Avoch is a harbour-village situated on the south-east coastline of the Black Isle, on the Moray Firth. Ormond Castle or Avoch Castle was a fortress improved the site and acted as an imperial castle to William the Lion; passed on to the Morays of Petty then Archibald the Grim, Lord of Galloway, upon his marriage to Joanna de Moravia in 1362. Offspring of Archibald, were to take the title of Earl of Ormonde from the castle. Tale has it that the village was founded by survivors of the Spanish Armada. Avoch was in the control of David Chalmers, Lord Ormond from 1560/61 yet he forfeited his castle and also control of Avoch in 1568 when he was exiled as a result of his part in assisting the escape of Mary Queen of Scots. The castle and also town after that passed to Andrew Munro of Milntown. Intrepid Scottish-Canadian explorer Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the first European to check out the great Canadian river currently referred to as the Mackenzie River, crossing North America two times, to the Arctic Ocean in 1789 and Pacific Sea in 1793, retired to Avoch in 1812 where he died in 1820 and also was hidden in the old Avoch Parish cemetery. Avoch was the location of Rosehaugh (Pittanochtie) House, an enforcing mansion house until it was knocked down in 1959. A significant residence existed on this site since 1790. Craigie Well at Avoch on the Black Isle has offerings of both coins and clouties. Rags, wool and human hair were additionally utilized as appeals versus sorcery, and also as tokens of penenace as well as fulfilment of an oath (Sharp 1998). Much of Avoch's wealth has come from its angling market, as well as it continues to be a significant factor to the village economy, with numerous huge fishing boats owned or crewed from Avoch and also an energetic fishermen's co-operative based there. The harbour is no longer used by the larger watercrafts for touchdown however is used by recreation craft as well as watercrafts taking site visitors to see the dolphins in the internal Moray Firth at Chanonry Point. Along with the fishing market, travelling to Inverness as well as tourism offer earnings to the village. Lazy Corner, called for the young people that collected there to kill time, has been relocated by the road widening in the Eighties, as well as fixed up by a sculpture meant to include character to the town. It is still a meeting place.