A village in N Sutherland, Tongue (Old Norse: tunga, 'a tongue of land') lies to the east of the Kyle of Tongue, 31 miles (50 km) north of Lairg. A seat of the Clan Mackay was established here in 1554 and a mansion, the House of Tongue, erected in 1678. In 1829 it passed to the Sutherland estate. Other buildings of interest include Tongue Mains courtyard steading (1843), St Andrews Church on the ancient site of St Peter's Chapel (Gael: Teampull Pheader), Tongue Hotel (1854), Castle Varrich and an 18th-century crow-stepped boathouse said to have housed Jacobite prisoners from the ship Hazard sunk in 1746 just prior to the Battle of Culloden. A 184-m (603-foot) bridge was built over the Kyle of Tongue in 1971. The hamlet of Kirkiboll forms an eastward extension of the village.
There are several places of historical interest around Tongue, including the ruins of Castle Varrich, a half-mile (1 km) west of Tongue, Druim-na-Coub, 2 miles (3 km) south and site of the battle between the Mackays and the Earl of Sutherland, together with various Bronze Age burial sites, Iron Age brochs and early Christian stones. The area surrounding the village is ideal for walking and climbing; Ben Loyal at 764m (2506 feet) overshadows Tongue from the south and 14 miles (25 km) to the south is the prominent Munro of Ben Klibreck (961m / 3154 feet).
