Tarbat (Gaelic , meaning 'a crossing or isthmus'
[Place-names of Ross and Cromarty, by W J Watson, publ. The Northern Counties Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd., Inverness 1904; p.45]) is a civil parish in Highland, Scotland, in the north-east corner of
Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latt ...
.
![Tarbat Discovery Centre - Flickr - S](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Tarbat_Discovery_Centre_-_Flickr_-_S._Rae.jpg)
The parish is a promontory between
Dornoch Firth
The Dornoch Firth ( gd, Caolas Dhòrnaich, ) is a firth on the east coast of Highland, in northern Scotland. It forms part of the boundary between Ross and Cromarty, to the south, and Sutherland, to the north. The firth is designated as a nat ...
to the north-west and
Moray Firth
The Moray Firth (; Scottish Gaelic: ''An Cuan Moireach'', ''Linne Mhoireibh'' or ''Caolas Mhoireibh'') is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotl ...
to the east, while to the south it borders the parish of
Fearn.
[Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A survey of Scottish Topography statistical biographical and historical, by Francis H. Groome; publ. Thomas C. Jack, Edinburgh, 1882 - 1885. (Article on Tarbat)] The peninsula is relatively flat, the highest point being the hill adjacent to Geanies House which reaches , on the southern border of the parish.
[Historic Environment Scotland Portal website (Article on Geanies House) portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00217 Retrieved April 2021][Ordnance Survey series 1 in. to 1 mile Sheet 22 - Dornoch, Publ. 1965] The coast along the Dornoch Firth is about in length, while the Moray Firth coast is about . The latter coast has a rock-bound front, with progressively higher cliffs south of
Rockfield, reaching . Along the Dornoch Firth the shore is not steep and near Inver the foreshore is almost wide.
The village of
Portmahomack
Portmahomack ( gd, Port Mo Chalmaig; 'Haven of My .e. 'Saint'Colmóc') is a small fishing village in Easter Ross, Scotland. It is situated in the Tarbat Peninsula in the parish of Tarbat. Tarbat Ness Lighthouse is about from the village at t ...
, the main settlement in the parish, is sited on the Dornoch Firth northeast of
Tain
Tain ( Gaelic: ''Baile Dhubhthaich'') is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Highlands of Scotland.
Etymology
The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The ...
.
Tarbat Ness
Tarbat Ness (Scottish Gaelic: ''Rubha Thairbeirt'') is headland that lies at the end of the Tarbat peninsula in Easter Ross, Scotland. The name is from the Gaelic ''tairbeart'' meaning "isthmus" and the Old Norse ''ness'', meaning "headland". It l ...
, the headland of Tarbat separating the Dornoch and Moray Firth coasts, lies northeast of Portmahomack. It is high and the site of
Tarbat Ness Lighthouse
The Tarbat Ness Lighthouse is located at the North West tip of the Tarbat Ness peninsula near the fishing village of Portmahomack on the east coast of Scotland. It was built in 1830 by Robert Stevenson and has an elevation of and 203 steps to ...
, which dates from 1830.
[ Just over west-southwest of Tarbet Ness lighthouse, is the site of Castlehaven fort, by a creek of that name (Port-Chasteil is Gaelic). Although there is no building remaining, the foundation of a considerable wall is traceable, which defended the fort on the landward side. The title Baron Castlehaven is named after this fort and is held as a subsidiary title by the Earls of Cromartie.][Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A survey of Scottish Topography statistical biographical and historical, by Francis H. Groome; publ. Thomas C. Jack, Edinburgh, 1882 - 1885. (Article on Castlehaven)]
The hamlet of Wilkhaven lies on the east coast southwest of Tarbet Ness lighthouse. The area to its north is known as Wilkhaven Muir.[Gazetteer for Scotland website (supported by the School of GeoSciences of Edinburgh University and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society) www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst1665.html Article on Wilkhaven. Retrieved April 2021]
Situated north of Rockfield on the east coast, Ballone Castle
Ballone Castle was built in the 16th century. It was unoccupied for a couple of centuries and fell into ruin. In the 1990s it was purchased and restored by an architect. The original castle was built on a Z-plan and is unusual in having one round ...
, which was also known as Tarbat castle, was reputedly built by the Earls of Ross, but came into possession of the family of Viscount Tarbat and the Earl of Cromartie.[ New Statistical Acccount Vol 14, publ. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, 1845; p.461][Historic Environment Scotland website (article on Ballone) canmore.org.uk/site/75455 and portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB14104 retrieved April 2021] Previously a ruin, it has recently been restored as a private house.
The Geanies House, the only mansion house in the parish, is situated on the eastern coast close by the southern border with the parish of Fearn. Here, coastal cliffs rise from the shore to a height of around .[
In the west of the parish near ]Inver
Inver () is a small village in County Donegal, Ireland. It lies on the N56 National secondary road midway between Killybegs to the west and Donegal Town to the east. It is also a civil parish in the historic barony of Banagh.
