Old Statistical Account of Dingwall

This account of the ancient town and royal burgh of Dingwall was written by Reverend Mr Daniel Rose about 1791. It is a much longer document at 20 pages, compared to Fodderty at 5 pages.

"The parish of Dingwall, situated at the west end of the Firth of Cromarty, lies in the Presbytery of Dingwall, of which the town of that name is the seat, and in the Synod and county of Ross. It is bounded on the east by the parish of Kiltearn; on the north by a vast tract of high mountains; on the west and south by the parish of Fodderty. That part of the parish of Urquhart, called Ferintosh (where my Bains lived at one time) lies on the skirt to the south east; but from it Dingwall is divided by the river Conan, which, at high water is widened to about half a mile by the influx of the sea".

The name was formally Dingnaval or Dingnavallis, and took it origin from the richness and fertility of the soil of the lower grounds, which form a considerable part of the parish. Excluding a small district, peopled by few inhabitants, and divided from the rest by a high hill, this parish forms nearly an oblong of 1.5 by 2 miles. It consists of a pretty extensive valley, and partly of the sides of sloping hills, a great portion of which is in a high state of cultivation. The waste ground is not considerable, and there are no commons  in the parish; the bulk of the land is in culture; and the whole forms a beautiful interchange of hill and valley, wood and water, corn-fields and meadows.

Dingwall looking toward Cromarty Firth

The soil is abundantly fertile.. seldom , if ever, fails to produce luxuriant crops. ...It is not subject to any destructive inundations... but it is exposed to high winds.. which are often inconvenient to the inhabitants, and harmful to growing corn. The winter is not attended with any peculiar degree of severity. All along the side of the hill, fronting the south... there are mineral springs impregnated with sulphur. One of them at Dryme appears nearly, if not fully, as strong as a spring in the neighbouring parish of Fodderty, which ahs been found extremely efficacious in curing a variety of cutaneous diseases".

The sea tides are shallow, leaving at low tide up to 4 miles of mud. "Goods imported to this place from London, Glasgow and Leith, and other manufacturing and trading towns are carried in the London and Leith smacks, which maintain a constant communication every three weeks of months at most, between the southern and northern parts of the kingdom. There are in this parish only two boats; one of which is very small, plies in high water between Dingwall and Ferintosh for the carriage of bulky articles".

Map of Dingwall showing extensive mud areas, and Fodderty to the west

The birds and animals are those found in every part of the country. "There are plenty of hares, and at a little distance , great numbers of red deer. Once, and only once, the minister saw two roe deer in the parish... There are some foxes , with the usual smaller kind of quadrupeds... Plenty of partridges, grouse, black game, plovers and water-fowl of various species. The migratory birds are numerous... Alders abounded some years ago but are rapidly giving way place to corn and grass fields".

View over Dingwall to Ben Wyvis [to its north-west and lies in Fodderty Parish]

Population

In 1791 there were in Dingwall: 617 men and 762 women [total 1379]; compared to the return of Dr Webster in 1755 of 997. The town contained 745 and the country part of the parish 634. The average number of births was 38. ["The following circumstances are somewhat curious. The year 1783 was a year of great scarcity, and the births of the succeeding years were 16 below the average and 14 below the average of any of the later years. The year 1787, on the contrary, was a year of plenty, and the following year births increased in a similar proportion. There were 17 above the average, and 11 above the average of any of the other years].

The Reverend Rose was clearly interested in population matters.

He reported 7 marriages in 1791, and he reports the proportion of males to females born as 5 to 4. Again though the years of scarcity and plenty provided deviation form this average proportion. In the year after scarcity (ie 1784), there were 15 males and 7 females born. In the year after uncommon plenty (ie 1789) there were 36 males and 12 females born.

The breakdown of the population by age was: under 10 - 329, between 10-20 - 329, between 20-50 - 560, between 50-70 127, between 70-100 - 34 and none over 100.

