Tarras Water is a river in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

, Scotland. R.H. Traquair named a fossil of an extinct, prehistoric

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

''Tarrasius problematicus'' after the Tarras Water. The name has subsequently been applied to the genus Tarrasiidae and the order

Tarrasiiformes Tarasiiformes is an extinct order of prehistoric ray-finned fish. Taxonomy * Order †Tarrasiiformes sensu Lund & Poplin 2002 aplistiaref name="mikko"> ** Family †Tarrasiidae Traquair 1881 emend. Woodward 1891 *** Genus †'' Apholidotos'' ...

Etymology

The name ''Tarras'' is of Brittonic origin. It is derived from the elements ''*tā-'', with a root sense of "melting, thawing, dissolving" (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''tābeō'', "melt") and ''-ar'', an adjectival suffix frequently occurring in river-names (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''-ar''), with the Scots plural ''-s''.

Course

The Tarras Water rises to the west of Roan Fell, near the boundary with the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

. It flows over 11 miles (17 km) south to join the River Esk 2 miles (3 km) south of

Langholm Langholm , also known colloquially as the "Muckle Toon", is a burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Langholm lies between four hills in the valley of the River Esk in the Southern Uplands. Location and geography Langholm sits nort ...

opposite Auchenrivock.

Poetry

''Tarras Water'' was a nature poem by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson.

References

{{reflist 1Tarras