Airth is a Royal Burgh, village, former trading port and civil parish in

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. 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 numberin ...

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 and is overlooked by

Airth Castle Airth Castle is a castle overlooking the village of Airth and the River Forth, in the Falkirk area of Scotland. The castle is currently operating as a hotel and spa. History According to an account attributed to Blind Harry, in 1298 William Wall ...

; 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 River Forth 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 t ...

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 Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

''. 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 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, sometimes ...

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 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 (disambiguat ...

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 V ...

Notable residents

* Michelle Watt - (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)