History
Inve ...
is Arboll
Arboll () is a place in the parish of Tarbat, Easter Ross, Highland, northern Scotland made up of several scattered farms. It is situated about to the east of Tain and a short distance inland from Dornoch Firth
The Dornoch Firth ( gd, Caolas D ...
, an area of scattered farms and the site of a former township or hamlet. Arboll is dissected by Arboll Burn, which forms the community council boundary at this point.[Highland Council web site - www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/4419/tarbat_community_council.pdf Retrieved April 2021]
At the last census (2011), the population of the civil parish was 870.[Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by National Records of Scotland, web site www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk - See "Standard Outputs", Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish Retrieved April 2021.] The area of the parish is .[Census of Scotland 1931. Preliminary Report. Table 17 - Population and Acreage of Civil Parishes alphabetically arranged. Publ. H.M.S.O. 1931] Tarbat parish is also a Community Council area (excludes part of the parish next to Inver).[Gazetteer for Scotland www.scottish-places.info/parishes/parmap161.html Retrieved April 2021]
History
Originally Pictish
Pictish is the extinct language, extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited num ...
, Norse speakers were settled in Tarbat in the 10th century and the names ''Arboll'' and ''Bindal'' are of Norse origin. By 12th century, Gaelic predominated and remained predominant until the 1880s or later. In 1881, 1,244 were Gaelic-speaking out of a population of 1,878, but at the last census in 2011, only 4% had some knowledge of Gaelic.
[Census of Scotland 2011, Table QS211SC – Gaelic language skills, publ. by National Records of Scotland, web site www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk - See "Standard Outputs", Table QS211SC, Area type: Civil Parish Retrieved April 2021.]
The name ''Tarbat'' was first attested in 1226, when Andrew vicar of Arterbert authored a church document. The ''Ar-'' prefix is the same as ''Ard-'', a common prefix meaning 'promontory' (Gaelic: ). Tarbat is mentioned in the early 16th century referring to a place, farm settlement and parish.[
The ]Battle of Tarbat
The Battle of Tarbat was a Scottish clan battle fought in the 1480s on the Tarbat peninsula, in Easter Ross. The Clan Ross cornered a raiding party of Clan Mackay near the village of Portmahomack and put many of them to the sword. The surviv ...
took place in the 1480s near Portmahomack, when the clan Ross cornered a raiding party from the clan Mackay.
Prior to 1628 Tarbat parish extended from Tarbat Ness to the south of Fearn parish. In that year, the parish of Fearn was established, with the former abbey as the parish church.
By 1479 the Tarbat lands were divided into Wester Tarbert and Easter Tarbert. Wester Tarbat belonged to the Bishop of Ross, who later passed it to others. Easter Tarbat was held by the Earl of Ross and passed in 1507 to James Dunbar and family. In 1610 Easter Tarbat, with the adjoining area of Easter Aird, passed to George Monro of Meikle Tarrel, whose combined estate was sold in 1623 to Sir Rorie McKenzie of Coigach. Thus all these lands were united in one family and would later become part of Cromarty-shire.[A General View of the Agriculture of the Counties of Ross and Cromarty; With Observations on the Means of their Improvement; by Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, Baronet. Printed - George Ramsay & Co. Printers, Edinburgh. 1810. pp 15 and 17] Sir Rorie’s son, John Mackenzie was created baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
of Tarbat in the County of Ross in 1628. When he died in 1654, at Castle Tarbat (i.e. Ballone Castle), he was succeeded by his son, Sir George Mackenzie, 2nd Baronet who was a prominent statesman and judge (including as Secretary of State from 1702 to 1704). In 1685, George Mackenzie was raised to the Peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland ( gd, Moraireachd na h-Alba, sco, Peerage o Scotland) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union, ...
as Lord MacLeod and Castlehaven and Viscount of Tarbat. In 1703 the viscount was made Earl of Cromartie, but the title Viscount Tarbat continued as the courtesy title of the earl’s eldest son.
In 1698 Viscount Tarbat procured an Act of Parliament transferring the land he owned as Viscount Tarbat from the county of Ross-shire to that of Cromarty-shire (an earlier Act of 1685 to the same effect, in the reign of the deposed James VII
James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
, having been repealed). In Tarbat parish these were: (i) Easter Aird and Easter Tarbat comprising all the parish east of the parish church, except the church and the Hillton enclave; (ii) Meikle Tarrel on the eastern coast.[ As a result, of the parish (over a third), known as the barony of Tarbat, were in the county of Cromarty-shire, before its amalgamation with Ross-shire.][
]
References
{{Authority control
Parishes in Ross and Cromarty