Inchyra (; gd, An Innis Iarach "the west isle") is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the

Carse of Gowrie The Carse of Gowrie is a stretch of low-lying country in the southern part of Gowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It stretches for about along the north shore of the Firth of Tay between Perth, Scotland, Perth and Dundee. The area offers high-q ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It lies on the northern bank of the

River Tay The River Tay ( gd, Tatha, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing') is the longest river in Scotland and the seventh-longest in Great Britain. The Tay originates ...

near

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and is notable particularly for a number of archaeological finds made in the immediate vicinity.

Geography

Inchyra lies on the northern bank of the

to the south of the A90. It is approximately

east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

and west-south-west of

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. It is situated close to St Madoes. It is the only L-shaped village in Scotland. It is surrounded by farmland.

Toponymy

In common with a number of villages in the Carse of Gowrie, Inchyra has the Celtic placename element ''innis'' meaning "island".

Carse In Scottish geography, a Carse (the modern form of older Scots ; Scottish Gaelic or ) is an area of fertile, low-lying (typically alluvial) land occupying certain Scottish river valleys, such as that of the River Forth. Carse of Forth The C ...

s such as the Carse of Gowrie are

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

landforms that have been uplifted by

isostatic rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound a ...

following the last glacial period. It is likely that Inchyra was an island in the firth of Tay at the time of its settlement.

Inchyra Stone

In 1945 a class I

Pictish stone A Pictish stone is a type of monumental stele, generally carved or incised with symbols or designs. A few have ogham inscriptions. Located in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line and on the Eastern side of the country, these stones are ...

was unearthed during ploughing in a field at Inchyra. The stone is inscribed with a variety of Pictish symbols, including a

double disc A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

, mirror and comb, two fish and a serpent as well as an

Ogham Ogham (Modern Irish: ; mga, ogum, ogom, later mga, ogam, label=none ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish langua ...

inscription. It is now on display at

Perth Museum Perth Museum and Art Gallery is the main museum and exhibition space in the city of Perth, Scotland. It is located in the Marshall Monument, named in memory of Thomas Hay Marshall, a former provost of Perth. The museum's location was formerly ...

Roman archaeology

In June 1993, a small hoard of eight

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Denarii The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very ...

coins were discovered at Inchyra, subsequently being declared as

treasure trove A treasure trove is an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the hei ...

and placed in Perth Museum. A Roman brooch with blue enamel inlay has also been found in river silt at Inchyra, again now displayed at Perth Museum.

Gallery

File:Inchyra - geograph.org.uk - 831591.jpg, A row of traditional cottages File:Inchyra - geograph.org.uk - 477459.jpg, A house by a backwater of the

Tay Tay may refer to: People and languages * Tay (name), including lists of people with the given name, surname and nickname * Tay people, an ethnic group of Vietnam ** Tày language *Atayal language, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan (ISO 639 ...

estuary File:High Tide at Inchyra - geograph.org.uk - 166570.jpg, High Tide at Inchyra

References

External links

Photograph of Inchyra StonePhotograph of Inchyra Stone (reverse)
Villages in Perth and Kinross {{PerthKinross-geo-stub