Stoer quoad

STOER, or STORE, a quoad sacra parish (for a time), in the parish of Assynt, county of Sutherland, 19 miles (W. N. W.) from the village of Assynt; containing 1478 inhabitants. This district was separated ecclesiastically from the parish of Assynt, by authority of the General Assembly, in 1834. Its greatest length, by computation, is fourteen, and its greatest breadth eleven, miles; and the population, which is chiefly collected in a number of villages and hamlets, is, with a very few exceptions, of the poor and working classes, principally engaged in agricultural pursuits, and occasionally in fishing. Stoer was placed under the presbytery of Dornoch, synod of Sutherland and Caithness, and the patronage vested in the crown. The stipend allotted to the minister was £120, paid from the exchequer, with a manse, a glebe of the annual value of £2. 5., and the privilege of cutting peat. The church was built in 1828, by the parliamentary commissioners. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship, situated nearly a mile to the north nf the parliamentary church, and capable of accommodating 700 persons. Schools are held.