<P> Castles on the Black Isle (whether ruinous or otherwise) include Castlecraig, Redcastle, and Kilcoy Castle . Cromarty House stands on the site of former Cromarty Castle and is built in part from its reclaimed stone and timbers . Kinkell Castle has been recently restored . Former castles of the Black Isle for which there are no physical remains include Castle Chanonry of Ross and a mound indicating the former site of Ormond Castle . </P> <P> Conventional middle to modern Black Isle history is well documented at a number of visitor centres and cottage museums sprinkled across the peninsula . According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, it was originally called Ardmeanach (Gaelic ard, height; maniach, monk, from an old religious house on the wooded ridge of Mulbuie), and it derived its customary name from the fact that, since snow does not lie in winter, the promontory looks black while the surrounding country is white . </P> <P> Rosehaugh, near Avoch, belonged to Sir George Mackenzie, founder of the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh, who earned the sobriquet of "Bloody" from his persecution of the Covenanters . Redcastle, on the shore, near Killearnan church, dates from 1179 and is said to have been the earliest inhabited house in the north of Scotland . On the forfeiture of the earldom of Ross it became a royal castle (being visited by Mary, Queen of Scots), and afterwards passed for a period into the hands of the Mackenzies of Gairloch . </P> <P> The Black Isle was one of the earliest parts of the northern Highlands to experience the clearances and was settled with many Lowland shepherds and farmers, especially from the north east . </P>

How did the black isle get its name