of it, to know if it communicated with the Western Sea, or not; and having come to the head of this Frith, and finding a river falling into it called by the natives Farar, they changed the F into V, and called it Varar; and from it they named the Frith Æstuarium Vararis; but this gave no name at all to the country.

The only name by which I have found the country called, is Moravia or Moray. Hector Boece writes, that, in the first century, a colony from Moravia in Germany settled in this country, and gave it the name of the country from which they came. But he did not consider, that, at that time, the country called Moravia was called Marcomania, and the inhabitants Marcomani and Quadi (Tacit. de Mor. Germ. Cap. 42.) Others, finding the word Mureff in some ancient manuscripts, and Rief signifying Bent, will have it called Mureff, from the abundance of that grass growing on the sea shore. But, in my opinion, those having changed the V into F, and made it Mureff, instead of Murev or Murav. The Highlanders call it Murav or Morav, from the celtic words Mur or Mor the Sea, and Taobh or Tav the Side; and in construction, Mor'av, i. e, the Sea side. This, I think, is the true notation of the name, answering to the situation of the country, by the side of the sea.

THE EXTENT OF THE COUNTRY OF MORAY.

PTOLEMY doth not touch this point, nor doth any ancient writer that I know; I cannot be of opinion, that Moravia comprehended no more than the plain and champaign ground by the sea side; which is all that is strictly called MORAY in our day. But I include within the province or country, as it was before the division of it into counties or shires, all the plain country by the sea side, from the mouth of the river Spey, to the river of Farar or Beaulie, at the head of the Frith; and all the valleys, glens, and straths, situated betwixt the Grampian mountains south of Badenoch, and the Frith of Moray, and which discharge rivers into that Frith. And I incline to give the country this large extent, for the reasons following:

The plain country by the sea side, from Spey to Ness, is always called MORAY, and I see no reason for extending it Eastward beyond the mouth of Spey: But that it extended Westward to the river of Beaulie, is probable from the notation of the word Morav; for so far the Frith extends, and the country taking its name from the Frith, it is reasonable to extend the one as far as the other. This is much strengthened by what we find in Dalrymple's Collection, p. 199; That King Alexander I. pursued the Moray-men that conspired against him, from Innergoury over Spey into Murray-land, and at the Stockford above Beaulie passed over to Ross." This fixes the boundaries both to the East and West, viz. the rivers of Spey and Beaulie. The situation of the country of Ross, northward from MORAY, confirms this. Its name Ross, signifieth a Peninsula, or a head, or point of land jutting out between rivers or friths; and it is the Frith of MORAY with that of Tain, that form this Peninsula, or Ross.

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The bounds by the sea-side being thus fixed, MORAY extended towards S. S. W. to the head of Loch Lochie, on the borders of Lochaber. This one observation throweth abundant light on this assertion. Our historians agree, that the castle of Urquhart in MORAY held out bravely for King David Bruce against Edward Baliol. This castle did not stand in Urquhart near Elgin, for there are no vestiges of a fort or castle there, nor any tradition that ever there was such a fort. But on the west West bank of Lochness, there was a strong fort, the walls whereof do still remain. This sheweth that Lochness, with the glens around it, was in the country of MORAY. And that the whole course of the River Spey, even to Lochaber, was in the province or country of MORAY, may be gathered from King Robert Bruce's charter of the Comitatus Moraviensis to Thomas Randulph Earl of MORAY: (Appen. No. I.) To all which let me add, that the Highlanders always did, and as yet do, march and bound the countries by the hills and rivers.

According to this view of the country of Moray, it extends from

East to West by the side of the Frith, i. e. from Spey-mouth to Beaulie 39 Scottish, or about 60 English miles: And the river Farar, from Loch-Monar to Beaulie, runneth 30 Scottish miles from S. W. to N. E. Thus the utmost extent, from N. E. to S. W. is 69 Scottish or 104 English miles. And, if we take the breadth from the Frith at Inverness, to the braes of Glenfeshie in Badenoch, it is about 38 Scottish, or 57 English miles.

THE SITUATION OF THE COUNTRY OF MORAY.

This Country lieth in the 57th degree of north latitude, and Speymouth is about 35 minutes East from Edinburgh. With respect to the neighbouring countries, the Moray Frith and the river of Farar separate it from Ross to the North, and from Spey-mouth towards the 'S. E. the south, and S. W. It bordereth upon the Enzie, Strathdovurn, Strathdone, Braemar, Athole, Ranach, and Lochaber.

THE DIVISION OF THE COUNTRY.

The Division of this Country may be considered in a threefold view.

I. The Natural Division, which is twofold. First into Lowlands and Highlands. The Lowlands are those plains that are not intermixed with mountains and hills, but are situated near the Frith, and are in some places four, in some six miles broad. The Highlands are the straths and valleys on the sides of rivers, separated from the Lowlands by mountains and hills. This points to the second natural division, which is made by the rivers that fall into the Frith.And here the strath or valley of Spey makes the first division; which running from the Frith to the borders of Lochaber, is inclosed on both sides by a chain of hills, and is a barrier to the Low Country, covering it from one end to the other. In the Lowlands the other rivers divide the country from East to West, into five unequal divisions. Thus, from Spey to Lossie, 6 miles. From Lossie to Ern or Findern, 9 miles. From Findern to Nairn, 7 miles. From

Nairn to Ness, 12 miles. And from Ness to Farar, 5 miles. And all these rivers run almost parallel to one another, from S. W. to N. E.

II. The Civil or Political Division, into counties or shires, for the more easy distribution of justice to the people. A part of the county of Banff, the whole county of Elgin and Forres, the whole county of Nairn, and a part of the county of Inverness, lye within this province or Country.

III. The Ecclesiastical Division, into parishes, presbyteries, dioceses and commissariots. I here only mention the political and ecclesiastical divisions, of which I shall in the following parts treat at large.

THE

GEOGRAPHY OF MORAY.

IN viewing the Geographical face of this country, I shall follow the Natural Division of it above mentioned, passing from one parish forward to another; and in every parish, observing the situation of the church, the extent of the parish, the principal Baronies, Heritors, and Seats or Dwellings; and what else merits observation.

The Valley of the River Spey makes the first branch of the Natural Division; and therefore I shall first describe this Strath or Valley, after I have given some account of the River.

THE RIVER SPEY.

This River has its fountains on the borders of Lochaber. It floweth out of a small lake, about half a mile in length, called LochSpey, and running from S. W. to N. E. it watereth the countries of Badenoch, Strath-Spey, and Rothes, and then turning due north, it dischargeth its stream into the Moray Frith at Germach, after a course of about 60 Scottish, or 90 English miles. It seems to have its name from the Teutonick or Pictish word, Spe (Sputum) because the rapidity of it raiseth much foam or froth. Many lesser rivers from the Grampian Mountains swell its stream so much, that the manuscript De Situ Albaniæ, written in the twelfth Century, calleth it (in the Latin of these days) " Magnum et miserabile flumen, quod vocatur Spe." * The strath of this River is enclosed to the N. and W. by a ridge of hills, which beginning in the parish of

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* A large and dangerous River called Spey.