Badenoch

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Badenoch (/ˈbædənɒx/;^[1] Scottish Gaelic: Bàideanach) is a district of the Scottish Highlands centred on the upper reaches of the River Spey, above Strathspey. It is bounded on the north by the Monadhliath Mountains, on the east by the Cairngorms and Braemar, on the south by Atholl and the Grampians, and on the west by Lochaber. The capital of Badenoch is Kingussie.

The somewhat undefined area of Badenoch covers 36 miles (58 km) from northeast to southwest and 15 miles (24 km) from north to south, comprising 540 square miles (1,400 km²). Excepting the strath of the Spey and the great glens, it consists almost entirely of wild mountainous country, many hills exceeding 3,000 feet (910 m) in height, and contains in the forests of Alder, Drumochter, Gaick and Feshie some of the best deer country in the Highlands.

The principal lochs in Badenoch are Loch Laggan, Loch Insh and Loch Ericht, and the River Spey and its numerous tributaries water the district abundantly. The Highland railway traverses Badenoch from Dalnaspidal to Boat of Garten.

In modern times Badenoch comprises the parishes of Alvie, Kingussie and Insh, and Laggan. The former Lordship of Badenoch also included a detached portion in the east, the parish of Kincardine, now part of Abernethy and Kincardine parish. As regards the parish of Duthil and Rothiemurchus, the barony of Glencarnie in Duthil (from Aviemore to Garten) was attached for a time. Rothiemurchus, which lies between Badenoch and its former detached portion, was never a part of Badenoch.^[2]

The population of Badenoch at the last census (2011) was as follows:^[3]

The Picts inhabited Badenoch, as shown by the placenames, which include Pictish prefixes such as pet- (Pitowrie, Pitchurn, Pitmean) and aber- (Aberarder), not occurring in Gaelic.^[4] However their language was superseded by Gaelic in the 11th century, and even as late as 1881, 74% of Badenoch was Gaelic-speaking (2,685 out of the population of 3,611).^[5]

From 1229 to 1313 Clan Comyn held the lordship of Badenoch.

Badenoch is also the traditional homeland of the Clan Chattan Confederation, particularly Clan MacPherson, whose traditions state that in 1309 Robert the Bruce offered the lands of Badenoch to them if they destroyed the Bruce's enemies, the Clan Comyn.^[6]

In 1371 King Robert II granted Badenoch to his son Alexander Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan (1343–1405), who became known as the "Wolf of Badenoch". Reverting to the crown, the territory came in 1452 to Alexander Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly, and still gives the title of "Lord of Badenoch" to the Marquess of Huntly.

The area has very few industries, and the population is mainly located in Kingussie and in other places on or near the Spey.^[7]

• Barrow, G.W.S. (1988). "Badenoch and Strathspey, 1130-1312. 1: Secular and political". Northern Scotland. 8 (1): 1–15. doi:10.3366/nor.1988.0002.
• Ross, Alasdair (2015). Land Assessment and Lordship in Medieval Northern Scotland. Turnhout: Brepols. ISBN 978-2503541334.