Inglis, in the MS. already referred to, says that the parish church was a very ancient structure, and that, having become ruinous, it was pulled down in 1769 and the present church built on its site (1769-72). This latter is a large plain structure. Adjoining it is an old square tower, said to have been built by Oliver Cromwell, and containing a soft clear-toned bell, thought to have been brought by the Protector from Fortrose Cathedral. It contains 1800 sittings, and is used only for services in the English language. Beside it is the Established Gaelic church, the charge being founded by the Crown in 1706 when the original church was built ; but the present very plain structure dates from 1794, and contains 1200 sittings. There is an old richly carved oak pulpit of Dutch workmanship. The Established West Church is on the left bank of the river to the NW, and was erected about 1850. It contains 1670 sittings. The Free High Church is near the river on the right bank, and was considerably enlarged in 1866. It is a handsome building with a good spire. The Free North Church is in Chapel Street, and the Free East and Free West stand in the NE and NW parts of the town respectively. The Queen Street Free church was originally United Presbyterian, and was erected for Gaelic services. It became a Free church in 1874. The United Presbyterian church in Union Street is a good Gothic building erected in 1867 to supersede the old church. A Wesleyan Methodist church at the junction of Inglis Street and Academy Street is a graceful Norman building. It was built in 1867, and superseded a former church. There are also Independent and Baptist churches. The Roman Catholic church (St Mary's), on the river bank, was built in 1831, and has accommodation for 400 persons. It has a good front. The Episcopal Cathedral of the united diocese of Moray, Ross, and Caithness, of which Inverness is the centre, is in Ardross Street between the Northern Meeting Park and the Ness on a site on the river bank that shows it to excellent advantage. It was constructed after designs by Mr Alexander Ross, of Inverness, and the style is English Middle Pointed Gothic. The length is 166 feet, the breadth 72 feet, and the height to the ridge of the roof 88 feet. There is a clerestoried nave with aisles terminating at the principal front in two massive towers which are intended to be finished with spires, bringing them to the height of 200 feet. There is a short apsidal choir with side aisles and quasi transepts. There is also an octagonal chapter-house, and the crossing is surmounted by a flêche. The roof is internally waggon vaulted with wood, and there are 22 stalls for clergymen, 32 seats for choristers, and 630 sittings for the congregation. There is a fine altar and reredos, and the pulpit of stone and marble is highly sculptured and enriched. The windows have stained glass, and there is an organ with three manuals by Hill. Four single sculptured figures, and a large group on the tympanum of the door, were put up on the W front in 1876. The cost was £20,000 up to the time when it was opened on 1st Sept. 1867. The foundation-stone was laid by Archbishop Longley of Canterbury, assisted by seven bishops, in Oct. 1866, and it was opened by Bishop Wilberforce. St John's Episcopal Church is Late Perpendicular Gothic in style, and has a tower, which is, however, incomplete. It was erected in 1840, and has 350 sittings. The congregation is representative of an old one which managed to survive the troublous times of last century. There is a mission chapel of the Holy Spirit in connection with the Cathedral.
