Tain ( Gaelic: ''Baile Dhubhthaich'') 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 ...

and parish in the

County of Ross Ross-shire (; gd, Siorrachd Rois) is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting of ...

, in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Etymology

The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The Gaelic name, ''Baile Dubhthaich'', means 'Duthac's town', after a local saint also known as Duthus.

History

Tain was granted its first

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

in 1066, making it Scotland's oldest

, commemorated in 1966 with the opening of the Rose Garden by

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

. The 1066 charter, granted by King

Malcolm III Malcolm III ( mga, Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, label=Medieval Gaelic; gd, Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh; died 13 November 1093) was King of Scotland from 1058 to 1093. He was later nicknamed "Canmore" ("ceann mòr", Gaelic, literally "big hea ...

, confirmed Tain as a

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

, where people could claim the protection of the church, and an immunity, in which resident merchants and traders were exempt from certain taxes. Little is known of earlier history although the town owed much of its importance to Duthac. He was an early Christian figure, perhaps 8th or 9th century, whose shrine had become so important by 1066 that it resulted in the royal charter. The ruined chapel near the mouth of the river was said to have been built on the site of his birth. Duthac became an official saint in 1419 and by the late Middle Ages his shrine was an important place of pilgrimage in Scotland. King

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 Sauch ...

came at least once a year throughout his reign to achieve both spiritual and political aims. A leading landowning family of the area, the

Clan Munro Clan Munro (; gd, Clann an Rothaich ) is a Highland Scottish clan. Historically the clan was based in Easter Ross in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional origins of the clan give its founder as Donald Munro who came from the north of Ireland an ...

, provided political and religious figures to the town, including the dissenter the Rev.

John Munro of Tain John Munro (died ) was a Presbyterian minister of Tain, in the Scottish Highlands. As a Presbyterian, he resisted the efforts of King James VI of Scotland (later James I of England) to unite the Presbyterian Church of Scotland with the Episcopal ...

(died ca. 1630). The early Duthac Chapel was the centre of a sanctuary. Fugitives were by tradition given sanctuary in several square miles marked by boundary stones. During the

First War of Scottish Independence The First War of Scottish Independence was the first of a series of wars between English and Scottish forces. It lasted from the English invasion of Scotland in 1296 until the ''de jure'' restoration of Scottish independence with the Treaty ...

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

sent his wife and daughter to the sanctuary for safety. The sanctuary was violated and they were captured by forces loyal to William II, Earl of Ross who handed them over to

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vas ...

Facilities

Tain Tollbooth clock tower (geograph 2526490)

Tain railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Tain station.jpg , caption = The platforms at Tain station, looking southeast , borough = Tain, Highland , country = Scotla ...

is on the

Far North Line The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick. As the name suggests, it is the northernmost railway in the United Kingdom. The line is entirely single-trac ...

. The station is unmanned; in its heyday it had 30 staff. The station was opened by the

Highland Railway The Highland Railway (HR) was one of the smaller British railways before the Railways Act 1921, operating north of Perth railway station in Scotland and serving the farthest north of Britain. Based in Inverness, the company was formed by merger ...

on 1 January 1864. From 1 January 1923, the station was owned by the

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

. Then in 1948 the British railways were nationalised as British Railways. After the railways were privatised, the station was served by ScotRail. Notable buildings in the town include

Tain Tolbooth Tain Tolbooth is a municipal building in the High Street, Tain, Highland, Scotland. The structure, which is used as a courthouse, is a Category A listed building. History The first municipal building in Tain was a medieval tolbooth which was in ...

and St Duthus Collegiate

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

. The town also has a local history museum,

Tain Through Time The Tain & District Museum is located in Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland. It is volunteer-run and is open April to October part of the Tain Through Time visitor centre. The museum was established in 1966 and has a collection of silver made in the loc ...

, and the

Glenmorangie distillery Glenmorangie distillery (pronounced with the stress on the second syllable: ; the toponym is believed to derive from either Gaelic ''Gleann Mòr na Sìth'' " vale of tranquillity" or ''Gleann Mór-innse'' " vale of big meadows") is a distill ...

. Tain has two primary schools; Craighill (274 pupils as of April 2011) and Knockbreck (just under 120 pupils as of April 2011). There is also a secondary school,

Tain Royal Academy Tain Royal Academy is a secondary school in Highland, Scotland. The school first opened in 1813, with a new building opened in 1969 and an educational campus currently being built, due to open in 2018. Tain Royal Academy is part of the Golspie, ...

, with 590 pupils as of January 2017.

RAF Tain

With conflict looming in the 1930s, an aerodrome large enough for bombers was built next to the town on low alluvial land known as the Fendom bordering the

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 ...

. It was home to British, Czech ( 311 Sqn) and Polish airmen during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It was abandoned as a flying location after the war and converted to a bombing range for the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. When British naval aviation moved from large fleet aircraft carriers, the role was taken over by the RAF. In 1939 RAF Station Lossiemouth opened and was used until 1946 when the airfield was transferred to the Admiralty and becoming Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS)

Lossiemouth Lossiemouth ( gd, Inbhir Losaidh) is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over ...

then returning to the RAF in 1972 as a RAF airfield and the Tain range reverted to the RAF. Large parts of the original aerodrome were returned to civilian use after the Second World War and some are still accessible.

Sport & recreation

St Duthac Centre, Stafford Street, Tain - geograph

Tain Golf Club offers a Championship length links golf course. Overlooking the

, the course was first designed by

Old Tom Morris Thomas Mitchell Morris (16 June 1821 – 24 May 1908), otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died ...

in 1890.

Tain is represented in the Scottish Football Association affiliated

North Caledonian Football League The North Caledonian Football Association is a football association operating throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and is a recognised body of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and as such has its senior football competitions of ...

by senior football club St Duthus Football Club during the regular football season.

