Note 83 — Chapter VIII

Great, and it is hoped successful, efforts are now making to connect the North-East and the North-West of Scotland by a line to be made from Dingwall, eighteen miles beyond Inverness and the most western station of the Highland Railway, through Strathpeffer to Loch Carron, a distance of fifty miles, whence there will be steam communication with the Isle of Skye. The Dingwall and Skye Railway Company has been formed some time, but now, in consequence of the amount of capital subscribed, and the liberality of the landowners, application is to be made for an Act of Parliament to authorise the construction of the line; Mr. Matheson, M.P., is the Chairman of the Company. At the conclusion of its half-yearly meeting, held on the 30th October last, Mr. Kenneth Murray proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman, Mr. Matheson, M.P., and in doing so, expressed his most cordial good wishes for the prosperity of the Skye Line. “Every thing,” said Mr. Murray, “that lays in my power to promote it as a shareholder and otherwise, I feel it my duty as a Ross-shire man to do, and every one who has the interests of the North of Scotland, and of the people at heart, must sympathise with the efforts made to open up the distant West country. To Mr. Matheson, almost solely, the very high merit of having pushed forward the scheme is due, and I think he has very strong claim on every gentleman, whether proprietor, farmer, or minister even, that they should come forward and assist him in an object so very dear to him, as no line projected for a long time had such a claim on public sympathy and on the purse of the public.” Mr. Matheson, in returning thanks, expressed the hope that by 1870 passengers from Edinburgh and Glasgow might reach Postree, the capital of Skye, in about thirteen hours, and passengers from Inverness in about six hours.