A Northern Scottish Maritime Region: The Moray Firth in the Seventeenth Century

The Moray Firth is a region facing the North Sea in northern Scotland. Arguably the largest of the country's saltwater inlets, its environmental unity is unquestionable. In the seventeenth century, it emerged fully as part of a wider North Sea and Baltic "cultural region." Yet among recent historians, the Moray Firth of early modern times has, like other comparable regions in Europe, been neglected. This article seeks from a comparative perspective to bring to light the sea, shoreline, ports, hinterland and coastal communities that contemporaries identified with the region.