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Durness

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"DURNESS, a parish in the county of Sutherland, Scotland, 13 miles N.W. of Grubmore. The parish extends along the sea-coast, between Whitenhead and Cape Wrath Light, including Strathmore and Far-out Head. The coast is extremely rocky, and off the shore are the Stags Rock and Nun Shoal. In the streams salmon abound, and in Loch Borley are red trout. In 1724 the districts of Tongue and Eddrachillis were detached from this parish. It is in the presbytery of Tongue, and synod of Sutherland and Caithness. The minister's stipend is £158, in the patronage of the crown. The village contains the parish church, two Free churches, and several schools. In the church is an old monument to McKay of Davock. A mile from the village there is a remarkable cavern, 100 feet wide, and, 180 to 300 feet in height, which repeats a curious echo. The Duke of Sutherland is the only landowner. Dozen, the Gaelic poet, was a native of this place."

Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)

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Churches

Presbyterian / Unitarian
Durness, Church of Scotland
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Description & Travel

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Gazetteers

Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Samuel Lewis - 1851

DURNESS, a parish, in the county of Sutherland, 20 miles (N. W. by W.) from Tongue, and 76 (N. W.) from Golspie, containing 1109 inhabitants. This parish probably derives its name, which is of doubtful origin, from Durin, the principal township, and ness, a headland or promontory. It anciently comprised the whole of the lands called " Lord Reay's Country", a district 800 square miles in extent, from which, since the year 1724, have been separated the parishes of Tongue on the east, and Eddrachillis on the south-west. The parish is bounded on the north by the North Sea, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is about twenty-five miles in length and twelve in average breadth, comprising, with its several inlets, an area of 300 square miles, of which scarcely one-hundredth part is under cultivation. Its surface, which is boldly diversified, and abounds with magnificent scenery, is naturally divided into three mountainous districts, separated from each other by spacious inlets from the North Sea. Of these the district of Parf, extending from the Atlantic Ocean on the west to the Kyle of Durness, occupies an area of more than seventy square miles; the district of Durness, reaching from the Kyle to the western shore of Loch Eriboll, has an area of about eighty square miles; and the district of Westmoin, extending from the eastern shore of Loch Eriboll to the morass east of Loch Hope, contains nearly 100 square miles. The principal Mountains in the parish are, Scribhisbheinn, Faisbheinn, Fairemheall, Creigriabhach, and Bendearg, all in the Parf district, varying in height from 1500 to 2500 feet Ceannabinn, Meallmeadhonach, Cranstackie, and Ben-Spionnadh, in the Durness district, of which Ben-Spionnadh has an elevation of 2566 feet; and Ben-Hope, 3150 feet in height, in the district of Westmoin, which contains also several ranges of lofty and precipitous hills.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NC384543 (Lat/Lon: 58.447421, -4.771425), Durness which are provided by:

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Public Records

A full transcription of 50 years of baptism and marriages from Durness Parish, Sutherland, edited by Hew Morrison, published in 1911 by the Scottish Record Society.  The originator of this collection of records, Rev. John Thompson (begun in 1764) was not, according to this register, likely a fluent Gaelic speaker and so the names are not necessarily spelled correctly.  When looking over the records, you might consider the phonetic pronunciation of a name you are looking to find if you don't see it under the correct spelling.