Rough Bounds

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Sgurr na Ciche, Knoydart

The Rough Bounds are an area of the Highlands, in the west of Inverness-shire out to the sea coast, between Loch Hourn and Loch Shiel, and consisting of the districts of Knoydart, North Morar, Arisaig and Moidart. The area is famous for its wildness and inaccessibility and remains very sparsely populated.

History

Historically, ownership was divided (and intermittently contested) between the Macdonalds of Clanranald and the Macdonells of Glengarry - both clans being persistent thorns in the side of central government. Another cause of strife was that the Rough Bounds in the 18th century were persistent in Roman Catholicism[1] and Jacobitism.

A succession of flamboyant but unsuccessful chiefs (including especially Alexander Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry (1771-1828) and Ranald George Macdonald of Clanranald (1788-1873) resulted ultimately in the area passing into other hands.

References

  1. Denis Rixson (1999). Knoydart: a history. Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd. p. 69. 

Coordinates: 57°3.5′N 5°40′W / 57.0583°N 5.667°W / 57.0583; -5.667