3rd August 1829

Muckle Spate kills eight

Heavy rainfall at the start of August 1829 caused the River Dee to break its banks and flood Strathspey, killing eight people and making more than 500 homeless.

The Inverness Journal and Northern Advertiser of 7 August reported that “the distillery at Dandaleith has been wholly swept off. Our correspondent in Strathspey says, ‘many of the poor people in this and the neighbouring districts have suffered severely. The rain fell with that muffled tone, which indicated an overcharged atmosphere. The people in the vicinity of rivulets were under the necessity of carrying their furniture to the neighbouring eminences. The extent of the damage cannot yet be ascertained, but it must be excessive, as there is scarcely a bridge in the district that has not been partially injured, and the greater number fell before the violence of the storms. Several houses have been carried off.’”