Can some one please me where the official line divides the two areas of Scotland. Thank You Margaret

Margaret, I don't think there is an official line but the simplest description would be to draw a line from say Dumbarton to Stonehaven (Aberdeen). Although my father always said it was everyplace higher or lower than the place you were before (it didn't make sense to me either). Wikipedia has this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Lowlands Don -----Original Message----- From: lanark-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:lanark-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Margaret McNab Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:25 PM To: Newsgroup Lanarkshire Subject: [Lanark] Highlands and the Lowlands. Can some one please me where the official line divides the two areas of Scotland. Thank You Margaret ------------------------------- LANARK, SCOTLAND MAILING LIST

When I studied geography many years ago, Scotland was divided into 3 geological areas: 1) The area north of the Great Glen (the fault line that is essentially Loch Ness) - Highlands 2) The area south of the fault line that runs roughly from Dumbarton to Stirling - south of this line was the Lowlands. 3) And the area "in between". Also Highlands. The low lands in Aberdeen shire were seen as part of the area "in between" geologically, although they were low lands, they weren't "The Lowlands". Hope this makes sense. I can still picture the map. edward Edward R Paxton ________________________________ From: Don Muirhead <muirhead@kwic.com> To: lanark@rootsweb.com Sent: Thursday, 17 June, 2010 23:31:52 Subject: Re: [Lanark] Highlands and the Lowlands. Margaret, I don't think there is an official line but the simplest description would be to draw a line from say Dumbarton to Stonehaven (Aberdeen). Although my father always said it was everyplace higher or lower than the place you were before (it didn't make sense to me either). Wikipedia has this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Lowlands Don -----Original Message----- From: lanark-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:lanark-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Margaret McNab Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:25 PM To: Newsgroup Lanarkshire Subject: [Lanark] Highlands and the Lowlands. Can some one please me where the official line divides the two areas of Scotland. Thank You Margaret ------------------------------- LANARK, SCOTLAND MAILING LIST ------------------------------- LANARK, SCOTLAND MAILING LIST LIST TOPIC: The discussion and research of genealogy or history information pertaining to Lanark, Scotland at any point in its history. WHEN REPLYING to any list post please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post any reply LIST INFORMATION PAGE: Contact the List Admin at lanark-admin@rootsweb.com; or to search the list archives, get information on subscribing or unsubscribing, or to obtain other useful information to help you use the list more effectively, please click on the following link to the list information page online: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LANARK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I remember from school geography lessons (1) the Highlands, i.e. the area north of the Highland Boundary Fault (Helensburgh to Stonehaven) (2) the Central Lowlands, i.e. the area between the Highland Boundary Fault and the Southern Upland Fault (3) the Southern Uplands, i.e. the area south of the Southern Upland Fault (Girvan to East Lothian) (1) is further subdivided into (1a) the northern Highlands, i.e. north and west of the Great Glen Fault (1b) the Grampian Highlands, i.e. between the Highland Boundary Fault and the Great Glen Fault but all these definitions are geological and probably don't help at all with genealogy. Anne

> Can some one please me where the official line divides the > two areas of Scotland. There is no official dividing line between the Highlands and the Lowlands. Geologically, the Highlands are north of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs roughly straight from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. It includes the northern and western islands. Topographically, the Highlands is the part of Scotland north of the Highland Boundary Fault but excluding Caithness, Orkney, parts of Easter Ross and the north-eastern extremity of Aberdeenshire which are geologically much younger than the mountainous areas. Culturally, you could probably draw several lines within the geographical Highlands. The Highlands would not include either Shetland or Orkney by this definition, and would exclude most of Aberdeenshire, Kincardineshire, Angus, Perthshire and Stirlingshire. In terms of language, there are several possible dividing lines. One is where Gaelic is spoken, which is mainly just the western seaboard of the northern Highlands and the Hebrides. There are various isoglosses (i.e. boundaries of differing spoken versions of Scots English) for example there is a change in the way Scots English is spoken between Forres and Nairn. (I am quoting this from an academic text which I don't have to hand, so please don't shoot the messenger!) Politically, "Highland", that is, the area covered by the local authority of the name, covers only the counties of Caithness, Sutherland, Ross and Cromarty, most of Inverness, and Nairn. It does not include Shetland, Orkney, the Outer Hebrides or Argyll. Then there is the area covered by Highland Enterprise (formerly the Highlands and Islands Development Board) which covers "Highland" plus Shetland, Orkney, the Western Isles, Argyll, Bute and part (if not all, now) of Moray. However I absolutely have to emphasize in spades that the local authority "Highland" area does NOT include the whole of the Highlands by any definition or yardstick. Anne