THE North of Scotland lost one of its great characters with the passing of David Sutherland, of Tails of Watten, who died on July 12 following a long illness.

HARRY Mackay and his wife Liz, who moved to Bettyhill from Janetstown eight years ago, quickly became fully integrated members of the north-coast community.

ROBERT "Bobby" Lawson, who died recently, aged 91, in East Linton, was a well known figure around Bettyhill. His aged Volvo was a frequent sight on the Skelpick road as he made his way around the area from his croft house at Rhinovie.

THE Rev Alexander Muir, former Church of Scotland minister of Carinish in North Uist and of the linked charge of Canisbay with Keiss, where he was minister to the late Queen Mother, has died, aged 69.

ROBERT Ervin Gibson was born in Hambleton, Yorkshire, on August 23, 1923.

WITH the recent passing, after a short illness, of Andrew Dundas at the age of 76 in Caithness General Hospital, an era has ended at one of the North of Scotland's most historic farms.

THE entire North Sutherland community, and family and friends much further afield, was shocked and stunned to learn, on the wintry morning of February 2, of the sudden and untimely death of David Bowes, of Skerray, in an extraordinary single-vehicle accident on the Kyle of Tongue causeway.

IT was with great sadness we said goodbye to my brother-in-law John Nicholls.

TRIBUTES have been paid to a woman who made a significant contribution to the retail trade in Wick.

AN article in the Shooting Times of March 22, 1979, about a mysterious big cat which had been attacking sheep in the Skerray area, made reference to a Mr T.D. Crow who had been out hunting the feline predator.

NANCY passed away peacefully on Monday, December 21, in Seaview House Care Home in Wick, where she had been residing having been diagnosed at the beginning of last year with a form of Alzheimer's.

WHEN the current Church of Scotland in Bettyhill was opened in 1910, it was described in the newspapers as "a commodious building with seating for 360".

SKERRAY Free Church was crowded on Saturday, November 21, for the funeral of Catherine Mackay of the Old Post Office.

PHYLLIS, as everyone knew her, was born Philomena Behan in Inverness on January 27, 1931, but spent most of her life in Bettyhill, having moved north, aged 15, to work in Bettyhill Hotel.

ALICK John Mackay, of Braehead, Swordly, was an enthusiast about everything he was associated with, whether in his long working life, his crofting, his passion for football or the many interests which made him the character he was.

LAST week was a sad one for a lot of Caithness folk with the passing of Willie Grant, of Keiss, or Willie Grant, the bus driver, as he was more usually known, since man and job were inextricably linked.

WHEN the hearse carrying Duncan MacLeod on his final journey from Wick to the historic Canisbay kirk made a detour via the roundabout marking the "end of the road" in front of the derelict of John O'Groats House Hotel, this was entirely appropriate.

ANNE Flett Steven was born at Cruives, Wick, the sixth child of a family of nine of Meg and Davie Steven. The family subsequently moved to Upper Puldagon, Stirkoke.

JANET Elizabeth O'Brien, née Mackay, was born on Sunday, July 21, 1918, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, then a thriving industrial city of half a million people and chief centre of the US steel industry.

BETTYHILL Free Church was filled to capacity on Thursday, February 19, for the funeral of Gordon Mackay, of Cnocard, Bettyhill, who passed away in Caithness General Hospital the previous Sunday, aged 90.

MONDAY, January 7, Old New Year's Day, was a sad and shocking day for Donnie and Annie Mackenzie, of Dunveaden House, Bettyhill.

THE working life of a Highland Council roads department mechanic is not always an easy one.

LADY Anne Bentinck, eldest daughter of the 7th Duke of Portland, died on December 29 aged 92.

WILLIAM Swanson Mackay was born on December 7, 1936, at Clettan, Keiss. He was the second son of Christie and Kate Mackay, and third born in a family of nine.

GEORGE Alexander Mackay, of 1 Munro Place, Bettyhill, or "Geordie Crow" as he was better known from the family by-name, was born in Newlands on January 12, 1931, eldest of the seven children of Mr and Mrs James Mackay.

ELISABETH Dunnet Miller Houston, known as Elsie, was born on January 27, 1929, at the Ha', John O' Groats. She was the sole surviving daughter of Malcolm and Daisy Houston and sister to Magnus.

ROSALIND (Linda) Stamp died in the Queen Elizabeth Wing of Caithness General Hospital on January 23 at the age of 91. To see the frail old lady in her final days, no-one would have guessed what an amazing life she had.

THE Gunn family moved to West Greenland in the early 1920s and it was here that Margaret was born in December 1927, the only daughter in a family of four, her elder brothers being James, George and Donald.

JACK Selby, who died recently at the age of 75, finally lost his long battle with the disease that latterly blighted his participation in the outdoor activities he so much enjoyed and which were an important part of his life.

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

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.

WITH the passing of John Malcolm Green, of Havengore, Huna, at the age of 73 on August 18, Canisbay parish has lost one of its outstanding characters.

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

MAY Yarker, a well-known Far North artist and friend of the late Queen Mother, has died at the age of 93.

A FORMER rector of Wick High School has died. John Macleod passed away at his home in Hollesley, Suffolk, earlier this month after a short illness. He was 71.