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scotland
aberdeenshire
angus
argyllshire
ayrshire
banffshire
berwickshire
buteshire
cromartyshire
caithness
clackmannanshire
dumfriesshire
dunbartonshire
eastlothian
fife
invernessshire
kincardineshire
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Caithness County is a county in the
north east of Scotland, bounded on the north by the Pentland Firth;
on the east and south east by North Sea; and on the west and south
west by the county of Sutherland.
The great stronghold of Girnigoe Castle
is the most spectacular ruin in the north of Scotland and is built
on a high peninsular rock with precipitous cliffs to the sea on
three sides. A goe derives from the Norwegian and means a cave, a
rocky creek or inlet or a deep ravine that admits the sea.
It was, until the invention of the
cannon, completely impregnable. Built sometime between 1476 and 1496
by William, the 2nd Sinclair Earl it was cut off from the mainland
by two great dry ditches.
In 1567 the Earl and Countess of
Sutherland were poisoned at the instigation of the Earl of
Caithness. Caithness then invaded the county of Sutherland, set fire
to the town of Dornoch and carried off the 15 year old son and heir
of the poisoned couple.
The unhappy youth was then forcibly
married to the 32 year old daughter of the Earl of Caithness to seal
his hold on the county.
Relations are happier now, but many differences remain. Caithness
has a Viking heritage, with Norse place names like Wick and Thurso,
its two largest towns, and is much less mountainous than its
neighbour.
Counties
England Wales
Scotland
Aberdeenshire,
Angus, Argyllshire Ayrshire,
Banffshire,
Berwickshire Buteshire,
Cromartyshire,
Caithness Clackmannanshire,
Dumfriesshire,
Dunbartonshire East Lothian,
Fife, Inverness-shire,
Kincardineshire |
