Tarbert, Argyll and Bute
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Tarbert (Gaelic: An Tairbeart) is a fishing village at the head of East Loch Tarbert, an arm of the sea on the west shore of the mouth of Loch Fyne, Argyllshire, Scotland, at . It has a population of approximately 1400.
The main feature of the village is its harbour. This has a narrow entrance and is a safe and sheltered anchorage. In the past the Loch Fyne fishing fleet anchored here; these days fishing boats are far outnumbered by yachts. The ferry to Portavadie on the Cowal Peninsula leaves from a slipway about 250m east of the village.
The coast of the bay is rocky and the cliffs are fringed with young firs, the village itself being quite a pretty place. The parish church occupies a fine situation. Overlooking the harbour are the ruins of a castle built by Robert I of Scotland in 1326. The isthmus connecting the districts of Knapdale and Kintyre is little more than one mile wide, and boats used once to be dragged across to the head of West Loch Tarbert, a narrow sea loch nearly ten miles long. A proposal to cut a canal across to shorten the sail to Islay and Jura has never progressed further.
Tarbert is famous for its seafood and hosts a seafood festival every year.
It's inhabitants are known locally as "the Jakes" (pronounced "Jecks") on account of their habit of addressing each other by this name, e.g., "Awright, Jake?". Another nickname, derived from the importance of the fishing industry, is "the Dookers".
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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