Embo ( gd, Eurabol, IPA: �iaɾəpɔɫ̪ is a village in the Highland Council Area in Scotland and the former postal county of

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

, about north-northeast of

Dornoch Dornoch (; gd, Dòrnach ; sco, Dornach) is a town, seaside resort, parish and former royal burgh in the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray ...

. On 16 July 1988, Embo declared itself independent from the rest of the United Kingdom for one day. The Prime Minister was Mr. Donald Ward. This was done to raise funds to convert the unused primary school in the village into a community centre. The village issued its own currency, called the Cuddie. The

rate of exchange In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

was two Cuddies to the pound. Cuddies were accepted in the local public house, Grannies Heilan' Hame, in exchange for a measure of Clynelish

Malt Whisky Malt whisky is whisky made from a fermented mash consisting primarily of malted barley. If the product is made exclusively at a single distillery (along with other restrictions), it is typically called a single malt whisky. Although malt whisky ca ...

. The owners of the

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

, in nearby

Brora Brora ( , gd, Brùra) is a village in the east of Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland. Origin of the name The name ''Brora'' is derived from Old Norse and means "river with a bridge". History Brora is a small industrial village, ha ...

, sponsored the bid for independence by issuing a commemorative label on 50 cases of Clynelish Malt Whisky – "The Spirit of Free Embo". The

Battle of Embo The Battle of Embo was a battle that took place at Embo in Sutherland, Scotland in 1245. It was fought by Scottish forces against Viking invaders who were defeated. The battle The first account of the Battle of Embo was written by Sir Robert G ...

took place in 1245 between Scots and Vikings. Bronze Age remains were excavated to the south of the village in 1956, other burials having previously been discovered in the area. The school in Embo was designed by William Fowler in 1859. Nancy Dorian's research of the local

East Sutherland Gaelic , acceptance = , image = , imagesize = , imagealt = , imagecaption = , pronunciation = , states = , region = Eastern coast of Sutherland , creator = , created ...

dialect showed that in 1964, over 100 of the village's total population of fewer than 300 still actively spoke Gaelic, and that many more had a "smattering" or were perfect passive bilinguals. This percentage even briefly increased during the 1970s with "returners" to the village. Until the end of the 1970s at least, Embo was a bilingual Gaelic and English speaking community. Brora and Golspie had much smaller percentages of Gaelic speakers at that time. As with the entire region of East

, the end of the 19th century and the collapse of the fishing industry coincided with the decline of Gaelic as the majority language of the people. Embo is informally " twinned" with

Kaunakakai Kaunakakai () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, United States. It is the largest town on the island of Molokai. The population was 3,419 at the 2020 census. It has the largest port on the island and the longest pier ...

on the island of

Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...

in Hawaii.

Coul Links Coul Links is an area of sand dunes (referred to as "links" in the Scots language) in Sutherland, on the east coast of Scotland. It is located between Golspie and Dornoch, lying just to the north of the small village of Embo. The links are c ...

, an area of

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

protected as part of a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI), lies to the north of the village. As of February 2019 a company led by American Todd Warnock is proposing to build a golf course on the links; the Scottish Government has referred the proposal to a planning inquiry, which will determine whether the development is to be permitted.

Transport

The nearest railway stations are at

Tain Tain ( Gaelic: ''Baile Dhubhthaich'') is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The ...

and Golspie, both about away.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Sutherland