Nairn, Nairnshire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Nairn. You may be able to find further references to Nairn in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Nairn river Bartholomew
Nairn parliamentary and royal burgh Bartholomew
Nairn a river Groome
Nairn a parish Groome
Nairn the county town of Nairnshire, and a royal and police burgh Groome

This additional information from our descriptive gazetteers is for locations within the parish or parishes associated with Nairn.

Place Type of entry Source
Balblair place Bartholomew
Balblair a spot Groome
Burnside a recent neat hamlet Groome
Burnside hamlet Bartholomew
Firhall an estate, with a mansion Groome
Geddes House a mansion Groome
Househill an estate, with a mansion Groome
Howford a village Groome
Ivybank an estate, with a mansion Groome
Moss-Side a village Groome

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Nairn within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
Thomas Pennant Appendix II: Of Elgin and the Shire of Murray 5
Thomas Pennant August 14-18: Inverness and the Black Isle 3
William Camden Scotland: North of the Antonine Wall 2
Samuel Johnson Elgin, Forres and Fort George 2
John Wesley 1781-4: An Ideal Circuit; Wesley in his Eighties; Wesley Visits Holland; Scotland 2
James Boswell August 27th to 31st, 1773: Forres to Glen Moriston via Inverness 1
John Wesley 1763-4: In Scotland Again; Methodist's Wealth; "No Law for Methodists"; Exhausting Days 1
John Wesley 1769-70: Opens a New Church; Comments on Rousseau; Geology; Swedenborg 1
Thomas Pennant September 5-17: Inveraray to Edinburgh 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Auldearn 2 2
Geddes 0 1
Rait 1 1
Lochloy 0 1
Lethen 1 2
Cawdor 9 2
Ardersier 4 4
Brodie 0 2
Kilravock 1 2
Dyke 1 2
Darnaway 2 2
Croy 0 2
Fort George 8 2
Relugas 1 2
Ardclach 0 2
Sutors of Cromarty 1 1
Dalcross 1 2
Culbin 1 2
Petty 2 2
Cromartyshire 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Nairn. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
INVERNAIRN F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).
NAIRN John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).
F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).
F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).
NARDIN William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
NARNE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
STRATH NAIRN Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
TUAESIS Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
UISGE NEARN F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.