Inverness, Inverness Shire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

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

Place Type of entry Source
Inverness parliamentary and royal burgh Bartholomew
Inverness a parish Groome
Inverness a market town, a seaport; a royal burgh, the county town of Inverness-shire 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 Inverness 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.
James Boswell August 27th to 31st, 1773: Forres to Glen Moriston via Inverness 11
Daniel Defoe Letter 13, Part 2: Dundee, Aberdeen and the Highlands 10
Samuel Johnson Inverness, Loch Ness and Foyers 8
Thomas Pennant Appendix II: Of Elgin and the Shire of Murray 8
Thomas Pennant August 30-September 5: The Great Glen and Argyll 7
George Head The Caledonian Canal 5
Thomas Pennant August 14-18: Inverness and the Black Isle 5
James Boswell October 23rd to 26th, 1773: Inveraray 3
Daniel Defoe Letter 13, Part 1: Fife and Perth 3
John Wesley 1763-4: In Scotland Again; Methodist's Wealth; "No Law for Methodists"; Exhausting Days 3
John Wesley 1769-70: Opens a New Church; Comments on Rousseau; Geology; Swedenborg 3
John Wesley 1781-4: An Ideal Circuit; Wesley in his Eighties; Wesley Visits Holland; Scotland 3
William Camden Scotland: North of the Antonine Wall 2
George Head Up the West Highland Coast 2
Samuel Johnson Fort Augustus and Glenmoriston 2
Thomas Pennant Appendix VIII: Itinerary 2
James Boswell August 21st to 23rd, 1773: Montrose to Aberdeen 1
James Boswell Sept. 1st to 7th, 1773: Glen Moriston to Skye 1
James Boswell October 3rd to 8th, 1773: Coll 1
Samuel Johnson Elgin, Forres and Fort George 1
Samuel Johnson Glen Shiel and Glen Elg 1
Samuel Johnson The economy of the islands 1
Thomas Pennant August 18-29: Sutherland and Caithness 1
Thomas Pennant Appendix VI: The Life of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel 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
Ness 9 3
Tomnahurich 3 1
Clachnaharry 0 2
North Kessock 4 2
Dunain 0 1
Dochgarroch 0 2
Culloden 6 2
Knockbain 0 2
Munlochy 0 2
Daviot 0 3
Kirkhill 0 2
Redcastle 0 2
Killeranan 0 2
Bona 0 2
Avoch 0 2
Kilcoy 0 2
Petty 2 2
Dalcross 1 2
Dunlichity 0 2
Dores 3 2

Names from historical writing

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

Name Author Source
INBHIR NESS F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).
INNERNES William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
INNER NESS Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
INNERNESS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
INVERNESS 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).

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.