Rogart | As described in F.H. Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4)

Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Rogart

Rogart, a parish of SE Sutherland, containing a post and telegraph office of its own name, and also a station on the Sutherland railway (1 68), 7½ miles W by N of Golspie, 10 E by N of Lairg, and 19 NE of BonarBridge. It is bounded NW by Farr, NE and E by Clyne, SE by Golspie and Dornoch (detached), S by Dornoch, SW by Creich, and W by Lairg. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 15³/8 miles; its utmost width, from E to W, is 9⁵/8 miles; and its area is 105 square miles or 67,174 acres, of which 907¹/3 are water. The river Brora, formed in the NW corner of the parish. at 783 feet above sea-level, by head-streams that rise at altitudes of from 1500 to 1600 feet, runs 14½ miles south-by-westward, south-eastward, and east-north-eastward-for the last 1⁵/8 mile along the Clyne boundary -until it passes away into Clyne. The river Fleet, entering from Lairg 9½ furlonds below its source, flows 10 miles east-south-eastward, till it quits the parish at its SE corner; and is followed pretty closely by the railway, which, ¾i mile above the station, crosses the river by a stone arch viaduct of 55 feet span. Of thirtythree lochs and lochlets the largest are Loch Bui e (1¼ x ¼ mile; 527 feet) at the meeting-point with Creich and Dornoch parishes; Loch Cracail Mor (6 x 1¹/3 furl.; 620 feet) at the meeting-point with Creich and Lairg parishes; Loch Craggie or Creagach (1 mile x 2½ furl.; 525 feet) on the Lairg boundary; Loch Beannaichte (7 x 2½ furl.; 970 feet) and Glas-Loch Mor (5½ x 2¾ furl.; 1190 feet) in the northern interior; Loch Bad an Aon-Tighe (6 x 1¾ furl.; 620 feet) and Loch Beannach (4½ x 3 furl.; 785 feet) on the Clyne boundary; and Loch an t-Salachaidh (5 x 1¹/3 furl.; 552 feet) on the Golspie boundary. The surface is everywhere hilly, but hardly mountainous, and sinks in the SE along the Fleet to 17, in the E along the Brora to 290, feet above sea-level. Chief elevations are Meall Mor (900 feet), Creagan Glas (1028), and An Stocbheinn (1104), to the S of the Fleet; Cnoc Ard an Tionail (876) and Cnoc na Sguaibe (1056), between the Fleet and the Brora; Cnoc Liath-bhaid (937), Meallan Liath Mor (1516), and Meall an Fhuarain (1645), to the N of the Fleet. In both Strathfleet and Strathbrora there are several good patches of haugh-land, some being of medium loam; but peat-earth covers fully nine-tenths of the entire area, and there are many broad swamps of deep moss. Gneiss, veined with quartz and containing a large proportion of mica, is the predominant rock; and granite is fairly plentiful, partly in situ, but chiefly in surface or embedded boulders. Not more than 1200 acres are regularly or occasionally in tillage; and the rest of the parish, mosses and waste ground excepted, is chiefly disposed in sheep pasture. Though some of them are too small, the greater number of the crofter holdings in Rogart are superior to many in other parts of the county, and very much better than the majority of crofts in the Western Isles. Some remains of an ancient stone circle are at Corrie; and vestiges of tumuli, Scandinavian buildings, and ancient camps, with memorials of ancient battles, are in many places; and eleven silver brooches were discovered during the construction of the railway. In April 1650 the Marquis of Montrose's force, on their way to the battlefield of Invercharron, passed unmolested through Strathfleet, and halted for a night at Rhin. (See Kincardine.) Lady Matheson of the Lews holds 3 per cent. of the entire rental, and the Duke of Sutherland holds nearly all the remainder. Rogart is in the presbytery of Dornoch and the synod of Sutherland and Caithness; the living is worth £192. The parish church, nearly 2 miles NNE of the station, was built in l777, and commands an extensive and beautiful view. A new and handsome manse was built in 1884, quite close to the church, and nearer the public road than the old manse, which occupied an unusually high site. The Free church stands 1¾ mile NNW of the station. Two public schools, Rhilochan and Rogart, with respective accommodation for 50 and 80 children, had (1884) an average attendance of 27 and 35, and grants of £25 and £29, 12s. A third, Blarich, accommodating 100 pupils, was opened in Oct. 1884; and a side school at West Langwell is attended by about a dozen children. Valuation (1860) £2497, (1884) £4947, 10s. Pop. (1801) 2022, (1831) 1805, (1861) 1439, (1871) 1341, (1881) 1227, of whom 1063 were Gaelic-speaking.—Ord. Sur., shs. 103, 102, 108, 109, 1878-81.

Linked entities:
Feature Description:	"a parish" (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units:	Rogart ScoP Sutherland ScoCnty
Place:	Rogart

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