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Wikipedia / Firth

Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. It is often used to refer to broad estuaries. In the Northern Isles, it more often refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to Scandinavian fjord and fjard (all from Proto-Germanic *ferþuz), with the original meaning of "sailable waterway". The word has a more constrained sense in English. Bodies of water named "firths" tend to be more common on the Scottish east coast, or in the southwest of the country, although the Firth of Clyde is an exception to this. The western Highland coast contains numerous estuaries, straits, and inlets of a similar kind, but not called "firth" (e.g. the Minch and Loch Torridon); instead, these are often called sea lochss. Before about 1850, the spelling "Frith" was more common.

A firth is generally the result of ice age glaciation and is very often associated with a large river, where erosion caused by the tidal effects of incoming sea water passing upriver has widened the riverbed into an estuary. Demarcation can be rather vague. The Firth of Clyde is sometimes thought to include the estuary as far upriver as Dumbarton, but the Ordnance Survey map shows the change from river to firth occurring off Port Glasgow. In navigation terms, the dredged River Clyde Channel for shipping meets the Firth of Clyde Channel at the Tail of the Bank, where the river crosses a sandbar off Greenock as the estuary widens at the junction to the Gare Loch. Locally, the river can be described as extending even further west to Gourock point.

However, some firths are exceptions. The Cromarty Firth on the east coast of Scotland, for example, resembles a large loch with only a relatively small outlet to the sea and the Solway Firth and the Moray Firth are more like extremely large bays. The Pentland Firth is a strait rather than a bay or an inlet.

Scottish firths

Firths on the west coast of Scotland (from north to south)

Firth of Lorn (connects with the Moray Firth via the Great Glen lochs and Caledonian Canal).

Firth of Clyde (continuing from the River Clyde estuary).

Solway Firth (inlet with the rivers Eden, Esk and Nith).

Firths on the east coast of Scotland (from north to south)

These are connected to, or form part of, the North Sea.

Dornoch Firth (northernmost of the eastern firths).

Cromarty Firth (loch-type firth with relatively narrow opening to the sea). The Firth runs out into the Moray Firth.

Moray Firth and Beauly Firth (a loch-type firth) connected with the Firth of Inverness. The Firth of Inverness is rarely identified on modern maps, but forms a connection via the River Ness, Loch Ness and the other lochs of the Great Glen and stretches of the Caledonian Canal with the Firth of Lorne on the west coast of Scotland.

Firth of Tay (estuary of the River Tay).

Firth of Forth (estuary of the River Forth).

Firths on the north coast of Scotland

The Pentland Firth. This is a strait between the Scottish mainland and the Orkney Islands, and forms a link between the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea.

Firths in the Northern Isles

The Northern Isles were part of Norway until the 15th century, and retain many Norse names. In Shetland in particular, "firth" can refer to smaller inlets, although geo, voe and wick are as common. In Orkney, "wick" is common.

Orkney Islands

Shetland Islands (Mainland)

  • Lax Firth (Laxfirth) & Cat Firth near Nesting & Whiteness

  • Collafirth/Colla Firth (two places of this name)

  • Firths Voe, Firth

  • Gon Firth

  • Olna Firth

  • Olnes Firth

  • Quey Firth

  • Unie Firth

  • Ura Firth

  • Burra Firth/Burrafirth (a number of Shetland places with this name)

  • Effirth

Shetland North Isles: Yell, Unst

  • Whale Firth

  • Burrafirth

Other similar waters in Scotland

In the Scottish Gaelic language, linne is used to refer to most of the firths above; it is also applied to the Sound of Sleat, Crowlin Sound, Cuillin Sound, Sound of Jura, Sound of Raasay, and part of Loch Linnhe.

The following is a selection of other bodies of water in Scotland which are similar to various firths, but which are not termed such –

West coast

East coast

Likewise, in the Northern Isles, the words "firth" and "sound" are often used arbitrarily or interchangeably. Bluemull Sound for example, is very similar to some of the firths in the Shetland Islands.

English firths

Solway Firth (inlet with the rivers Eden, Esk and Nith).

Firths outside Britain

See also

References