Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 6

TAYNUILT
Taymouth Castle in Sept. 1842 ; and on 3 Oct. 1866
the Queen drove over again from Dunkeld. Sir Colin
Campbell of Glenorehy (c. 1400-78), younger son of Sir
Duncan Campbell of Lochow, received from James III.
the barony of Lawers. Among his descendants have
been Sir Duncan Campbell, created a baronet in 1625 ;
Sir John Campbell (1635-1716), created Earl of Breadal-
bane in 1681, whom Macky described as ' grave as a
Spaniard, cunning as a fox, wise as a serpent, and
slippery as an eel ; ' John, fourth Earl (1762-1834),
created Marquess of Breadalbane in 1831 ; and Gavin,
seventh and present Earl (b. 1851 ; sue. 1871), who is
thirteenth in descent from Sir Colin, and who holds
372,729 acres in Perth and Argyll shires (an area
larger than that of 19 of the 33 Scotch counties), valued
at £49,931 per annum.— Ord. Sur., sh. 55, 1869. See
Breadalbane, Kilchurn Castle, Glencoe, and chap,
xxxii. of T. Hunter's Woods and Estates of Perthshire
(Perth, 1883).
Taynuilt, a hamlet in Muckairn parish, Argyllshire,
near the southern shore of Loch Etive, with a station
on the Callander and Oban railway, 15 J miles E by N
of Oban. It has an inn and a post office, with money
order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments.
Tayport. See Ferry-Port-on-Craig.
Tay, The, a river draining the greater part of Perth-
shire and passing off to the sea between Forfarshire and
Fifeshire. Itissues from Loch Tay, or rather begins there
to take the name of Tay ; but it is really formed by two
great head-streams which rise among the Grampians on
the mutual border of Perth and Argyll shires. The
northern stream bears successively the names of the
Ba, the Gauir, and the Tummel ; and, in its progress,
it forms, by expansion of its waters, the three great
lakes of Lydooh or Laidon, Eannoch, and Tummel.
It rises at an altitude of 2309 feet, within J mile of an
affluent of the Etive, and 4J miles SSW of Kingshouse
Inn ; and thence it winds 58§ miles east-north-eastward
and south-south-eastward — viz., 29 J miles to its efflux
from Loch Rannoch (668 feet), 15J thence to its efflux
from Loch Tummel (480 feet), 4§ thence to the Garry's
confluence, and 9J thence to its own confluence with
the Tay. It traverses or bounds the parishes of Glen-
orehy (in Argyllshire) and Fortingall, Logierait (de-
tached), Dull, Blair Athole, Moulin, a part of Dowally,
and the main body of Logierait. The southern one of
the great head-streams bears successively the names of
the Fillan, the Dochart, and the Tay ; and traverses,
in its progress, Loch Dochart and Loch Tay. Rising
at an altitude of 2980 feet on the northern side of
Benlot, at the boundary of Killin with Argyllshire,
it flows 56f miles east-north-eastward — viz., 25 J miles
to the head of Loch Tay, 14J miles through the lake,
and 17 miles from its foot to a confluence with the
Tummel at an altitude of 185 feet. It bounds or tra-
verses the parishes of Killin, Eenmore, Dull, Fortingall,
Logierait, and Little Dunkeld, and receives the Lochy,
the Lyon, and other streams. From its junction with
the Tummel to its junction with the Earn, where it
begins to expand into an estuary, the Tay winds 36J
miles southward, eastward, southward, and east-south-
eastward ; and over this part of its course, it has on
its right bank Little Dunkeld, Kinclaven, Auchter-
gaven, Eedgorton, Tibbermore, Perth, and Ehynd, —
and on its left bank Logierait, Dunkeld and Dowally,
Caputh, Cargill, St Martins, Scone, Kinnoull, Kin-
fauns, and St Madoes. As an estuary, it extends 24J
miles from the mouth of the Earn to the German
Ocean ; has for the first 15 miles a breadth of from
3^- furlongs to 3J miles, and the direction of NE by
E ; has over the other 9J miles a prolonged con-
traction of from 7 furlongs to 1£ mile, and a pre-
vailing easterly direction ; and separates Abernethy
in Perthshire and the parishes of Newburgh, Abdie,
Flisk, Balmerino, Forgan, and Ferry- Port in Fife on its
right bank, from St Madoes, Errol, Inchture, and
Longforgan in Perthshire, and Liff and Benvie, Dundee,
Monifieth, and Barry in Forfarshire on its left. Its
entire length of course, jointly as a river and as an
432
TAY, THE
estuary, is thus, if measured from the source of the Ba,.
