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There are various definitions of "The Highlands" in Scotland. The modern Highland Councilfor instance administers the historic counties of Caithness and Nairnwhich wouldn't alwaysbeconsidered Highland areas - along with Sutherland, Ross & Cromarty, and Inverness; butnot Argyll and Bute or upland Perthshire, which are traditionally part of the Highlands (see the Counties Page). Sincethis website isInverness-based we will tend to concentrate on the Highland Council region andareas immediatelyadjacent to it(such as northern Argyll, northern Perthshire and Moray), but will also include material relevant to the wholeof thehistoric "Highlands" where appropriate. The map below shows the High-lands, known in Gaelic as the Gaidhealtachd (i.e. "Gaeldom"), alongwith the Non-Gaelic Speaking Provinces in the low-land areas of the northeast of the country. This map may be compared to that from which it is taken showing the whole of Scotland - see www.itraveluk.co.uk/maps/scotland.html
Gaeldom's equation of the Highlands with the historic Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland is somewhat misleadingsince in early medieval times Gaelic would have been spoken in most areas of the country apart from the southeastof the Lothians, the northeast of Caithness, and the northern isles; and in later medieval times in much of the mainland north of the Forth and Clyde Valleys, apart again from Caithness. For more information on this, and all the historic divisions of Scotland see the excellent "Atlas of Scottish History to 1707", eds. Peter G. B. McNeill & Hector L. MacQueen (Edin. 2024). |
