Dornoch travel guide

Nowadays Dornoch is famous for its links golf course, one of the world’s finest and relatively easy to get on. It overlooks miles of dunes and a pristine sandy beach. A stone near the links marks the spot where the last witch in Scotland was burned, in 1722. Folklore recounts a bloody battle against raiding Vikings in 1259 on the beach at Embo, just to the north, in which Sir Richard Murray was killed. The battle is commemorated at the Earl’s Cross. Trout fishing is available on Dornoch Lochans; enquire locally.

Straggling crofting townships such as Rogart are scattered through the glens and around the coast, all occupied and worked vigorously. The coastal population was swollen in the 19th century by tenants evicted from the inland glens; they were resettled here and encouraged to try fishing at such villages as Embo. Others joined the eager flood of emigrants to the New World already under way. Crofting tenancies still exist, but crofters now enjoy more protection .