Spinningdale () is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

, in the Parish of Creich, on the north shore of the

Dornoch Firth The Dornoch Firth (, ) is a firth on the east coast of Highland, in northern Scotland. It forms part of the boundary between Ross and Cromarty, to the south, and Sutherland, to the north. The firth is designated as a national scenic area, one of ...

in eastern

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

, in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

of Scotland. It lies northeast of

Bonar Bridge Bonar Bridge (, ) is a village on the north bank of the Kyle of Sutherland to the west and the Dornoch Firth to the east in the Parish of Creich in the Highland council area of Scotland. The Kyle of Sutherland ("the Kyle" for locals) is a ri ...

and is in the Scottish council area of

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

. "Dale" is possibly from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''Dalr'', meaning 'valley' but more probably from 'Dail' a Gaelic word for meadow or field and commonly found in placenames all over Scotland. It was referred to as "Spanigidill" in 1464, the pronunciation of which bears a close resemblance to modern Gaelic. The A949 road, the old A9 before the 1991 opening of the

Dornoch Firth Bridge The Dornoch Firth Bridge is a road bridge over the Dornoch Firth, carrying traffic between Tain and Dornoch. History It was built for the Scottish Office. There had been recent substantial improvements of the A9 between Inverness and Tain, inc ...

, passes through Spinningdale. On 1 February 2008 a

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

named ''Spinningdale'' was wrecked on rocks near St Kilda.

Notable residents

James Robertson Justice James Robertson Justice (15 June 1907 – 2 July 1975) was a British actor. He often portrayed pompous authority figures in comedies, including each of the seven films in the ''Doctor'' series. He also co-starred with Gregory Peck in seve ...

, actor, lived in a cottage in Spinningdale from 1954 to 1970.

References

Populated places in Sutherland {{Sutherland-geo-stub