Among the bishops of Caithness several were men of note. To Andrew, the first bishop, a scholar of repute, has been attributed the authorship of the well-known treatise De situ Albaniae. In the seventeenth century Bishop Abernethy was long remembered as the author of A Christian heavenly treatise containing physieke for the soul. A contemporary of Bishop Abernethy was the Rev. Timothy Pont, minister of Dunnet, who acquired considerable repute as a map-maker and commentator upon Ptolemy. He died in 1621.

Towards the end of the fifteenth century John Groat, a Fleming, received a royal grant of the lands and ferry of Duncansby. These possessions and the land of Wares and other remained in the Groat family for generations. There were Groats among the heritors of the parish of Canisbay till the eighteenth century. No Caithness name is so familiar throughout the world as "John o' Groat's".

Richard Oswald of Auchencruive, a son of the minister of Watten, is remembered in Caithness through his benefactions for the poor. He acted as plenipotentiary for Great Britain in 1782, when he negotiated with Benjamin Franklin the Treaty of Paris, acknowledging the independence of the United States.

The most notable Caithness man in the eighteenth century was Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster (1754-1835). Born at Thurso Castle, he was educated at the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Oxford. Next to Adam Smith, under whom he studied economics at Glasgow, he was the most distinguished Scottish economist in the eighteenth century. While taking a leading part in promoting agricultural improvements in Caithness, he also did much for agriculture and fisheries throughout Great Britain. He was one of the founders of the British Fisheries Society and of the Board of Agriculture. The herring-fishing industry at Wick owed its rise mainly to his enterprise and foresight. For nearly thirty years he sat as Member of Parliament for Caithness and Bute. A voluminous writer, he edited the first Statistical Account of Scotland (1792-98), a work of great national importance, wrote a history of the Public Revenue of Great Britain, and published many pamphlets upon financial questions now forgotten but useful in their day. A biography of Sir John Sinclair was published by his daughter, Miss Catherine Sinclair, herself a voluminous writer of novels and books of travel.

The Rev. John Morrison, D.D. (1750-98), a native of Cairnie, Aberdeenshire, after holding minor educational appointments in Caithness, became in 1780 minister of Canisbay. Possessed of considerable poetical talent, he was a contrihutor to Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine (1771-75). He also prepared historical notes upon Caithness for George Chalmers' Caledonia. His title to permanent fame rests on his work as a sacred poet. He was the author of seven scriptural Paraphrases (Nos. 19, 21, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 35) in the collection published by the authority of the Church of Scotland.

One of the worthies of Caithness in the eighteenth century was Sir William Sinclair of Dunbeath (died 1767), founder of the Baptist community at Keiss. He was the author of a small volume of hymns.

Among well-known sons of Caithness in the nineteenth century was James Bremner, engineer (1784-1856), a native of Keiss, who gained distinction throughout the whole country by his skill in harbour and marine engineering. His fellow citizens erected a statue to his memory on the high ground overlooking the entrance to Wick harbour.

Alexander Henry Rhind of Sibster (1830-61) occupies a high place among Scottish antiquaries. He explored the remains of the neolithic period in his native county. His researches also extended to many districts on the continent of Europe, in North Africa (including Egypt), and in Greece. He bequeathed rich benefactions to Caithness and to Edinburgh University, and founded the Rhind Lectureship in Archaeology.

Dr John Rae (1846-1915), a son of Wick, and an eminent writer upon economic subjects, gave lustre to a name long associated with the literature and journalism of the county. His best known works are Contemporary Socialism and the Life of Adam Smith.

Mention may be made of two sons of Caithness men who attained distinction in the last century. Sir Oliver Mowat, a leading Canadian statesman, for twenty-four years premier of Ontario, was the son of John Mowat, a native of Canisbay. The essayist and historian Henry Duff Traill, though born in London, was connected with the Traills of Rattar.