FIONA MacLean was born in 1956 in Bonar Bridge, the oldest of the four children of Christie and Florence Calder.

GEORGE Mackay Gordon was born in the East End of Bonar Bridge on 16th November, 1918, the only son of the late Betsy and John Gordon.

THE death has occurred in Bedford at the age of 95 of John L Coghill, who was brought up in Golspie and who was a former chief architect of Glenrothes, where he lived for many years.

AULTINDUIN lies four miles inland from Borrobol, in the strath of Kildonan.

ANDREW Sutherland of 2 Sutherland Road, Golspie, died on 20th December 2007, after a long battle with cancer. He will be greatly missed by all his family and friends.

LAIRG was saddened recently to lose its oldest native resident, Renee Munro, at the age of 98, a grand old lady who endeared herself to young and old alike and who loved to keep up with all her many friends.

THE new year was but four days gone when the community of Rogart was stunned by the news of the passing of three of its residents. All of them were people whose family roots stretch to the soul of the parish.

IVY ROSS (née McIntyre) was born in Altnaharra on 24th May, 1907, the second daughter of seven children.

ERIC Hector Murray was born in 1932 at Aultimult. Home was the lonely shepherd's house opposite Craigton on the Upper River Brora.

NEWS that the Rev Fred Fulton had died peacefully at home in Braemar on 5th January was received with much sadness within the congregation of Dornoch Cathedral, particularly by those of the older generation who shared his ministry in Dornoch.

ROBERT John Sutherland (Bert) was born on 20th July, 1936, eldest son to Andrew and Johan Sutherland.

JOHN Gouldsbury was born in the High Range, Kerala, South India, where his father was tea planting for the Glasgow company, James Finlay.

HER many friends, relatives and neighbours in Kirtomy, Strathnaver, Bettyhill and far beyond were greatly shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Mrs Ena Munro of 105 Kirtomy, who passed away peacefully but unexpectedly at Caithness General Hospital on Sunday 2nd December, having been admitted to hospital late on the preceding Thursday.

THE funeral took place on Wednesday of a former Easter Ross minister who was a pivotal figure in the Free Church for more than half a century.

MENTION Raymond Philcox and it immediately brings a smile to your lips, because you can't think of him without also bringing to mind the many activities he was engaged in with all their happy memories.

CHRISSIE CAMERON died at her home, 2 St Gilbert Street, Dornoch, with her family on 22nd October. It was only six weeks since her 89th birthday after a fulfilling life run at a hectic pace.

FLOSSIE MacPhail (nee Mackenzie), who died on 6th October, was born in Cacarraig, Clachtoll, on 25th February 1920. She attended Stoer School, and from there went to the domestic science school in Glasgow.

MARKIE was born in November 1914, one of a family of nine, and lived in Gower Street, Brora, with his mother Isabella and father David, five brothers and three sisters.

VISITORS TO our small corner of the far north-west are often struck by the beautiful variety it presents to the naked eye.

ALICK Mackenzie, who died in the County Hospital, Invergordon, on August 30th, aged 95, was among the last of the old-style shepherds who followed their vocations in solitary places without the least inclination to watch the clock.

THE people of Lairg were shocked last month by the sudden passing of local man Colin Corbett, aged 36, who died in a road accident on the outskirts of the village.

NELLY'S father was Belgian and her mother, Caroline Field, was a Londoner.

A CALM nature is a very desirable characteristic for anyone to possess but particularly so for someone regularly faced with stressful situations, such as a hotel manageress.

RELATIVES and friends were deeply saddened at the death of Mrs Elizabeth Lockie, “Marish”, East Tulloch (Betty as she was known by her friends) only one year after the passing of her husband Hamish.

THERE is often more to quiet and unassuming people then meets the eye and such was certainly the case with Mrs Catherine Mackay Macdonald of 72 Midtown, Farr, who passed away in Caithness General Hospital on 10th June.

MANY old friends in the district learned with much regret of the recent death in Inverness of Mr George Andrew, a much respected former Bank of Scotland manager in Bonar Bridge.

NANCY SINCLAIR was born on 17th March 1932, the only daughter of John and Ann Macdonald who lived in Blair Atholl, where John, a railwayman, helped Ann run the Garry Guesthouse.

MEMBERS Of his large extended family and many friends over a wide area were deeply saddened at the recent death in Castle Gardens Nursing Home, Invergordon, of Bonar Bridge native George Dingwall at the age of 93.

NORMAN A MacASKILL of Lochinver, who died on 21st April aged 82, was a man of many occupations and even more enthusiasms.

CROFTER and musician Angus Sutherland of Lairgmuir, Lairg, passed away at his home on 5th March, aged 80, after being in ill health for some time.

HER many friends, relatives and neighbours in Bettyhill, Golspie and much further afield were shocked to learn on Wednesday, 28th March, of the sudden death of Mrs Fiona May Mackay,Tigh Nachie, 108 Kirtomy, at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness at the all too early age of 40.

ST Finnbarr's Episcopal Church in Dornoch was packed recently for a service of thanksgiving for the life of Scottish Natural Heritage employee John Dargie, aged 46, from Rogart.

AT THE recent funeral service for Golspie teenager Mark Ballantyne, held at Brora Rangers' Dudgeon Park ground, the following tribute was paid by Dr Rod Houston, former depute rector of Golspie High School and now development manager of the Highland Football Academy in Dingwall:

MANY friends over a wide area learned with much regret of the recent death of Bonar Bridge native Robert Ross, after a long illness borne with much courage and patience.

