South Kessock (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...

: ''Ceasag a Deas'', meaning "Ceasag's Place") is an area of the city of Inverness 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It is situated to the city's north at the mouth of the River Ness. It is a traditionally working-class area. The neighbourhood borders on

Merkinch Merkinch (Scottish Gaelic: ''Marc-Innis'', meaning "Island of the Horse") is an area of the city of Inverness in the Highland council area of Scotland. One of the oldest neighbourhoods in Inverness, it's situated in the city's north-west flanke ...

and is also known, somewhat disparagingly, as the Ferry. This refers to the now-defunct ferry service running from South to

North Kessock North Kessock (Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ''Ceasag a Tuath'' or ''Aiseag Cheasaig'') is a village on the Black Isle north of Inverness. Description North Kessock is the first village encountered over the Kessock Bridge. Now bypassed by the main ro ...

, across the

Beauly Firth The Beauly Firth ( gd, Linne Fharair) is a firth in northern Scotland. It is the outlet for both the River Beauly and River Ness. The Beauly Firth is bounded at its western end by the town of Beauly and its eastern by Inverness, where it empties ...

. The ferry operated for over 500 years, prior to the opening of the

Kessock Bridge The Kessock Bridge ( gd, Drochaid Cheasaig) carries the A9 trunk road across the Beauly Firth at Inverness, Scotland. Description The Kessock Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge across the Beauly Firth, an inlet of the Moray Firth, between the ...

in 1982. Early in the evening of 23 February 1894, the Kessock Ferry was caught in a storm leading to the deaths of three ferrymen and three coastguards attempting to rescue them. The tragedy was immortalised by the poet

William McGonagall William Topaz McGonagall (March 1825 – 29 September 1902) was a Scottish poet of Irish descent. He gained notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of, or concern for, his peers' opinions of his work. He wrote about 2 ...

in ''The Kessack Ferry-Boat Fatality'.'' The name Kessock derives from the Gaelic ''Ceasag'', the name of an ancient Christian saint once living in the area. South Kessock's

South Kessock features in two novels by local author Alex Mabon: ''The Lads from the Ferry'' and ''War of the Ferry''.

Merkinch Local Nature Reserve

The area has a diverse set of wildlife habitats with a wide variety of plants and animals and as such was designated as a Local Nature Reserve in November 2007.

Local Nature Reserve is the 50th local nature reserve in Scotland and is the only one situated in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

. The reserve consists of tidal pools partially connected to the sea, as well as open grassland and wooded areas. Habitats include

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

, freshwater marsh with

reed beds A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

, bog, scrub and wooded embankments. Common wildlife at the reserve include

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

, owls, weasels, herons, cormorants and a variety of wading birds. Kingfishers and the occasional osprey have also been known to frequent the area. The area, alongside

Chanonry Point Chanonry Point ( Scottish Gaelic: ''Gob na Cananaich'') lies at the end of Chanonry Ness, a spit of land extending into the Moray Firth between Fortrose and Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, Scotland. Lighthouse An active lighthouse situated at ...

and South Sutor, was the site of a 1991 European Cetacean Society study into dolphins and whales of the surrounding ocean.

References

External links

South Kessock on Merkinch.info

Merkinch Local Nature Reserve
Areas of Inverness {{highland-geo-stub