The coast is low and sandy, and is skirted by sandbanks which render navigation dangerous. The eastern part of the seaboard district is formed of low sand-hills which extend into Morayshire. Parallel with the coast-line there is a great deposit of sand and gravel, which forms a terraced bank rising to the height of about 90 feet, and extends from 4 to 5 miles inward; it rests on Old Red Sandstone, which sometimes protrudes on the surface. This undulating plain is bordered by a hilly region which occupies two-thirds of the county. Where it joins the plain it is skirted by a strip of Devonian associated with coarse conglomerate. The hills, some of which reach a height of about 1500 feet, are formed of granite and grey gneiss, with occasional beds of primitive limestone. Freestone is plentiful, and there is also a species of dark bluestone which is greatly valued for ornamental building. Shell-marl is obtained from several of the lochs. The only rivers are the Nairn and Findhorn, with their tributaries. The Nairn, after entering the county, flows north-east for a distance of about 30 miles, and falls into the Moray Firth at the town of Nairn. The Findhorn, which also rises in Inverness, flows north-east through the southern and hilly district of the county into Morayshire. The soil of the alluvial plain on the coast is light and porous, and has been rendered very fertile by careful cultivation. There is also some rich land on the Findhorn. The most advanced methods of agriculture are in operation, but only a small proportion of the surface is capable of tillage, scarcely more than a fifth of the total area being under crops. The hills are for the most part covered with heath or pasture suitable for sheep, intermixed with fir and larch plantations.

The number of holdings in 1880-was only 392, and of these 214 did not exceed 50 acres in extent, 92 were between 50 and 100 acres, and 86 above 100 acres. According to the agricultural returns of 1882 there were 26,463 acres under cultivation, of which 9359 were under corn crops, 4871 under green crops, 10,031 under rotation grasses, and 2124 permanent pasture; 12 acres were under orchards, and 13,241 underwoods. Very little wheat is grown, the principal corn crops being barley or here, 3156 acres, and oats, 5917 acres. Of the green crops 4201 acres were under turnips or swedes, and 617 under potatoes. Horses in 1832 numbered 1292, cattle 5992 (1801 being cows or heifers in milk or in calf), sheep 17,442, and pigs 981.

The valued rental of the county in 1674 was £15,162 Scots, or about £1263 sterling. Exclusive of railways, the valuation in 1881-82 was £36,217. According to the latest return the number of proprietors was 537, possessing lands of a gross annual value of £41,767. Of these 467 possessed less than 1 acre, and 5 more than 5000 acres, viz., earl of Cawdor, 46,176 acres; James C. G. Brodie, 22,378; N. J. M 4 Gillivray, 12,600; earl of Leven and Melville, 7805; and Hugh Davidson, 6363. There are several fine mansions in the county, in addition to a number of shooting lodges. The coast is skirted by the Highland Bailway, and there is a good harbour at Nairn. The county possesses no special trade or manufacture, but there is a large distillery at a short distance from the county town.

Nairn includes three entire parishes, Ardclach, Auldearn, and Nairn, and portions of the parishes of Cawdor, Croy, Dyke, Moy, Petty, Daviot, and Urquhart,—the last two being detached portions, lying within Inverness and Ross respectively, at considerable distances from the rest of the county. Since 1801, when it was 8322, the population has been slowly but steadily increasing, and in 1881 nrunbered 10,455 (4979 males and 5476 females). There is one royal burgh, Nairn, and a burgh of barony, Auldearn. The county is under the same sheriffdom as Elgin and Banff, and unites with Elgin in returning a member to parliament. Anciently Nairn was included under the province of Moray, which was governed by a ri or mormaer. Roman coins have been found at a vitrified fort on the summit of a hill in the parish of Cawdor. There are numerous stone circles, including a very perfect one on the summit of Lethenbar Hill, one at Golford, and. one at Moyness consisting of two concentric circles and a rocking stone. Cawdor Castle, a fine baronial structure, in a very picturesque situation, 5 miles south of Nairn, is associated in unauthentic legend with the murder of King Duncan by Macbeth; but no part of the building is really older than the 15th century.

Nairn, a royal and parliamentary burgh and county town, is pleasantly situated near the Moray Firth, on the left bank of the Nairn, and on the Highland Railway, 93 miles west-north-west of Aberdeen and 15 north-east of Inverness. The principal buildings are the town and county hall (1818) surmounted by a spire, the hospital (1816) in the Italian style, the new public hall erected at a cost of £12,000, and the academy. Nairn is much frequented in summer for sea-bathing, and possesses very complete artificial baths. There is a commodious harbour with breakwater and pier. The principal exports are corn, eggs, potatoes, herrings, haddocks, freestone, and timber, and the principal imports coal, lime, and provisions. There are freestone quarries in the neighbourhood, and the town possesses rope and twine factories. There is also a salmon fishery. The burgh unites with Fortrose, Forres, and Inverness in returning a member to parliament. The population of the parliamentary burgh in 1881 was 4161, and that of the royal burgh 4665.

The town, whose original name was Invernairn, stood at first at some distance from its present site. Its earliest extant charter, which bears, however, to be a renewal of one received from Alexander I. in the 12th century, was granted by James VI. in 1589. At that time the inhabitants of the western half of the town spoke only Gaelic, and until a late period the distinction between the two sections of the town inhabited by different races was very clearly marked.

The songs of Lady Nairne may be classed under three heads :— (1) those illustrative of the characters and manners of the old Scotch gentry, such as “The Laird of Cockpen,” “The Fife Laird,” and “John Tod”; (2) Jacobite songs, composed for the most part to gratify her kinsman the aged chief of Strowan, among the best-known of which are perhaps “Wha’ll be King but Charlie,” “Charlie is my Darling,” “The Hundred Pipers,” “He’s owτe the Hills,” and “Bonnie Charlie’s noo awa”; and (3) songs not included under the above heads, ranging over a variety of subjects from “Caller Herrin’” to the “Land o’ the Leal.” For vivacity, genuine pathos, and bright wit her songs are surpassed only by those of Burns, and, although their note is less full and strong than his, it is perhaps in some respects more mellow and tender.

Lays from Strathearn, by Caroline. Baroness Nairne, arranged with Symphonies and Accompaniments for the Pianoforte by Finlay Dun, appeared without date some time after her death. Her poems were published in vol. i. of the Modern Scottish Minstrel, 1857; but the most complete collection is that contained in Life and Songs of the Baroness Nairne, with a Memoir and Poems of Caroline Oliphant the Younger, edited by Rev. Charles Rogers, LL.D., 2d ed., 1869.