The River Nairn () is a 35 mile long river in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

Etymology

The hydronym ''Nairn'' is

Pictish Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...

in origin. The name may involve ''*Naverna'', of which the ultimate genesis is the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

root ''*(s)naf'' meaning "flow, swim" (cf. Welsh ''nawf''). The toponym ''

Nevern Nevern () is both a parish and a Community (Wales), community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The community includes the settlements of Felindre Farchog, Monington, Pembrokeshire, Monington, Moylgrove and Bayvil. The small village lies in the River Neve ...

'' in Wales may be identically derived.

Course

The River Nairn rises in the Monadhliath Mountains and flows northeast through

Strathnairn Strathnairn (Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ''Srath Narann'') is an area of the Scottish Highlands approximately 8 miles southwest of Inverness, bordering the Monadhliath Mountains. The Strath's borders reach to the north where Clava cairn and the Cull ...

to enter the

Moray Firth The Moray Firth (; , or ) is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of the north of Scotland. It is the largest firth in Scotland, stretching from Duncans ...

Nairn Nairn (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland Council council areas of Scotland, area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nair ...

. The headwaters of the Nairn, the Allt Mor and Crom-allt Beag drop steeply down the western slopes of Càrn Ghriogair, their combined waters flowing beneath the B851 road and turning northeastwards. The young River Nairn is soon joined by the diminutive River Brin on the right bank and later by a burn draining the sizeable Loch Duntelchaig on the left. The River Farnack is the next right bank tributary, followed by the Craggie Burn near the

A9 road This is a list of roads designated A9. * A009 road (Argentina), a road in the northeast of Santa Fe Province * ''A9 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A9 (Sydney), a road linking Windsor and Campbelltown ** Port River Expressway, a limi ...

crossing of the Nairn at Daviot. River Nairn at Nairn - geograph

The river continues to flow past Drummossie Moor which lies to its northwest and indeed past

Culloden Moor Culloden ( ; from Scottish Gaelic ', "back of the small pond"; modern Gaelic ') is a village east of Inverness, Scotland and the surrounding area. east of the village is Drumossie Moor, site of the Battle of Culloden. History Culloden villag ...

, site of the battle in 1746. Passing beneath the Culloden Viaduct carrying the mainline railway between

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

, it then runs between Culloden Forest and Assich Forest to pass beneath the B9090 road between Clephanton and

Cawdor Cawdor () is a village and parish in the Highland council area, Scotland. The village is south-southwest of Nairn and east of Inverness. The village is in the Historic County of Nairnshire. History The village is the location of Cawdor ...

. Its last major tributary, the Allt Dearg joins from the right and the river continues northeastwards passing beneath the B9090 once again before reaching the town of Nairn. The Allt Dearg and its major tributary the Riereach Burn rise on the northern slopes of Carn nan Trì Tighearnan and flow north to meet the Nairn.Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 scale Landranger map sheets 26 ''Inverness'', 27 ''Nairn'' & 35 ''Kingussie''

References

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