Tarbert
Tarbert is a village in the west of Scotland, in the Argyll and Bute council area. It is developed around East Loch Tarbert, an inlet of Loch Fyne, and extends over the isthmus which connects the peninsula of Kintyre to Knapdale and West Loch Tarbert. Tarbert had actually a recorded population of 1,338 in the 2001 Census. Tarbert has a lengthy history both as a harbour and as a tactical point guarding access to Kintyre and also the Inner Hebrides. The name Tarbert is the anglicised form of the Gaelic word tairbeart, which literally converts as "bring across" as well as refers to the narrowest strip of land in between 2 bodies of water over which items or entire watercrafts can be brought (portage). In past times cargoes were discharged from vessels berthed in one loch, carried over the isthmus to the other loch, loaded onto vessels berthed there as well as delivered forward, permitting seafarers to prevent the sail around the Mull of Kintyre. Tarbert was anciently part of the Gaelic overkingdom of Dál Riata and shielded by three castles-- in the town centre, at the head of the West Loch, and also on the south side of the East Loch. The wreck of the last of these castles, Tarbert Castle, still exists and also dominates Tarbert's sky line. Around the year 1098 Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, had his longship brought across the isthmus at Tarbert to signify his possession of the Western Isles. Despite its distinction as a tactical garrison throughout the Middle Ages, Tarbert's socioeconomic prosperity came throughout the Early Modern duration, as the port became a fishing community. At its elevation, the Loch Fyne herring fishery drew in thousands of vessels to Tarbert.