Moray; ( gd, Moireibh ) or Morayshire, called Elginshire until 1919, is a historic county,

registration county A registration county was, in Great Britain and Ireland, a statistical unit used for the registration of births, deaths and marriages and for the output of census information. In Scotland registration counties are used for land registration pur ...

and

lieutenancy area Lieutenancy areas are the separate areas of the United Kingdom appointed a lord-lieutenant – a representative of the British monarch. In many cases they have similar demarcation and naming to, but are not necessarily coterminate with, the coun ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, bordering Nairnshire to the west,

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in popula ...

to the south, and

Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Mora ...

to the east. It was a

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loc ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, with Elgin the

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

, until 1975. The county was officially called ''Elginshire'', sharing the name of the Elginshire

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

, so named since 1708. The registration county, for property, is, 'County of Moray', and the Lieutenancy area, for ceremonial purposes is 'Moray'. The lieutenancy area contains a slightly smaller area than the historic county.

History

Before 1889 there were two large

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

s of Moray situated within Inverness-shire, and an exclave of Inverness-shire situated within Moray. The

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it foll ...

transferred these exclaves to the counties which surrounded them. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 established a uniform system of

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

s in Scotland and realigned the boundaries of many of Scotland's counties. Subsequently, Moray County Council was created in 1890. Moray County Council was originally based in the current Elgin Sheriff Court building and moved to "County Buildings" just to the west of the courthouse after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. In 1975, under the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The Act followed and largely implemented the report of the Royal Commission on Local Gove ...

, most of the county was combined with the

Aberlour Aberlour ( gd, Obar Lobhair) is a village in Moray, Scotland, south of Elgin on the road to Grantown. The Lour burn is a tributary of the River Spey, and it and the surrounding parish are both named Aberlour, but the name is more commonly used ...

Buckie Buckie ( gd, Bucaidh) is a burgh town (defined as such in 1888) on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. Historically in Banffshire, Buckie was the largest town in the county until the administrative area was abolished in 1975. The town is the t ...

, Cullen,

Dufftown Dufftown ( gd, Baile Bhainidh ) is a burgh in Moray, Scotland. While the town is part of the historic Mortlach parish, the town was established and laid out in the early 19th century as part of a planned new town settlement. The town has several ...

, Findochty,

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons i ...

and Portknockie areas of the county of

to form the Moray district of the Grampian

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. The

Grantown-on-Spey Grantown-on-Spey ( gd, Baile nan Granndach) is a town in the Highland Council Area, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorm mountains, about ...

and

Cromdale Cromdale ( gd, Cromdhail, from ''crom'' 'crooked' and ''dal'' 'valley, dale') is a village in Strathspey, in the Highland council area of Scotland, and one of the ancient parishes which formed the combined ecclesiastical (later civil) parish ...

areas were combined with the

Kingussie Kingussie ( ; gd, Ceann a' Ghiùthsaich ) is a small town in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland council area of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically in Inverness-shire, it lies beside the A9 road (Great Britain), A9 road, ...

and Badenoch areas of the county of

to form the Badenoch and Strathspey district of the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

region. In 1996 the Moray district was superseded by the council area of

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland (council area), ...

1996, under the provisions of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

Coat of arms

Granted in 1927 by the

Lord Lyon The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new gra ...

, Moray's coat-of-arms was: ''Quarterly: 1st and 4th Azure, three mullets argent; 2nd and 3rd Argent, three cushions gules within a tressure flory-counter-flory of the last.'' The motto was ''SUB SPE'',

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for "In Hope", a pun on the

River Spey The River Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Spè) is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the eighth longest river in the United Kingdom, as well as the second longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is important for salmon fishi ...

, which flows through the county. The coat of arms, described by Thomas Innes of Learney, a future Lord Lyon, in the ''Elgin Courant'' of 6 May 1927 as "the most beautiful county arms in Scotland", represented the

clan Murray Clan Murray () is a Highland Scottish clan. The chief of the Clan Murray holds the title of Duke of Atholl. Their ancestors were the Morays of Bothwell who established the family in Scotland in the 12th century. In the 16th century, descendants ...

and Randolph, Earl of Moray, the two main landowners.

Geography

Moray consists of a flattish coastal section, containing the main towns, with a hilly interior, bordering onto the

Grampian Mountains The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Gaelic) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian rang ...

in the far south. Notable features of the coast are Findhorn Bay and the broad arc of Burghead Bay. The coast around Lossiemouth is somewhat rockier, and contains the Covesea Skerries and Halliman Skerries offshore. The chief lochs are Loch Dallas, Loch Noir, the Lochs of Little Benshalag, Loch of the Cowlatt, Lochanan a' Ghiubhais, Loch an Salich, Loch Trevie, Loch Tutach, Loch Allan, Loch Stuart, Loch Mhic Leòid, Loch Ille Mhòr, Lochan Dubh, Loch nan Stuirteag, Loch an t-Sithein and Lochindorb.

