Glenmoriston

Glenmoriston is a river glen in the Scottish Highlands, that runs from Loch Ness, at the village of Invermoriston, westwards to Loch Cluanie, where it meets with Glen Shiel. The A887 and A87 roads pass through Glenmoriston.

The Glen is dominated by the River Moriston, which in Gaelic might mean "River of the Waterfalls". The river is a big attraction for fishers, but also for birdwatchers who come to see osprey and eagles fishing on the river. The river crashes over waterfalls at Invermoriston into Loch Ness, passing under an original Thomas Telford bridge, built in 1813.

About five miles along the glen from Invermoriston is Loch Dundreggan. Dundreggan means 'the hill of the dragon'. Here the natural force of the river is tapped through a hydro-electric dam, which supplies power to the area. Water is let out of the dam on Tuesday, making it a popular attraction for white water rafting and canoeing.

Not far east of Torgoyle Bridge are the Glenmoriston Footprints. A small gate on the north side of the road leads you a few metres to a cairn, and just behind this on the ground are two footprints embedded in the earth. They are said to be the footprints of a travelling preacher, one Finlay Munro, who came to spread the word of God in 1827. Despite his sermon being generally well received, his sermon was heckled. He retorted that the ground on which he stood would bear witness to the truth of what he said until the Day of Judgement comes. Thus the marks on the ground are said to be his footprints, where nothing will grow.

The glen is also steeped in Jacobite history. After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the pretender to the Scottish throne, Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped to safety through Glenmoriston. Here the Prince took refuge in a cave up in the hills where the River Doe flows down into the glen. He was famously protected by the Seven Men of Glenmoriston, in spite of a £30,000 reward (around £4.25 [http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&year_early=1745&pound71=30000&shilling71=&pence71=&amount=30000&year_source=1745&year_result=2007] million today). By the side of the road is Roderick Mackenzie's cairn, a tribute to a loyal supporter of the Prince who pretended to be Charlie and allowed himself to be captured and killed by the English – giving the real prince time to escape to safety. Glenmoriston is commonly misspelled as Glenmorriston especially in history books.

Census Data

Census data from 2001 as applied to the IV63 7 postcode district (Glenmoriston and Invermoriston).
Population - 264. (Glenmoriston - 102, Invermoriston north of river - 75, Invermoriston south of river 87)
Born in England - 37% (Highest in the Highlands. Rises to 47% in Glenmoriston).
Born in Scotland – 55% (Lowest in the Highlands. Decreases to 46% in Glenmoriston)
Retired - 24.4% (Highest in the Highlands).
Average age - 45.6 (6th oldest out of 113 postal areas in the Highland region).
Percentage of households with children - 22% (98th out of 113).
Percentage of children - 17.5%. (101st out of 113 areas ).
In good health - 68% (99th out of 113 areas).
Households as second or holiday homes - 58% (2nd highest out of 113).
Percentage of households rented from council - 4.4% (12th lowest out of 113, and no housing association stock).
Amount of rented housing decrease 1991-2001 - 50%. (Second worst in the Highlands)

References