Schools.Inverness is plentifully supplied with schools. The Royal Academy, on the NE side of Academy Street, near the railway station, was founded in 1792 for the liberal education of boys of the upper classes throughout the Northern Highlands. It is a plain building with a public hall and a number of class-rooms. There are separate buildings for girls which were erected in 1867. There is a large playground, and accommodation for altogether 782 pupils. A large fund, known as the Mackintosh of Farr Fund, provides education, clothing, and board for nineteen boys, and furnishes a university bursary. It is the interest of a sum of money bequeathed in 1803 by Captain W. Mackintosh of the Hindostan East Indiaman, and the capital is now valued at £28,000. The endowment of the school is about £250, but the total income, inclusive of fees, is about £1500. It is conducted by a rector, ten masters, a lady superintendent, and two governesses, and is managed by a body of directors acting under a royal charter. In the public hall is a bust of a former rector, Hector Fraser, by Westmacott, and a painting of the Holy Family by Sasso Ferrato. One of the academy pupils was the late Baron Gordon, Lord of Appeal. Connected with the school is the Royal Academy Club, formed in 1864 to maintain permanent friendship among its former pupils, and to promote the general interests of the school by the establishment of bursaries or otherwise. The building also possesses the remains of the small museum collected by the Northern Institution for the Promotion of Science and Literature. The Northern Counties Collegiate School is on Ardross Terrace, and gives education after the model of the English public schools. It is managed by a council of thirteen influential gentlemen, and is conducted by a head-master and two assistant masters. There is accommodation for boarders. Under the Burgh School Board are the High School, the Central School, the Merkinch School, and Clachnaharry School, which, with respective accommodation for 552, 350, 350, and 150 pupils, had (1881) an average attendance of 253, 312, 346, and 76, and grants of £219, 13s. 6d., £230, 13s. 6d., £285, 7s., and £51, 4s. The old High School, on School Hill, was originally a Free Church Model Institution, but passed in 1873 to the School Board, who, in 1879-80, erected a new High School in King's Mills Road at a cost of £6000. It is Gothic in style, and is well fitted up. The others call for no remark. Raining's School is on School Hill. It sprang from a bequest of £1000 made in 1747 by Dr John Raining of Norwich, for the purpose of building and endowing a school in any part of the Highlands the General Assembly might appoint. It is now under the management of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, and is conducted by a master and a lady superintendent. Bell's Institution, or Farraline Park School, is to the NE of the Academy. It is a handsome building, erected by the Magistrates and Town Council as trustees of the late Dr Andrew Bell of Egmont, and affords instruction to a large number of children, who are taught on the Madras or monitorial system, of which Dr Bell was such a staunch advocate. Other schools are the Government School of Arts, the Reformatory School in Rose Street, Bishop Eden's Mission School, a Roman Catholic School, and various private schools.
Trade and Commerce, etc.Malting was for generations the chief employment in the town, which enjoyed almost a monopoly in the trade, and supplied all the northern counties, the Hebrides, and the Orkneys with malt. In the end of the 17th century half the architecture of the town was a mass of malting-houses, kilns, and granaries ; but from that time the trade gradually fell off, and by 1745 the place looked almost like a mass of ruin from the deserted and dilapidated buildings connected with the malt trade. At the end of last century an extensive white and coloured linen thread manufacture, that is said to have given employment to 10,000 people, had its centre at Inverness, but it is now gone owing to the spirited competition of the towns of Forfarshire. A bleachfield and two hemp manufactories then in operation have also disappeared. A woollen factory on the Ness at Holm, about 2 miles up the river, was established about 1798, and is the oldest woollen factory in the north of Scotland. It is worked by both water and steam, employs about 100 hands, and produces tweeds, mauds, plaiding, and blanketing. There are also the large works in connection with the Highland railway, ship and boat building yards, two large wood-yards and saw-mills, several polished granite and marble works, a rope work, a tan work, two breweries, a distillery, a tobacco manufactory, several foundries, and two nurseries. Considerable trade also accrues from the town being the residence of respectable annuitants, and from its being a centre for tourists and sportsmen. The railway now makes communication easy and rapid, both S and N, and Mr Macbrayne's steamers, which ply from Glasgow to Inverness by the Caledonian Canal-twice a week all the year round, and during the summer months once a day-connect it readily with the SW of Scotland. Since 1875 a steamer has also plied once a fortnight from Liverpool to Inver. ness, Aberdeen, and Leith, and vice versa, going by the Caledonian Canal. This makes Inverness a centre from which all sorts of miscellaneous goods are supplied to the smaller towns and villages throughout a very large tract of country round about. Along the river there are considerable salmon fishings. There are ordinary markets every Tuesday and Friday, and markets for horses, cattle, and sheep are held on the Fridays succeeding the Muir of Ord market. The great Wool Fair is held on the second Thursday of July and the succeeding Friday and Saturday. It was established in 1817 for the sale of sheep and wool, and took place originally in June, but the date was afterwards changed to July. The sales effected every year average about £200,000. There are produce markets on the last Friday in July and in August, and on the last Thursday in November, and a hiring fair is held on the Friday before 26 May. A fat stock exhibition is held in the end of the year.
