Editing Inverness (section)

==History==
[[File:View of Inverness.jpg|thumb|right|Inverness at the end of the 17th century]]

=== Picts ===
Inverness was one of the chief strongholds of the [[Picts]]. In AD 569, it was visited by [[St Columba]] with the intention of converting the [[Picts|Pictish]] king [[Bridei I of the Picts|Brude]], who is supposed to have resided in the [[vitrified fort]] on [[Craig Phadrig]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://walking.visitscotland.com/walks/nescotland/213042 |title=''Craig Phadrig, Inverness'', Walk in Scotland, Visitscotland |publisher=Walking.visitscotland.com |date=27 March 2008 |access-date=14 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810133037/http://walking.visitscotland.com/walks/nescotland/213042 |archive-date=10 August 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> on the western edge of the city.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Inverness|volume=14|pages=718–719}}</ref> A church or a monk's cell is thought to have been established by early Celtic monks on St Michael's Mount, a mound close to the river, now the site of the [[Old High St Stephen's, Inverness|Old High Church]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.churchesinverness.com/Old-High-Church-g.asp |title=Inverness churches |publisher=Churchesinverness.com |access-date=14 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629140228/http://www.churchesinverness.com/Old-High-Church-g.asp |archive-date=29 June 2010 }}</ref> and graveyard.

=== Medieval ===
The first royal charter was granted by Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim ([[David I of Scotland|King David I]]) in the 12th century. The Gaelic king Mac Bethad Mac Findláich ([[Macbeth of Scotland|MacBeth]]) whose 11th-century killing of [[Duncan I of Scotland|King Duncan]] was immortalised in [[Shakespeare]]'s largely fictionalised play ''[[Macbeth]]'', held a castle within the city where he ruled as [[Mormaer of Moray|Mormaer of Moray and Ross]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Destinations :: City Guides :: Inverness|url=http://www.loganair.co.uk/destinations/city-guides/inverness|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716011955/http://www.loganair.co.uk/destinations/city-guides/inverness|archive-date=16 July 2012|access-date=30 October 2012|publisher=Loganair}}</ref>

[[Inverness Castle]] is said to have been built by [[Máel Coluim III of Scotland|Máel Coluim III (Malcolm III) of Scotland]], after he had razed to the ground the castle in which Mac Bethad mac Findláich had, according to much later tradition, murdered Máel Coluim's father [[Donnchad I of Scotland|Donnchad (Duncan I)]], and which stood on a hill around 1&nbsp;km to the north-east.<ref name="EB1911"/>

The strategic location of Inverness has led to many conflicts in the area. Reputedly there was a battle in the early 11th century between Malcolm III and [[Thorfinn the Mighty]] at Blar Nam Feinne, to the southwest of the city.<ref>{{Cite web|website=CANMORE|url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/12728/|title=Blar Nam Feinne|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland|access-date=17 April 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712085122/http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/12728/|archive-date=12 July 2012|url-status=live}}. Blar Nam Feinne is on Cnoc na Moine ({{gbmapping|NH595433}}).</ref>

Inverness had four traditional fairs, including Legavrik or "Leth-Gheamhradh", meaning midwinter, and Faoilleach. [[William I of Scotland|William the Lion]] (d. 1214) granted Inverness four charters, by one of which it was created a [[royal burgh]]. Of the Dominican friary founded by [[Alexander III of Scotland|Alexander III]] in 1233, only one pillar and a worn knight's effigy survive in a secluded graveyard near the town centre.<ref name="EB1911"/>

[[File:Inverness from A Tour in Scotland.jpg|thumb|Engraving of Inverness from ''A Tour in Scotland'' by [[Thomas Pennant]], 1771.]]

