The Aird is an area of the County of Inverness

Inverness-shire

The County of Inverness or Inverness-shire was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland...

, to the west of the City of Inverness

Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...

. It is situated to the south of the River Beauly

River Beauly

The River Beauly is a river in the Scottish Highlands, about 15 km west of the city of Inverness.It is about 25 km long, beginning near the village of Struy, at the confluence of the River Farrar and the River Glass...

 and the Beauly Firth

Beauly Firth

The Beauly Firth is a firth in northern Scotland. It is effectively a continuation of the Moray Firth westward, and is bounded at one end by Beauly and at the other by Inverness . The Kessock Ferry has crossed at the eastern end since the 15th Century...

, and to the north of Glenurquhart and the northern end of Loch Ness

Loch Ness

Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. Its surface is above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster, also known affectionately as "Nessie"...

.

Villages within the Aird include Kirkhill

Kirkhill, Highland

Kirkhill is a village, located 2 miles east of Beauly, close to the south opening of the Beauly Firth, and 10 miles west of Inverness, in Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland....

, Kiltarlity

Kiltarlity

Kiltarlity is a small village in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is west of Inverness, and south of Beauly, on the Bruiach Burn. It has a population of under 1000 people, and a primary school, Tomnacross Primary...

, Lentran

Lentran

Lentran is a small hamlet on the south shore of the Beauly Firth, 3 km east of Kirkhill and 8 km west of Inverness, in the Highland council area of Scotland.Lentran had a station on the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway, which opened in 1862...

 and Inchmore

Inchmore

Inchmore is a small hamlet at the foot of Glen Strathfarrar, in Inverness-shire in the Scottish Highlands of Scotland. It is situated 1 km north west of Struy, and 14 km southwest of Beauly, and in the Highland council area. It is on the north bank of the River Farrar, and is the location of a...

.

It is the traditional heart of the Clan Fraser

Clan Fraser

Clan Fraser is a Scottish clan of French origin. The Clan has been strongly associated with Inverness and the surrounding area since the Clan's founder gained lands there in the 13th century. Since its founding, the Clan has dominated local politics and been active in every major military conflict...

's territory, containing their family seat of Beaufort Castle

Beaufort Castle, Scotland

Beaufort Castle is a castle in northern Scotland, near Beauly. It is the traditional seat of the chiefs of the Clan Fraser.-History:The original castle was built by the Byset family. The castle came into the hands of the Fraser's in the late 13th century...

. The first known Lord of the Aird, however, was John Byset

John Byset

John Byset the Elder, Lord of the Aird was a Scottish or Scoto-Irish nobleman who is the progenitor of the Bissett family of the Glens of Antrim in Northeast Ireland or Ulster. Born in Scotland, a significant portion of what is known of his life is probably legendary and the certain details are...

.

The area gives its name to a Highland Council ward - "Aird and Loch Ness".

History

Blar Nam Feinne ( is a site on Cnoc na Moine that reputedly saw a battle in the early 11th century between King Malcolm and Thorfinn of Norway. It is also supposed to be the site of the defeat of Donald Balloch in the 15th century. Various cairns marked the burials from the battles, about 20 mounds have survived forestry operations with varying degrees of mutilation.