FORT WILLIAM, police burgh, Inverness-shire, Scotland. Pop. (1931) 2,527. It lies at the north-eastern end of Loch Linnhe, an arm of the sea, about 62 m. S.S.W. of Inverness by road or canal, and was, in bygone days, one of the keys of the Highlands. It is 1221- m. N.E. of Glasgow by the L.N.E. railway. The fort, at first called Kilmallie, was built by General Monk in to hold the Cameron men in subjection, and was enlarged in 1690 by General Hugh Mackay, who renamed it of ter William III., the burgh then being known as Maryburgh in honour of his queen. The Jacobites unsuccessfully besieged it in 1715 and 1746. The fort was dismantled in 186o, and demolished in 1890 to provide room for the railway and the station. Amongst the public buildings is the low-level meteorological observatory, con nected with the observatory on the top of Ben Nevis, until the latter was closed in 1904. There are distilleries about 2 m. north east. Ewen Maclachlan (1775-1822), the Gaelic poet, was born in the parish. Fort William is a tourist resort and place of call for steamers passing through the Caledonian canal. The town is the point from which the ascent of Ben Nevis-41 m. directly east south-east—is commonly made. At Corpach, about 2 m. N. the Caledonian canal begins. Both the Lochy and the Nevis enter Loch Linnhe immediately north of Fort William. A mile and a half from the town, on the Lochy, stands the ruin of Inverlochy castle, quadrangular with a round tower at each corner. Close by is the scene of the battle of Feb. 2, 1645, in which Montrose com pletely defeated the earl of Argyll. Large works for the utilization of the water power of the district, including a tunnel through the Ben Nevis group, were in course of construction in 1928.