CROMARTY FIRTH

cromarty firth, an arm of the north sea, belonging to the county of ross and cromarty, scotland. from the moray firth it extends inland in a westerly and then south-westerly direction for a distance of 19 m. excepting at the bay of nigg, on the northern shore, and cromarty bay, on the southern, where it is about 5 m. wide (due n. and s.), and at alness bay, where it is 2 m. wide, it has an average width of 1 m. and a depth varying from 5 to 10 fathoms, forming one of the safest and most commodious anchorages in the north of scotland. besides other streams it receives the conon, peffery, skiack and alness, and the principal places on its shores are dingwall near the head, cromarty near the mouth, kiltearn, invergordon and kilmuir on the north. the entrance is guarded by two precipitous rocks--the one on the north 400 ft., that on the south 463 ft. high--called the sutors from a fancied resemblance to a couple of shoemakers (_scotice_, souter), bending over their lasts. there are ferries at cromarty, invergordon and dingwall.