Medieval Inverness suffered regular raids from the Hebrides, particularly by the MacDonald [[Lords of the Isles]] in the 15th century. In 1187, one Dòmhnall Bàn (Donald Ban) led islanders in a battle at Torvean against men from Inverness Castle led by the governor's son, Donnchadh Mac an Tòisich (Duncan Mackintosh).<ref>{{Cite web|website=CANMORE|url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/13540/|title=Torvaine, Torbane|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland|access-date=17 April 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715070241/http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/13540/|archive-date=15 July 2012|url-status=live}}. RCAHMS locate the battle of Torvean at {{gbmapping|NH65414346}}</ref> Both leaders were killed in the battle, and Dòmhnall Bàn is said to have been buried in a large [[cairn]] near the river, close to where the silver chain was found.<ref>{{Cite web|website=CANMORE|url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/13538/|title=Torvaine|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland|access-date=17 April 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707110031/http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/13538/|archive-date=7 July 2012|url-status=live}}. The cairn at {{gbmapping|NH65424346}} disappeared in the 19th or 20th centuries, it has also been claimed to mark the resting place of St Bean(''Beóán'') the [[Culdee]].</ref> Local tradition says that the citizens fought off the [[Clan Donald]] in 1340 at the Battle of Blairnacoi on Drumderfit Hill, north of Inverness across the [[Beauly Firth]].<ref name="RCAHMS">{{Cite web|website=CANMORE|url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/13574/|title=Battle of Blairnacoi, Drumderfit Hill|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland|access-date=18 April 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121224014537/http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/13574/|archive-date=24 December 2012|url-status=live}} {{gbmapping|NH656521}}</ref> In the late 14th-early 15 century, Inverness was a symbol of the Duke of Albany's power. On his way to the [[Battle of Harlaw]] in 1411, [[Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles|Donald of Islay]] took the town and burned the bridge over the River Ness. Sixteen years later, [[James I of Scotland|James I]] held a parliament in the castle to which the northern chieftains were summoned, of whom three were arrested for defying the king's command. [[Clan Munro]] defeated [[Clan Mackintosh]] in 1454 at the [[Battle of Clachnaharry]] just west of the city.<ref>{{Cite web|website=CANMORE|url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/13458/|title=Site Record for Clachnaharry, Clan Battle Monument, Clachnaharry Memorial|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland|access-date=17 April 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707035804/http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/13458/|archive-date=7 July 2012|url-status=live}}. Battle of Clachnaharry took place at {{gbmapping|NH6454946448}}.</ref> [[Clan Donald]] and their allies stormed the castle during the [[Raid on Ross]] in 1491.

=== Post-medieval ===
In 1562, during the progress undertaken to suppress Huntly's insurrection, [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], was denied admittance into [[Inverness Castle]] by the governor, who belonged to the earl's faction, and whom she afterwards caused to be hanged.<ref name="EB1911"/> The [[Clan Munro]] and [[Clan Fraser of Lovat]] took the castle for her.<ref>[[George Buchanan]]'s (1506–1582), History of Scotland, completed in 1579, first published in 1582.</ref> The house in which she lived meanwhile stood in Bridge Street until the 1970s, when it was demolished to make way for the second Bridge Street development.

Beyond the then northern limits of the town, [[Oliver Cromwell]] built a citadel capable of accommodating 1,000 men, but with the exception of a portion of the ramparts it was demolished at the [[English Restoration|Restoration]].<ref name="EB1911"/> A clock tower today called Cromwell's Tower is located in the Citadel area of Inverness but was actually part of a former hemp cloth factory built c. 1765.<ref>Alston, David. ''Slaves and Highlanders''. Edinburgh University Press, 2021, p.223-224</ref>

Inverness played a role in the [[Jacobite rising of 1689]]. In early May, it was besieged by a contingent of [[Jacobitism|Jacobites]] led by MacDonell of Keppoch. The town was actually rescued by [[Viscount Dundee]], the overall Jacobite commander, when he arrived with the main Jacobite army, although he required Inverness to profess loyalty to [[King James VII]].<ref>A. M. Scott, ''Bonnie Dundee'' (1989), pp. 104-105</ref>

=== 18th and 19th centuries ===
In 1715 the [[Jacobitism|Jacobites]] occupied the royal fortress as a barracks. In 1727 the government built the first [[Fort George, Scotland|Fort George]] here, but in 1746 it surrendered to the Jacobites and they blew it up.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/inverness/inverness/ |title=Inverness on Undiscovered Scotland |publisher=Undiscoveredscotland.co.uk |access-date=14 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802041910/http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/inverness/inverness/ |archive-date=2 August 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Culloden, Scotland|Culloden]] Moor lies nearby, and was the site of the [[Battle of Culloden]] in 1746, which ended the [[Jacobite rising of 1745|Jacobite rising of 1745–46]].

