Fyrish is the name given to an ancient area of land found just north of

Evanton Evanton ( gd, Baile Eòghainn or gd, Am Baile Ùr) is a small village in Easter Ross, in the Highland council area of Scotland. It lies between the River Sgitheach and the Allt Graad, is north of Inverness, some south-west of Alness, and ...

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; gd, Siorrachd Rois) is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting of ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The lands of Fyrish are now part of the Novar Estate. However Fyrish were once lands which belonged to the

Earl of Ross The Earl or Mormaer of Ross was the ruler of the province of Ross in northern Scotland. Origins and transfers In the early Middle Ages, Ross was part of the vast earldom of Moray. It seems to have been made a separate earldom in the mid 12th ...

, which were forfeited to the crown in 1475. The lands of Fyrish were later granted to Sir

William Keith of Delny Sir William Keith of Delny (died 1599) was a Scottish courtier and Master of the Royal Wardrobe. He also served as ambassador for James VI to various countries. He was an important intermediary between George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal and the kin ...

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

in 1587. Fyrish was then divided into four parts, with Keith retaining one quarter. The eastern quarter of Fyrish was given to a nephew of Robert Mor

Munro A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

. His grandson John Munro built a house at Fyrish. A lintel stone dated 1672 survives. When he died his brother David Munro took over as manager of the estate and sold it to George Munro of Culrain in 1704. The eastern part of Fyrish later passed from the Munro of Culrain family to the Munro of Novar family during the 18th century. The original lands of the Munro estate of

Novar Novar may refer to: Companies *Novar plc - the international conglomerate based in the United Kingdom, that was acquired in 2005 by Honeywell. *Novar Controls - a subsidiary of Honeywell, and former subsidiary of Novar plc. Places *Novar House ...

was also one quarter of land in Fyrish acquired from Keith of Delny in 1589. The other quarter of Fyrish was also acquired from Keith of Delny by Hugh Munro, son of John Munro of Balconie in 1589. These lands at first were just the lower quarter of Fyrish but eventually extended eastward towards the

River Alness A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...

. These lands the Munros called Teaninich and Teaninich Castle was bought by the Munros in 1660. The Fyrish Monument was built in 1782 by Hector Munro of Novar.

Sources

https://web.archive.org/web/20061002181022/http://www.clanmunro.org.uk/merchandise_files/maps.htm
Geography of Highland (council area) {{Highland-geo-stub