Rogart

1851 - Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Samuel Lewis

• ROGART, a parish, in the county of Sutherland, 10 miles (W. N. W.) from Golspie; containing 1501 inhabitants. This place is generally supposed to have derived its name from a compound Gaelic word, of which Rogart is a corruption, signifying a " lofty inclined plane", and having reference to the high ground and acclivities in various parts of the parish, and especially to the elevated land on which the village stands. The locality appears to have been in remote times the scene of sanguinary conflicts, as the remains of encampments and some tumuli are still visible: several of the latter are to be seen on a ridge of hills running from north to south in the eastern quarter of the parish, from Strathbrora to Strathfleet; and stone coffins, daggers, and other warlike instruments have been discovered. At a place called Rhin, in the valley of Strathfleet, the brave Montrose halted for a night, when on his return from Orkney; upon the next day marching to Strathoicail, on whose heights he fought his last battle. The PARISH is an irregular square in its form, about ten miles long and ten broad, and contains an area of 6'2,800 acres. It is bounded on the north by parts of the parishes of Clyne and Farr, on the south by parts of those of Dornoch and Criech, on the east by parts of Dornoch and Golspie, and on the west by the parish of Lairg. The surface is altogether uneven, chiefly consisting of two valleys about five miles apart, which run through the parish from east to west, and the intermediate space of which is marked by moors, rocky hills, tracts of moss, and some few meadows. One of these valleys, called Strathfleet, is ten miles long, and varies in width from three quarters of a mile to only a few yards, its sides contracting themselves almost to the narrowness of the Fleet river, which flows through it. The sides of the valley, which occasionally are cultivated and produce crops, rise from 500 to 700 feet above the level of the stream, in most parts ascending in a gradual manner, but in some places exhibiting the features of an abrupt acclivity. Strathbrora, the other valley, is much more wild and rugged in its aspect than the former.

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