Tarbert is a town in the west of Scotland, in the Argyll and Bute council location. It is developed around East Loch Tarbert, an inlet of Loch Fyne, and crosses the isthmus which links the peninsula of Kintyre to Knapdale and West Loch Tarbert. Tarbert had a recorded population of 1,338 in the 2001 Census. Tarbert has a long background both as a harbour and also as a strategic point guarding accessibility to Kintyre as well as the Inner Hebrides. The name Tarbert is the anglicised form of the Gaelic word tairbeart, which actually translates as "bring across" and describes the narrowest strip of land in between two bodies of water over which items or entire boats can be brought (portage). In hobbies freights were released from vessels berthed in one loch, hauled over the isthmus to the other loch, loaded onto vessels berthed there and delivered forward, permitting seafarers to stay clear of the sail around the Mull of Kintyre. Tarbert was anciently part of the Gaelic overkingdom of Dál Riata and safeguarded by 3 castles-- in the village centre, at the head of the West Loch, and also on the south side of the East Loch. The destroy of the last of these castles, Tarbert Castle, still exists as well as controls Tarbert's skyline. Around the year 1098 Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, had his longship carried throughout the isthmus at Tarbert to symbolize his ownership of the Western Isles. Despite its difference as a tactical garrison during the Middle Ages, Tarbert's socioeconomic success came throughout the Very early Modern duration, as the port developed into an angling community. At its elevation, the Loch Fyne herring fishery attracted thousands of vessels to Tarbert.