Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ferguson, Sir Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Ferguson, Sir Samuel, 1810–86, Irish poet and antiquary. Ogham Inscriptions in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland (1887) is his best-known work on Irish antiquities. His major poetic works, which deal wit...

Erskine, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Erskine, Robert, 1735–80, geographer and surveyor general to the American Revolutionary army, b. Dunfermline, Scotland. His several hundred detailed maps of the region W of the Hudson River, showing...

Shiel, Loch

(Encyclopedia)Shiel, Loch lŏkh shēl [key], lake, 17 mi (27 km) long and 1 mi (1.6 km) wide, Highland, W Scotland. It is drained by a short stream into Loch Moidart. ...

Caithness

(Encyclopedia)Caithness kāthˈnĕs, kāthnĕsˈ [key], former county, NE Scotland. Under the Local Government Act of 1973, Caithness became (1975) part of the new Highland region (now a council area). ...

Johnstone

(Encyclopedia)Johnstone jŏnˈstən [key], town (1991 pop. 42,731), Renfrewshire, W Scotland. Industries include flax and cotton mills in addition to engineering works. Chemicals, machine tools, and shoelaces are a...

Edinburgh, University of

(Encyclopedia)Edinburgh, University of, at Edinburgh, Scotland; founded 1583. It has faculties of divinity, law, medicine, arts, science, music, social sciences, and veterinary medicine. The Institute for Advanced ...

Fair Isle

(Encyclopedia)Fair Isle, island, c.3 sq mi (7.8 sq km), off N Scotland, southernmost of the Shetland Islands. It is known for its traditional knitting in bright, multicolored designs and for its bird sanctuary. ...

Renfrewshire

(Encyclopedia)Renfrewshire or Renfrew, former county, central Scotland. Under the Local Government Act of 1973, Renfrewshire became (1975) part of the Strathclyde region, but in 1996 that region was dissolved and t...

Ayrshire

(Encyclopedia)Ayrshire or Ayr, former county, SW Scotland. Ayrshire became part of the Strathclyde region in 1975. In the local government reorganization of 1996, Strathclyde was dissolved and the council areas of ...

Stromness

(Encyclopedia)Stromness, town, on Mainland island, Orkney Islands, N Scotland. It has a harbor with shipyards and docks. Eggs are exported. In the 18th and 19th cent., Stromness was a whaling center and a port of c...