Nairnshire
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Nairnshire
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(Click on the picture to see a larger one) Nairnshire was one of Scotland's smaller counties and was united with Morayshire for administrative purposes in 1929. Nevertheless it retained its own boundaries and identity up until the 1975 reorganisation. The county town, Nairn, is famed for golf and as to its location we can perhaps do no better than to quote from that (in)famous Dundee poet, William "The Great" McGonagall:
Perhaps the most famous building in the county is the magnificent stronghold of Cawdor Castle. This was originally the home of the Thanes of Calder, but the castle fell into Cambell hands by extremely dishonourable means when Muriel, only child and sole heiress of the 7th Thane, was forcibly abducted by Campbell of Inverliever and, in 1511, married at the age of 12 to Sir John Campbell, third son of the Earl of Argyll. The Calders fought hard to keep the girl and six of Cambell's sons were killed in the battle for her abduction. In any event, the ploy worked and Muriel and John's descendants moved into the castle and styled themselves Campbells of Cawdor. The Campbells have been at Cawdor ever since. Only two miles from Cawdor is the county's other great castle, Kilravock, built and still occupied by the Rose or Ross family. Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed at Kilravock two days before his defeat at Culloden and was musically entertained by his host, Sir Hugh Ross. Sir Hugh cunningly kept a foot in the other camp, however, as at the same time he was affording hospitality to the Duke of Cumberland in his house in Nairn! This seems to have paid off as although Cumberland was well aware of Charles' visit to Kilravock, he spared both the castle and Sir Hugh. Family names associated with Nairnshire include Campbell, Rose, Hay and Dallas. Our map of Nairnshire measures 7¾ x 9 inches (200 x 230 mm) when stitched on 27-count evenweave material.and has 5 buildings, fishing and sailing boats, place names, compass and crest. Stitch count is 98 x 131.
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