Merkinch first appears in writing during the reign of
King Alexander II, when it was granted by royal charter to the
burgh of Inverness. This occurred in 1232, with the charter written four years afterwards. As part of this, the area was required to contribute
"one pound of pepper" (or risk a fine of nine shillings) to the city every
Michaelmas. Prior to the area's industrialisation, Merkinch was almost entirely farmland sitting on an island in the River Ness (hence its name-meaning in Gaelic). Wher the river flowed past the neighbourhood on its west side, is now the Caledonian Canal today. In 1829 it was the subject of a land dispute between the Frasers of Torbreck and Duffs of
Muirtown, as tenants on both properties were unsure to whom they answered. In the
Highland Potato Famine of 1846, wide social unrest gripped the city of Inverness. In Merkinch, a march was organised through the area and neighbouring Muirtown (another working-class neighbourhood), led by a 12-year-old drummer boy named John Fraser. The January protests were a direct result of potato prices skyrocketing at the market on Academy Street, it being a staple food both for rural and urban lay-folk. Despite the famine affecting Highlands, potatoes were still being exported in vast quantities to London—causing an angry mob to overturn carts at the city's quay, and vandalise the houses of prominent potato merchants. In the end, 70 soldiers were called in to quell further unrest. Fraser's march would inspire similar ones across the Highlands, and over a year later similar protests occurred in response to rising oatmeal prices. Before the
Second World War, Merkinch became home to Inverness'
shipbuilding industry; across the railway lines to the area's north, the
Kessock Ferry would cross the
Moray Firth from a pier in
South Kessock.
Distilling was another important industry, with several distilleries in the area. Today, industrial activity still takes place on the Carse Industrial Estate and Telford Retail Park. File:Trinity Church of Scotland Inverness Scotland (15074761531).jpg|Trinity Church of Scotland, formed from the merger of three separate congregations in 1977 File:Clachnacuddin Football Club ground.JPG|Grant Street Park (Clachnacuddin football ground), in the centre of Merkinch ==References==