The nucleus of the county consisted of the lands of Cromarty in the north of the peninsula of the Black Isle[?]. To this were added from time to time various estates scattered throughout Ross-shire ? the most considerable of which were the districts around Ullapool and Little Loch Broom on the Atlantic coast, the area in which Ben Wyvis is situated, and a tract to the north of Loch Fannich ? which had been acquired by the ancestors of Sir George Mackenzie (1630 - 1714),afterwards Viscount Tarbat (1685) and 1st earl of Cromarty (1703). Desirous of combining these sporadic properties into one shire, Viscount Tarbat was enabled to procure their annexation to his sheriffdom of Cromarty in 1685 and 1698, the area of the enlarged county amounting to nearly 370 square miles.
Originally from http://1911encyclopedia.org (http://1911encyclopedia.org).
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