Counties in the Highlands ?

[Baillie 1799]

Are the Counties; East Lothian, MidLothian, West Lothian, Lanarshire, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire and Bute considered to be in the Highlands?

Where exactly is the defining border(s) for the Highlands?



I'm not very familiar with the terrain of the Highlands, still learning. Would anyone be able to tell me if the Caithness, Sutherland, Ross & Cromarty counties were too mountaineous or rugged ground to farm or if farming was plentiful in those areas along with the other counties I Listed above?

Trying to narrow down searching areas for farmers during the mid-1700's. There werer many Baillie's found in those areas, I know the Baillies were from the Highlands, so I thought I might start my search in these counties especially if some were more dominate in farming than some of the others.



Curious,
Dave

[AndrewP]

Are the Counties; East Lothian, MidLothian, West Lothian, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire and Bute considered to be in the Highlands?

None of them are in the Highlands.

Where exactly is the defining border(s) for the Highlands?

There is no such thing as a defined boundary between the Highlands and the Lowlands of Scotland. It is arguable as to which counties are to be considered as Highlands. Is it just the counties with the main ranges of mountains, or is is everything north of a line which extends from somewhere west of Dumbarton to somewhere north of Dundee?

I'm not very familiar with the terrain of the Highlands, still learning. Would anyone be able to tell me if the Caithness, Sutherland, Ross & Cromarty counties were too mountaineous or rugged ground to farm or if farming was plentiful in those areas along with the other counties I Listed above?

Caithness and Sutherland are well north of that imaginary line that I loosely described above. Caithness is a mostly flat county, north of the mountains. A lot of the inland parts are boggy and difficult to farm, but other parts of it are fertile and well farmed.

Sutherland is a more mountainous county, but has some flatter areas around the coastlines. The coastal areas are farmed, but so are/were the lower slopes of the mountains - they are/were often grazed by sheep.

Trying to narrow down searching areas for farmers during the mid-1700's. There werer many Baillie's found in those areas, I know the Baillies were from the Highlands, so I thought I might start my search in these counties especially if some were more dominate in farming than some of the others.

It is difficult to define by counties as most of the Highland counties have mountainous areas and lower fertile areas. I am sorry not to be able to define a list of counties that are all mountains or all fertile - the land is not like that.

All the best,

AndrewP