For several centuries prior to the Union, Inverness was much frequented by foreign traders, and carried on a considerable commerce with continental ports, but much of this was in the first half of the 18th century diverted to Glasgow. An improved state of matters followed, however, on the changes that took place in the Highlands subsequent to 1745-46, and the commerce was still further extended by the transference of trade from foreign ports to the port of London, which began about 1803, and again received fresh extension after the full completion of the Caledonian Canal in 1847. The Aberdeen and Leith trade at one time carried on by steamers has now passed over to the Railway Company. The registration district of the port extends from Inverness to the Spey on the E, to Bonar-Bridge on the N, and from Fort William to Rhuestoer,-including the islands of Skye, Raasay, Cana,-on the W. The number of vessels in this district, with their tonnage, has been, at various dates, as follows:
Year.
| No. of Vessels.
| Tonnage.
|
1831, . . .
| 142
| 7,104
|
1861, . . .
| 241
| 11,301
|
1867, . . .
| 216
| 11,157
|
1875, . . .
| 134
| 10,269
|
1883, . . .
| 113
| 10,339 |
About half the vessels and nearly two-thirds of the tonnage belong to Inverness itself.
The harbour lies within the mouth of the Ness, and consists of two parts-the one at Thornbush, about 700 yards above the mouth of the river, where there is a pier for large steamers ; and the other about 400 yards further up, on the opposite side of the river, and in direct communication with the railway station. It was greatly improved in 1847, under an Act providing for the enlargement of Thornbush pier, the deepening of the river channel, the formation of a wet dock adjacent to the timber bridge, and the construction of quays and breastworks in the vicinity of the railway. The harbour trustees are the provost, bailies, dean of guild, treasurer, five members elected by shipowners, and five elected by merchants in the town. The following table shows the tonnage of vessels that entered from and to foreign and colonial ports and coastwise with cargoes and ballast:
ENTERED.
| CLEARED.
|
Year.
| British.
| Foreign.
| Total.
| British.
| Foreign.
| Total.
|
1853,.
| ..
| ..
| 102,704
| ..
| ..
| 89,331
|
1860,.
| 178,781
| 8,509
| 187,290
| 167,824
| 6,698
| 174,522
|
1867,.
| 153,041
| 9,304
| 162,345
| 134,737
| 7,076
| 141,813
|
1874,.
| 246,627
| 9,916
| 256,543
| 243,763
| 8,206
| 251,969
|
1882,.
| 308,548
| 10,070
| 318,618
| 305,862
| 9,083
| 314,945 |
The amount of customs in 1866 was £3571, in 1871 £3552, in 1874 £4264, and in 1881 £3958. The principal imports are coal, pig-iron, timber, hemp, wines, bacon, fish, boots, shoes, linen and woollen drapery, hardware, china and glass ; and the principal exports are grain, potatoes, wool, sailcloth, ropes, cast-iron, dairy produce, leather, and malt liquors. Till 1820 oatmeal was imported to the extent of 10,000 bolls yearly ; it is now exported to nearly the same amount. About 90,000 tons of coal are imported annually.
The piers at Kessock Ferry, 2/5 mile NW of Thornbush pier, occupy ground that formerly belonged to Sir William Fettes, and were constructed at his private expense at a cost of about £10,000. There are extensive wharfs at the Muirtown basin of the Caledonian Canal.
