My question is about the Inn that my great-great-grandfather Alexander ran with his wife Isabel near Muir-of-Ord. The name of the Inn and croft which has appeared in family records was Croftnabuil (or Croftnabual). On a trip in 2011 with a tip from a lady in a fabric shop, I traveled across the Railway bridge and then up a road which begins sharply to the left just before the Ullapool road. About a mile up that road I did discover a house with a sign “Croc na Boull.” The owner of the house was not in so I was unable to query about the sign. My question is, does anyone have information on the old Inn? It apparently existed up into the late 1800s and perhaps there are photos or other descriptions somewhere.
In the 1881 census (LDS CD-ROM transcription) Alexander Campbell, 56, police officer, born Urray, with wife and family is in the parish of Contin. In the same enumeration district are the kirk, manse and schoolhouse of Contin, Mains of Contin, Coul, and Jamestown. So this is the police house in Contin village, not in Garve.
Cnoc-na-Boull or Croc-na-Buil (spellings can vary) is in the Ardnagrask area, just outside Muir of Ord village in the parish of Urray. In the 1841 census (transcription at
https://www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl), there is a family in Ardnacrask consisting of Alexander Campbell, 53, publican, Helen Campbell, 44, and several children including Alexander, age 16.
So it does look possible that your Croftnabuil and the present Cnoc-na-Boull might be the same, though it seems odd that a place called Croft-something should change to Cnoc-something. A croft is a small farm, and a cnoc is a small hillock - not quite the same thing.
Unfortunately the 1851, 1861 and 1871 censuses are not available (yet) on FreeCEN. And I have failed to find Croftnabuil, Cnoc-na-Bull, or an inn on the old Ordnance Survey maps.