In 1783, the year that saw the end of the [[American Revolution]] and the beginning of the [[Highland Clearances]] in [[Inverness-shire]], Coinneach MacChoinnich (1758–1837), a poet from [[Clan MacKenzie]] who was born at Castle Heather, then known as Castle Leather (''Caisteal Leothair''),<ref>Edited by Michael Newton (2015), ''Seanchaidh na Coille: Memory-Keeper of the Forest'', [[Cape Breton University]] Press. Page 517.</ref> composed the Gaelic poem ''The Lament of the North''. In the poem, MacChionnich mocks the Highland gentry for becoming [[absentee landlord]]s, [[Highland Clearances|evicting their tenants]] en masse in favor of sheep, and of "spending their wealth uselessly", in [[London]]. He accuses King [[George III]] both of [[tyranny]] and of steering the [[ship of state]] into shipwreck. MacChionnich also argues that truth is on the side of [[George Washington]] and the [[Continental Army]] and that the Scottish Gaels would do well to emigrate to the New World before the King and the landlords take every farthing they have left.<ref>Edited by Michael Newton (2015), ''Seanchaidh na Coille: Memory-Keeper of the Forest'', [[Cape Breton University]] Press. Pages 52-59.</ref>

=== Recent history ===
The [[Rose Street drill hall, Inverness|Rose Street drill hall]] was completed in around 1908.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/invernessburghdi190809inv/invernessburghdi190809inv_djvu.txt |title=Inverness Burgh Directory 1908-1909|access-date=27 June 2017}} (The 1:2500, 2nd edition, Ordnance Survey Plan, published in 1904–1905, does not show the drill hall)</ref> On 7 September 1921, the first [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|British Cabinet]] meeting to be held outside London took place in the [[Inverness Town House]], when [[David Lloyd George]], on holiday in [[Gairloch]], called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Ireland. The Inverness Formula composed at this meeting was the basis of the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst8924.html|title=Inverness Town House|publisher=The Gazetteer for Scotland|access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref>

Inverness has experienced rapid economic growth in the 21st century - between 1998 and 2008, Inverness and the rest of the central Highlands showed the largest growth of average economic productivity per person in Scotland and the second-greatest growth in the United Kingdom as a whole, with an increase of 86%.<ref>{{cite news|date=18 July 2011|title=BBC News – Central Highlands 'Scotland's top economic performer'|publisher=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-scotland-scotland-business-14186837|url-status=live|access-date=25 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719140732/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-scotland-scotland-business-14186837|archive-date=19 July 2011}}</ref> It was awarded the Nicholson Trophy (class 2 category) for the best town with between 20,000 and 50,000 inhabitants at [[Britain in Bloom]] contest in 1975.<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000445/19750729/109/0007 | title = Aberdeen wins Bloom Trophy | newspaper = [[Evening Express (Scotland)|Evening Express]] | date = 29 July 1975 | access-date = 18 May 2022 | via = [[British Newspaper Archive]] | url-access=subscription }}</ref>  In 2014, a survey by a property website described Inverness as the happiest place in Scotland and the second-happiest in the UK.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-27502591 |title=Inverness happiest place in Scotland |publisher=BBC |access-date=21 May 2014 |work=BBC News |date=21 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522200520/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-27502591 |archive-date=22 May 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> Inverness was again found to be the happiest place in Scotland by a study conducted in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13576978.Inverness_is_Scotland_s_happiest_place/ |title=Inverness is Scotland's happiest place |work=The Herald |date=6 August 2015 |access-date=16 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008100041/http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13576978.Inverness_is_Scotland_s_happiest_place/ |archive-date=8 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Residents of Inverness expressed their disapproval of [[Prince Andrew, Duke of York]], known by the title "Earl of Inverness", following [[sexual assault]] allegations being made against him by [[Virginia Giuffre]]. In 2019, Inverness residents started a campaign to strip him of that title, stating that "it is inappropriate that Prince Andrew is associated with our beautiful city."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/petition-points-to-exit-for-prince-andrew-186645/ |title=Petition urges Queen to strip Prince Andrew of Earl of Inverness title |work=Inverness Courier |date=21 November 2019 |access-date=31 May 2020}}</ref>