THE Province of Moray was on the south side of the Moray Firth in north-east Scotland. The name ‘Moray’ comes from the Norman family of de Moravia, who were allocated that part of Scotland when it was parcelled out by the Scottish monarchy in the 12th century.
Essentially what later became the county of Moray (and what is now (with some tweaking of boundaries) Moray Council area consists of a broad coastal plain – the ‘Laigh of Moray’ – with to the south a mountainous area penetrated by a series of river valleys, the Spey, the Lossie and the Findhorn.
The mountains catch the rain clouds which sweep in from the south-west, so that the climate of the ‘Laigh’ is unusually dry and sunny. With its light, well-drained soils the ‘Laigh has long been a noted graingrowing area.