Dores

   DORES, a parish, in the county of Inverness, 7½ miles (S. S. W.) from Inverness; containing 1745 inhabitants, of whom 80 are in the village. The ancient name was Durris, a word derived from the Gaelic term tur-ri-ish, signifying rising ground near water. The parish is situated nearly at the northern extremity, and on the eastern shore, of Loch Ness, by which an elevated portion of the lands is washed; and is between twenty and twenty-five miles in length, and upwards of four miles in breadth, comprising about 24,000 acres, of which 4000 are arable, the same number wood and plantation, and the remainder moorland pasture. A small part of the parish, containing twenty inhabitants, is locally in the parish of Boleskine. The surface is mountainous, with the exception of a narrow valley which runs throughout the district, and on the high grounds are several lochs; the village is of small extent, and situated near the church, and from it a prospect is obtained, comprehending the whole of Loch Ness, stretching for twenty-four miles. The Soil in the elevated parts is very superior, and, in seasons free from frost and rain, produces excellent crops; but the low grounds are so hot in summer, that the corn and grass are much injured, and in dry weather would be parched up were it not for the copious dews falling in the night. The chief mansions are those of Aldourie, Eregie, and Gortleg. There is a salmon-fishery in Loch Ness and the river Ness, and fine trout, pike, and char are found in the other lochs; the parish also once contained a whisky distillery, in which about twelve hands were employed. The post-road from Inverness to Fort Augustus intersects the parish; and Loch Ness, on the line of the great Caledonian canal, affords every facility for the importation of coal and lime, and the exportation of timber and wool. The produce is usually sent for sale to Inverness; but salmon, sheep, and fat cattle, are conveyed to the London market. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3165. Dores is in the presbytery of Inverness and synod of Moray, and in the patronage of the Earl Cawdor; the minister's stipend is £142, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £8 per annum. The church is a neat edifice, built in 1827, and there is a preaching-station in the south-western part of the parish. The parochial school affords instruction in the ordinary branches; the master has a salary of £30, with a house and garden, and £10 fees. There is also an Assembly's school, and a school is supported by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge. The relics of antiquity comprise the remains of a vitrified fort called Castel-dun-Richuan, or the Castle of the King of the Ocean; and a little to the east of this, is an eminence called DrumAshi, or Ashi's Hill, where, according to tradition, Fingal fought with and killed Ashi, the son of the Norwegian king. The distinguished statesman, Sir James Mackintosh, author of Vindiciæ Gallicæ, and recorder of Bombay, was born here in 1765.