Parish of Tongue, County of Sutherland

I - Topography and natural History

Name:

This district, previous to its erection into a separate parish in 1724, and while it constituted but a portion of the original parish of Durness, was called Kintail, - a name signifying the head of the sea, (Ceann, an t'sãil). The name was derived from the arm of the sea, which, for many miles, stretches inland into the parish from the Northern Ocean. The modern name (Tongue,) which at first was written (Tung,) is in all probability derived from a narrow neck of land jutting out transversely for a considerable distance into the Kyle near the House of Tongue, which bears a resemblance to a protruded tongue. The Gaelic as well as the English name of that organ justifies this derivation.

Boundaries, Extent:

It would seem by the record of erection, that the boundaries of this parish extended from Torrisdale, in the east, to the water of Polla, in the west; from the Whiten-head, in the north, to the great deer forest, in the south. By use and wont, however, these boundaries are greatly contracted on the west, in which direction the parish is considered now only to extend to the top of the Moin or the Ben Hope mountain range. The parish of Farr is contiguous on the east and south-east, and the parish of Durness on the west and south-west. On the north, it is bounded by the Northern Ocean. Its figure is irregular, somewhat resembling, as is mentioned in the former account, a spherical triangle. The extreme length from north to south is 20 miles; average 15. The extreme breadth from east to west is 12 miles; average 8. As nearly as can he computed, its superficial extent is 140 square miles.