The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'.[2] The Gaelic name, Baile Dubhthaich, means 'Duthac's town', after a local saint also known as Duthus.[3]
History
Tain was granted its first royal charter in 1066, making it Scotland's oldest royal burgh,[4] commemorated in 1966 with the opening of the Rose Garden by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. The 1066 charter, granted by King Malcolm III, confirmed Tain as a sanctuary, where people could claim the protection of the church, and an immunity, in which resident merchants and traders were exempt from certain taxes.[4]
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 came at least once a year throughout his reign to achieve both spiritual and political aims.[4]
A leading landowning family of the area, the Clan Munro, provided political and religious figures to the town, including the dissenter the Rev. John Munro of Tain (died ca. 1630).[5]
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, Robert the Bruce 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.[6]
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, with 590 pupils as of January 2017.[10]
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.[11] It was home to British, Czech (311 Sqn) and Polish airmen during the Second World War.
It was abandoned as a flying location after the war and converted to a bombing range for the Fleet Air Arm. In 1939 RAF Lossiemouth opened and was used until 1946 when the airfield was transferred to the Admiralty and becoming Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Lossiemouth then returning to the RAF in 1972 as an 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.[12]
Sport & recreation
The St Duthac Centre, Stafford Street
Tain Golf Club offers a Championship length links golf course. Overlooking the Dornoch Firth, the course was first designed by Old Tom Morris in 1890.[13]
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 and then the B9176 Struie Road, gives a panoramic view of Dornoch Firth and Sutherland.[15]
.jpg)
