Culrain is a small village in Sutherland

Sutherland

Sutherland is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic administrative county of Scotland. It is now within the Highland local government area. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich 'IcAoidh , Asainte , and Cataibh...

, Highland

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Location

It lies west of Ardgay

Ardgay

Ardgay is a small Scottish village on the north west shore of the Dornoch Firth, Sutherland and lies at the entrance to Strathcarron, the valley of the River Carron. In the Highland Council area Ardgay is in Ward 1, the North, West and Central Sutherland ward.Ardgay is served by the Ardgay...

, beside the Kyle of Sutherland

Kyle of Sutherland

Kyle of Sutherland is a river estuary that separates Sutherland from Ross-shire. It flows into the Dornoch Firth and is fed by the rivers Oykel, Shin, River Cassley and Carron.The downstream extent of the Kyle of Sutherland is the bridge at Bonar Bridge...

, where several rivers converge to flood into the sea through lush water meadows.

History

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose was a Scottish nobleman and soldier, who initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I as the English Civil War developed...

 was defeated here, at the Battle of Carbisdale

Battle of Carbisdale

The Battle of Carbisdale took place close to the Village of Culrain on 27 April 1650 and was part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

, in 1650, in what proved to be the beginning of his end.

In March 1650 Montrose landed in Orkney from Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 to take the command of a small force which he had sent on before him. Crossing to the mainland, he tried in vain to raise the clans, and on 27 April he was surprised and routed at the Battle of Carbisdale in Sutherland. His forces were defeated in battle but he escaped. After wandering for some time he was surrendered by Neil MacLeod of Assynt at Ardvreck Castle

Ardvreck Castle

Standing on a rocky promontory jutting out into Loch Assynt in Sutherland, north west Highland, Scotland, Ardvreck Castle is a ruined castle dating from the 16th century. The ruins can be reached by driving along the A837 which follows the north shore of Loch Assynt from the village of Inchnadamph...

, to whose protection, in ignorance of MacLeod's political enmity, he had entrusted himself. He was brought a prisoner to Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, and on 20 May sentenced to death by the parliament. He was hanged on the 21st, with Wishart

Wishart

Wishart is a surname, and may refer to* Arthur Wishart, Canadian politician* Bridget Wishart, English performance artist* Craig Wishart, Zimbabwean cricketer* David Wishart, Scottish author* George Wishart, Scottish Protestant of the sixteenth century...

's laudatory biography of him put round his neck. To the last he protested that he was a real Covenanter

Covenanter

The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...

 and a loyal subject.

More recently Culrain has been the childhood home of the notable geologist

Geologist

A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...

 Dr Steven Andrews, whose work upon sub-Milankovich cycles within the Devonian

Devonian

The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...

 strata of the Old Red Sandstone

Old Red Sandstone

The Old Red Sandstone is a British rock formation of considerable importance to early paleontology. For convenience the short version of the term, 'ORS' is often used in literature on the subject.-Sedimentology:...

 of northern Scotland has revolutionised current geological theories of the Devonian period. His subsequent research on Stromatolites is equally ground breaking, however his ongoing struggle with perfectionism

Perfectionism (psychology)

Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that a state of completeness and flawlessness can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable...

 means it may never be published.

For a number of years Culrain was also the home of the Scottish female sculptor Ann Henderson

Ann Henderson

Ann Henderson was a Scottish sculptor born in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland- Personal Biography :Ann Henderson was born into a farming family at Ormlie, near Thurso. From early childhood her desire to create in three dimensional form was evident. She would delight in collecting clay from the local...

 (RSA).

Surrounding area

Overlooking the Kyle of Sutherland

Kyle of Sutherland

Kyle of Sutherland is a river estuary that separates Sutherland from Ross-shire. It flows into the Dornoch Firth and is fed by the rivers Oykel, Shin, River Cassley and Carron.The downstream extent of the Kyle of Sutherland is the bridge at Bonar Bridge...

 is the early 20th-century Carbisdale Castle

Carbisdale Castle

Carbisdale Castle was built in 1907 for the Duchess of Sutherland and is now used as a youth hostel, operated by the Scottish Youth Hostels Association. It is located on a hill above the Kyle of Sutherland in the region of Ross and Cromarty in the Highlands. The castle is situated north of Culrain,...

. This was home to the exiled King of Norway

Haakon VII of Norway

Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...

 during the German occupation of Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. This now houses the largest and most sumptuous Youth Hostel in Scotland, and possibly anywhere else,

Getting there

Trains between 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...

 and Thurso

Thurso

-Facilities:Offices of the Highland Council are located in the town, as is the main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College. This is one of several partner colleges which constitute the UHI Millennium Institute, and offers several certificate, diploma and degree courses from...

 stop at Ardgay railway station

Ardgay railway station

Ardgay railway station is a railway station serving the village of Ardgay in the Highland council area of Scotland. The station is on the Far North Line, 93 km north of Inverness, near Bonar Bridge. Ardgay station has a passing loop, the next loop to the south being at and to the north, .-...

 and Culrain railway station

Culrain railway station

Culrain railway station serves the village of Culrain on the Kyle of Sutherland in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is located on the Far North Line....

 (a request stop!). The youth hostel is half a mile up a steep hill from the station.

Buses between Inverness and Lairg

Lairg

Lairg is a village in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. It has a population of about 700and is situated at the south-eastern end of Lairg is a village in [[Sutherland]], [[Highland |Highland]], [[Scotland]]...

 stop in Ardgay

Ardgay

Ardgay is a small Scottish village on the north west shore of the Dornoch Firth, Sutherland and lies at the entrance to Strathcarron, the valley of the River Carron. In the Highland Council area Ardgay is in Ward 1, the North, West and Central Sutherland ward.Ardgay is served by the Ardgay...

 and Bonar Bridge

Bonar Bridge

Bonar Bridge is a village on the north bank of the Kyle of Sutherland, in the Parish of Creich in the Highland council area of Scotland.The Kyle of Sutherland is a river estuary of the Rivers Oykel, Cassley, Shin and Carron that all enter the Kyle above the bridge at Bonar.The estuary and the...

.