Airth is a

Royal Burgh A royal burgh () was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

, village, former trading port and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, Scotland. It is north of Falkirk town and sits on the banks of the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of th ...

. Airth lies on the

A905 road List of A roads in zone 9 in Great Britain starting north of the A8, east of the A9 (roads beginning with 9). Single- and double-digit roads Triple-digit roads Four-digit roads See also * B roads in Zone 9 of the Great Britain numberi ...

between

Grangemouth Grangemouth ( sco, Grangemooth; gd, Inbhir Ghrainnse, ) is a town in the Falkirk council area, Scotland. Historically part of the county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk ...

and

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

and is overlooked by Airth Castle; the village retains two market crosses and a small number of historic houses. At the time of the 2001 census the village had a population of 1,273 residentsScotland's Census Results Online - Comparative Population Profile: Airth Locality
www.scrol.gov.uk. Retrieved 2008-08-31 but this has been revised to 1,660 according to a 2008 estimate.Table 1: Mid-2008 Population Estimates
www.gro-scotland.gov.uk. Retrieved 2011-05-02 In July of each year it hosts a traditional Scottish Highland Games.

History

The village has long association with the

and it was on the banks of the river that a

royal dockyard Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial ...

was created. In September 1506

Andrew Aytoun Andrew Aytoun (died 1547), was a Scottish soldier and engineer, and captain of Stirling Castle. Aytoun worked for James IV of Scotland, whose reign lasted from 1488 until his death at the battle of Flodden in 1513. He was regarded as a member of ...

was paid for "casting of the dock in the Poll of Erth" for the ship. The dock was used during the years 1507–1513 in the reign of

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...

to build ships of war at the pool of Airth. In 1511 and 1512 Robert Calendar made three docks, a stable for 50 horses, and a larger dock for the '' Margaret''. Calendar's men also worked on the ''Lark'' and the ''James''.''Accounts of the Treasurer: 1506-1507'' (Edinburgh, 1902), pp. 280-1. A form of dry dock may have been used. Strong timbers would be used to form the “stocks” for the vessel and a clay

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

would prevent the river from penetrating the working area. When the ship was ready, the dam would be breached, at high tide, to enable it to float out into the river. The shipping fleet was destroyed in 1745 by

Bonnie Prince Charlie Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...

when some ship to shore skirmishes took place by batteries set by

Jacobites Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...

to drive off the government ships. A number of smaller vessels from the village were burned by loyalist troops and that proved damaging to Airth's subsequent development as a port. However, as late as 1820

sloops A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

built in the shipyards at Airth were among those recorded as operating in the middle of the Forth . Dunmore Park and the

Dunmore Pineapple Dunmore from the ga, Dún Mór, link=no or gd, Dùn Mòr, link=no, meaning "great fort", may refer to: People * Dunmore (surname) * Earl of Dunmore, a title in the Peerage of Scotland, includes a list of earls * Countess of Dunmore (disambigua ...

is an historic estate in Airth, formerly the ancestral residence of the

Earl of Dunmore Earl of Dunmore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. History The title was created in 1686 for Lord Charles Murray, second son of John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl. He was made Lord Murray of Blair, Moulin and Tillimet (or Tullimet) and ...

Notable residents

Michelle Watt Michelle Watt (13 May 1977-24 June 2015) was a Scottish television presenter and interior designer. She was the daughter of Jim Watt, a former professional boxer and WBC world lightweight champion. Among the television shows she presented were th ...

- (1977-2015), television show host and newspaper columnist

References

External links

*
Airth Highland Games
- Website of Airth Highland Games
Falkirk Local History Society
- Airth a local History {{Authority control Villages in Falkirk (council area)