Pulrossie is a farm in

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 ...

, in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

council area 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 ...

. It is situated on the northern shore of the

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

, 8 km west 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 ...

Skibo Castle Skibo Castle (Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Sgìobail'') is located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Although largely of the 19th century and early 20th century, when it was the hom ...

is 1.5 km to the north-east, while Meikle Ferry is 1.5 km south-east.

History

The estate was held by the Murray of Pulrossie family. The former manor house has been demolished. The Murray family of Pulrossie was a branch of the Murray of Culbin family being descended from the second son of Alexander Murray of Culbin, descendant of

Richard de Moravia Richard de Moravia or Richard de Moray of Culbin or of Cubyn, was a Scottish nobleman famed for his victory over the Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (pres ...

(Richard Murray, d. 1245). In 1430, the estate of Thomas ''Neilson'' Mackay was divided up between Angus Murray of Pulrossie and Mackay's two brothers after he had murdered Mowat of Freswick and burnt the St Duthus Church in

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 ...

. Angus Murray had been given the lands of Pulrossie from the Crown for his services in capturing Mackay who was then executed at

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

. (See:

Battle of Drumnacoub The Battle of Drumnacoub (Battle of Druim na coub, Drum-ne-coub) was a Scottish clan battle involving factions of the Clan Mackay fought in the far northwest of Scotland, some time between 1427 and 1433. It took place on a hill called Carn Fada ...

). In 1464,

John of Islay, Earl of Ross :''This article refers to John II, Lord of the Isles; for John I, see John of Islay, Lord of the Isles'' John of Islay (or John MacDonald) (1434–1503), Earl of Ross, fourth (and last) Lord of the Isles, and ''Mac Domhnaill'' (chief of Clan Don ...

disposed of ''Pulrossy'' to his brother Celestine of the Isles. In 1467, the

Earl of Sutherland Earl of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created circa 1230 for William de Moravia and is the premier earldom in the Peerage of Scotland. The earl or countess of Sutherland is also the chief of Clan Sutherland. The origin ...

received the lands of Pulrossie from the Crown. In the 16th century, Gilbert Murray the laird of Pulrossie married a daughter of

John Mackay, 11th of Strathnaver John Mackay, 11th of Strathnaver (died 1529), was the eleventh chief of the ancient Clan Mackay, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. Early life John Mackay, 11th of Strathnaver, was the eldest son of Iye Roy Mackay, 10th of Strathnaver, and ...

and was later killed at the

Battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Cro ...

in 1547. Another of Mackay's daughters married

Murray of Aberscross The Murrays (or Morays) of Aberscross (or Aberscors) were a minor noble Scottish family who were seated at Aberscross Castle, in the county of Sutherland, Scotland. The Murrays in Sutherland are recorded specifically as a clan in two Acts of th ...

. In 1550 or 1551, William Murray of the family of Pulrossie murdered John Sutherland of Killipheder on the Nether Green in the west corner of the garden at

Dunrobin Castle Dunrobin Castle (mostly 1835–1845 — present) is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland, as well as the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland. It is located north of Golspie and approximatel ...

and this was in revenge for an attack on Alexander Gordon, brother of

John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland (1525–1567) was a Scottish magnate. John Gordon supported the chief of his family, his cousin the Earl of Huntly against the Earl of Moray. After Huntly's defeat at Corrichie, he went into exile, and short ...

. However, William Murray of Pulrossie was later killed in revenge for this by Sutherland, the laird of Clyne. In 1618,

Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun (14 May 1580 – 1656) was a Scottish politician and courtier, known as the historian of the noble house of Sutherland. Early life Born at Dunrobin Castle, Golspie, Sutherland, on 14 May 1580, he was the fourth ...

, who was

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...

to the

, wrote to Murray of Pulrossie instructing him to remove the red and white lines from his men's

tartan Tartan ( gd, breacan ) is a patterned cloth consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Sc ...

in order to make their dress similar to the other

septs A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish clan, Scottish or List of Irish clans, Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as ''sliocht'', meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may ind ...

of the

Clan Sutherland Clan Sutherland is a Highland Scottish clan whose traditional territory is the shire of Sutherland in the far north of Scotland. The chief of the clan was also the powerful Earl of Sutherland, however in the early 16th century this title passed ...

. Pulrossie was chief of the Murrays in Sutherland, but was a "branch chief" under the Earl of Sutherland. In 1623, the laird of Pulrossie held joint command of the centre of

's army that marched into Caithness and took the surrender of

George Sinclair, 5th Earl of Caithness George Sinclair (died 1643) was a Scottish nobleman, the 5th Earl of Caithness and chief of the Clan Sinclair, a Scottish clan based in northern Scotland. Early life George Sinclair, 5th Earl of Caithness was the eldest son of John Sinclair, Ma ...

who had been declared a rebel. After the Scottish Civil War of the mid-17th century, the Murray laird of Pulrossie was fined for having sided against the

Royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

Etymology

The name Pulrossie may be of

Pictish Pictish is the extinct language, extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited num ...

origin meaning "promontory peninsula". The first element may be ''*pul'' meaning "a pool", and the second ''*ros'' meaning "promontory".

References

{{coord , 57, 51, 59, N, 4, 9, 2, W, type:city_region:GB-HLD, display=title Populated places in Sutherland