The average of births to the whole population 1 to 36; average of marriages to the whole population 1 to 153, and the average of bachelors to married men and widowers 1 to 21.

Most of the parish inhabitants were of the establish Church of Scotland, excepting two 'Seceders' and 10 families who followed the Episcopalian persuasion. These have here no fixed clergyman; but they have the ordinances of religions occasionally dispensed among them by, ministers from other parts of the country. My Bain family were with the established church.

Gaelic is the language of the people, and in which the greater part of public worship is performed. But most of the parishioners, now understand and speak English. There are comparatively few of the younger people who were not early sent to school, and taught both to read and write.

Occupations

Farmers whose sole dependance is on the produce of the ground they cultivate - 33, mechanics of different kinds  - 60; their apprentices, about - 21; merchants or tradesmen - 7, male servants of different kinds - 117, female servants of different kinds - 132, clergyman - 1, physician - 1, writers, attorneys - 6. 

As Dingwall was the site of three sheriff's court in Ross-shire. As it was the centrally located one it did three times as much business as the other two. "it is remarkable, however, that this business has greatly decreased, since Ferintosh was deprived of its exclusive privilege of distilling whisky without paying King's duties. During the continuance of that privilege, the quarrels and breaches of the peace among the inhabitants, were very frequent, and often furnished a good harvest to the Dingwall procurators. But now that this course of business has in a great measure failed, the people have become much more peaceable'. See a discussion of Ferintosh  on another post, as several of Alexander and Catherine Bain's children were born there after the demise of freedom from the whisky duty. 

My Alexander Bain marrying in 1796 was a male servant. 

There were 239 houses, with about 40 of those well built and of two stories. Smaller farms were being converted into larger farms. "Of the better kind of houses, which are let at from 7 to 16 pound a year, about 17 have been built [in the past 10 years]... There are no uninhabited houses or cottages in the town or neighbourhood. The demand... for houses, particularly for the middling sort, is  is very great. At an average the number of inhabitants to each house is 5 and 3/5ths". The annual rent of the parish was thought to be about 1200 pounds, with houses that day-labourers and servants occupied were commonly let at 15-21 shillings a  year.

There were 58 people receiving relief, 8 men and 50 women, including those who could do some work but not enough for their own or their families survival. This was funded by a small weekly contribution (7-8 pounds) and from the interest of a sum of money which yielded 35 pounds. 

In 1790 there were 18 prisoners confined to the jail. Their crimes were debt - 11, petty theft - 5, horse and sheep stealing - 1, and one woman from a distant part of the county awaiting transportation since the autumn circuit of 1789. No murder had been committed in the past 40 years, nor had any inhabitant been banished.

The sole parochial school had 60-80 students. The school master earned 16 pounds salary, 3 pounds as session-clerk, and school fees of 24 pounds. "He also has a very good house and garden from the town". The Reverend bemoaned that the cost of meat and grains had doubled in the past 30 years. In considering the plight of labourers with large families, he writes: "How this wretched pittance is distributed among the variety of objects necessary to human life, an a very simple state, and how it is made sufficient for the subsistence of a family, is inconceivable. But habits of frugal management, taught by poverty to the indigent, are found to affect what the affluent do not imagine, and cannot easily believe". 

"Eighteen years ago (ie 1773) a very neat spire was built over the steeple of the town-house, and it was furnished with an exceedingly good clock. And seven to eight years ago, the streets were new paved."

Modern main street of Dingwall, with original clock 

There were two inns, frequented by travellers and used for public meetings. There are 19 ale or whisky houses, seven of which are regularly licensed. The Reverend had little good to say about these. "The lower order of people is not remarkable for any extraordinary degree of hospitality. Living in a country well inhabited, and much resorted to by strangers, and not enjoying those means of wealth which arise from extensive commerce, or regular manufactures, this virtue cannot have much room to exert itself among this class. According to their situation, however, they are by no means unwilling to share what they possess, either in the way of hospitality or charity".