119| — if measured from the source of the Fillan, 118
miles.
The tributaries of the Tay, even excluding the
secondary ones, are so numerous, that only the principal
must be named. Those of the northern great head-
branch are only two — the Ericht, which falls into Loch.
Rannoch, and the Garry, which brings along with it the
Edendon, the Erichdie, the Bruar, and the Tilt, and
falls into the Tummel a little below Killiecrankie.
Those of the southern great head-branch are also but
two — the Lochy, which joins the Dochart at the village
of Killin, and the Lyon, which brings along with it
Glenmore Water, and joins the Tay 2f miles below
the foot of Loch Tay. Those of the united stream are
the Bran, on the right bank, opposite the town of Dun-
keld ; the Isla, swollen by the Dean, the Ericht, and
other streams, and entering on the left bank, near Car-
gill station ; the Shochie, on the right bank, at Lun-
carty ; the Almond, on the same bank, 2J miles above
Perth ; and the Earn, also on the same bank, at the
commencement of the estuary, or 2J miles above the
town of Newburgh. Those of the estuary are all in-
considerable, the largest being Dighty Water, which
disembogues itself from Forfarshire, 1J mile below
Broughty Ferry.
From the vicinity of Broughty Ferry on the one shore,
and Ferry-Port-on-Craig on the other, to the mouth of
the estuary, there is a sweep of sandbank, called Barry
or Goa Sands on the N side, and Abertay Sands
on the S. The opening or breadth of channel
beneath the two sides of the sandbank varies from 5£
furlongs to 1J mile ; and the depth of water is about 3
fathoms, but, higher up the firth, increases to 6. Sand-
banks occur elsewhere, especially a large and shifting
one opposite Dundee ; but they have all been rendered
harmless to navigation by means of dredging, buoys,
lighthouses, and charts. The estuary in general is
shallow, and receives much debris from the steady and
large current of the river. Though it cannot compare
in spaciousness and some other properties with the
Forth, it is not a little commodious, and may be con-
sidered as, over large part of its extent, a continuous
harbour. The tide flows to a point about 2 miles above
Perth ; and, in consequence of improvements made in
the channel, vessels of 100 tons can pass up to Perth
harbour. The Tay Bridge is described under Dundee ;
and the unrivalled salmon fisheries of the river and
estuary are treated of in our supplementary article on
the Fisheries of Scotland.
The extent of surface drained by the Tay and its
tributaries is computed at 2400 square miles, and
that of the Spey, the entirely Scottish river next
to it in size, at 1190 square miles. The geographic
positions and character of the district whence most
of the waters are drawn, being in the case of the
two rivers very similar, the Tay may be supposed
to discharge about twice as much water as the Spey.
Dr Anderson, making a nice measurement for a judicial
purpose, determined the quantity of water which, in the
mean state of the river, flows through a section of it
opposite Perth, to bo at the rate of 3640 cubic feet per
second. The river, as represented on a map, or imagined
after a survey of the vast district which composes its basin,
appears emphatically ' the many-headed Tay ; ' and, in
consequence of its great feeders coming down like the
main arteries on a half-moon-shaped leaf, it has less
inequality in its stream than occurs in either the Spey
or any other of our Highland rivers. The variety of
its origin, too, affords such a compensation of rain as
always, except in seasons of extreme drought, to yield a
sufficient bulk and altitude of water for the occupying
of its path, and the beautifying of its landscape ; while
the wide variety in the relative distance of its sources,
prevents its floods, however high, from being as sudden
as those of the Spey, the Aberdeenshire Dee, and some
other upland streams. Yet, owing to the gradual but
great extension of the system of draining, which is pro-
secuted on arable grounds and on reclaimable mosses