Local geographical and visitor features

The Gizzen Briggs are sandbars at the entrance to the Dornoch Firth, and with the right wind, they can be heard at low tide. The so-called "million dollar view" to the north-west of Tain, accessible via the A836 westward towards

Bonar Bridge Bonar Bridge ( gd, Drochaid a' Bhanna, ) is a village on the north bank of the Kyle of Sutherland to the west and the Dornoch Firth to the east in the Parish of Creich in the Highland council area of Scotland. The Kyle of Sutherland ("the Kyl ...

and then the B9176 Struie Road, gives a panoramic view of Dornoch Firth and Sutherland. Five important castles are in the vicinity –

Carbisdale Castle Carbisdale Castle was built in 1907 for the Duchess of Sutherland on a hill across the Kyle of Sutherland from Invershin in the Scottish Highlands. Until 2011 it was used as a youth hostel, operated by the Scottish Youth Hostels Association. T ...

, built for the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland and now a youth hostel;

Skibo Castle Skibo Castle (Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Sgìobail'') is located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Although largely of the 19th century and early 20th century, when it was the hom ...

, once home of the industrialist

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

and now a hotel;

Dunrobin Castle Dunrobin Castle (mostly 1835–1845 — present) is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland, as well as the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland Clan Sutherland is a Highland Scottish clan wh ...

, ancestral seat of the Duke of Sutherland (castle and gardens open to the public); Balnagown Castle, ancestral seat of the

Clan Ross Clan Ross ( gd, Clann Anndrais ) is a Highland Scottish clan. The original chiefs of the clan were the original Earls of Ross. History Origins The first recorded chief of the Clan Ross was "Fearcher Mac an t-Sagirt" which in English meant ...

, restored and owned by

Mohammed Al Fayed Mohamed Al-Fayed (; arz, محمد الفايد ; born 27 January 1929) is an Egyptian-born businessman whose residence and chief business interests have been in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s. His business interests include ownership of ...

; and

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 ...

, restored by the owners of a local crafts business. Highland Fine Cheeses, run by Ruaridh Stone (the brother of Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone), have a factory at Blarliath Farm, Tain. Just outside

Hill of Fearn Hill of Fearn ( gd, Baile an Droma) is a small village near Tain in Easter Ross, in the Scottish council area of Highland. Geography The village is on the B9165 road, between the A9 trunk road and the smaller hamlet of Fearn to the southeast ...

near Tain lies the site of the medieval Fearn Abbey.

Parliamentary burgh

Tain was a parliamentary burgh, combined with

Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...

Dornoch Dornoch (; gd, Dòrnach ; sco, Dornach) is a town, seaside resort, parish and former royal burgh in the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray ...

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

and

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...

in the Northern Burghs constituency of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

from 1801 to 1918. The constituency was a

district of burghs The Act of Union 1707 and pre-Union Scottish legislation provided for 14 Members of Parliament (MPs) from Scotland to be elected from districts of burghs. All the parliamentary burghs (burghs represented in the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland) ...

known also as Tain Burghs until 1832, and then as Wick Burghs. It was represented by one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP). In 1918 the constituency was abolished, and Tain was merged into Ross and Cromarty.

Notable people

Saint Duthac Saint Duthac (or Duthus or Duthak) (1000–1065) is the patron saint of Tain in Scotland. According to the ''Aberdeen Breviary,'' Duthac was a native Scot. Tradition has it that Duthac was educated in Ireland and died in Tain. A chapel was ...

(1000–1065), 11th century saint *Sir

John Fraser John Fraser may refer to: Politics *John Simon Frederick Fraser (1765–1803), commanded the Fraser Fencibles in Ireland and was (M.P.) for Inverness-shire *John James Fraser (1829–1896), 5th Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, 18 ...

(1885–1947), surgeon *

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand La ...

(1884–1950), 24th

prime minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017. The prime minister (inform ...

, was born in

, near Tain. *George MacKenzie FRSE (1886–1957), president of the Institute of Banking, 1941–45 * Rev John Munro of Tain, 17th-century religious dissenter, was a minister here. *Rev David Robertson (born 1962), former Free Church of Scotland moderator and Christian commentator, grew up in

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 ...

. *

Elizabeth Ness MacBean Ross Elizabeth Ness MacBean Ross (14 February 1878 14 February 1915) was a Scottish physician who worked in Persia (presently Iran) among the Bakhtiari people. With training and a post-graduate qualification in tropical medicine, she responded to ...

(1878–1915), physician who was raised here and attended Tain Royal Academy. * John Ross (1726–1800), merchant during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

*Very Rev Walter Ross Taylor (1805–1896), served as

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states t ...

to the Free Church of Scotland in 1884. *Professor

Thomas Summers West Thomas Summers West (18 November 1927 – 9 January 2010) was a British chemist. Life Early years He was born in 1927 in Peterhead, Scotland and educated at Old Tarbat Public School in Portmahomack and then Tain Royal Academy. He then studied ...

, CBE, FRS (1927–2010), an internationally acclaimed analytical chemist, went to school at Tain Royal Academy.

Climate

Tain has an oceanic climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Cfb'') with cool to mild temperatures year round.

Freedom of the Royal Burgh

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Royal Burgh of Tain.

Individuals

* Sir Arthur Bignold: 1907. *

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

James Alexander Francis Humberston Stewart Mackenzie of Seaforth: 1907 * Sir John Fraser : 1925.

References

External links

Tain community website

Tain Through Time

Tain & District Field Club

Tain Golf Club

St Duthus Football Club

Tain Thistle Football Club
{{Authority control Populated places in Ross and Cromarty Parishes in Ross and Cromarty Towns in Highland (council area) Royal burghs