Municipality, etc.The old rulers of Inverness held their authority under a sett fixed in 1676 and altered in 1722 ; but the old royalty excluded many important parts of the modern town-sometimes one side of a street being within and the other without the boundary. This caused so mnch trouble that a special Act was obtained in 1847, by which the municipal boundary was extended to the parliamentary boundary as fixed in 1832 ; and the modern town council consists of a provost, 4 bailies, a dean of guild, a treasurer, and 14 councillors- the town being, for municipal purposes, divided into three wards. The corporation revenue in 1881-82 was £3897. The powers of the police are founded on the Act of 1847 ; but the Lindsay Act, adopted in 1874, has now superseded it in all matters with which the latter deals. The town council acts as the police commission. The police force consists of 14 men, and the superintendent has a salary of £180. The funds for education and charity managed by the council with the stock at their credit in 1882 are :-Jonathan Anderson's (£3350), Frederick Klein's (£910), Dr Bell's (£7420), Robert Fraser's (£125), Thomas Fraser's (£100), Baillie's (£200), Burnett's (£100), Denoon's (£100), Gollan's (£92), Gibson's (£105), Logan's (£212), Duff's (£1068), Davidson's (£273), Smith's (£1757). The gas and water company was established in 1826, and obtained enlarged powers in 1847 ; but Inverness was formerly very ill supplied with water. In 1875, however, a bill was obtained empowering the corporation to buy up the old company and introduce water by gravitation from Loch Ashie, 7½ miles SSW of the town. The new waterworks-including a reservoir of 7,000,000 gallons' capacity at Culduthel, 2 miles S of the town-were opened in the end of 1877, and in 1878 a new telescopic gasometer, to contain 144,000 feet, was erected at a cost of £3515. The town has a head post office, with money order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments. Besides the head office of the Caledonian Bank (established 1838, and suspended for a short time during the crisis due to the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank), there are branches of the Bank of Scotland, and of the British Linen Company, the Commercial, the National, the Town and County, the Union, and the Royal Banks. There is also a branch of the National Security Savings' Bank, and agencies of 42 insurance companies, and a large number of excellent hotels. The newspapers are the Whig Inverness Courier (1817), published on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday ; the Liberal Inverness Advertiser (1849), published on Friday; and the Conservative Northern Chronicle (1881), published on Wednesday. The Celtic Magazine is published monthly. There are three mason lodges-St Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter (No. 115), St John's Kilwinning (No. 6), St Mary's Caledonian Operative (No. 339). Among the miscellaneous institutions may be noticed the lnverness Chess and Draughts Club, the Caledonian Club, the Highland Club, the Amateur Dramatic Club, a branch of the Bible Society, a Young Men's Christian Association, a Young Men's Mutual Improvement Society, the Inverness Scientific Society and Field Club, the Literary Institute, the Choral Union, the Northern Counties Institute for the Blind (in the old High School ; opened in 1881), the Gaelic Society, the Curling Club, the Bowling Club, the Northern Counties Cricket Club, the North of Scotland Heritable Investment Company, the Inverness British Workman Public House Company, a Coal and Clothing Society, four Friendly Societies, and a Farmers' Society. Inverness has six batteries of artillery volunteers and four companies of rifle volunteers. In connection with these the Highland Rifle Association, established in 1861, holds a meeting at Inverness every autumn. Sheriff small debt courts are held every Friday ; Quarter Sessions meet on the first Tuesday of March, May, and August, and on the last Tuesday of October ; Justice of Peace small debt courts are held every month, and for other business as required.
Inverness, with Forres, Fortrose, and Nairn, returns a member to parliament (always a Liberal since 1837). Parliamentary constituency (1883) 2298 ; municipal constituency 2703, including 405 females. Valuation (1875) £56,709, (1883) £83,641. Pop. (1831) 9663, (1841) 11,592, (1851) 12,793, (1861) 12,509, (1871) 14,469, (1881) 17,365, of whom 4047 were Gaelic-speaking, and 9019 were females. Houses (1881) 2519 inhabited, 82 vacant, 67 building.
See Burt's Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland (Lond. 1754) ; Shaw's History of the Province of Moray (Edinb. 1775 ; 3d ed., Glasg., 1882) ; Leslie and Grant's Survey of the Province of Moray (Aberdeen, 1798) ; Maclean's Reminiscences of Inverness (Inv. 1842) ; Taylor's Edward I. in the North of Scotland (Elgin, 1858) ; the various editions of Anderson's Guide to the Highlands: Fraser-Mackintosh's Antiquarian Notes (Inv. 1865), and his Invernessiana (Inv. 1875).
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