THE recent death of Mary Mackay, of Midfield, Melness, saw the area mourning one of its best known and longest lived local “stars”.

THE funeral service for Mrs Helen MacDougall (née Sutherland), who died on 15th February aged 74, was held in St Andrew’s Parish Church, Golspie, when the minister, the Rev Dr John Sterrett, gave the following tribute:

THE death took place recently at Kinghorn, Fife, of the Rev Donald MacKenzie who in his young ministerial days was well known in the Northern Counties. He was aged 86 years and had been in ill health for some time.

CHARLES HUGH Camp­bell, who died peacefully at home in Drum Bhlair on January 4 aged 69, was a well-known character in Durness.

THE SUDDEN death of James Anderson on Tues­day February 6 cast a shadow of sorrow over a wide district.

THE funeral service of the late Robert Dickie Smith, Bob as he was known to all, took place on 25th January in a crowded Clyne Parish Church in Brora. The service was conducted by the Rev Ian McCree. The eulogy, penned by Hugh Baillie, was delivered by James Fraser.

WHEN author Emma Wood left her Norfolk home in 1982 in search of escape from the jingoistic fervour sweeping rural England in the wake of the Falklands War, she eventually wound up on a desolate sandy hilltop overlooking the Pentland Firth, where her reverie was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a local gentleman on a quad bike.

MARGARET Long (née Matheson) died in Lochinver on 24th December 2006 at the age of 100.

JOHN’S death on 7th January marks the passing of an applied scientist in the great tradition of “the lad o’ pairts”. He was uniquely gifted in many disciplines and had a generous spirit.

PATRICK GILMOUR, husband of Imelda, who died on December 10 aged 56, came from a family strongly associated with Suther­land since the 1870s.

JESSIE MORRISON, who died in Oversteps Home, Dornoch, on Saturday at the age of 95, was among the last of the old side-school teachers who taught chil­dren in remote communities throughout the Highlands in the first half of last century.

MOURNERS packed Thurso West Church on Monday for the funeral of long-serving councillor Falconer Waters.

EVERY NOW and then as you journey through life you meet someone who, no matter how you’re feeling, can manage to lift your spirits and make you smile. That was Joey Mackay.

JIM PATERSON, who died at his home in Tain last Friday, aged 79, after a long battle with cancer, was for over 40 years a prominent farmer in Easter Ross as well as being one of the area’s most colourful and irrepressible characters.

LORNA HAY, wife of the late Peter Hay, former factor of Assynt Estate, Lochinver, passed away peacefully on Monday of last week in the London Clinic following an extremely tenacious battle against cancer.

DOROTHY Georgina Johan Mackay, known as Dolly, was born at Riverside, Invernaver, on 12th November 1925, third in the family of Alexander Mackay of Achina and his wife, Jessie Marion Mackay of Crossburn, Skerray.

THE funeral of Pat MacPhail, of 216 Clashmore, Stoer, took place at his home on Tuesday 14th November 2006.

JAMES Manson Sutherland, born on 3rd November 1912, passed away very peacefully 5th November.

THE PASSING of Catherine Ann Stewart of Nedd, aged 96, on 10th October 2006 brought about the end of an era.

AFTER a long spell of debilitating illness, the death took place recently in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, of Mr Derek Webber, Gun Cottage, Midfearn, Ardgay, where along with his wife he resided for the past 15 years, after several years at Gledfield.

AN EVER-HELPFUL friend, good neighbour and one of the most genuine of men, Jimmy Wyper, who died peacefully in Melness on 13th August, will be very much missed in the area.

DONALD "THE shoemaker" Mackay was born at "Viewforth", Tongue, on 22nd March 1919. He was the fourth child in a family of five girls and three boys.

BOBBY MACLEOD was born in Greenock on 8th July, 1935, and died at Ibrox, his home in Golspie for many years, on Tuesday, 1st August, at the age of 71.

ONE of the Black Isle's most beloved senior citizens, Josie Morrison, has died in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, after a short illness, aged 91.

DONALD Smith was born in North Tolsta in Lewis on 26th August 1934, the first of a family of six boys - Donald, Alec, John Angus (Shaul), Kenny, Donald John and John (Kiddo).

LESLIE Elizabeth Campbell Street, known to some of her friends as Betty, was born in Edinburgh in 1924.

MANY friends over a wide area learned with much regret of the recent death of Mrs Bessie Levy at the home of her daughter and son-in-law in Inverness after a long debilitating illness throughout which she was devotedly and conscientiously nursed by her daughters Olga and Christine, supported by her son-in-law Frank, younger members of her family, and her home carers.

MANY friends learned with regret of the sudden death of Winnie Ross at her home at "Croftwards", Strathcarron.

MANY old friends in Bonar Bridge and elsewhere learned with much regret of the recent death in Perth Royal Infirmary of George Ross, Glenfarg, after a short illness.

The following tribute was paid to Charles Janson, husband of the Countess of Sutherland, at his funeral service at Dunrobin Castle on Monday, by the Very Rev Dr James Simpson, formerly Moderator of the Church of Scotland and minister at Dornoch Cathedral. Mr Janson died on Thursday, 15 June.

MEMBERS of his extended family and many friends learned with deep regret of the death of Johnny MacKenzie at Carnmhor, Bonar Bridge, the ancestral home for several generations.

THE DANCE in Smithton Village Hall, near Inverness, on the evening of Friday, 10th January, 1964, proved to be a good bit more exciting than the average country hop.

DAVID Bullock, a talented graphic designer in the Golspie studios of Method Publishing Ltd, died at the tragically early age of 34 after a bravely fought battle with cancer.