Tarbert
Tarbert is a town in the west of Scotland, in the Argyll and Bute council area. It is developed around East Loch Tarbert, an inlet of Loch Fyne, and crosses the isthmus which connects the peninsula of Kintyre to Knapdale and West Loch Tarbert. Tarbert had actually a recorded population of 1,338 in the 2001 Census. Tarbert has a long history both as a harbour and also as a strategic point guarding accessibility to Kintyre and the Inner Hebrides. The name Tarbert is the anglicised type of the Gaelic word tairbeart, which literally converts as "lugging throughout" and also refers to the narrowest strip of land in between two bodies of water over which goods or whole boats can be brought (portage). In freights were released from vessels berthed in one loch, transported over the isthmus to the various other loch, filled onto vessels berthed there as well as shipped forward, permitting seafarers to prevent the sail around the Mull of Kintyre. Tarbert was anciently part of the Gaelic overkingdom of Dál Riata as well as secured by 3 castles-- in the village centre, ahead of the West Loch, as well as on the south side of the East Loch. The ruin of the last of these castles, Tarbert Castle, still exists and controls Tarbert's horizon. Around the year 1098 Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, had his longship lugged across the isthmus at Tarbert to symbolize his ownership of the Western Isles. Despite its difference as a strategic stronghold during the Middle Ages, Tarbert's socioeconomic success came during the Early Modern period, as the port developed into an angling town. At its elevation, the Loch Fyne herring fishery brought in thousands of vessels to Tarbert.