Settlements

* Alves *

Archiestown Archiestown is a small village in Moray, Scotland, named in honour of its founder Sir Archibald Grant of Monymusk. It is a typical 18th century planned village with a grid street-plan and spacious square. Originally intended as a weaving centre, ...

* Broom of Moy *

Burghead Burghead ( sco, Burgheid or ''The Broch'', gd, Am Broch) is a small town in Moray, Scotland, about north-west of Elgin. The town is mainly built on a peninsula that projects north-westward into the Moray Firth, surrounding it by water on t ...

* Conicavel *

* Cummingston *

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Duffus Duffus ( gd, Dubhais) is a village and parish in Moray, Scotland. The Duffus Village Inn, the local shop, Post Office and Duffus Village Hall provide a focal point for the community. Nearby are the remains of Duffus Castle, St. Peters' Kirk, a ...

* Dyke * Elgin *

Findhorn Findhorn ( gd, Inbhir Èir or ''Inbhir Èireann'') is a village in Moray, Scotland. It is located on the eastern shore of Findhorn Bay and immediately south of the Moray Firth. Findhorn is 3 miles (5 km) northwest of Kinloss, and about 5 ...

* Fochabers *

Fogwatt Fogwatt/Fywatt is a small village near Elgin, in Moray, Scotland. Fogwatt Community Hall is a local community hall that is situated on the main road towards Rothes. Also Fywatt (Old form Fi-wid) from Norse, Scandinavian word meaning 'A wood in ...

* Forbes Hill *

Forres Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There a ...

* Garmouth *

* Hopeman * Kellas * Kingston on Spey * Kinloss * Kintessack *

Lhanbryde Lhanbryde ( Gaelic: ''Lann Brìghde'') is a village that lies east of Elgin in Moray, Scotland. Previously bisected by the A96, it was bypassed in the early 1990s and now lies to the north of this busy trunk road. It had a population of 1,8 ...

Longmorn Longmorn ( gd, Lann M'Eàrnain, St Earnain's Church) is a village in Moray, Scotland, famous for its malt whisky distilleries. It lies approximately south of Elgin, on the main road from Elgin to Rothes. This village was once a small railway ...

* Lossiemouth *

Mosstodloch Mosstodloch ( gd, Mos Tudlach) is a small village in Moray, Scotland, lying near the A96 between Fochabers and Elgin on the west bank of the River Spey. The village was served by Balnacoul Halt railway station from 1893 to 1931. Education It h ...

Rafford Rafford ( gd, Ràthard) is a village in Moray, Scotland. It is approximately southeast of the town of Forres, and northwest of the village of Dallas. The parish church was designed by James Gillespie Graham James Gillespie Graham (11 ...

* Rothes * Urquhart File:Burghead Seafront - geograph.org.uk - 246847.jpg, Burghead File:Dallas.JPG, Dallas File:Elgin cathedral 2.jpg, Elgin File:Findhorn Rainbow.JPG, Findhorn File:Fochabers and the Spey.JPG, Fochabers File:ForresHighStreet.JPG, Forres

Civil parishes

1861 MORAYSHIRE (Elginshire) & NAIRNSHIRE

Blaeu - Atlas of Scotland 1654 - MORAVIA - Moray and Nairn

Civil parishes are still used for some statistical purposes, and separate census figures are published for them. As their areas have been largely unchanged since the 19th century this allows for comparison of population figures over an extended period of time. From 1845 to 1930, parishes formed part of the local government system of Scotland, having parochial boards from 1845 to 1894. In 1861 there were 15 civil parishes entirely in Moray: # Alves # Birnie #

# Drainie #

# Edinkillie (see List of listed buildings in Edinkillie, Moray) # Elgin #

# Kinloss #

Knockando Knockando distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery, located in Knockando, Moray, in the Strathspey whisky-producing area of Scotland. Knockando Distillery was built by John Tytler Thomson in 1898, and is named after the village ...

# Speymouth # Spynie # Urquhart In 1861 Morayshire shared various civil parishes with three surrounding counties. Five with

: # Bellie Fochabers # Boharm # Inveraven #

# Rothes three with

: # Abernethy #

# Duthill and one with Nairnshire: # Dyke

History

Coat of arms

Geography

Settlements

Civil parishes

See also

References

Further reading